EDUCATION DEFT. Jlelsoit0 .School .Series SBfe! THE GREAT EVENTS OF HISTORY, THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. ihr ' WILLIAM FRANCIS COLLIER, LL.D., AUTHOR OF " HISTORY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE," " HISTORY OF GREECE,* " HISTORY OF ROME." " HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC. LONDON: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK. l88 4 . EDUC. DEPT. PKEFACE. To give in a series of pictures such a connected view of the Chris- tian Era as may be pleasantly readable and easily remembered, is the aim of this book. Many pupils leave school some students even leave college with great gaps in their knowledge of History. There are thou- sands whose knowledge of Europe between the Fall of Rome and the Reformation is confined to a few misty, floating ideas about Charlemagne, the Crusades, and Rienzi. This is partly owing to the study of History in schools being confined, in many cases, to the beaten round of Britain, Greece, and Rome ; and partly to the fact that most "Outlines of General History" take but a slight hold of the mind. Professing to give in complete detail the history of every land in the world, they are often, however valuable as books of reference, worse than useless for class pur- poses. When we, whose minds are ripe and strong, consider bow little of Gibbon or Macaulay we can remember beyond their very brilliant passages, we shall at once see the folly of expecting young and tender memories to retain more than the Great Events of History. What these Great Events are, the young need to be told, or else their after-reading will be confused and wearisome. It is the earnest hope of the writer, that this book may be num- bered among the works which abridge the labour of the learner and sweeten his toil. The Great Events of British History are not here described, being merely named in the Chronological Tables; because, in the opinion of the writer, this book should be read immediately after the study of our national story. It will then bust z/iim its primary 961688 IV PREFACE. object, serving as a guide and preparation for the reading of special and more detailed histories. Every chapter is headed by its Central Point of interest, upon which the memory may easily rest, and round which, without difficulty, the minor events will group themselves in the mind. To this plan of teaching history by Central Points, the attention of those teachers who have not yet adopted it in their class-work is earnestly directed. At the close of each Period, except the last, a supplementary chapter is devoted to the delineation of Life and Manners in some leading country or great age, occupying a conspicuous place in the history of the time. The writer is glad to know, on the testi- mony of eminent Teachers, that similar chapters in his British History have proved to be among the most attractive, and cer- tainly not the least useful portions of that work. The Geographical Appendix is intended for constant reference ; for the more Geography and History are studied together, the more accurate and lasting will be the knowledge acquired in both fields. Every place mentioned in the course of the History is not given, since it was necessary to draw the line somewhere, and such names as are either well known to all, or too unimportant for special notice, have been omitted. Else the Appendix would have rivalled the book in size. w. ff. o. CONTENTS. FIRST PERIOD. PROM THE OPENING OP THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. Cfcap. Page I. The Crucifixion, ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 II. The Siege of Jerusalem, ... ... ... ... ... n III. Early Persecutions of the Christian Church, ... ... ... 18 IV. The Reign of Constantine the Great, ... ... ... ... 25 V. The Fall of the Western Empire, ... ... ... ... 32 VI. Domestic Life in Imperial Rome, ... ... ... ... 39 Great Names of the First Period, ... ... ... ... 44 Chronology of the First Period, ... ... ... ... 47 SECOND PERIOD. FROM THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE TO THE ACCESSION OF CHARLEMAGNE. I. The Age of Justinian, ... ... ... ... ... 49 II. The Growth of the Papacy, ... ... ... ... 55 III. Mahomet and his Creed, ... ... ... ... ... 59 IV. Merovingians and their Mayors, ... ... ... ... 66 V. Barbarous Races of Infant Europe, ... ... ... ... 69 Great Names of the Second Period, ... ... ... ... 74 Chronology of the Second Period, ... ... ... ... 76 THIRD PERIOD. FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLEMAGNE TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES. I. Charlemagne, ... ... ... ... ... ... 77 II, Moslems in the West and the East, ... ... ... ... 86 III. The Rise of the Romano-Germanic Empire, ... ... ... 88 IV. The Byzantine Court, ... ... ... ... ... 92 V. The Norsemen, ... ... ... ... ... ... 95 VI. Life at the Court of Charlemagne, ... ... ... ... 100 Great Names of the Third Period, ... ... ... ... 103 Chronology of the Third Period, ... ... .. % .., 104 Vl CONTENTS. FOURTH PERIOD. PROM THE BEGINNING OP THE CRUSADES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OJ 1 SWISS INDEPENDENCE. Chap. Page I. The Crusades, ... ... ... ... ... ... 106 II. The Crusades, (continued), ... ... ... ... 114 III. The Albigenses, ... ... ... ... ... ... 120 IV. Conquest of Prussia by the Teutonic Order, ... ... ... 125 V. The Swiss War of Independence, ... ... ... ... 128 VI. Chivalry, ... ... ... ... ... ... 133 Great Names of the Fourth Period, ... ... ... ... 140 Chronology of the Fourth Period, ... ... ... ... 141 FIFTH PERIOD. CHIEFLY FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SWISS INDEPENDENCE TO THE REFORMATION. I. Italy in the Middle Ages, ... ... ... ... ... 148 II. The Ottoman Turks, ... ... ... ... ... 154 III. The Expulsion of the Moors from Spain, ... ... ... 160 IV. The Discovery and Conquest of America, ... ... ... 16fi V. Life in Italy and Spain during the close of the Middle Ages, ... 172 Great Names of the Fifth Period, ... ... ... ... 177 Chronology of the Fifth Period, ... ... ... ... 178 SIXTH PERIOD. PROM THE REFORMATION TO THE CLOSE OF THE THIRTY YEARS* WAR. I. The Reformation, ... ... ... ... ... 180 II. The Emperor Charles V., ... ... ... ... ... 189 III. The Rise of the Dutch Republic, ... ... ... ... 198 IV. The Huguenots, ... ... ... ... ... 204 Genealogy of the Bourbon Family First Tree, ... ... 212 V. Cardinal Richelieu, ... ... ... ... ... 213 VI. The Thirty Years' War, ... ... ... ... ... 219 VII. Life in Germany during the Age of the Reformation, ... ... 229 Great Names of the Sixth Period, ... ... ... ... 237 Chronology of the Sixth Period, ... ... ... ... 240 SEVENTH PERIOD. PROM THE END OP THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. I. Louis XI V. of France, ... ... ... ... ... 242 Genealogy of the Bourbon Family Second Tree, ... ... 256 U. Peter the Great of Russia nnd Charles XII. of Sweden. ,.. 267 CONTENTS. VI i Chap. Page III. Frederic II. (the Great) of Prussia, ... ... ... 2fi4 IV. Life in France under Louis XI V., ... ... ... ... 274 Great Names of the Seventh Period, ... ... ... 279 Chronology of the Seventh Period, ... ... ... ... 281 EIGHTH PERIOD. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE FORMATION OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. I. The French Revolution, ... ... ... ... ... 283 II. Napoleon Bonaparte, ... ... ... ... .. 293 Genealogy of the Bonaparte Family, ... ... ... 311 111. Continental Europe since 1815, ... ... ... ... 312 Great Names of the Eighth Period, ... ... ... ... 323 Chronology of the Eighth Period, ... ... ... ... 325 GEOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. Austria and Hungary, ... ... ... ... ... 329 France, ... ... ... ... ... ... 330 Germany and Prussia, ... ... ... ... ... 333 Italy, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 337 The Netherlands, ... ... ... ... ... 339 Russia and Poland, ... ... ... ... ... 340 Spain and Portugal, ... ... ... ... ... 342 Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, ... ... ... ... 343 Switzerland, ... ... ... ... ... ... 344 Turkey and Greece, ... ... ... ... ... 344 Asia, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 346 Africa, ... ... ... ... 347 America, ... ... ... ... ... ... 34S INDEX, ... ... ... ... ... ... 349 THE GREAT EVENTS OF HISTORY. FIRST PERIOD. FROM THE OPENING OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER I. THE CRUCIFIXION. THE great central event in all history is the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The centuries circle round the Cross. Hundreds of stately figures some in dazzling lustre, some in deepest gloom crowd upon our gaze, as the Btory of the world unrolls before us ; but infinitely nobler than the grandest of these is the pale form of Jesus, hanging on the rough and reddened wood at Calvary dead, but victorious even in dying stronger in that marble sleep than the mightiest of the world's living actors, or than all the marshalled hosts of Sin and Death. Not the greatest sight only, but the strangest ever seen ; for there, at the foot of the Cross, lie Death slain with his own dart, and Hell van- quished at his very gate. All that have ever lived all living now all who shall come after us, till time shall be no more, must feel the power of the Cross. To those who look upon their dying Lord with loving trust, it brings life and joy, but death and woe 10 THF. CRUCIFIXION. to all who proudly rejeoi, that great salvation, or pass it iml. ceding by. The details of that stupendous history His lowly, yet royal birth His pure, stainless life His path of rtystery and miracle His wondrous works, and still more wondrous words His agony His Cross His glorious resurrection and ascension, all form a theme too sacred to be placed here with a record of mere common time, or blended with the dark sad tale of human follies and crimes. Rather let us read it as they tell it who were themselves " eye-witnesses of his majesty," who traced the very footsteps, and heard the very voice, and beheld the very living face of incarnate Love. And remember, as you read, that History is false to her noblest trust, if she fails to teach that it is the power of the Cross of Christ which alone preserves the world from hope- less corruption, and redeems from utter vanity the whole life of man on earth. Wildly, and blindly, and very far have the nations often drifted from the right course, there seemed to be no star in heaven, and no lamp on earth ; but through every change an unseen Omnipotent Hand was guiding all things for the best : soul after soul was drawn by love's mighty attraction to the Cross ; light arose out of darkness ; a new life breathed over the world ; and the wilderness, where Satan seemed alone to dwell, blossomed anew into the garden of God. VIEW OF JERUSALEM. 11 CHAPTER II. THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. Central Point : THE BURNING OF THE TEMPLE. View of the city. Vespasian. March of Titus. Factions within the walls. Opening of the siege. First wall taken. Second wall taken. Pause of five days. The famine. Roman banks burned. Capture of the Tower of Antonia. Strange omens. Horrors of the siege. Burning of the Tem- ple. Upper city taken. The triumph at Rome. " THE days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another." * So said Jesus, as, riding on a colt down the leafy slope of Olivet, he looked through his dropping tears upon Jerusalem. His gaze could trace every turret and winding of the three walls with which the city was enclosed. Below in the deep valley ran the silver thread of Cedron. Right in front, cutting the western sky, and crowning the steep crest of Moriah with white and gold, the countless spikes which studded its burnished roof flashing in the sunlight, rose the magnificent Temple, en- larged and completed by Herod the Great. To the south- westhighest of the four hills on which the city lay- towered the rocky Zian, bearing on its rugged shoulders the citadel, the royal palace, and the houses of the Upper City. Behind the Temple, and north of Zion, was the hill Acra, shaped like a horned moon, and covered with the terraces and gardens of the Lower City ; while on another slope Bezetha, or the New City, stretched further north towards the open country. The aspect of the city had changed but little when, thirty- seven years later, the Roman eagles gathered round their prey. But during these years the Jews, as if maddened by * Luke xix 43, 44. 12 MUSTER OF THE ROMAN ARMY. the sacred blood for which they had thirsted so fiercely, had been plunging deeper and deeper into sin and wretchedness. At last, goaded by outrage and insult, they had risen against their Roman masters ; and the great Vespasian, a general trained in German and British wars, had been sent by Nero to tame their stubborn pride. Moving with his legions from Antioch to Ptolemais, he was there joined by his son Titus, who brought forces from Egypt. Galilee and Perea 6 7 were subdued with some trouble and delay ; and the A.D. conqueror, having drawn a circle efforts round Jerusa- lem, was at Cassarea, preparing for the last great blow, vrhen he heard the news of Nero's death. The murder of Galba, the suicide of Otho, and the seizure of Rome by the glutton Vitellius and his plundering soldiers, followed in quick succession. The army in Palestine then proclaimed Vespasian emperor. He hastened to secure Alexandria, the second city in the empire ; and having heard while there that Vitellius was dead, and that the people of Rome were holding feasts in his own honour, he set out for Italy. So the siege of Jerusalem was left to Titus. Mustering his forces at Caesarea, and dividing them into three bands, he marched for the doomed city. Arrived there, he fortified three camps one on the north, one on the west, and one, garrisoned by the 10th Legion, on the Mount of Olives. Upon this last the Jews made a sally as the soldiers were digging the trenches ; but they were soon beaten down the hill. While the trumpets were blowing at Csesarea, and the clang of the Roman march was shaking the land, murder, and outrage, and cruel terror filled all Jerusalem. Robbers, calling themselves Zealots, had flocked in from the country. Eleazar, at the head of one set of these, held the inner court of the Temple. John of Gischala, another leader of ruffians, occupying ground somewhat lower, poured constant showers of darts and stones into the holy house, often killing wor- shippers as they stood at the very altar. In this mad war, houses full of corn were burned, and misery of every kind was inflicted on the wretched people. In despair they called in Simon of Gerasa to their aid, and thus there were three hostile factions within the walls. The great feast of the THE OPENING OF THE SIEGE. 13 Passover came, and the Temple was thrown open to the thousands who crowded from every corner of the land to offer up their yearly sacrifice. Mingling in disguise with the throng, with weapons under their clothes, John's party gained entrance into the sacred court, and soon drove out their foes. The poor worshippers, all trampled and bleed- ing, escaped as best they could. John remained master of the Temple ; and the three factions were reduced to two. Within the city there were above 23,000 fighting men a strong body if united. There was, indeed, a temporary union, when they saw the Roman soldiers busily cutting down all the trees in the suburbs, rolling their trunks to- gether, and to the top of the three great banks thus formed dragging the huge siege-engines of the time rams, catapults, and balists. The siege opened in three places at once on the 22d day of Xanthicus, or Nisan. The Roman missiles poured like hail upon the city ; but none were so terrible as April, the stones, sometimes weighing a talent, which were 70 cast from the east by the 10th Legion. The Jewish A.D. watchmen, soon learning to know these by their white colour and tremendous whiz, used to cry out, " The son cometh ; " then all in the way fell flat, and little mischief was done. But the Romans, not to be tricked, painted the stones black, and battered on more destructively than ever. The Jews replied with some engines planted on the wall by Simon, flung torches at the Roman banks, and made an unavailing sally at the Tower of Hippicus. Three towers of heavy timber, covered with thick iron plates, were then erected by Titus. Rising higher than the walls, and carrying light engines, they were used to drive the Jews from their posts of defence. The falling of one of these at midnight with a loud crash spread alarm through the Ro- man camp, but it did not last long. At dawn the rams were swinging away, and pounding against the shaking wall, which on the fifteenth day of the siege yielded to Nico (the Conqueror), as the most ponderous of the Roman engines was called by the Jews. The legions, pouring through the breach, gained the first wall. Pitching his camp within the city, Titus then attacked the 14 HORRORS OF THE FAMINE. second wall, where he was vigorously met both by Simon aiid John. Sorties and wall-fighting filled up every hour of daylight; and both sides lay by night in their armour, snatching hasty and broken sleep. In five days the second wall was forced. Titus passed within it at the head of 1000 men ; but the Jews set on him so hotly in the narrow streets, that they soon drove him out again. Easily elated, they exulted greatly in this success; but, four days later, the second wall was retaken, and levelled to the ground Then followed a pause of five days, during which the Romans, having received their subsistence money, paraded, as their custom was, in glittering armour. The wall and the Temple roofs were paved with pale Jewish faces, behold- ing nothing in the splendid sight but terror and despair. The attack was renewed at John's Monument, and the Tower of Antonia. At the same time, Josephus, a noble Jew, from whose graphic history this sketch is drawn, went to the walls, as he had done before as he did more than once again, to plead with his countrymen. But all in vain, for the Zealots were bent on holding out, and slew such of the people as they found trying to desert. Famine had long before begun its deadly work. Mothers were already snatching the morsels from their children's lips. The robbers broke open every shut door in search of food, and tortured most horribly all who were thought to have a hidden store. Gaunt men, who had crept beyond the walls by night to gather a few wild herbs, were often robbed by these wretches of the poor handful of green leaves for which they had risked their lives. Yet, in spite of this, the starving people went out into the valleys in such numbers that the Romans caught them at the rate of 500 a day, and crucified them before the walls, until there was no room to plant, and no wood to make another cross. What a fearful retribution for that mad cry, uttered, some seven and thirty years before, at Pilate's judgment-seat : " His blood be on us and on our children !" The Romans then raised four great banks. But these, which cost seventeen days' labour, were all destroyed two by John, who dug a mine below them, and set- fire to the timbers of its roof and the others by three brave Jews, who CAPTURE OF THE TOWER OF ANTONIA. 15 rushed out upon the engines, torch in hand. And then it was " pull Koman, pull Jew ," and heavy blows were dealt round the red-hot rams. The Romans were driven to their camp, but the guard at the gate stood firm ; and Titus, tak- ing the Jews in flank, compelled them to retreat. This serious loss made Titus resolve to hem in the city with a wall. It was built in the amazingly short time of three days. The attack was then directed against the Tower of Antonia, which stood at the north-west corner of the Temple, on a slippery rock, fifty cubits high. Four new banks were raised. Some Roman soldiers, creeping in with their shields above their heads, loosened four of the founda- tion stones ; and the wall, battered at all day, fell suddenly in the night. But there was another wall inside. One Sabinus, a little black Syrian soldier, led a forlorn hope of eleven men up to this in broad noon-day, gained the top, and put the Jews to flight ; but tripping over a stone he was killed, as were three of his band. A night or two after, six- teen Romans stole up the wall, slew the guards, and blew a startling trumpet blast. The Jews fled. Titus and his men, swarming up the ruined wall, dashed at the entrance of the Temple, where, for ten hours, a bloody fight raged. Julian, a centurion of Bithynia, attacking the Jews single-handed, drove them to the inner court ; but the sharp nails in his shoes having caused him to fall with a clang on the marble floor, they turned back and slew him with many wounds. Then, following up their success, they drove the Romans out of the Temple, but not from the Tower of Antonia. Strange omens had foretold the coming doom. A star, shaped like a sword, had hung for a year over the city. A brazen gate of the inner court, which twenty men could hardly move, had swung back on its hinges of itself. Sha- dows, resembling chariots and soldiers attacking a city, had appeared in the sky one evening before sunset. And at Pen- tecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner court, they heard murmuring voices, as of a great crowd, saying, " Let us go hence." After the Roman wall was built, the famine and the plague grew worse. Young tnen dropt dead in the streets. Piles of decaying corpses filled the lanes, aud were thrown 16 THE BUKNING OF THE TEMPI/IS. by tens of thousands over the walls. No herbs were to be got now. Men, in the rage of hunger, gnawed their shoes, the leather of their shields, and even old wisps of hay. Robbers, with wolfish eyes, ransacked every dwelling, and, when one day they came clamouring for food to the house of Mary, the daughter of Eleazar, a high-born lady of Perea, she set before them the roasted flesh of her own infant son, whom she had slain. " This," screamed she, " is mine own Bon. Eat of this food, for I have eaten of it myself." Brutal and rabid though they were, they fled in horror from the house of that wretched mother. At last the daily sacrifice ceased to be offered, and the war closed round the Temple. The cloisters were soon burned. Six days' battering had no effect on the great gates ; fire alone could clear a path for the eagles. A day was fixed for the grand assault ; but on the evening before, (10th Lous, or Ab) the Romans having penetrated as Aug. far as the Holy House, a soldier, climbing on the 70 shoulders of another, put a blazing torch to one of the A.D. golden windows of the north side. The building was soon a sheet of leaping flames ; and Titus, who had always desired to save the Temple, came running from his tent, but the din of war and the crackling flames prevented his voice from being heard. On over the smoking cloisters trampled the legions, fierce for plunder. The Jews sank in heaps of dead and dying round the altar, which dripped with their blood. More fire was thrown upon the hinges of the gate ; and then no human word or hand could save the house, where God Himself had loved to dwell Never did the stars of night look down on a more piteous scene. Sky and hill and town and valley were all reddened with one fearful hue. The roar of flames, the shouts of Romans, the shrieks of wounded Zealots, rose wild into the scorching air, and echoed among the mountains all around. But sadder far was the wail of broken hearts which burst from the streets below, when marble wall and roof of gold came crashing down, and the Temple was no more. Then, and only then, did the Jews let go the trust that God would deliver His ancient people, Bmiting the Romans with some sudden blow. The Upper City then became a last refuge for the despair- THE END OF THE SIEGE. 17 ing remnant of the garrison. Simon and John were there ; but the arrogant tyrants were broken down to trembling cowards. And when, after eighteen days' work, banks were raised, and the terrible ram began to sound anew on the ram- parts, the panic-struck Jews fled like hunted foxes to hide in the caves of the hill. The eagles flew victorious to the summit of the citadel, while Jewish blood ran so deep down Zion that burning houses were quenched in the red stream. The siege lasted 134 days, during which 1,100,000 Jews perished, and 97,000 were taken captive. Some were kept to grace the Roman triumph ; some were sent to toil in the mines of Egypt; some fought in provincial theatres with gladiators and wild beasts ; those under seventeen were sold as slaves. John was imprisoned for life ; Simon, after being led in triumph, was slain at Rome. It was a gay holiday, when the emperor and his son, crowned with laurel and clad in purple, passed in triumph through the crowded streets of Rome. Of the many rich spoils adorning the pageant none were gazed on with more curious eyes than the golden table, the candlestick with seven branching lamps, and the holy book of the law, rescued from the flames of the Temple. It was the last page of a tragic story. The Mosaic dispensation had come to a close, and the Jews homeless ever since, yet always preserving an indestructible nationality were scattered among the cities of earth to be the Shylocks of a day that is gone by, and the Rothschilds of our own happier age. ROMAN EMPERORS OF THE FIRST CENTURY. A.D. AUGUSTUS TIBERIUS 14 CALIGULA 37 CLAUDIUS 41 NERO 54 GALBA 68 OTHO 69 (47) A.D. VITELLIUS 69 VESPASIAN 69 TITUS 79 DOMITIAN 81 NERVA 96 TRAJAN 98 18 PERSECUTION UNDER NERO. CHAPTER III. EARLY PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Central Point: DIOCLETIAN'S PERSECUTION. 303, A.D. The fire of Rome. Persecution under Donii- tian. Trajan's edict. Torture inflicted. Martyrdom of Polycarp. The miracle of rain. Persecution at Lyons. Story of Perpetua. Rage of pagan mobs. The Decian storm. Valerian's edict, Aurelian. The last persecution. Edict of Galeriua. ELEVEN persecutions of the Christians some fiercer, others fainter marked the dying struggles of the many-headed monster, Paganism. More than three centuries were filled with the sound and sorrows of the great conflict. 1. In the tenth year of the brutal Nero's reign the first great persecution of Christians took place. A fire, such as never had burned before, consumed nearly the whole city of Rome ; and men said that the emperor's own hand had kindled the flames out of mere wicked sport, and that, while the blazing city was filled with shrieks of pain and terror, he sat 64 calmly looking on and singing verses on the burning A.D. of Troy to the music of his lyre. This story finding ready acceptance among the homeless and beggared people, the tyrant strove by inflicting tortures on the Chris- tians to turn the suspicion from himself upon them. On the pretence that they were guilty of the atrocious crime, he crucified many ; some, covered with the skins of wild beasts, were worried to death by dogs in the theatres ; tender girls and greyhaired men were torn by tigers, or hacked with the swords of gladiators. But the worst sight was seen in the gardens of Nero, where chariot races were held by night, in which the emperor himself, dressed as a common driver, whipped his horses round the goal. There stood poor men and women of the Christian faith, their clothes smeared with pitch, or other combustible, all blazing as torches to throw light on the sport of the imperial demon. In the wider persecutions that followed, for this one was chiefly confined to Rome, there was perhaps no scene of equal horror. 2. By Domitian, sixth in succession from Nero, proceed- THE EDICT OF TRAJAN. 19 ings of great severity, but of a character less brutal, were taken against the Christians. It was a harvest-time for tlie spies, who crept everywhere, and grew rich with the spoils of the dead and the exiles. The cousin and the niece of the emperor, accused only of " Atheism, and Jewish manners," were among the sufferers. Many were banished ; among them St. John the Evangelist. Driven, about 95 A.D., to the isle of Patmos, he saw there those visions of glory and mystery recorded in the book of Revelation. The two grandsons of St. Jude, who was the brother of our Saviour, were brought before a Roman tribunal, charged with aiming at royal power, for they traced descent from David. But when they showed their hands hardened with honest toil on their little farm, they were sent home unhurt. 3. Under the gentle Nerva the Christians lived in peace, and spying ceased to be a well-paid business; but when Trajan, a stern Spanish soldier, wore the purple, evil days returned, as yet, however, only in a single province. Pliny the younger, appointed proconsul of Bithynia and Pontus, found himself at a loss how to deal with the Chris- tians, who were very numerous under his rule. He 110 wrote to the emperor, saying that the superstition A.D. so he called it had spread everywhere among rich and poor ; that the temples were empty, and the sacrifices were hardly ever offered. But the worst he could say of the Christians, although he seems to have taken great pains to know all about them, was that they used to meet on a certain day (Sunday) to sing a hymn in honour of Christ ; that they bound one another by a vow not to steal, or commit adultery, or break their words, or defraud any one ; and that on the same evening they met at a simple and innocent meal. The fact that a skilful lawyer, as Pliny was, did not know how to deal with the Christians, shows that there were no special laws as yet framed against them. The answer of Trajan must be looked on as the first edict of persecution. It declared that the Christians were not to be sought for by the police, like common criminals ; but that, when openly accused and con- victed, they were to be punished. However, before receiving the imperial rescript, Pliny had let loose the terrors of the la.w. He demanded that the Christians, cursing Christ, 20 MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. should burn incense and pour wine before the statues of the emperor and the gods. Those who refused died j some, of weaker faith, yielded to the terror of the hour. 4. Early in the reign of Adrian, who came to the throne in 117, the rage of the pagan mobs burst out upon the Chris- tians with a force which had been gathering for years. Those attacks, which were encouraged by the common belief that Christianity was now condemned by law, took place especially in Asia Minor. Two learned Christians approached the throne with Apologies or defences of their faith, when the emperor came into their neighbourhood on one of the constant and rapid journeys for which he was remarkable. Influenced perhaps by these addresses, but rather by his love of justice and order, he published an edict, forbidding Christians to be arrested on mere rumour, and ordering all false informers to be heavily punished. However, in Pales- tine Bar-cochba, an impostor, who claimed to be the Messiah put many Christians to a cruel death, because they refused to follow his flag of rebellion. The reign of the elder / ntonine was a time of compara- tive peace to the Christian^ ; but when Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher, became emperor in 161, there was a change. Active search was made for Christians. Torture began to be inflicted on them. It seemed, indeed, as if both the rulers and the people of pagan Rome were beginning to realize, though as yet vaguely and dimly, the growth of that stone, cut out without hands, which was destined soon to shiver the idols in all their temples, and smite their iron empire into dust. 5. At Smyrna the Christian Church suffered heavily. Yielding to the rage of the heathens and the Jews, the pro- consul flung the followers of Jesus to wild beasts, or 167 burnt them alive. The noblest of the noble victims A.D. was Bishop Poly carp, a man bending under the weight of nearly ninety years. When seized he asked for an hour to pray. They gave him two, then hurried him on an ass towards the city. The chief of police, meeting him on the way, took him up into his chariot, and vainly strove to turn him from the faith. On his refusal he was flung so violently to the ground that a bone of his leg was injured. PERSECUTION IN GAJJL. 21 Before the tribunal, amid a crowd howling for his blood, he was urged to curse Christ. " Eighty-six years," said he, " have I served Him, and He has done me nothing but good; and how could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour?" Before the flames rose round him, he cried aloud, thanking God for judging him worthy to drink of the cup of Christ. The legend of the " thundering Legion," which belongs to this period, probably rests on some historical foundation, though handed down to us manifestly in a somewhat mythi- cal form. While Marcus Aurelius, so the story runs, was warring with some German tribes, his soldiers, marching one day under a burning sun, were parched with deadly thirst. The foe, hovering near, threatened an attack. A terrible death seemed to stare them in the face, 174 when a band of Christian soldiers, falling on their A.D. knees, prayed for help. A peal of thunder, accom- panied with heavy rain, was the immediate, and, as it seemed, miraculous response from the skies ; and the soldiers, catching the precious drops in their helmets, drank and were saved. 6. This event is said to have softened the emperor's feel- ing towards the Christians; but the change, if any, was very slight, for three years later, a fierce persecution arose in the heart of Gaul, at Lyons and Vienne. Pothinus the bishop, a feeble old man of ninety, died in a 177 dungeon. Those Christians who were Roman citizens A.D. enjoyed the privilege of death by the sword; the rest were torn by wild beasts. The friends of the dead were denied even the poor consolation of burying their loved ones ; for the mutilated bodies were burned to ashes, and scattered upon the waters of the Rhone. One Symphorian, a young man of Autun, a town not far from Lyons, was beheaded for refusing to fall on his knees before the car of the idol Cybele. As he went to execution, his soul was strengthened by his mother's voice, crying : " My son, my son, be steadfast ; look up to Him who dwells in heaven. To-day thy life is not taken from thee, but raised to a better !" 7. The reign of Septimius Sevei'us was marked by a terrible persecution in Africa. By the same emperor 202 a law was passed, forbidding any one to become either A.D. a Jew or a Christian. 22 THE STORY OF PERPETUA. From many touching stories of those bitter days take one. A young mother, named Perpetua, aged only twenty-two, was arrested at Carthage for being a Christian. Her father was a pagan ; but from her mother's lips she had learned to love Christ. When she was dragged before the magistrate, her grey-haired father prayed her earnestly to recant ; but, pointing to a vessel that lay on the ground, she said, " Can I call this vessel what it is not?" " No." " Neither, then, can I call myself anything but a Christian." Her little baby was taken from her, and she was cast into a dark, crowded dungeon. There was no light in her desolate heart for some days, until her child was given to her again ; and then, in her own tender words, " the dungeon became a palace." Before the trial came on, her father pleaded again with tears, and kisses, and words of agony, seeking to turn her from what he considered her obstinate folly. But all in vain. Neither her father's tears nor her baby's cries could wean her soul from Christ ; and she died with many others, torn to pieces in the circus by savage beasts, amid the yells of still more savage men. 8. Maximin, the Thracian giant, who gained the purple by murder in 235, persecuted those Christian bishops who had been friends of his predecessor. In many provinces, too Pontus and Cappadocia, for instance the people, roused to fury by severe earthquakes, fell upon the Christians, crying out that their blasphemies had brought these judgments on the land. 9. Conquering Philip the Arabian, Decius Trajan ascended the throne ; and then the long calm which the Christians of Rome had enjoyed was rudely broken. One great 249 use of these persecutions was the sifting of the Church A.D. the driving out of those who, in peaceful days, had become Christians from convenience merely or vanity. The gold was tested and refined in a fiery furnace. Decius seems to have resolved utterly to destroy Christianity. His hatred of the bishops was intense. Fabianus the Roman bishop was martyred. Both in Rome and the provinces im- prisonment and torture awaited every faithful witness ; and among the refinements of torture, hunger and thirst came into common use. But a rebellion in Macedonia and a DIOCLETIAN'S PERSECUTION. 53 Gothic war turned the attention of the emperor from the Christians, and by his death they soon gained a short breath- ing time. 10. In the fourth year of Valerian an edict was issued in unmistakable words " Let bishops, presbyters, and deacon* at once be put to the sword' 1 The aim of this edict seems to have been to check Christianity by cutting 258 off the heads of the Church. Sixtus, the Roman A.D. bishop, and four deacons were the first to suffer. But a more distinguished victim was Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, who, after having escaped the Decian storm, was now be- headed for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan idols. Valerian having been defeated by Sapor the Persian king, whose triumphal car he was forced to drag in chains, died in the far East. His son Gallienus restored to the Christians their burial-grounds and other property taken from them in the late reign. This was a great step, for it was a public acknowledgment that the Christian Church was a legal society ; and it no doubt did much to save Christians from the wrath of the low-born fire-worshipper Aurelian, who became emperor in 270. A bigot by nature, and bent upon persecution, he yet allowed five years to slip away without striking a blow at the Cross. His murder in 275 left forty years of peace to the Church, which, like a sturdy young oak-tree, amid all these great and frequent tempests, had been only strik- ing its roots deeper, and taking a firmer grasp of the soil. 11. Fiercest, widest, and last, was the persecution that broke out under Diocletian and Maximian. On the day of the feast Terminalia, at early dawn, the Feb. 23, splendid church of Nicomedia, a city of Bithynia, 303 where Diocletian had fixed his court, was broken A.D. open ; all copies of the Bible found there were burned ; and the walls were levelled to the ground by the imperial soldiers. This was done at the instigation of Ga- lerius, the emperor's son-in-law. Next day a terrible edict appeared, commanding all Christian churches to be pulled down, all Bibles to be flung into the fire, and all Christiana to be degraded from rank and honour. Scarcely was the proclamation posted up, when a Christian of noble rank tore it to pieces. For this he was roasted to death. A fire, 24 EDICT OF GALERITJ9. which broke out in the palace twice within a fortnight, was made a pretence for very violent dealings with the Chris- tians. Those who refused to burn incense to idols were tor- tured or slain. Over all the empire the persecution raged., except in Gaul, Britain, and Spain, where Constantius Chlorus ruled. Yet there, too, it was slightly felt. Even after the abdication of the emperors in 305, Galerius kept the fires blazing ; and so far did this pagan go in his miser- able zeal, that he caused all the food in the markets to be sprinkled with wine or water used in sacrifice, that thus the Christians might be driven into some contact with idol- worship. With little rest for eight years, the whip and the rack, the tigers, the hooks of steel, and the red-hot beds, continued to do their deadly work. And then in 311, when Life was fading from his dying eye, and the blood of martyrs lay dark upon his trembling soul, Galerius published an edict, permitting Christians to worship God in their own way. This was the turning-point in the great strife; and henceforward Roman heathenism rapidly decayed, until it was finally abolished by Theodosius in 394. ROMAN EMPERORS OF THE SECOND AND THIRD CENTURIES. THIRD CENTURY Continued. PHILIP the Arabian 244 DECIUS 249 GALLUS and his Son 251 .EMILIANUS 253 VALERIAN and his Son 253 GALLIENUS 260 CLAUDIUS II 268 QUINTILLUS 270 AURELIAN 270 Interregnum for nine months 275 TACITUS 275 FLORIAN 276 PROBUS 276 CARUS 282 CARINUS and NUMERIAN...283 DIOCLETIAN 284 MAXIMIAN taken as a]_ 28e Colleague - J '" SECOND CENTURY. A.D. TRAJAN ADRIAN 117 ANTONINUS PIUS 138 MARC. AURELIUSand) 161 L. VERUS > '" COMMODUS 180 PERTINAX 193 SEVERUS 193 THIRD CENTURY. CARACALLA and GETA 211 MACEINUS 217 HELIOGABALUS 218 ALEX. SEVERUS 222 MAXIMIN 235 GORDIAN and his Son 237 BALBINUS andPUPIENUS...237 GrOBDIAN the Younger 238 THE YOUTH OF CONSTANTINE. CHAPTER IV. THE REIGN OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. Central Point: REMOVAL OF THE SEAT OF EMPIRE TO CONSTANTINOPLE, 330 A.D. Birth and early days. Proclaimed emperor. Six emperors at once. Battle of the Red Rocks. Vision of the cross. Emperors reduced to two. Death of Licinius. Christianity favoured. First General Council. Site of the new capital. Its dedication. Constantino's policy. His last years. His death. His character. THE reign of Constantine is remarkable in Roman history for three reasons : he was the first emperor professing Christianity; he adopted a new policy, in which we can detect some foreshadows of the speedy decay of the Western Empire ; he founded a new capital, thus giving a powerful impulse to that separation of the Empire into East and West, which began under Diocletian in 286, and was completed in 364, when the brothers Valens and Valentinian wore the purple. Constantine the Great was born at Naissus in Dacia; some say at Drepanum in Bithynia. His father was Constantius Chlorus (the Sallow), who ruled Gaul, Bri- 2 74 tain, and Spain; his mother Helena was the daughter A.D. of an innkeeper. The mother being divorced, the son, who shared her fall, was left at eighteen with little fortune but his sword. Taking service under Diocletian, he fought his way up in Egyptian and Persian wars to be a tribune of the first rank ; and so popular did the brave youth become with the sol- diers, that Galerius, Emperor of the East, began to look upon him with a jealous eye. Just then came word that Constantius, whose health was failing, wished to see his long-estranged son. Setting out at night from Nicomedia, Constantine hurried overland to join his father at Boulogne. Together they crossed to Britain, where soon afterwards the father died at York. Constantine, at once proclaimed emperor by the soldiers 26 BATTLE AT THE RED ROCKS. of the West, wrote, announcing the event, to Galerius, who in answer acknowledged him as his father's successor. 306 but conferred on him only the title of Coesor, re- A.D. serving the higher step Augustus for a favourite friend. This, no doubt, galled Constantine at the moment ; but, like a man of prudence, he was content to bide his time. Two years later the world saw a strange sight, without parallel before or since six emperors dividing the Eoman dominion among them. In the West were Maximian, 308 his son Maxentius, and Constantine ; in the East Ga- A.D. lerius, Licinius, and Maximin. Maximian, once the colleague of Diocletian, had already bestowed on Con- stantine the hand of his daughter Fausta, and the title of Augustus. But among six emperors there could be little union. Every man's hand was soon turned against his fellow. The first to die was old Maximian, who, falling into the hands of his son-in-law at Marseilles, was there slain in secret. The death of Galerius, from disease caused by intemperance, reduced the list still further. And then Constantine, 312 with a sword sharpened by six years' successful war A.D. in Gaul, crossed the Alps to do battle with the effemi- nate Maxentius. Susa, at the foot of Mount Cenis, was stormed in a single day. Forty miles further on, at Turin he scattered an army strong in mail-clad cavalry. Milan and Verona then fell ; and the way to Home was open. At the Ked Eocks (Saxa Eubra), nine miles from Eome, he found the army of Maxentius in line of battle, the Tiber guarding their rear. Constantine led on his Gallic horse, and made short work of the unwieldy masses of cavalry that covered his rival's flanks. The Italian footmen of the centre then fled almost without striking a blow. Thousands were driven into the Tiber. The brave Praetorians, despairing of mercy, died in heaps where they stood. A bridge near the modern Ponte Milvio was so choked with flying soldiers, that Maxentius, in trying to struggle through the crowd, waa pushed into the water, and drowned by his weighty armour. Writers of the time tell us that, before thib battle, Con- Btantine saw the vision of a cross hung in the sky, with the WAR WITH LICTNIUS. 27 Greek words, 'E^ TOVTQ vlica. ("In this conquer"), written in letters of light. Henceforth his troops marched under a standard called Labarum, the top of which was adorned with a mystic X, representing at once the cross and the initial letter of the Greek word Christ. Entering Rome in triumph, he began at once to secure his victory. The Praetorian guards were disbanded, and scat- tered for ever. The tax, which Maxentius had occasionally levied on the senate under the name of a free gift, was made lasting. Three of the six emperors now remained. But, war soon breaking out between Maximin and Lici- nius, the former was defeated near Heraclea, and died 313 in a few months at Tarsus, most likely by poison. A.D. Two emperors then shared the power between them ; Constantine holding the West and Licinius the East. A quarrel soon arose, as might be expected from the nature of the men, Constantine, pushing, clever, and by no means troubled with a tender conscience ; Licinius, underhand, art- ful, dangerous. It made no matter that the sister of Con- stantine was the wife of Licinius. War was begun. At Cibalis in Pannonia, and on the plain of Mardia in Thrace, Constantine was victorious ; and the beaten emperor was compelled to yield as the price of peace all his European dominions except Thrace. There was then peace between the rivals for nearly eight years, during which the most notable event was a war with the Goths and Sarmatians (322). They had long been mus- tering on the north bank of the Danube, and now poured their swarms upon Illyricum. But they had to deal with a resolute soldier, who drove them with hard and heavy blows back over the broad stream, and followed them into their strongest holds. Then, in the flush of victory he turned his sword again upon Licinius. At once all Thrace glittered with arms, and the Hellespont was white with sails. A victory, gained by Constantine at Adrianople, drove the Emperor of the East into Byzantium. Besieged there, he held out a while ; but, the passage of the Hellespont being forced by Crispus, Con- stantine's eldest son, who led a few small ships to attack a great fleet of three-deckers, he was forced into Asia, where 28 SITE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. he was finally vanquished on the hills of Chrysopolis, now Scutari. In spite of Ids wife's prayers and tears 324 he was executed a few months later at Thessalonica, A.D. when his death left Constantine sole master of the Roman world. This emperor, influenced perhaps by his mother's early teaching, favoured Christianity. He did not openly forbid Paganism, but chose rather to work by ridicule and neglect. Some rites he abolished, and some temples he closed, but only those notorious for fraud or indecency. Without de- pressing Paganism, he raised the new creed to the level of the old. With public money he repaired the old churches and built new ones, so that in every great city the Pagan temples were faced by Christian churches of architecture richer and more beautiful than ever. The Christian clergy were freed from taxes. Sunday was proclaimed a day of rest. And, to crown all, he removed the seat of government to a new capital, which was essentially a Christian city, for nowhere did a Pagan temple blot the streets, shining with the white marble of Proconnesus. In the controversies of the Church the emperor took an active but changeable part, and attended in person 325 the first general council of bishops, held at ISTicsea, in A.D. Bithynia, to decide on the case of Arius, who denied the divinity of Christ. Arius was banished; but, three years afterwards, Constantine, who regarded the whole question as one of slight importance,- restored him to his church at Alexandria. The spot where Byzantium had already stood for more than 900 years was chosen as the site of the new capital While besieging Licinius there, Constantine saw how from that central position a strong hand, wielding the sceptre of the world, could strike east or west with equal suddenness and force. At the southern end of the Bosphorus a pro- montory of the Thracian shore washed on the south by the Sea of Marmora (then called Propontis), and on the north by the fine harbour of the Golden Horn runs to within 600 yards of Asia. Seven hills rise there ; and on these the city lay, commanding at once two great continents and two great inland seas. POLICY OF CONSTANTINE. 29 The emperor, spear in hand, heading a long line of nobles, marked out the boundary of the wall As mile after mile went by, all wondered at the growing space; yet he still went on. "I shall advance," said he, "till the invisible guide who marches before me thinks right to stop." Gold without stint was lavished on the new buildings. Bronzes and marbles, wrought by the chisels of Phidias and Lysippus, were stolen from Greece and Asia to adorn the public walks. When those senators, whom the gifts and invitations of the emperor had induced to remove from Rome, reached the shores of the Bosphorus, they found waiting to receive them palaces built exactly after the model of those they had left behind. On the May 11, day of dedication the city received the name of 330 New Rome ; but this title was soon exchanged for A.D. that borne ever since Constantinople. One result of this great change, which reduced Rome to a second-rate city, was to concentrate for a time, in the old capital, more intensely than ever, all the bitterness of paganism. The new capital soon became the centre of a separate empire, which survived the old for nearly a thousand years. The new policy of Constantine was marked by three chief features. 1. He scattered titles of nobility with an unspar- ing hand, so that there was no end of " Illustrious," " Re- spectable," " Most Honourable,"' " Most Perfect," " Egregi- ous," men about the court. The Asiatic fashion of piling up adjectives and nouns to make swelling names of honour became all the rage ; and on every side was heard, " Your Gravity," or " Your Sincerity," or " Your Sublime and Won- derful Magnitude." 2. He laid direct and heavier taxes upon the people Forty millions were poured into his treasury every year. These taxes, paid chiefly in gold, but also in kind, were collected by the Curials, men high in the magis- tracy of the towns ; and if there was any deficiency, they were compelled to make it up out of their own property. 3. In the army great and fatal changes were made. The military service was separated from the civil government, and placed under the direction of eight Masters-General The famous legions were broken up into small bands. Num- bers of Goths and other "barbarians were enlisted in the 30 DEATH AND CHARACTER OF CONSTANTINE. Roman service, and taught to use arms, which they after- wards turned upon their masters. And a distinction was made between the troops of the court and the troops of the frontier. The latter, bearing all the hard blows, received but scanty rewards ; while the former, rejoicing in high pay, and living in cities among baths and theatres, speedily lost all courage and skill. The last years of Constantine were occupied with a suc- cessful war against the Goths, undertaken in aid of the Sar- matians. Three hundred thousand of the latter nation were settled under Roman protection in Thrace and Macedonia, no doubt to serve as a rampart against the encroachments of other tribes. 337 Constantine died at Nicornedia, aged sixty-four. A.D. He is said to have been baptized on his death-bed by an Arian bishop. According to his own last re- quest, his body was carried over to Constantinople; and, while it lay there on a golden bed, a poor mockery of king- ship, crowned and robed in purple, every day, at the usual hour of levee, the great officers of state came to bow before the lifeless clay. When we strip away the tinsel with which Eusebius and similar writers have decked the character of this man, we are forced to believe that there was little grand or heroic about him except his military skill. He slew his father-in- law; and, in later days, meanly jealous of justly- won laurels, he hurried his eldest son, the gallant young Crispus, from a gay feast in Rome to die by a secret and sudden death. Many of his strokes of policy were terrible blunders, full of future ruin ; and his boasted profession of Christianity seems to have been scarcely better than a mere pretence, made to serve the aims of an unresting and unscrupulous ambition. EMPERORS OF THE FOURTH CENTUP.Y. 31 ROMAN EMPERORS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. A.D. CONSTANTIUS and GALERIUS 305 CONSTANTINE THE GREAT 306 He Sole Emperor 324 CONSTANTINE II., CONSTANS, and CONSTANTIUS II 337 JULIAN (the Apostate) 361 JOVIAN 363 WEST. A.D. VALENTINIAN 364 GRATIAN 367 VALENTINIAN H 375 HONORIUS .395 EAST. A.D. VALENS 364 THEODOSIUS 379 ARCADIUS 395 32 JULIAN THE APOSTATE. CHAPTER V. THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. Central Point : THE SACK OF ROME BY ALARIC THE GOTH, 410 A.D. Early life of Julian. His great aim. Death and character. Goths settled in Thrace. Death of Valens. Reign of Theodosius. Court at Ravenna. Three barbarian chiefs. Alaric the Goth. Britain, Spain, and Gaul lost. Vandals seize Africa. Attila the Hun. Genseric the Vandal. Ricimer. Last days of Pagan Rome Causes of its fall AFTER the confused and bloody reign of the three sons of Constantine, Julian, the apostate, became emperor. He was the nephew of Constantine. Narrowly escaping the massacre by which Constantine cut off so many uncles and cousins, he spent his early life in Asia Minor, .where he was educated to be a Christian priest. But his later residence at Athens, where he studied deeply the philosophy of Plato, hardened him into a heathen. He began public life as governor of Gaul. At Lutetia (now Paris) he was saluted Augustus by his soldiers ; and in the next year became emperor at the age of thirty (361). To raise the fallen gods was his great aim ; and to this he bent all the energies of no mean mind. He wrote satires against the Christians. He forbade them to teach schools. He shut their churches, and tried to fill the deserted shrines of Venus and Bacchus. But his scorn, and his anger, and his learning were all thrown away. Amongst other efforts he tried to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, in order thus to prove those prophecies false, in which the Christians trusted. But balls of fire, bursting again and again from the earth, drove his workmen from the spot, as often as they began to build. Julian died in the far East. In a skirmish with the Per- sians a dart struck him in the side, and he expired in his tent next night (363). Though we pity the poor little philo- sopher, who hugged darkness so obstinately to his soul. THE GOTHS ALLOWED TO PASS THE DANUBE. 83 while the Dayspring from on high was brightening round him, we cannot help laughing at his wretched vanity, when he speaks fondly in one of his books of his frowsy, uncombed hair, long nails, and ink-black hands, as if these were essen- tial marks of genius and learning. The final division of the empire under Valens and Valen- tinian has been already noticed. While the former ruled the East, the Goths most civilized of the German tribes gained a footing south of the Danube. A host of ugly Calmuo savages, with flat noses and little, deep-sunk, black eyes, had swept down from the chilly tablelands of Siberia upon the hamlets of the Goths, who lived where Moldavia and Walla- chia now lie. These were the Huns. First overcoming the Alans dwellers on the sandy steppes between the Volga and the Tanais (Don) and filling their ranks with these conquered hordes, they fell upon the Goths, whose leaders were speedily slain or driven back before the rush. In despair the Goths flung themselves on the pity of Valens, asking leave, in the humblest terms, to place the Danube between them and their hideous foes. Leave was granted, on condition that they should give up their children, and their arms. The bargain was struck at once ; Koman boats were provided; and for many days and nights the broad river was torn into foam by the splash of 376 unceasing oars. The fugitives, surrendering their A.D. children with little concern, gladly paid away all they had as bribes to the Roman officers, for leave to keep their arms ; and so nearly a million of fierce and hungry warriors settled sword in hand within one of the great natural fron- tiers of the empire. Two years afterwards a Gothic army, under Fritigern, one of their judges or leaders, penetrated Thrace, and inflicted a severe defeat on the troops of Valens near Adrianople. The emperor himself, carried bleeding to a cottage close by, was there burnt by these remorseless foes. Theodosius, a Spaniard by birth, became emperor in 379. Invested by Gratian with the purple of the East, he set himself at once to repel the inroads of the Goths ; and in four campaigns, by timely movements from his head quar- ters at Thessalonica, he broke for the time at least the (47) 3 34 THE THREE GREAT BARBARIANS. strength of these barbarians. The leading principle of his policy was to preserve unbroken the great frontier line, naturally marked out as the northern boundary of the empire by Mount Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Danube, and the Ehine. He was the first Roman emperor who was baptized in the true Trinitarian faith ; and is further re- markable for having put down, by rigorous laws, the last remnants of Paganism, and the Arian heresy, of which Con- stantinople was the chief seat and centre. But a rash and lawless massacre of the Thessalonians casts a dark blot upon his fame. He died of dropsy at Milan in 395. Nothing now stood between the Western Empire and ruin. So far back as the days of Maximian, Milan, in the rich plain of northern Italy, had been chosen as an imperial resi- dence. And now, when Arcadius and Honorius, the feeble sons of Theodosius, shared the empire between them, the latter, terrified by the advance of Alaric the Goth, fled to Ravenna, a city on the Adriatic shore, some miles south of the Po, securely guarded by impassable swamps ; and there the shrunken and faded glory of the Caesars flickered for a few miserable years, during which the ancient capital, deserted and unhappy, suffered every imaginable insult. Alaric the Goth, Attila the Hun, and Genseric the Vandal were the great leaders of the barbarians who overthrew Rome. Starting from Thrace in 396, Alaric, a Visigoth of noble race and Christian faith, overran all Greece. The Vandal, Stilicho, the chief of the Roman generals in the West, was sent to oppose him ; but the wily Goth escaped into Epirus, where he was hoisted on a shield by his soldiers, according to their national mode of electing a king. There, too, he received from Arcadius the title, Master-General of 403 Eastern Illyricum. His next move was upon north- A.D. era Italy. Honorius fled from Milan to Asti, and would have been captured there, but for the rapid advance of Stilicho. The Goths, beaten at Pollentia and Verona, left Italy for a time. But, five years later, they marched unopposed to the very walls of Rome. Stilicho, the only match for Alaric, had just been murdered by his Benseless master. Famine and plague raged within the city, until the Gothic king, agreeing to accept a ransom, retired SACK OF HOME BY ALARIC. 35 fco Tuscany, loaded with all the gold, silver, silk, scarlet cloth, and pepper, that could be gathered in Rome. Honoring, secure in Ravenna, refused to save Rome by any concessions; and the Goths, seizing Ostia at the Tiber's mouth, again summoned the capital to surrender. This second siege was averted by the citizens agreeing to receive as a new emperor, Attains, the prefect of the city, who was nominated by Alaric. But this puppet ruler was soon degraded by the same strong hand that had set him up. Then, a band of Goths being cut to pieces near Ravenna, the long-black- ening storm at length burst over Rome. In the Ang. 24, dead of night hostile trumpets blew for the first 410 time in her sleeping streets. And after six days of A.D. bloodshed and pillage, the clumsy baggage waggons of Alaric went creaking southward along the Appian way, piled high with the richest spoils of Rome. All southern Italy was soon subdued ; but, before the conquering hordes could pass into Sicily, their leader died at Cozenza in Cala- bria. To make his grave a river was turned aside; and when the water was again let flow into its bed over the dead king, the prisoners who had built his tomb were slain, that no one might be able to tell where the conqueror of Rome was laid. And now the great Western Empire was dissolving fast. Early in the fifth century three fragments broke off from the decaying trunk, not to die, but to start up with new and fresher life into three great kingdoms. Britain was left to itself. Spain was conquered by Sueves, Alans, and Vandals. Gaul was filled with Goths, Burgundians, and Franks. Adolph, brother-in-law of Alaric, marched under the colours of Honorius, whose sister he had married, to rescue Spain ; but he was murdered at Barcelona. Africa, too, was lost. The Roman general Boniface, re- volting from Valentinian III., called Genseric and his Van- dals over from Spain. Crossing the strait in Spanish vessels, the barbarian leader reviewed a motley force of 50,000 on the Moorish plains. Vandals, Alans, Goths, were all there. Tawny Moors, who at first had looked on the white faces with fear, gradually joined their ranks. And the Donatists, a religious sect writhing .under persecution. 36 ATTILA THE HUM. gladly welcomed a protector in the Arian Genseric. Boni- face, repenting of his haste only when it was too late, saw with dismay all the rich wheat-fields, upon which Rome de- pended mainly for her bread, laid waste from Tangier to Tripoli. In 431 Hippo Regius, a sea-port now called Bona, was burnt. Boniface, sailing to Italy, fell in battle with his rival Aetius. Carthage yielded to Genseric in 439 ; and soon African exiles were seen all through Italy and the East. Meanwhile Attila, a genuine Hun with ugly face and strong squat frame, had gone forth from his log-house on the plain of Hungary at the head of half a million savages to conquer the world. Westward to the Rhine, northward to the Baltic, eastward far beyond the Caspian, the terror of his name spread fast ; and ere long we find him in the suburbs of Constantinople, dictating insulting terms of peace to the trembling Theodosius II. (446). A year or two later, after the Huns had gone home, an embassy was sent over the Danube by the court of Constantinople to visit Attila in his wooden palace. Among them was an assassin, secretly charged to murder the royal Hun : and this was the real business of the embassy. Though the treacherous design was detected, they were entertained with barbaric splendour, and the would-be murderer was dismissed with con- tempt. In 450 Attila sent to both emperors the haughty message, " Attila commands thee to prepare a palace for his recep- tion." Marcian, Emperor of the East, from whom arrears of tribute were also demanded, replied with spirit, " I have gold for my friends, and steel for my enemies." And so the Hun, preferring to begin with the easier task, fell upon the West. Honoria, a disgraced sister of Valentinian, maddened by her tedious banishment to Constantinople, had before this sent him a ring, praying him to claim her as his wife, and set her free. Seizing this pretext, he demanded in her name half of the Western Empire, which was of course refused. Then gathering his Huns round him, he crossed the Rhine, pierced to the centre of Gaul, and began to shake the walla of Orleans with his battering-rams. Terror filled the town, until clouds of dust on the horizon marked the quick advance HOME PILLAGED HY GENSEKJC. 37 of a Roman and Gothic army under Aetius and Theodoric. Attila retreated at once to the plain of Chalons ; and there was fought one of the decisive battles of 451 the world, resulting in the defeat of the Huns. Thus A.D. worsted in Gaul, Attila climbed the Alps into Italy. Aquileia and other cities were laid in heaps. Milan and Pa via were robbed, but left standing ; and when the Hun was preparing to march upon Rome, Bishop Leo came with offers from the emperor to give up the required dowry or its value in money. Awestruck by the majesty of the priest, and remembering, no doubt, that his soldiers were becoming unstrung by the luxury of Italian life, and that the active Aetius was threatening him at every move, he agreed to re- turn to Hungary, where soon afterwards he broke a blood- vessel. So died one, whose savage boast it was that grass never grew on a spot where his horse had trodden (453). His great empire, torn by intestine wars, and pressed on by hordes of Ugri and Avars from Mount Ural, then fell to pieces. While Attila was threatening Rome on the north, Genseric, who was in alliance with the Hun, had cut down the woods of Mount Atlas, and built a fleet. Sweeping the Mediter- ranean, he conquered Sicily, made frequent descents upon the Italian coasts, and in 455, at the invitation of Eudoxia, who had been forced to marry Maximus, he cast anchor at the mouth of the Tiber. The purple, still called imperial, though sadly torn and bedraggled, had then been worn by Maximus for about three months. While the Vandals were advancing from Ostia to Rome, Bishop Leo, remembering his influence over Attila, came out to meet them at the head of his clergy. But this could not save the city now. For fourteen days Vandals and Moors wrecked and 455 pillaged without mercy. Exquisite bronzes were A.D. melted down ; glorious works of sculpture and archi- tecture were wantonly dashed to pieces. Shiploads of treasure and crowds of captives were carried over the sea to Carthage. Why should we dwell on the sad story? For sixteen years (456-472) all real power rested with Ricimer, a bar- barian soldier, who during that time set up four emperors. 38 FALL Of THE WESTERN EMPIRE. There was a gleam of hope when Majorian, first of these, made good laws, and relieved the pressure of the taxes ; but it faded in 461, when he died. Then came a time of worse perplexity and terror. In 472, forty days before his death. Ricimer sacked Rome. Three more inglorious names were added to the roll of emperors, that of Romulus Augustulus closing the list. He was a handsome youth, but he was no- thing more ; and when Odoacer, a G-oth of the tribe Heruli, came at the head of the Italian soldiers, threatening him in Ravenna, he yielded ignobly, content to retire to the villa of Lucullus at Misenum with a pension of 6000 pieces 476 of gold. Then, " when Odoacer was proclaimed king A.D. of Italy, the phantom assembly, which still called it- self the Roman Senate, sent back to Constantinople the tiara and purple robe, in sign that the Western Empire had passed away." * The division of the empire has been blamed as a great cause of this catastrophe ; but truer causes were the oppres- sion of its own unwieldy weight and the canker of vicious luxury that had long been eating away the strength of its inner life. An empire, thus doubly enfeebled, with patched and rotten barriers, could not long withstand the unceasing tide of hardy tribes that came pouring, wave upon wave, from the swamps and forests of the north. THE LAST EMPERORS OF ROME. HONORIUS VALENTINIAN III 425 MAXIMUS 455 AVITUS 456 MAJORIAN 457 LIBIUS SEVERUS 461 ANTHEMIUS 467 OLYBIUS 472 GLYCERIUS 473 JULIUS NEPOS 474 ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS 475-6 White's Eighteen Christian CejQturiao. ROMAN HOUSES AND FURNITURE, CHAPTER VI. DOMESTIC LIFE IN IMPERIAL ROME. Roman houses. Furniture. Slaves. Malt dress. Female dress. Meals and food. Manner of eating. Garlands and wine. Baths. Travelling. Chariot-races. Gladiators. In-door games. Books and letters. Marriage. Funeral rites. A GOOD idea of a first-class Roman house may be got by visiting the Poinpeiian Court in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. The principal apartments were on the ground- floor. Passing through the unroofed vestibule, often between rows of graceful statues, a visitor entered the house through a doorway ornamented with ivory, tortoise-shell, and gold. On the threshold, worked in mosaic marble, was the kind word, " Salve ;" while behind the door, where the porter sat, was a dog, or its picture, with the warning, e 'Cave canem" Then came the atrium, or great central re- ception-room, separated from its wings by lines of pillars. Here were placed the ancestral images ; and here, too, was the focus, a family fire-place dedicated to the Lares. In the centre of this, or perhaps of an inner hall, was a cistern, into which the rain plashed through an opening in the roof. Further in lay a large saloon called the peristyle, while smaller rooms for eating and sleeping were placed according to fancy or convenience. The floor, though sometimes boarded, was generally a mosaic of coloured marble, tiles, or glass ; the walls, whitewashed in the old simple days of the early Republic, were now carved and painted, or perhaps glittered with costly mirrors ; gilt and coloured stucco- work adorned the ceilings ; while the window-frames were filled with talc or glass. On the roofs were gardens, bright with leaf and blossom. In houses like these might be found ivory bedsteads, with quilts of purple and gold ; tables of precious wood cedar, citron, or cypress supported on marble pedestals; side- boards of gold and silver, loaded with plate, amber 40 ROMAN SLAVES AND DRESS. beakers of Corinthian bronze, and glass vessels from Alex- andria, whose tints rivalled the opal and the ruby. The household work was done by slaves of various classes. In earlier times a few sufficed ; but in the days of the Empire it was thought a disgrace not to have a slave for every separate kind of work. And so, besides those who managed the purse, the cellar, the bed-rooms, and the kitchen, there were slaves to carry the litter, or to attend as their masters walked abroad. Some, of higher pretensions, were physi- cians, secretaries, and readers. Then, for amusement, there were musicians, dancers, buffoons, and even idiots. But all may be ranked under two heads bought slaves, and born slaves. There was a slave-market, in which the common sort were sold like cattle ; but the more beautiful or valuable were disposed of by private bargain in the taverns. Prices ranged from 4 to 800. The most remarkable garment of the Romans was the toga, made of pure white wool, and in shape resembling a segment of a circle ; narrow at first, it was folded, so that one arm rested as in a sling; but in later days it was draped in broad, flowing folds round the breast and left arm, leav- ing the right nearly bare. Though its use in the streets was in later times exchanged for a mantle of warm, coloured cloth, called pallium, or lacerna, yet it continued to be the Roman full-dress ; and in the theatre, when the emperor was present, all were expected to wear it. The later emperors wore braccae, or loose trousers tied about the ankle a fashion borrowed from the barbarians. These were commonly crim- son; but Alexander Severus wore white. The Romans always kept the head uncovered, except on a journey, or when they wished to escape notice. Then they wore a dark-coloured hood, which was fastened to the lacerna. In the house soleae were strapped to the bare feet ; but abroad the calceus, nearly resembling our shoe, was commonly worn. On the gold-finger, the fourth of the left hand, every Roman of rank had a massive signet-ring. There were fops who loaded every finger with jewels ; and we are told of one poor fellow who was so far gone in foppery, as to have a set of lighter rings for summer wear, when his delicate frame could not bear the weight of his winter jewels. FEMALE DRESS MEALS. 41 The dress of Roman ladies consisted of three parts an inner tunic, the stola, and the palla. The stola, which was the distinctive dress of Roman matrons, was a tunic with short sleeves, girt round the waist, and ending in a deep flounce, which swept the instep. The palla, a gay- coloured mantle, was worn out of doors. It was often sky- blue, sprinkled with golden stars. The brightest colours were chosen ; so that an assembly of Roman belles, in full dress, was a brilliant scene, sparkling with scarlet and yellow, purple and pale green. The hair, encircled with a garland of roses, was fastened with a gold pin. Pearls and gold adorned the neck and arms. A favourite bracelet was a golden serpent with ruby eyes, such as may be seen on many a white arm in our own drawing-rooms. To many in the degenerate ages of Rome the great ends of life were to eat the most delicious food, and to eat of it as much as possible. Gluttony had grown upon the people from their intercourse with Asia. Roman meals were three jentaculum, prandium, and coena. Jentaculum, taken soon after rising, consisted of bread, dried grapes or olives, cheese, and perhaps milk and eggs. At prandium, the mid-day meal, they partook of fish, eggs, and dishes cold or warmed up from last night's supper. Then, too, some wine was drunk. But coena was the principal meal, taken about the ninth hour, and on the whole corresponding to our dinner. It began with eggs, fish, and light vegetables, such as radishes and lettuces, served up with tasty sauces, all being intended merely to whet the appetite for the more substantial dishes to follow. Then came the courses (fercula), of which, in all their wonderful variety, no just idea can be given here. Among fish, turbot, sturgeon, and red mullet, were greatly prized ; among birds, the peacock, pheasant, woodcock, thrush, and fig-pecker. The favourite flesh-meat was young pork ; but venison was also in great demand. The courses were followed by a dessert of pastry and fruit. While eating, the Romans reclined upon low couches, which were arranged in the form triclinium, making three sides of a square. The open space was left for the slaves to place or remove the dishes. The place of honour was on the middle bench. In later times round tables became 42 WINE PARTIES AND BATHS. common, and then semi-circular couches were used. There were no table-cloths ; but the guests wore over the breast a linen napkin (mappa\ which they brought with them. Instead of knives and forks two spoons were used one, cochlear, small and pointed at the end of the handle ; the other, ligula, larger, and of uncertain shape. The splendour of a Roman feast was greatly marred by the oil-lamps, the only light then used. The lamps themselves were exquisite in shape and material, as were all the table utensils, but the dripping oil soaked the table, while the thick smoke black- ened the walls and ceiling, and rested in flakes of soot upon the dresses of the guests. At feasts, instead of the toga, short dresses of red, or other bright colours were worn. Before the drinking ' began, chaplets were handed round. For these, roses, myrtle, violets, ivy, and even parsley were used. Before they were put on, slaves anointed the hair with nard and other sweet unguents. Wine was almost the only drink used. Before being brought to table it was generally strained through a metal sieve or linen bag filled with snow, and was called black or white according to its colour, just as we talk of red and white wines. The famous Falernian was of a bright amber tint. Besides pure wine they drank mulsum, a mix- ture of new wine with honey, and calda, answering to our negus, made of warm water, wine, and spice. The Romans spent much time in their splendid baths. The cold plunge in the Tiber, which had braced the iron muscles of their ancestors, gave place, under the Empire, to a most luxurious and elaborate system of tepid and vapour bathing, often repeated seven and eight times a day. At the baths the gossip of the day was exchanged, as was done in English coffee-houses a hundred years ago, and as is now done in our clubs and news-rooms. Their many slaves enabled the Romans to travel luxuri- ously. The favourite conveyance was a wooden palanquin (lectica) with leathern curtains, within which the traveller lay soft on mattress and pillows. They had cabs and carriages as many, if not so elegant, as ours ; and there was no want of hack vehicles and post-horses. Inns were used chiefly by the lower classes ; for, except in cases of neces- CHARIOTEERS AND GLADIATORS. 43 eity, respectable travellers lodged at the houses of private friends. The theatre, with its tragedies and comedies, the circus, and the amphitheatre, supplied the Romans with their chief public amusements. At the circus they betted on their favourite horses or charioteers; at the amphitheatre they revelled in the bloody combats of gladiators. Four chariots generally started together. The drivers, distin- guished by dresses of different colours, stood in the cars, leaning back, with the reins passed round their bodies, and a sharp knife in the belt to cut the thong if anything went wrong. On they whirled amid clouds of dust, seven times round the course, shaving the goal amid the thunders of the excited crowd. A large sum of money was generally the prize. The most brutal of all Roman pastimes were the gladia- torial combats. At the trumpet's sound throngs of wretched men captives, slaves, or convicted criminals closed in deadly strife. The trodden sand soon grew red; yet on they fought with parched lips and leaping hearts, for they knew that a brave fight might win for them their freedom. Erelong hacked and bleeding limbs began to fail, and dim eyes turned to seek for mercy along the crowded seats. There were times when the dumb prayer was answered, and the down-turned thumbs of the spectators gave the signal for sparing life ; but too often mercy was sought in vain, and the sword completed its work. Combats of gladiators with wild beasts often took place. Whole armies some- times thronged the scene. When Trajan triumphed after his victories in Dacia, 10,000 gladiators were exhibited at once. Another great public sight was the triumph of a victor. And here, too, blood must stream, else the pageant lost its zest. When the glittering files reached the slope of Capitolinus, the conquered leaders were led aside and slain. Among many games of exercise, playing at ball was a favourite. Within doors, much time and money were squan- dered at dice. Other more innocent amusements were vari- ous board-games, depending chiefly on skill, and resembling a good deal our chess and backgammon. 44 LETTERS MARRIAGE FUNERALS. Roman books were rolls of papyrus-bark or parchment written upon with a reed-pen, dipped in lampblack or sepia. The back of the sheet was often stained with saffron, and its edges were rubbed smooth and blackened, while the ends of the stick on which it was rolled were adorned with knobs of ivory or gilt wood. Letters were etched with a sharp iron instrument (stilus) upon thin wooden tablets, coated with wax. These were then tied up with linen thread, the knot being sealed with wax and stamped with a ring. The Romans had three forms of marriage, of which the highest was called confarreatio. The bride, dressed in a white robe with purple fringe, and covered with a bright yellow veil, was escorted by torch-light to her future home. A cake (far) was carried before her, and she bore a distaff and spindle with wool Arrived at the flower- wreathed portal, she was lifted over the threshold, lest omen of evil her foot might stumble on it. Her husband then brought fire and water, which she touched; and seated on a sheepskin, she received the keys of the house. A marriage supper closed the ceremony. Great pomp marked the funeral rites of the nobler Romans. The bier was preceded by a long procession of trumpeters, female dirge-singers, and even buffoons, all clad in black. It was only under the later emperors that white became the fashion for female mourning. In the Forum under the Rostra the bier was set down, a funeral oration was deli- vered, and then the gloomy lines wound slowly on to the burial-place. When, as was common in earlier times, the body was burned, the bones were carefully gathered, and preserved in an urn. But in later days the custom of bury- ing in a coffin was more frequently followed. GREA r NAMES OF THE FIRST PERIOD. LIVY Born 59 B.C. at Padua died 17 A.D. lived much at Rome a great historian chief work, ' History of Rome up to 9 B.C.,' originally published in 142 vols. only 35 now extant. OVID Born at Sulmo 43 B.C. a poet, works licentious his ' Metamorphoses ' are GREAT NAMES OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 46 well known banished by Augustus 8 A.D. died at Tomi, near the Euxine, 18 A.D. PEESIUS Born 34 A.D. in Etruria chief works, ' Six Satires and a Prologue ' died at about 30 years of age. SENECA Born shortly before Christ at Cordova a philosopher tutor of Nero, by whose orders he bled himself to death-^author of ' Physical Questions,' ' Epistles, 'and some say ten Tragedies. LUCAN Born at Cordova 38 A.D. only extant work, his poem of ' Pharsalia' like Seneca, sentenced as a conspirator against Nero to bleed himself to death 65 A.D. PLINY (Elder) Born 23 A.D. a distinguished naturalist once procurator of Spain suffocated during an eruption of Vesuvius 79 A.D. PLINY (Younger) Born at Comuin 62 or 63 proconsul of Bithynia a great friend of Tacitus chief works, ' Epistles ' and ' Panegyric on Trajan.' QUINTILIAN Born perhaps in North Spain a teacher of rhetoric at Rome chief work, ' In- stitutes of Oratory. TACITUS Born in Nero's reign a great historian son-in-law of Agricola, whose life he wrote author of ' Annals,' giving Ro- man history from death of Augustus to death of Nero ; and also of a work on Germany. SUETONIUS Born about Nero's reign author of many historical works only complete work extant, ' Lives of the Twelve Caesars.' JUVENAL Born about 40 A.D. a great satiric poet his satires not published till his old age little known of his life. GALEN Born in 131 at Pergamum a great ana- tomist and medical writer studied at Alexandria, and practised at Rome 137 of his works extant. TERTULLIAN Born at Carthage in A.D. 160, died A.D. 220 first of the Latin writers of the Church chief work, ' His Apology for ChriB- tians.' written about 198. 46 GREAT NAMES OF THE FIRST PERIOD. ORIGEN Born in Egypt 185 or 186- at first head of the catechetical school at Alexandria editor and commentator of the Scrip- tures supposed to have died at Tyre, aged 69. CYPRIAN Archbishop of Carthage in middle of third century martyred under Valerian. 258 chief work, 'Unity of the Church.' AMBROSE Born about 340 in Gaul Archbishop of Milan a great foe of Ariamsin chief work, 'De Omciis' died 397. EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS....Born in Palestine about 264 Bishop of Caesarea probably tainted with Arian- istn chief works, ' Ecclesiastical and Universal History,' and ' Life of Con- stantine' died 338. ATHANASIUS Born at Alexandria in end of third cen- tury Patriarch of Alexandria, 328 a great foe of Arianism, for oppos- ing which he was deposed and ban- ished wrongly called author of the Athanasian Creed. GREGORY NAZIA3TZEN....Born early in fourth century in Cappa- docia for some time assistant to his father, Bishop of Nazianzus after- wards for a while Patriarch of Constan- tinople noted as a writer of theology and religious poetry. CHRYSOSTOM (Gold-mouth, from his eloquence) born at Antioch 354 Patriarch of Constan- tinople 397 his works contain valu- able illustrations of life in the fourth and fifth centuries. JEROME Born in 340 in Dalmatia especially learned in Hebrew founder of Monas- ticism chief work, a translation of the Bible into the Latin version, called the Vulgate ; wrote also Commentaries and Lives of the Fathers died 420. A-UGUSTINE .Born in Numidia 354 Bishop of Hippo taught rhetoric for a while the great foe of Pelagius chief works, ' On the Grace of Christ,' ' Original Sin,' and his own life, in the form of ' eions' died 430. CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 47 CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIRST PERIOD. B.C Birth of our Saviour 4 FIRST CENTURY. A.D. Tiberius becomes Emperor 14 The Crucifixion 29 The name Christians first used at Antioch 40 Claudius invades Britain 43 First Persecution of Christians (at Rome) 64 Destruction of Jerusalem 70 Agricola commands in Britain 78 Second Persecution (Rome and Syria) 95 SECOND CENTURY. Trajan subdues the Dacians 103 Third Persecution (Bithynia) 110 Fourth Persecution (Asia Minor) 118 Jerusalem restored under the name 2Elia Capitolina 137 Fifth Persecution (Smyrna) M artyrdom of Polycarp 167 Sixth Persecution (Lyons) 177 THIRD CENTURY. Seventh Persecution (Egypt) 202 Death of Severus at York 211 Eighth Persecution (Asia Minor) 236 Ninth Persecution (Rome and Pro-vinces) 250 Tenth Persecution (Rome and Africa) 258 Capture of Antioch by Sapor 261 Defeat of Zenobia, and Capture of Palmyra by Aurelian 273 Division of the Empire between Diocletian and Maximian 286 Britain independent under Carausius and Allectus 288^300 FOURTH CENTURY. Eleventh Persecution, beginning at Nicomedia 303 Accession of Constantino 306 Six Emperors at once 308 Constantine sole ruler 324 First General Council held at Nicaea 325 Dedication of Constantinople 330 Division of the Empire under Valens and Valentinian 364 Goths allowed to settle in Thrace 376 Second General Council held at Constantinople 381 Paganism abolished by law 394 Arcadius rules the East; Honorius th West 395 48 CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIRST PERIOD. FIFTH CENTURY. A.D. Rome sacked by Alaric. 410 Romans leave Britain Pharamond, King of the Franks 418 Third General Council at Ephesus 431 Vandals take Carthage 439 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade Britain 449 Fourth General Council at Chalcedon 451 Battle of Chalons between Romans and Goths under Aetius and Theodoric, and Huns under Attila 451 Pxraie sacked by the Vandals 455 Fall of the Western Empire, 507 years after Battle of Actium, and 1229 from the building of Rome 476 THEOPOKIC RULES ITALY. 49 SECOND PERIOD. FROM THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE TO THE ACCESSION OF CHARLEMAGNE. CHAPTER I. THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN. Central Point: THE ROMAN LAW SIMPLIFIED, 529 A.D. to 533 A.D. Theodoric the Ostrogoth. Clovis the Frank. Accession of Justinian. Conquest of Africa. Belisarius besieged in Rome. Conquers Italy. His disgrace. Again in Italy. His last days. Narses destroys the Ostro- gothic kingdom. Legislation of Justinian. The riot Nika. Justinian's character. The Lombard invasion. Alboin, King of Italy. ODOACEB, held the throne of Italy until 493, when he perished at Eavenna by the sword of Theodoric the Ostrogoth. Under the wise rule of the victor, whose chief adviser was the learned Cassiodorus, Italy revived. A waste and ruined land was soon loaded with purple grapes and yellow corn. Fair buildings rose. Once more gold and iron were dug from the earth. Komans and Ostrogoths lived in peace and plenty, although a broad line, jealously preserved by the policy of Theodoric, kept them apart. The fair-haired Goths, still wearing their furs and brogues, carried the sword ; while the Komans, wrapped in the flowing toga, held the pen and filled the schools. So passed three and thirty years, until Theodoric died in 526, and then frightful scenes of blood were enacted over his fallen throne. Some time before Theodoric's descent upon Italy, a Frank, called Chlod wig or Clovis (the name was afterwards softened into Louis), crossed the Somme, and drove pell-mell before him Romans, Burgundians, and Visigoths, never resting (47) 50 ACCESSION OF JUSTINIAN. until his dominion stretched from the delta of the Rhine to the Pyrenees. During his career of victory he was baptized a Christian at Rheims in 496. Soon afterwards he fixed his capital at Paris, where he died in 511. The old church is still pointed out, in which this founder of the French monarchy was buried. It is worth remembering that Theodoric married the sister of Clovis. During these events young Justinian was growing up in Constantinople. An uncle, Justin, a stalwart peasant of Dacia, enlisting in early life among the guards of Leo, had risen to be Emperor of the East. By him Justinian was educated, adopted, and in 527 crowned. Belisarius soon became the foremost name of the age. The first laurels of this great general were won in Persia ; he was then chosen to lead an expedition against the Van- dals of Africa. Landing there, within the same Sept. month he led his troops into Carthage, which blazed 533 with torches of welcome. Gelimer, the Vandal king^ A.D. after a vain attempt to retrieve his fortunes, fled to the Numidian mountains, but was soon starved into a surrender, and carried to Constantinople to grace the victor's triumph. Among the spoils were the vessels of the Jewish Temple, which, carried to Eome by Titus, had been brought to Carthage by the pirate Genseric, and were now placed in the Christian Church at Jerusalem. But the greatest achievement of Belisarius was the con- quest of Italy, by which for a short time the East and the West were re-united under one sovereign. The sub- 536 dual of Sicily, the capture of Naples and of Rome, A.D. mark the steps of victory by which he drove the Goths northward before him. Mustering the whole strength of their nation at Ravenna, under their king Vitiges, they marched to besiege Belisarius in Rome. And then the genius of this great commander shone with its brightest lustre. In the first assault the Goths were nearly successful ; but Belisarius, fighting dusty and blood-stained in the front of the battle, turned back the tide of war. After many days of busy preparation, another grand assault was made. Hastily the walls were manned ; and, as the giant lines came on, Belisarius himself, shooting the first THE CAREEK OF BELISARIUS. 51 arrow, pierced the foremost leader. A second shaft, from the Barne true hand, laid another low. And then a whole cloud, aimed only at the oxen which drew the towers and siege- train towards the wall, brought the attacking army to a complete stand-still. It was a decided check ; and, though the siege dragged on for more than a year, every effort of the Goths was met and foiled with equal skill. So hot was the defence at times, that matchless statues were often broken up, and hurled from the wall upon the Goths below. About the middle of the siege, the Pope Sylverius, convicted of having sent a letter to the Goths, promising to open one of the gates to them, was banished from the city. And at last the besiegers, worn out with useless toil, burnt their tents and fell back to Ravenna, where before long they yielded to the triumphant Illyrian, at whose feet all 539 Italy then lay. Milan, a city second only to Rome, A.D. had been destroyed the year before by a host of Franks, who rushed down from the Alps to aid the Goths, and enrich themselves with the plunder of the plain. Through all these brilliant achievements Belisarius had been greatly vexed and hampered by intriguing rivals, especially the ambitious Narses. And now his star began to pale. In two campaigns (541-42), he drove back over the Euphrates the Persian king JSTushirvan, who had ruined Antioch, and was planning a raid upon Jerusalem. A re- port having reached the camp that Justinian was dying, the general let fall some rash words, which implied that the Empress Theodora once an actress of most wicked life was unworthy to succeed to the throne. For this he was recalled, disgraced, and heavily fined, his life being spared only for the sake of his profligate wife Antonina, who was then in high favour with the empress. Sent to Italy again in 544 to oppose Totilas, a brave and clever Goth, who was making manful efforts to restore the empire of Theodoric, Belisarius was forced to stand idly by with insufficient forces, while the Goths took Rome, having reduced the citizens to feed on mice and nettles (546). He recovered the city in a month or two, and then held out against every attack ; but during the remainder of his stay in Italy his strength was frittered away in the south of the 52 DESTRUCTION OF THE OSTROGOTHTC KINGDOM. peninsula, where Totilas pressed him hard. At length in 548 he got leave to return home. Then, having narrowly escaped murder, he lived in private until 559, when he was called into the field to meet an in- road of Bulgarians, who, coming originally from Mount Ural, had crossed the frozen Danube, and were now only twenty miles from Constantinople. The stout old soldier, having beaten back the savages, came home to be treated coldly, and dismissed without thanks. Soon after, accused of plotting to murder the emperor, he was stripped of all his wealth, and imprisoned in his own house. His freedom was restored, but the death-blow had been given ; he lived only eight months longer. We are all familiar with the bent figure of a blind old man, begging for alms in the streets, though he was once the great General Belisarius, conqueror of Africa and Italy. Painters and poets have seized eagerly on the romantic story ; but it is doubted by most historians.* It was left for Narses, purse-bearer to Justinian, the rival and successor of Belisarius, to destroy the Ostrogothic king- dom in Italy. Lombards, Heruli, and Huns following his banner, he defeated and slew Totilas at Tadinae in 552, and then occupied Rome, which was taken and retaken five times during the reign of Justinian. But his task was not finished until Teias, last of the Ostrogothic kings, fell at the foot of Vesuvius. Most of the surviving Ostrogoths were then allowed to leave Italy with part of their 553 wealth. And thus, having held the peninsula for A.D. sixty years, they pass from our sight. Parses, having then repelled a swarm of Franks and Alemanni, who ravaged Italy from north to south, was made the first Exarch of Ravenna, and continued for many years to rule with prudence and vigour. It is now time we should turn to the greatest glory of Justinian's reign his reduction of Roman law to a simple and condensed system. For centuries the laws had been multiplying. Every decree of every emperor even heed- * Lord Mahon, in his Life of Belisarius, defends the story, entirely upon the authority of a writer of the eleventh century. JUSTINIAN'S SYSTEM OF ROMAN LAW. 53 less words spoken by the veriest fool or blackest villain in that most chequered line from Adrian to Justinian became a binding law. Nobody could know the law, for on any point there might be a dozen contradictory decisions. Jus- tinian set himself, with the aid of Tribonian, and other learned men, to work this chaos into order. His system consists of four great parts : 1. The Code, a condensation of all earlier systems, was first published in 529. 2. Not less valuable were the Institutes, & volume treating of the ele- ments of Eoman law, intended for students, and published in 533. 3. In the same year appeared the Digest, or Pan- dects (the latter word means " comprising all "), which in fifty volumes gave the essence of the Eoman jurisprudence. This great work was finished in three years ; and some idea of the cutting-down found needful may be gathered from the fact, that three millions of sentences were reduced to one hundred and fifty thousand. 4. The Novels embraced the new laws issued by Justinian himself. During all this reign the old rivalry between the Blue and Green factions of the Circus convulsed the capital. It reached a crisis in 532, when a destructive riot, called Nika (Victory) from the watchword of the combatants, raged for five days. Blues and Greens united against the emperor, who was on the point of fleeing, when the firmness of his wife restrained him. The Blues returned to their allegiance ; and the blood of 30,000 of their wretched foes soaked the sand of the Hippodrome. The secret of silk-making, which had been jealously guarded by the Chinese, was now made known to Europe by two monks, who brought the eggs of the silkworm from the East, hidden in a hollow cane. Jus- tinian adorned his capital with twenty-five churches, of which the chief was St. Sophia, gleaming with gems and many-coloured marble. In 541 the Roman Consulship once the world's proudest dignity, but long since dwindled into an empty title ceased to exist ; it was not, however, till three centuries later, that the " grand old name " was abolished by law. Justinian died in 565, aged eighty-three. Leaving no heirs, he was succeeded by his nephew, Justin II. He was active, temperate, good-natured ; but the slave of an im- 54 THE LOMBARD INVASION. perious and vicious wife. In his religious views he was capricious and intolerant ; in early days a persecutor of heresy in old age himself a heretic. The last great wave now rolled from the North. The Longobards, or Lombards, taking their name probably from their long spears (bardi), began to move towards the Danube. The Avars, a wandering race of archers, driven from their home on Mount Ural by the Turks of the Caspian, joined the tumultuous march. Together they fell upon the Gepidae of the Danube. The king of the ill-fated tribe was slain, and his skull made into a drinking cup by Alboin, the Loin- bard chief, who then married the daughter of the dead man. Leaving his conquests to the Avars, Alboin crossed the Alps, overran the fruitful plain ever since called Lombardy, 568 and was there raised on a shield as King of Italy. He A.D. was soon murdered at the instigation of Rosamund, his wife, whom, we are told, he forced, at a public banquet, to drink out of her father's skull. Cleph, the next king, in a reign of eighteen months extended his dominions as far south as Beneventum. Then came a gap of ten years, during which the thirty-six Lombard Dukes, among whom the conquered parts of the peninsula had been divided, ruled with remorseless cruelty. But monarchy was restored in 586 in the person of Autharis ; and for about two hundred years the Lombard Kings and the Exarchs of Ravenna, who represented the Byzantine or Eastern Empire, held Italy between them. EASTERN EMPERORS OF THE SIXTH CENTURY. ANASTASIUS JUSTIN 1 518 JUSTINIAN 1 527 A.D. JUSTIN II 565 TIBERIUS II 578 MAUEICE 582 THE EARLIEST DAYS OF THE PAPACY. CHAPTER II. THE GROWTH OF THE PAPACY. Central Point : GREGORY'S LETTER TO THE PATRIARCH OP CONSTANTINOPLE, 595 A.D. The martyr popes. Christianity a Greek worship. Appeal to Bishop of Rome. Three great founders of Papacy. Innocent and Alaric. Pelagianisra. Leo. I. Jerome, Ambrose, Augus- tine. Conversion of barbar- ians. Gregory the Great. His letter to John. Origin of popes' temporal power. OUR knowledge of the Papacy in its earliest days is very dim and uncertain. Peter, the fisherman of Galilee, who, as tradition relates, was crucified with his head downwards about 66 A.D., is claimed by the advocates of the Papal system, but without a shadow of historical proof, as first Bishop of Rome. No doubt for many a day the Bishops of Rome were humble dwellers in a mean suburb, scouted as Jews, and despised as the apostles of some wild Eastern heresy by the magnificent priesthood of Jupiter and Apollo ; and, when they did gain a place in the public eye, it was as noble witnesses for the truth, sealing their faith with their blood. Out of thirty Roman bishops of the first three cen- turies, nineteen suffered martyrdom. Thus cradled in darkness and baptized in blood, the great power of the imperial see struggled through the years of its infancy. At first the history of the Roman Church is identical with the history of Christian truth. But unhappily there came a time when streams of poison began to flow from the once pure fountain. Before the close of the first century Christian churches were scattered over all the known world. These were at first; essentially Greek in their language, their Scriptures, and their forms of worship. It was in Africa where, about 200, flourished Tertullian, first of the great Fathers who wrote in Latin that Latin Christianity may be said to have had its birth. But Rome being the centre of the civilized world, the Christian communities everywhere IHMJMM naturally to look to the Roman Bishop as a, louder in the Church. 56 PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT T. A great step in this direction was taken, when at the Council of Sardica in 343 the right of appeal to the Bishop of Rome was, though at first probably only as a temporary expedient, formally conceded. In the time of Damasus the bishopric had become a prize worth contesting, and 366 blood flowed freely during the election. Year after A.D. year consolidated and extended the power of this cen- tral see, although a powerful rival had sprung up on the Bosphorus. Innocent I., Leo I., and Gregory the Great, were the three great founders of the Papacy. While Honorius was disgracing the name of Emperor, Innocent began his pontificate.* It was soon clear from his letters to the bishops in the West, that he Innocent I. was bent on claiming for the see of Rome a 402-4 1 7 complete supremacy in all matters of discipline A.D. and usage. In the midst of his efforts to secure this end, a terrible event occurred, which had the effect of investing him with a grandeur un- known to his predecessors. Alaric and his Goths besieged Rome. Honorius was trembling amid the swamps of Ravenna ; but Innocent was within the walls of the capital ; and, deserted by her emperor, Rome centred all hope in her biishop. A ransom bought off the enemy for a while ; and, when, soon after, the great disaster of wreck and pillage fell upon the city, Innocent was absent in Ravenna, striving to stir the coward emperor to some show of manliness. He returned to evoke from the black ashes of Pagan Rome the temples of a Christian city. Thenceforward the pope was the greatest man in Rome. In the latter days of Innocent the great heresy of Pelagius began to agitate the West. This man was a Briton, who passed through Rome, Africa, and Palestine, preaching that there was no original sin ; that men, having perfect free-will, could keep all Divine commands, by the power of nature, unaided by grace. These doctrines were combated by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Africa, one of the great Fathers of the Church, whose opinions soon became the * The name Pontiff, from the Pontiiex Maximus, the chief officer of the Pagan Komau hierarchy. FATHERS OF THE LATIN CHURCH. 67 standard of orthodoxy throughout the West. Innocent, lean- ing towards Augustine, declared Pelagius a heretic, but death prevented him from doing more. By Zozimus, the next pope, Pelagius was banished, and of his end nothing is known. Leo I., a Roman by oirth, was unanimously raised to the popedom in 440. Distinguished for his stern dealings with heretics, and his energetic efforts to extend the spiritual dominion of Rome, he yet, like Inno- Leo. I. cent I., owes his great place in history to the 440-461 bold front he twice showed to the barbarians A.D. menacing Rome. The savage Attila was turned away by his majestic remonstrance; and, although his intercession with Genseric the Vandal, three years later, had less avail, it yet broke the force of the blow that fell on the hapless city. While the Papacy was thus laying the deep foundations of its authority, a host of active intellects were busy moulding its doctrines and discipline into shape. Chief among these were Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. Jerome, the secre- tary of Pope Damasus, and afterwards a monk of Beth- lehem, gave the first great impulse to that monastic system which has been so powerful an agent in spreading the doc- trines of Popery. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, vindicated the authority of the priesthood even over emperors and kings, by condemning Theodosius I. to a long and weary penance for his massacre of the Thessalonians. Augustine, already noticed, is justly called the Father of the Latin Theology. It must not be forgotten that the barbarians, who over- threw the Roman Empire, had already, with few exceptions, been converted to Christianity. The Goths were the first to receive the gospel ; other tribes followed in quick succes- sion, for the Teutonic character had, even in its barbaric phase, a groundwork of deep thoughtfulness, which secured a ready acceptance for Christianity. And when the barbaric flood had swept away every vestige of Roman temporal power, the Papacy, cherished by that very destroying power, continued to grow, gathering every year new strength and life, a new Rome rising from the ashes of the old, far mightier than the vanished Empire, for it claimed doniinioi) 58 GREGOEY THE GREAT. over the spirits of men. In Gregory the Great, who "became pope in 590, we behold the third great founder of the Papacy, and the fourth of the great Fathers of Latin Christianity. He it was, who, while yet a humble monk of St. Andrew, being struck with the beauty of some English boys in the Roman slave market, formed the design of sending a mission to Britain ; and some years afterwards de- Gregory I. spatched Augustine to these shores. All the 5 9 0-6 04 West felt his energy. Spain, Africa, and Britain, A.D. were brought within the pale of the Church, while Jews and heretics were treated with mild toleration. A notable fact of this pontificate was Gregory's letter to John, Patriarch of Constantinople, who openly claimed the title of Universal Bishop. Gregory branded it as a blasphemous name, once applied, in honour of 595 St. Peter, by the Council of Chalcedon to the Roman A.D. Bishop, but by all succeeding pontiffs rejected as injurious to the rest of the priesthood. War with the Lombards filled Gregory's hands with troubles ; but in no long time these fierce warriors felt a power, against which their swords were worthless, casting its spells over them. In the days of Gregory they were converted from being heathens, or at best reckless Arians, to orthodox Christianity. He died in 604, leaving a name, as priest, ruler, and writer, second to none in the long roll of popes. One hundred and fifty years later, when Pepin the Short made Pope Stephen II. a present of the Exarchate and Pentapolis in North Italy, the temporal power of the popes began. KA11LY LIFE OF MAHOMET. 69 CHAPTER TIL MAHOMET AND HIS CREED. Central Point: THE HEGIRA, 622 A.D. Arabia and the Arabs. Mahomet's early life. Proclaims his creed. The Hegira. Battles of Beder and Ohod. Capture of Chaibar. Battle of Muta. Occupation of Mecca. War in Syria. Death of Mahomet, The Koran and Sonna. Moslem belief. Religious duties. Caliphate of Aba Beker Caliphate of Omar. Moslem victories at sea. Election of AIL Siege of Constantinople. Conquest of Northern Africa. THE Arabs of the sixth century were not unlike what they are now. The sandy table-land, which fills the centre of the peninsula, was dotted with the encampments of roving Bedouins, whose black tents nestled under the shade of acacia and date-tree, only so long as grass grew green and fresh round the well of the oasis. The fringes, of low coast land were filled with busy hives of traders and husbandmen. Mingled with these were men of many races, Persians, Jews, and Greeks, scraps of whose various creeds had come to be woven up with the native worship of sun and stars. The great temple was the Caaba at Mecca, in whose wall was fixed a black stone, said by tradition to have been a petrified angel, once pure white, but soon blackened by the kisses of sinners. Strongly marked in the national character was a vein of wild poetry, and their wandering habits predisposed them for plunder and war. Among this people a child was born in 571 in the city of Mecca. His father, Abdallah, of the great tribe Koreish, was one of the hereditary keepers of the Caaba. His mother, Amina, was of the same noble race. Left an orphan at six, the little Mahomet passed into the care of a merchant uncle, Abu Taleb, whose camel driver and salesman he grew up to be. So it happened that in early life he took many journeys with the caravans for Syria and Yemen, and filled his mind with the wild traditions of the desert. At twenty-five he undertook to manage the business of a rich widow, Cadijah, whose iorty years did not prevent her from looking with 60 THE FLIGHT FftOM MECCA. fond eyes upon her clever, handsome steward. They were married, and lived an uneventful life, until in his fortieth year Mahomet proclaimed himself a prophet. For some years before this he was in the habit of retiring often to a moun- tain cave for secret thought and study. Then to his wife, his cousin Ali, his servant Zeid, 611 and his friend, Abu Beker, he told his strange story. A.D. Gabriel had come from God, had revealed to him wonderful truths, and had commissioned him to preach a new religion, of which the sum was to be, " There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet." This faith he called Islam, an infinitive denoting homage or surrender, and ex- pressing the believer's relation towards God. The word Moslem (corrupted into Mussulmaun), is from the same root salm. to pay homage. In three years he gained only forty followers. Then, bent cipon a wider sphere, he invited his leading kinsmen to his house, and there proclaimed his mission, demanding to know which of them would be his vizier. None but Ali, a boy of fourteen, the son of Abu Taleb, answered the call ; the rest laughed at the madman and his silly cousin. All the weight of the tribe Koreish was opposed to him, until ridicule and persecution drove him from the city. Taking refuge in his old uncle's castle, he continued to preach Islam in the face of their anger, and even returned to Mecca for a while. But the death of his protector, Abu Taleb, left him naked to the rage of his enemies ; and when the leaders of Koreish laid a plot to murder him, each swearing to plunge a July 16, sword in his body, he fled at midnight, leaving Ali 622 on his bed, wrapped in a green robe to deceive the A.D. murderers. After hiding in a cave for three days with Abu Beker, he reached Medina, where many of his converts lived. This was the great Mahometan era called Hegira, or the Flight, from which Moslems have since reckoned the years. In Medina the prophet built his first mosque, beneath whose palm-wood roof his own body was to be laid in the grave, ten years later. Thus the preaching of Islam began to radiate from a new centre. But a great change came. The dreamer and meek preacher for thirteen years turned into a red-handed soldier. Islam BATTLES OF BEDER AND OHOD. 61 "became a religion of the sword. " The sword," cried Ma- homet, " is the key of heaven and hell;" and ever since never more loudly and ruthlessly than in our own day at Lucknow and Cawnpore that fierce gigantic lie has been pealing its war-note in the Moslem heart. His earliest attacks were upon the caravans of his ancient enemies, the Koreish. In the Valley of Beder he fell with 314 men upon nearly 1000 Meccans, who had hurried out to protect a rich camel-train from Syria. The 624 caravan escaped; but its defenders were driven in A.D. headlong rout into Mecca. Among the spoils was a sword of fine temper, which was in the prophet's hand in al] his future battles. Next year he was defeated and wounded in the face at Mount Ohod, a few miles north of Medina. This was a heavy blow, but the elastic spirit of the warlike apostle rose bravely beneath it, although he had now to struggle not alone against the Koreish, but against the Jews, who mustered strong in northern Arabia. From Medina, now fortified with a deep moat, he beat back a great host, headed by Abu Sofian, prince of the Koreish. So greatly was his name now feared, that, when he approached Mecca in the holy month with 1400 warlike pilgrims, an embassy from the Koreish offered peace. A treaty for ten years was made, of which one condition was that he and his followers should have leave to visit Mecca, on pilgrimage for three days at a time. He then turned his sword upon Chaibar, the Jewish capital of northern Arabia, where, we are told, the bearded Ali, glittering with scarlet and steel in the front of the battle, having lost his buckler, tore a heavy gate from its hinges, and bore it as a shield all day. The fortress was taken ; but it was near being a dearly bought conquest to the prophet. When he called for food, a shoulder of lamb, cooked by a Jewish girl, was set before him. The first mouthful told him something was wrong : sharp pain seized him; the meat was poisoned. One of his followers, who had eaten some, died in agony. Mahomet recovered for the time, but his frame received a fatal shock. The battle of Honein laid all Arabia at his feet. Then, king in all but name, he turned his eyes beyond Arabian 62 DEATH OF MAHOMET. frontiers. He sent embassies to Heraclius of Constanti- nople, and Chosroes of Persia, demanding submission to his faith. Chosroes tore up the letter ; Heraelius received the message more courteously, but with equal disregard. An envoy of the prophet having been slain in Syria, a Moslem army under Zeid marched from Medina to avenge the murder. At Muta, some distance east of the Dead Sea, the troops of the Eastern Empire were met in battle for the first time by the soldiers of Islam, and thoroughly beaten. Zeid, however, and two other Moslem leaders were slain. The great achievement of Mahomet's later life was the occupation of Mecca in 629. At the head of 10,000 men he began a hurried, silent march. No trumpet was blown, 629 no watchfire lighted, till they came close to the city. A.D. Abu Sofian, made prisoner outside the walls, and converted by a naked sabre which was swung over his head, being allowed to return, told the Meccans how useless it would be to resist the warrior prophet. And so, unopposed, clad in a pilgrim's garb, but preceded by a forest of swords and lances, flashing in the sun-rise, the conqueror entered his native city. Three hundred and sixty idols of the Caaba were broken to pieces. And from every Meccan throat burst the watchword of Islam, "Allah Achbar;" " God is great, and Mahomet is his prophet." The last military efforts of Mahomet were directed against Syria. His lieutenant, Khaled, spread his dominion from the Euphrates to Ailah (Akaba), at the head of the eastern prong of the Red Sea, the capture of which opened the path of the Moslems into Africa. The prophet himself was half-way to Damascus, when he turned at the oasis of Tabuk, and came back to Medina to die. At sixty-one, older than his years, racked by ineradicable poison, and spirit-broken by the death of his only June 7, son, the infant Ibrahim, he fell a victim to a vio- 632 lent fever. Though the apostle of a great falsehood, A.D. we cannot deny his excelling genius, and the mould- ing power of his strong and pliant will. The creed of Mahomet is embodied in the Koran, a book compiled by Abu Beker, two years after the prophet's death. It consists of pretended revelations from Gabriel, uttered THE MOSLEM CREED. 63 from time to time by Mahomet, and carefully written on palm-leaves and mutton-bones by his devoted followers. Another book, called Sonna, composed of his scattered say- ings, is of less authority. Some of the leading articles of belief are : 1. There is but one God. 2. There are angels of various ranks ; among them a fallen spirit, Eblis, driven from Paradise for refusing to worship Adam; also inferior spirits liable to death, called Genii and Peris. 3. There are six great prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mahomet. 4. There is a hell, called Jehennam, and a Paradise of wondrous beauty full of sensual delights. 5. Men have no free-will; but all things are ruled by an unchanging Fate, a doctrine tending at first to kindle reckless fury in battle, but in the hour of peace a source of corroding indolence. Devout Moslems practise four great religious duties : 1. Washing of curious nicety, followed by prayers five times a day, with the face towards Mecca. 2. The giving of one- tenth in charity. 3. Fasting from rise to set of sun during the thirty days of the month Rhamadan. Pork and wiuo are specially forbidden at all times. 4. A pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in life, which, however, may be per- formed by proxy. When Mahomet died, four candidates claimed to succeed him. These were Abu Beker, the father of his best loved wife ; Omar, father of a second wife ; Othman, the husband of two of his daughters ; and Ali, his own cousin, married to Fatima, his only living child. Abu Beker, being appointed caliph (that is, successor), signalized his reign by the estab- lishment of a Moslem kingdom on the west bank of the Euphrates. The fiery Khaled, hero of this conquest, then laid siege to Damascus, which fell in 634, on the very day of Abu Beker's death. Omar, to whom the caliphate was left, pressed on the Syrian war. When Jerusalem surrendered in 637, the caliph a foe to all finery and luxury rode to take posses- sion of the city, diessed in ragged hair-cloth, and seated on a rusty-brown camel, round whose neck were slung two little bags of rice and dates. We are reminded of this conquest, by the Mosque of Oinar, which rises where the great 64 THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT AND PERSIA. Jewish Temple once stood. By the fall of Aleppo and Antioch all Syria was speedily subdued. Aniru then fought his way through Egypt, crowning his victories with 640 the conquest of Alexandria. The victorious Moslems A.D. are charged with having burnt the magnificent library of this great city ; but recent writers say, that it must have been destroyed long before Mahomet's day. Mean- while, another lieutenant had been warring successfully with Yezdejerd, the Persian king. For three days a battle raged at Kadesia, until the slaughter of 30,000, and the loss of their sacred banner, which was a blacksmith's leather apron, put the Persians to flight. The capture of the capital, Madayn, and the victory of Nehavend, drove the royal Persian from his throne. To guard these conquests Omar founded Bassora and Cufa on the Euphrates. The former, near the Persian Gulf, became a great centre of commerce ; the latter whence comes the word Cufic, applied to the oldest shapes of the Arabic alphabet was for a time the capital of the caliphs. This greatest of the immediate successors of Mahomet, the conqueror of Syria, Egypt, and Persia, was stabbed in the mosque at Medina by a Persian fire-worshipper, and died a few days later (644). Under Othman, his successor (644-655), the most notable event was the appearance of the Moslems as victors by sea. A fleet, built by the Emir of Syria, swept the Levant, con- quering Cyprus and Rhodes, and destroying at the latter island the great brazen statue famed as the Colossus. Oth- man has been called the " Gatherer of the Koran," from his success in restoring the purity of the original version. The feeble old man of eighty, badly able to cope with the rest- less spirits around him, was murdered by a mob in his own house at Medina. Ali,i.n whose veins ran Mahomet's blood, was then elected caliph ; but not without discontent and dissension, of which the very greatness of the Moslem dominion was the source. The election was a scene of clamour. Men were there from Euphrates, from Jordan, and from Nile. Moawyah, the victorious Syrian Emir already noticed, raised the banner of revolt ; and, when Ali was assassinated at Cufa in 661, he became the first caliph of the great Ommiyad line. CONQUEST OF BARBARY. 65 It was under Moawyah that the Arabs girded themselves for their first dash at Constantinople. Yezid, the caliph's son, led the attack. For seven years (668-675) the siege lasted; but every assault was repelled by torrents of the terrible Greek fire a mixture which seems to have been made chiefly of naphtha. Scorched and blinded by the deadly, unquenchable flame, the Moslems recoiled, leaving the Bosphorus strewn with the charred fragments of their fleet. A second siege, forty-one years later, had the same result. But it was not so on the southern shore of the Mediter- ranean. Disunion at the centre of the Moslem power had at first hampered their movements. But soon Akbah pene- trated all Barbary to the Atlantic, and founded in 674, near modern Tunis, the city of Kairouan, which grew to be the great mart of northern Africa in the Middle Ages. All efforts of the Berbers or Moors to stem the flood were use- less. Gyrene and Tripoli fell ; Carthage was destroyed in 698 ; and, thirteen years later, a host of turbaned Arabs stood, with red scimitars unsheathed, gazing fiercely across the narrow strait towards that great rock of southern Spain, \viiich still bears their leader's name. 66 DIVISIONS OF THE FRANKISH KINGDOM. CHAPTER IV. MEROVINGIANS AND THEIR MAYORS. Central Point : BATTLE OF TOURS, 732 A.D. Early Merovingians. Fourfold division. Dagobert I. Mayors of the Palace. Pepin of Heristal. Charles Martel. Battle of Tours. Martel Duke of the French Pepin le Bref. Crowned king Gift of land to the pope. BEGINNING with Pharamond in 418, the list of Merovingian kings of the Franks contains thirty-four names. Third of these was Meroveg or Meer-wig (sea-warrior), from whom the race derived their name. And the fifth was Clovis, who has been already named as the true founder of the French monarchy. When Clovis died in 511, his kingdom was cut into frag- ments, and for more than a century the curse of a divided power vexed the land. There were four great divisions. Neustria lay north of the Loire ; eastward along and beyond the Khine was Austrasia ; Aquitaine stretched between the Loire and the Pyrenees ; while the basin of the Saone and Rhone formed the kingdom of Burgundy. Murder often left vacant thrones ; and then one sceptre ruled all France. Under Dagobert I. (628-638), the ablest of the Merovingian kings, there was a short-lived union of the kingdoms ; but with his sons came new and worse divisions. The kings sank into the rois faineants, or sluggard kings, of French history, while the real power passed into the hands of their Mayor of the Palace, a high official, chosen by the nobles to be the guide and controller of the sovereign, and who, having command of the army and the military chest, in reality wielded the whole power of the State. Of these mayors the most noted were Pepin of Heristal, his son Charles Martel (the Hammer), and his grandson Pepin le Bref (the Short). The third of these iron-hauded mayors sat on the throne as the first king of the Carlo vingiau line. Pepin of Heristal, Duke of Austrasia, held the office of mayor under Thierry or Theodoric 111., one of the faineante. BULE OF CHARLES THE HAMMER. 67 By the victory of Testri he gained supremacy over Neustria ; and then, placing Neustria and Burgundy under his sons, he made the mayoralty hereditary. He ruled from 687 to 714, holding Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle as centres of his power. Charles the son of Pepin succeeded him as Duke of Aus- trasia in 715, as Mayor in 719. Chilperic and Thierry sat in their country houses, among their barns and dovecots, combing the long hair which they cherished as the undoubted sign of their kingship ; or drove about with blank faces and lack-lustre eyes in a clumsy waggon drawn by oxen, while Mayor Charles fought the battles and made the treaties and the laws of the Franks. One of his grand designs was to reduce the German tribes to obedience ; and for this purpose he formed the restless Franks into a sort of militia. But from this work he was turned to do a greater deed to break the sword of Islam on the plain of Tours, and thus win his best title to the tremendous name he bears in history. The Arabs, who had crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in 711, overthrew the kingdom of the Visigoths at Xeres. The dark flood, spreading over almost all Spain, poured through the passes of the Pyrenees upon southern France. Eudo, Duke of Aquitaine, was defeated, and a swarm of turbans mustered thick on the banks of the Loire. But on a grassy plain between Poictiers and Tours a terrible blow was struck, which saved western Europe from a bloody 732 conversion to the Moslem creed, as the Greek fire A.D. had twice already saved Constantinople and the East. Charles Martel and his Franks strewed the field with 300,000 Moslem slain ; and soon drove the shattered remnant of the host back to Spain. Then turning to the work he had left off for a while, the Mayor rapidly brought the Bavarians, Saxons, and Frisians again under Frankish sway. He was held in no great esteem by the churchmen of his realm ; for, at a pinch for money, he made no scruple about pillaging a church or monastery. The pope, Gregory III., sending him the keys of St. Peter's tomb, with the titles of Consul and Patricius, begged hia ivid against the Lombards. But there was too much for the Hammer to do in France, and the aid was not given. 68 THE MAYORS BECOME KINGS. When Thierry died in 737, the throne remained vacant for four years, Charles Martel ruling under a new title Duke of the French until his death in 741. His sons, Car- loman and Pepin, divided the mayoralty between them ; but Carloman, soon retiring to an Italian monastery, left Pepin alone in the government. Pepin le Bref (the little King Pippin of our nursery tale) aimed more at a moral influence over his subjects than his iron-handed father had ever done. In securing this, his best helper was a Saxon monk, Winifred otherwise known as Boniface, Archbishop of Mayence. Long since the sluggard Merovingians had become mere names in the state, and the time was now come when the sham was to be done away. The popes, repeating the urgent request for aid against the Lombards, which they had made in vain to Charles Martel, found Pepin more willing to befriend them. But for this a price must be paid. Pepin puts a question to Pope Zachary, " Who ought to be king ; the man with the power, or the man with only the name?" Upon the question and its answer hinges the fate of the Merovingian dynasty. Only one answer could 752 be given. Mayor Pepin turns into the first of the A.D. Carlo vingian kings of France ; and poor Childeric III., shorn of all his long royal hair, retires to live and die in a convent. Pepin was crowned twice with the most solemn sanction of the Church ; first by Boniface, then by the hands of Pope Stephen himself, who came all the way from Kome to anoint the new monarch at St. Denis. For this service Pepin paid a royal fee. Two expeditions of the Franks into Italy left him master of the Exarchate and the Pentapolis, which he handed over to the pope, thus laying the foundation of the temporal sovereignty attached to the Papacy. This gift of territory comprised the lands be- tween Ancona and the Po, stretching inland to the Apennines. Besides his Italian conquests, Pepin subdued the Saxons, took Aquitaine, drove the Arabs finally beyond the Pyrenees, and reduced the Bavarians to vassalage. He died in 768, leaving the southern part of his kingdom to Carloman, the northern to Charles, well known as Charlemagne, or Charles the Great. THE PEOPLING OF EUKOPE. CHAPTER V. BARBAROUS RACES OF INFANT EUROPE. Four great migrations. Their effects. The Goths. The Franks. Burgttndians and Van- dals. Modern Goths and Van- dals. Track of the Lombards. The Saxons. Contrast between Celts and Teutons. Origin of the Dutch. The Sclavonians. Early wealth of Poland. Foundation of Hun- gary. EUROPE was gradually peopled from Asia. Four great tides of migration may be noted. First came the wave which peopled Greece and Italy; then Celts and Cimbri, who occupied Spain, France, and Britain ; in the third place, the Germans, who filled central Europe; and lastly, Sarmatianor Sclavonic tribes, who peopled the north-east, and upon whom pressed the Huns from Mount Ural, and Tartars from beyond the Caspian. The continuous flowing of these barbaric tribes west and south, under the ceaseless pressure of new immigrants from the east their mingling and blending with one another, and with the old populations of the lands into which they poured formed the power, by which the fragments of the fallen Koman Empire were wrought into the variegated mosaic of mediaeval and modern Europe. A glance at the map of our Continent, as it appears at the close of each century, will show the pattern of the mosaic changing con- tinually, like the stars of coloured glass in a kaleidoscope. The chief Germanic tribes were the Goths, the Franks, the Vandals, the Lombards, the Saxons, and the Scandinavians. The earliest home of the Goths was Scandinavia, where we can still mark their dwelling-places by such words as Godoland, Godesconzia (Castle of the Goths), and, plainer still, Gothland. But the roving spirit natural to barbarism would not let these blue-eyed, golden-haired giants, hardened by the breezes of the north, rest content with their native swamps and forests. They began to push southward about 200 A.D.; and we soon find them in central Europe in three great divisions, Visigoths (West Goths), Ostrogoths (East Goths), and Gepidae (Laggards). They were the most civi- 70 THE THREE GOTHIC RACES. lized of the German tribes ; and are further remarkable for having adopted Christianity, though' in the corrupt Arian form, as their national religion, not only earlier than their brother savages, but even earlier than the Greeks and Romans. In little more than two centuries after their first start from Sweden, Alaric was victor within the walls of Rome. The Visigoths, after this achievement, founded a kingdom in Spain, which survived till the invasion of Sara- cens in 711. The Gepidae, who liad dwelt at first round the springs of the Vistula, and had slowly moved down upon the Danube, fell before the advancing Lombards. The ex- tinction of the Ostrogoths, who had settled in Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire, has been already noticed. In spite of their rude dresses of skin, and their clattering brogues, over which fell in clumsy folds their wide trousers, strapped round their ankle with a leather thong, we recog- nise in the Goths a race of men capable of high polish, and fitted for great deeds. They were honest and free-hearted ; and among them the Romans saw what they looked for in vain among themselves, modest and virtuous wives, each the centre and light of a home, where parents and children lived united in sweet domestic love. Let us thank God that many lands of modern Europe have inherited the good old Gothic home, hallowed by Christian faith, and refined and brightened by the thousand appliances of modern civi- lization ; and nowhere are its gentle safeguards more dearly prized and cherished than within our own island-shores. Early in the sixth century we find France parcelled out among three nations, Franks in the north and centre, Visi- goths in the south-west, and Burgundians in the south-east. Underlying these ruling races was a great mass of Celts or Gauls, and some Roman settlers, reduced to a state of vas- salage. Of the Franks (frak, rude in fight, or undaunted)* there were two great tribes, Salian Franks, at first occupy- ing modern Belgium, and Ripuarian Franks, dwelling along the lower Rhine. The former word still survives in the name of a law, once perhaps rational, but now absurd, which in some states (France, for example) prevents a woman from * Other authorities derive the name Frank from an ancient German word oi nearly similar sound, signifying a battle-axe, the distinctive weapon of the race THE MALLtJM OF THE FRANKS. 71 filling the throne. Clovis, leader of the Salian Franks, was at first merely a captain of leudes, or free warriors, with no title to command except what his personal qualities gave him. He roved from city to city, until the influence of the clergy, and the gift of a gold crown and purple robes from Constantinople, gave him some show of royalty, and then he fixed his court at Paris. The assembly of the soldiers, called mallum, met in spring on the Champs de Mars. The towns were still under the old Koman law, which was administered and executed in each district by a Graf. The long-haired successors of Clovis lounged life away on their farms, far from the toils of government, almost their only share in public life being the yearly expedition to the mallum, when the old state cart was furbished up, and the king and queen, sitting in state behind the goaded oxen, jolted away with clumsy pomp towards the Field of Mars. It must be re- membered, that although their country bears a name derived from the Franks, the great mass of the modern French are of Celtic race. Pressed by the Gothic invasions, a mingled host of Vandals, Alans, Burgundians, and Sueves, left the uplands between the springs of the Rhine and the Danube early in the fifth century. The Burgundians, settling in eastern France, were soon subdued beneath the sword of Clovis. There, as peasants and craftsmen, they long preserved traces of their original barbarism, retaining among other strange customs the practice of buying and selling wives ; and, although they were reputed to be the most humane of all the barbarous races within the Roman frontier, we catch a glimpse of domestic life among them, not the pleasantest, in the right they claimed of dismissing a wife who was suspected of poisoning or witchcraft. These unwifely accomplishments seem to have been fashionable among the ladies of old Bur- gundy. The Vandals and Sueves pushed on to Spain, and founded a kingdom in the north-west corner of the peninsula. Here the Sueves held out until they were overthrown by the Visigoths. The fierce, restless Vandals, leaving their name behind them in the word Andalusia (once Vandalos), crossed to Africa in 428, swept along the north coasts to Tripoli, soon launched their pirate skiffs on the Mediter- 72 MIGRATION OF SAXONS. ranean, grew rich by plunder, sank amid their bowers of orange and myrtle into the voluptuous habits of a southern climate, and finally perished beneath the sword of Belisarius. From Roman ideas of their barbaric foes, we have inherited two words of bitter contempt. The clown in dress and manners is a Goth ; the animal, whose soul is dead to the love of the beautiful in art, and who would rejoice in the wanton destruction of glorious paintings and sculptures, is to us a Vandal. The track of the Lombards has been already marked out. Their original home was near the Skaw in Jutland. Thence they removed to the flat shores of Brandenburg ; but a flood- tide, washing over their fields, drove them to the higher banks of the Elbe. Then, passing south-east towards the Danube, they made it a starting-point for their march upon Italy, where the name Lombardy still points out the scene of their greatest triumphs. The Saxons (knife-men from Sachs), at first occupying Holstein, soon spread over the basin of the Weser. Two kindred tribes Angles and Jutes filled the peninsula of Denmark. All were of the Teutonic type, blue-eyed, red or yellow haired, pink-cheeked. The invasion of Britain by these three tribes is one of the most remarkable facts in the history of the barbaric migrations. There they found a population of Celts, who, retreating to the mountains, kept them stoutly at bay with claymore, dirk, and axe. Akin to the British Celts were the Irish people, who, living under Brehon law, upon game, fish, and what poor cattle they could rear, were, even in that grey dawn of Western history, famous as poets and harpers. Patrick, a Scotchman, began to preach the gospel in Ireland about 432 ; and, as if to repay the blessing, an Irishman, Columba, passed into Scotland in 563 on the same sacred mission. In dress, government, occupation, and religion, the Teuton and the Celt presented a strong contrast to each other. The Teuton garb was a loose, rude tunic, pinned round the neck with a thorn. In youth he wore an iron collar, which was flung aside when he had achieved the distinction of killing a man. Then, too, the young men of some of the fiercest tribes the Batavians of the Lower Rhine, for example CONTRAST BETWEEN CELT AND TEUTON. 73 cut their hair and shaved their heads for the first time. The Gaul or Celt, on the other hand, loved bright and many- coloured clothes, and hung gold chains on his brawny arms or round his huge neck. This characteristic of the race may still be noted in the coloured tartans of the Highlander and the tasteful fashions of French dress. The Teutonic govern- ment was democratic, the chief power resting with the great assembly of the people, which was convoked at the time of full moon ; the government of the Celts was essen- tially aristocratic clanship being its leading feature. War was the trade of the Teutons; tillage and pasturing the favourite employments of the Celt. And, while the Celts clung long to Druidism, the Teutons, acknowledging only one supreme God, were easily prepared to receive Chris- tianity. Holland (Hollowland), whose flat meadows have been formed by gradual deposits of Rhine mud, was at this early time a vast swamp, skirted here and there along the coast by tangled forests. On mounds rising from the morass dwelt a race of fish-eaters, who clung to their poor hovels until a flood swept all away. The emptied Rhine-island was then seized by part of the Chatti, a fierce German tribe, who, making the most of their new home, called it Betauw (Good-meadow), afterwards altered into Batavia. From this mixture of Celt and German sprang the modern Dutch. Of the Scandinavians, or Norsemen, an account will be given in a future chapter. The original inhabitants of the bleak shores of northern Europe were Finns, of the Mongol stock a gentle, black- haired people, whose best representatives now are the Lap- landers. These were soon subdued by a race at first known to the Romans as Sauromata?, or Sarmatians (lizard or green- eyed), but who soon took from their own language the name Sclavonian (manly or brave). Their cities were mere wag- gon-camps. Their warriors, who led into battle a spare horse or two, wore a cuirass of coarse linen, plated over with thin slices of horse-hoof. Poisoned fish-bones formed the points of their arrows and lances. Their religion was a kind of Druidism ; and, among other revolting customs common to many of the northern tribes they were wont, ID 74 FOUNDATION OF POLAND AND HUNGARY, rejoicing after a victory, to drink blocd out of their enemies' skulls. Our word "slave" (borrowed from the name, Sclavi) is sadly suggestive of the woes they suffered in the wars of the Middle Ages, and of the degrading serf- dom in which millions of their descendants are still held. Poland was early a flourishing country. It was peopled by the Liaechs, a tribe of the western Sclavonians. The farmers went to battle on foot, bearing shield and lance ; the landlords on horseback, glittering in splendid armour. The traffic between the Black and Baltic Seas, passing along the Vistula, added much to the wealth of the Poles. Wild hordes from Mount Ural, passing the Carpathian gorges in quick succession, swept down on the Danube. All pressed upon one point modern Hungary, with its grain- growing vales and gem-producing hills. Goths were dis- placed by Huns. Then, from the same far-off snowy slopes, came Avars, Bulgarians, and lastly, Magyars, who, in 855, seized the upland between the mountains and the Theiss. Scarcely less savage than the Huns were these later invaders. They ate horse-flesh (though now-a-days that is no sign of barbarism). They shot arrows with terrible force and aim, and flashed their irresistible lances, tipped with bright- coloured pennons, in the faces of their startled foes. Behind the lines of cavalry, as they marched, heavy carts jolted, filled with their wives and little ones. These strangers, once rooted in the basin of the Danube, began to thrive with wonderful rapidity; arts, agriculture, commerce, flourished all alike. About 1000 A.D. they were converted to Christianity, and gradually took shape as the noble Hungarian nation, who, in a perilous time, stood with unflinching valour on the furthest outpost of Christendom, three times within ten days beating back the Turks beneath the walls of Belgrade (1456), and whose heroic fight against a giant tyranny this century has seen with deep admiration. GREAT NAMES OF THE SECOND PERIOD. SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS...Born in Gaul 428 Bishop of Arverni (Clermont) an intimate friend of Theodoric wrote poems and epistles --died 484. GREAT NAMES OF THE SECOND PERIOD. 75 ZOSIMUS A Greek historian of the fifth century- chief work, ' History of Rome from Augustus to Second Siege by Alaric.' PRISCIAN Probably born at Csesarea lived at the court of Justinian distinguished as a grammarian chief work, ' Treatise on Latin Grammar.' BOETHIUS... Born at Rome, 455 consul under Odoacer and Theodoric only Latin philosopher of his day chief work, ' On the Consolation of Philosophy,' written in the prison of Pavia, where he was executed 526. PROCOPIUS Born at Csesarea in end of fifth century- lived at Justinian's court wrote ' His- tory of His Own Times,' valuable as a link between ancient and mediaeval history wrote also ' Anecdota,' a secret history of Justinian's court. C ASSIODORUS Born about 470 Secretary of Theodoric wrote ' History of the Goths,' after- wards abridged by the Goth Jornandes other works were on Orthography and Education died aged nearly 100. GREGORY OF TOURS Born in Auvergrie 544 Bishop of Tours wrote in Latin a History of France up to his own day our only authority on the early Merovingian reigns. AUGUSTINE Prior of St. Andrews at Rome sent by Gregory I. in 596 to preach to the English the first Archbishop of Can- terbury, where he died, about 607. BEDE Born at Sunderland about 673 an Eng- lish monk surnamed the Venerable chief work, ' History of the English Church/ published about 734 died in 735. WTN1FRED Born in Devonshire about 680 other- wise known as Boniface justly called the ' Apostle of Germany,' where he laboured for thirty years made Arch- bishop of Mayence slain by the Fri- sians in 755. 76 CHRONOLOGY OF THE SECOND PERIOD, CHRONOLOGY OF THE SECOND PERIOD. FIFTH CENTURY continued. AJ>. Battle of Soissons won by Clovis 485 The Ostrogoths seize Italy 488 SIXTH CENTURY. Paris the capital of Clovis 510 Supposed reign of Arthur in Britain 515 Justinian begins to reign 527 Victories of Belisarius in Africa 533 in Italy 536-39 Foundation of Poland by Liaechs 550 Silk manufacture first known in Europe 551 Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy ends 553 Lombards conquer Italy 568 Birth of Mahomet 571 Mission of Augustine to Britain 596 SEVENTH CEXTURY. TheHegira 622 Death of Mahomet 632 Jerusalem taken by Omar 637 Saracens foiled at Constantinople 668-75 Sixth General Council at Constantinople 680 EIGHTH CENTURY. Invasion of Spain by the Saracens 711 Second fruitless siege of Constantinople 716-18 Defeat of Saracens by C. Martel in the great battle of Tours 732 The Abbasides get the caliphate 750 Pepin le Bref made king 752 Gift of Exarchate and Pentapolis to the Pope 754 Emirate of Cordova founded 755 Charlemagne sole ruler of the Franks 773 BIBTH AND EARLY LIFE OP CHARLEMAGNE. 77 THIRD PERIOD. FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLEMAGNE TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES. CHAPTER I. CHARLEMAGNE. Central Point: CHARLEMAGNE CROWNED EMPEROR OF THE WEST AT ROME BY LEO III., 800 A.D. Early Ufa Reduces Aquitaine. Charlemagne sole ruler of the Franks. Features of his policy. Destruction of the Saxon idol Wittikind. Saxony annexed. Renewal of the war. Conquest of Lombardy. Expedition into Spain. Battle of Roncevalles. Repels the Avars. Conquest of the Riner. Crowned Emperor of the West. His sons. His foreign policy. Character and death. Treaty of Verdun. WE now see the splintered fragments of Western Europe so often combined and dissolved since the great ruin of the Roman Empire once more united into a solid, towering rock, the noblest landmark in the history of the Middle Ages ; and the hand, whose strong grasp is to hold these mixed and various elements in firm cohesion for three and forty years, is that of Charlemagne, who is known in German history by the more modest name of Karl der Gross. Charles, the son of Mayor Pepin and Bertha, was born about 742 ; and it must not be forgotten that this great Austrasian Frank, although best known by his French name, was not a Frenchman at all in our sense of the word, but a thorough German by birth, speech, and residence. He was yet a child when his father was crowned and anointed king ; and, when that fether died in 768, he was left to share with his elder brother, Carloman, the sovereignty of the Frankish kingdom. To Carloman were left Neustria, Burgundy, in fact, all northern and central France; to Charles, Australia, Thu- 78 THE POLICY OF CHARLEMAGNE. ringia, and other parts of Germany owning Frank ish Bway. The first great military deed of Charles was the conquest of Aquitaine ; and scarcely was that achieved, when, his brother having died in 771, the chiefs of Carloman's realm, passing over the infant children of the dead man, according .771 to a custom common in those troubled times, chose A.D. the young conqueror to be their king. He was then twenty-nine years of age. His reign divides itself into two parts. The one, extend- ing from its opening in 771 to the complete subdual of the Saxons in 804, was spent in constant w T ars on almost every frontier ; the other, from 804 to his death, was devoted to the organization and improvement of the vast empire which his sword had won. The chief wars of Charlemagne were with the Saxons beyond the Khine, the Lombards of Italy, the Saracens of Spain, and the Avars, who occupied modern Hungary. He fought also with the Danes, and the Sclavonic tribes on his eastern border. The guiding principle of Charlemagne's policy was this, to secure the affection of his subjects by working on two of the deepest feelings of our nature patriotism and religion. He gained his aim by cherishing all the old German insti- tutions, upon which the mass of his people looked with deep reverence, and by becoming the protector of the Pope and the champion of the Church. The Saxons, who dwelt chiefly round the Weser, were pagans, closely connected with the savage Frisians, by whom Boniface was martyred in 755. To anticipate the attack of fierce and dangerous neighbours, and to open the way for the missionaries of the Church, seem to have been the motives of Charlemagne in this war. At a Diet of Worms he called his soldiers to the field. The opening cam- 772 paign was full of evil omens for the Saxons. Their A.D. castle of Eresburg was taken ; but worse than such a loss was the destruction of their greatest idol, Irmin- Biil. Within a spacious court, on a marble pillar, it stood the colossal statue of an armed soldier, carved in wood. In time of war it was carried by the priests into the field ; and, HIS WARS WITH THE SAXONS. 79 when the battle was over, all prisoners and cowards were slain at its feet in sacrifice. This image, round which the national worship centred, was broken to pieces by Charle- magne, and the pillar buried deep in the earth. Smitten with sudden terror, the Saxons sued for peace, giving twelve hostages as pledges of their good faith. The Saxon custom was to choose a leader of the whole nation only in times of emergency ; and, when the crisis waa past, the king sank to a level with the other chiefs. But now a man arose, who, by the force of his genius, became for years the master-spirit of his nation. This was Witti- kind, to whose prowess the long, determined resistance of the Saxons to the arms of Charlemagne was mainly owing. Stirred by this restless chief, they rose again and again. The war was hottest round Eresburg and Sigisburg, which, taken by the Prankish king, had been made his chief strongholds. Playing upon his desire to Christianize them, the defeated Saxons asked to be baptized, and promised to keep peace ; but whenever his armies were withdrawn, taking advantage of his absence in Italy and Spain, they relapsed into their bloody idolatry, and turned their swords upon the Christian missionaries. This went on for several years, until, in 779, Charlemagne, wearied with useless clemency, resolved to annex the Saxon country to his empire. He appointed bishops, and enacted laws for the conquered land. It gives us a painful notion of the savage state of those, sprung from the same stock as most of ourselves, when we remember that the laws enacted by Charlemagne as fittest for the Saxons bear a striking resemblance to that bloodstained code im- posed by Draco upon the Athenians, in which death was the punishment for almost every crime. Wittikind, who had fled to the Danish king in 777, appearing once more at the head of the Saxons, cut to pieces a great Frankish army at Sinthal. Never perhaps did Charlemagne's wrath blaze more fiercely out than when he heard this fatal news. Hurrying to the scene while his fury was still hot, he massacred in one day 4500 of those who had taken the field with Wittikiud. The chief himself escaped again to the Northmen. In the next spring (783) Charlemagne gave the Saxons another stern lesson, by de- 80 THE CONQUEST OF LOMBARDY. feating two of the greatest armies they had ever mustered the one under Wittikind at D ethmoid, the other on the banks of the Hase in Westphalia. The Saxon chief soon abandoned the hopeless contest. Some feeble revolts fol- lowed ; but the strength of the nation was broken, and their final subdual dates from 804, when 10,000 of them were drafted away to Flanders, Brabant, and some districts f France. Charlemagne's first wife was the daughter of Desiderius, the Lombard king of Italy ; and, naturally enough, when he divorced her to marry Hildegarde, strong ill-will arose be- tween the monarchs. This made the Frankish king lend an easy ear to the prayer of Pope Adrian I. for aid against the Lombards. His father and his grandfather had been enlisted on the pope's side ; and why should not he, a Roman patri- cian anointed with holy oil, draw sword in the same cause ] His army, piercing the passes of the Alps in two divisions, found the country all open to them, and the Lombard king shut up in Pavia. In Verona, which surrendered at once, he found the widow and sons of Carloman, who had fled to the court of Desiderius. Of them we hear no more. One after another the Lombard cities fell ; but Pavia stood firm, until Charlemagne, returning from a brilliant visit to Rome, drew the circle of blockade so closely round 774 the city, that the starving garrison flung open their A.D gates, and gave up their king. Desiderius spent the rest of his days in a cloister, while Charlemagne, becoming king of Lombardy, assumed the famous iron crown worn by the old Longobard chiefs who first settled in Italy. Some time before the accession of Charlemagne, the Mahometans of Spain, revolting against the Abbaside caliphs, had set up the Emirate of Cordova ; but embers of strife were still alive among them, and a malcontent invited Charlemagne to cross the Pyrenees. Fired with the memory of his grandfather's glory, and hoping, too, to heighten the prestige of his own name as Defender of the Faith, 778 he led his forces into Spain. Here, as at the Alps, A.D. he adopted the plan which he is said to have first applied, if not invented, of dividing his forces and THE CORONATION AT ROME. 81 moving the different bands by converging routes upon one great centre. His chief point of attack was Saragossa, the fall of which made him master of Aragon and Navarre. A tract of country south of the Pyrenees was added to his empire under the name of the Spanish March. While the victors, laden with spoil, were returning into France, their rear-guard was cut to pieces in the pass of Roncevalles (Briar-valley) by the Basques or Vascons. Among the dead was Count Rolando of Bretagne, the nephew of Charlemagne, whose name, embalmed in many a Norman romance, is immortalized in the verse of Ariosto. Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, was the son-in-law of Desiderius the Lombard. When the Lombard kingdom was destroyed, Tassilo, rising against Charlemagne, to whom he owed homage, secretly invited the Avars to support him in his rebellion. The rebel duke was soon shut up in a convent ; but the Avars fulfilled their part of the agreement by invading Bavaria. In his first campaign against them Charlemagne penetrated as far as the Raab in Hungary. Then, called off by Saxon incursions, he left the war to his son Pepin, who in 796 captured the Ring, a round timber fortress at Buda, full of gold and silver, an achievement by which the Franks, who had before that time possessed little more than their swords, became well-nigh the richest nation in Europe. During this war Charlemagne began to dig a canal from the Danube to the Rhine, a grand idea, which, how- ever, he never realized. The defeat of a rising in 799 marks the end of the Avar power in Europe. Still, in the defiles of Mount Caucasus dwell a few warlike tribes of similar name ; but they are a mere shadow of the great nation smitten on the Danube by the conquering sword of Charlemagne. Take now the central picture of the reign. Pope Leo III., attacked by a band of conspirators, was left bleeding, and all but dead, one April day on the streets of Rome. On his recovery he visited Charlemagne at Paderborn, where he was royally entertained, and whence he returned to Italy under the escort of nine Frankish nobles. The king himseli soon followed. On Christmas day the proudest chiefs and prelates of Italy and the Frankish land, glittering with purple 6 82 THE DEATH OF CHABLEMAGNE. 800 and gold, stand round the high altar of St. Peter's. A.D. In the centre of the throng is a giant figure, whose dome-shaped brow and flashing eye mark a great mind and heart. Clad in the long robe of a Roman patrician, he kneels on the steps of the altar, and bows his head in prayer. Some minutes pass in silence. Then, with quick and sudden action, the noblest of the splendid priesthood places a crown upon the kneeler's head, and the walls ring with pealing shouts : " Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, Emperor of the Romans." Pope Leo III. has revived the Empire of the West, and its crown is sparkling on the brow of Charlemagne. Though the emperor said that he would not have gone to the church if he had known of the pope's intention, there seems small doubt that this daring act only anticipated by a little his own long-cherished plans. So early as 781, when his eldest boy was only ten, Charlemagne, looking on to a time when he should have need of trusty viceroys, had divided his kingdom among his sons. Germany was given to Charles, Aquitaine to Louis, and Italy to Pepin. This arrangement enabled him to spend his latter years in comparative peace, for to his sons he left what petty wars were necessary to secure so vast a frontier. Of these three sons Louis alone survived him. The influence of Charlemagne, enthroned in his great palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, extended to the Byzantine court, and further still to the Tigris, where Haroun al Raschid dwelt. The great caliph and the great emperor were especial friends. But the best energies of Charlemagne were given to Western Europe, on whose destinies he wrought so notable a change. A link, too, binds him to British history ; for, when Egbert fled from the cruel Beortric, he found a safe and pleasant retreat, and, no doubt, kindly advice and aid besides in the court of Aix-la-Chapelle. Charlemagne feared only one foe, and that not for himself, but for his successors. The light galleys of the Norsemen were already swooping down on the British coasts, and threatening his own sea- board ; and the keen eye of the old warrior, piercing the future, could see the Raven of the North thrusting its beak into many a crack and cranny in the fair structure he had spent his life to rear. THE TREATY OF VERDUN. S3 Charlemagne died of pleurisy in his seventy-second 8 14 year. A year before, in the cathedral of Aix-la-Cha- A.D. pelle, amid the applause of the assembled nobles, he had caused his only living son Louis to assume the imperial crown. Active and untiring, this great man never lost a minute he could help. Even while dressing, he heard the reports of his officers ; and as he dined or supped, books of theology or history were read to him. Habits like these enabled him to get through an enormous mass of work, and yet neglect neither bodily exercise nor the culture of his mind. Abroaa he hunted, at home he talked or studied with the learned friends in whose society he delighted. His genius was essen- tially military. His sword was seldom sheathed ; but war was with him, as it ought ever to be, the pioneer of civili- zation. Louis le Debonnaire, fitter for a monk's cell than a selfish court or brawling camp, succeeded his great father, and did all his gentle nature could for twenty-six years to humanize his subjects. But belted bishops and lawless chiefs were too strong for him. War among his three sons then divided the empire. Lothaire, the eldest, seized the imperial title ; but Charles and Louis, uniting, defeated him in 841, on the bloody field of Fontenaille. Two years later, a treaty was made at Verdun, by which France and Germany became separate and independent states. Charles 843 held France ; Louis ruled Germany ; while Lothaire A.D. received Italy, with some broken strips along the Rhone and Rhine. As had happened in the family of Clovis, the race of Charlemagne, called Caiiovingians, grew very degenerate ; and there is nothing in the history of kings, branded with nicknames, such as the Stammerer, the Fat, the Foolish, the Lazy, to challenge our notice or respect. Such men misgoverned France, until, in 987, under Hugh Capet, a new dynasty arose. With that date the history of the Franks ends ; that of the French begins. 84 CARLOVINGIAN KINGS OF THE FRANKS. CARLOVINGIAN KINGS OF THE FRANKS. A.D. PEPIN LE BREF 752 CHARLEMAGNE and CAR- LOMAN 768 Charlemagne alone 771 LOUIS I. (le Debonnaire) 814 CHARLES (the Bald) 840 LOUIS II. (the Stammerer)... 877 LOUIS HI. and CARLO- MAN II 879 Carlozaan alone 882 CHARLES (the Fat) 884 EUDES or HUGH, Count of Paris 887 CHARLES III. (the Simple).. 893 ROBERT, Brother of Eudes... 922 RODOLF OF BURGUNDY 923 LOUIS IV. (d'Outremer) 936 LOTHAIRE 964 LOUIS V, (the Lazy) 986-87 THE EMIRATE OF CORDOVA FOUNDED. 86 CHAPTER II. MOSLEMS IN THE WEST AND THE EAST. Central Point : REIGN OF HAROUN AL RASCHID, 786 A.D. TO 808 A.D. Division of the Moslem empire. Battle of Xeres. Saracens take root in Spain. Emirate of Cordova founded. The Abbaside dynasty begins. Haroun al Raschid. His early wars. The Letter of Nicepho- rus. Asia Minor ravaged. Policy of Haroun. The Emir-al-Omra, The Seljuk Turks. End of the Caliphate. IN the time of Charlemagne we find the great empire of Islam, which had stretched from the Indus to the Atlantic, broken into four parts, the Emirate of Cordova in Spain ; the Abbaside Caliphate in Asia and Egypt ; and two king- doms in Northern Africa Mekines, answering to modern Morocco, and Kairouan, along the old Carthaginian shore. In 710 Tarik, a lieutenant of the Saracen general Musa, crossing the Strait from Tangier with 500 men to reconnoitre the Spanish coast, landed at the rock, ever since called Gibraltar (the hill of Tarik). Next year, with 12,000 men, he met and defeated at Xeres Roderic, last of the Visigothic kings. The beaten monarch, who had come 711 to battle crowned with pearls, and lounging in an A.D. ivory car, was drowned in the Guadalquivir, as he fled from the fatal field. Musa completed the conquest of the peninsula, driving the remnant of the Visigoths into the mountain-land of Asturias. Cordova on the Guadalquivir speedily became the centre of Moslem power in Spain. We have already seen how the march of the Crescent beyond the Pyrenees was checked at once and for ever at Tours by Charles the Hammer. Thrown back further and still further by Pepin and Charle- magne, the Saracens, building mosques and schools and cutting out roads on every side, rooted themselves deep in Central and Southern Spain. And still deeper struck tlie roots of their power, when Abd-el-Rahmaii, only sur- 86 THE CALIPHATE OF HAROUN AL RASCHID. vivor of the great Ommiyad line, fleeing from murder on the Euphrates, severed Spain from the dominion of the 755 caliphs, and erected the independent Emirate of A.D. Cordova. Then begins the most brilliant chapter in the story of Moslem power in Europe. When the Ommiyad dynasty was drowned in blood at Damascus, the sceptre of the caliphs was seized by the Abbasides, offspring of Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet, and they held it for more than five centuries (750-1258). Of this race the most distinguished was Haroun al Raschid (Aaron the Just), who reigned from 786 to 808. The fascinating pages of the "Arabian Nights," the delight of childhood, and of riper years too, our great Macaulay does not dis- dain to draw frequent illustrations from the charming book, have made this name a household word among us. We can still see the romantic caliph and his vizier, disguised as merchants, slipping out of the postern gate at dusk, to seek adventures in the narrow lanes of Bagdad. This great city, founded in 765 on the west bank of the Tigris, was for cen- turies the centre of Moslem power in Asia, the splendid home of the earlier Abbaside caliphs, the scene of their later degradation, and the blazing tomb of Abdallah, last of the ill-fated line. Before his accession Haroun gained a soldier's name on the Bosphorus, where, from his camp on the hills of 781 Scutari, he granted peace only on condition that the A.D. Empress Irene should pay a tribute of 70,000 golden pieces. During his caliphate he invaded the imperial territory eight times to enforce the payment of this sum. Nicephorus, having dethroned Irene, sent Haroun a letter. " The queen," wrote he in the language of the chess-board, " considered you a rook, and herself a pawn. Restore the fruits of your injustice, or abide the determination of the sword." The imperial envoy at the same time cast a sheaf of swords at the Caliph's feet. Haroun, with a smile, drew his scimitar, Saracen steel was then famous all the world over, and, without turning its edge, he hacked to pieces all the badly-ternpered blades. Then, turning to his scribe, he bade him write : " Harouu al Raschid, Commander of the Faithful, to Nicephorus, the Roman dog. I have read Uiy THE EMIR-AL-OMRA. 87 letter, thou son of an unbelieving mother. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt behold my reply." He then ravaged Asia Minor from end to end, leaving the ruins of Heraclea on the Euxine shore, to mark the terrible meaning of his answer. And, to imprint the disgrace of submission deeper still, the emperor was compelled to stamp the tribute-gold with the heads of Haroun and his sons. Haroun in the East rivalled the policy, by which his friend Charlemagne made Aix-la-Chapelle the Western centre of genius and learning. In the gorgeous halls of Bagdad, too, poets and scholars found a home and rich re- wards ; and under this kindly fostering the most brilliant period of Arabian literature began. The great blot upon the memory of this most illustrious of the caliphs was the massacre of the Barmecides, among whom were two of his trustiest viziers. He died in 808, while on an expedition against the rebel Satrap of Khorasan. In the middle of the tenth century a new feature marked the history of the caliphate. The mayors of the palace, usurping the functions of the Frankish kings, found their parallel among the Moslems of Asia. The poor Caliph Khadi (Ahmed IV.), helpless in the midst of an un- ruly people, gave all his powor into the hands of 940 Mahomet ben Raik, with the title of Emir-al-Omra A.D. (Emir of Emirs), reserving for himself only the sha- dowy dignity of High Priest of the Mosque. This chief Emirship became, of course, a bone of furious contention. For a century (945-1056) it was held by the great race of Buides. Then, sweeping from the Caspian, came the horsetail standards of the Selj uk Turks, whose leader, Togrul Bei, be- came Emir-al-Omra, and whose conquests were soon ex- tended to the borders of Syria. Still the Abbasides clung to the s-cene of their vanished power, until in 1258 a host of Mongol Tartars seized Bagdad, and Abdalla.li, last of the caliphs, died amid the ruins of the once brilliant city. 88 THE ELECTOR DUKES OF GERMANY. CHAPTER III. THE RISE OF THE ROMANO-GERMANIC EMPIRE. Central Point : THE REIGN OF OTHO THE GREAT, 936 A.D., TO 973 A.D. Treaty of Verdun. Rise of Elector-Dukes. Henry the Fowler. Establishes Burgs. Organizes Cavalry. Otho the Great. Italian affairs. Repels Hungarians. Crowned Emperor of the West A new day for Italy. Germany among the nations. Close of the Saxon line. BY the treaty of Verdun in 843 Germany and France were politically separated, the Rhine forming the general line of division between the States. For sixty-eight years longer Carlovingians continued to rule on the eastern bank of the severing stream ; but in 911 these worn-out sons of a great sire sank from their royal seat in Germany. Conrad, Duke of Franconia, was then elected to rule the Germans ; but it was not until 987, when Hugh Capet be- came king, that the Carlovingian power ceased in France. A marked difference is already manifest in the history of the two nations. The West Franks have all united into the French nation ; but their eastern kinsmen, though cer- tainly forming as a whole the German nation, still preserve a strongly-marked distinction into five leading tribes, Saxons, Thuringians, Franconians, Suabians, and Bavarians, whose dukes have learned, in times of trouble and weak rule, to exercise a power independent of king or emperor. These dukes were the electors ; and up to the opening of this nineteenth century, when the Emperor of Germany was transformed into the Emperor of Austria, the imperial dig- nity continued to be elective. To the rise of these elector- dukes of the leading tribes can be traced that division of Germany into petty states, which is so strongly marked in the map of modern Europe. Henry the Fowler, elected on the death of Conrad, was the first German prince of the Saxon line. His 918 surname is said to have been given, because the A.D. messengers, who came to offer him the crown, found HENRY THE FOWLER. 89 him catching birds. His title was, as Conrad's had been, only King of the Franconians ; but the grand object of his policy, in which he was very successful, was to unite under his sway all the German-speaking tribes. The Dukes of Alemannia and Bavaria were reduced beneath his sceptre. Lorraine, too, west of the Khine, was subdued. But what called his highest powers into play was the continual irruption of the wild Hungarians upon his eastern frontier. He secured his borders by the establishment of "burgs," or fortified castles, along all the exposed lines of country. Many of these formed centres, round which afterwards grew those great German cities, so famous in the history of art and com- merce. Besides, he organized a powerful force of cavalry to match the Magyars, whose chief strength lay in their horse- men. For this he has been called the founder of knight- hood ; but it cannot be said that knighthood was the institution of any one man or time. It was rather a national growth, dating from the earliest times of the German nation. No doubt its development received a powerful impulse from this prince, under whose system a high value was set upon a well-equipped and skilful cavalier. Henry died in 936. Otho, his son, succeeded him. The ceremonies of corona- tion and anointment were performed at Aix-la- Chapelle by the Archbishops of Cologne and May- 936 ence. Otho came to a troubled throne. Most of A.D. the great dukes rose against him ; but feeling the weight of his heavy hand, they soon grew submissive. And then through all the duchies he scattered counts of the palace and margraves, whose presence was a check upon the dukes, and whose watchfulness neutralized every stir of revolt. His attachment to the Church led him to turn his thoughts towards Italy. He had a selfish motive, too, for interfering there his desire to gain the imperial crown, which had not been worn by a German prince for more than fifty years. Most of the great Italian nobles were aspirants to the honour ; and the pope, in whose hand lay the power of conferring it, had no easy task to perform in deciding among the rivals. His great object naturally was to secure an emperor, whose strong hand could defend him, both 90 OTHO THE GREAT. his own insolent dependents, and against the Arab plun- derers of Southern Italy. Lothaire, King of Italy, having died, his beautiful widow Adelaide was seized by one Berengar, who meant by marry- ing her to secure the kingdom for himself. She implored the aid of Otho, who was not slack to draw sword in the cause of so fair a suppliant. In no long time he 951 subdued Lombardy ; and his first wife Edith having A.D. been some time dead, he married Adelaide, an alliance by which he gained several steps towards the great object of his ambition. Four years later, he met the Hungarians, mustered in the full strength of their nation, on the Lechfeld near Augs- burg, and by a bloody defeat gave a decisive check to their inroads upon Germany. At the same time, " to make assurance doubly sure," he formed a military district along the exposed frontier ; and from this tract the East march or Austria have since sprung the bitterest woes of Hun- gary. Otho defeated the Sclavonians between the Elbe and the Oder ; and penetrating to the Vistula, was astonished to find upon its banks, occupied by the brave Poles, fields loaded with grain, and markets alive with the hum of commerce. In 961 Otho's second and chief descent upon Italy took place. At Milan he was crowned with the iron circlet of the Lombard kings ; and in the following February 962 at Rome he received from the hands of Pope John A.D. XII. the more distinguished diadem of the Western Empire. Just 162 years had passed since Charle- magne, in the new flush of the same high distinction, had given the Roman eagle a second head, to denote his double dominion over Rome and Germany. Otho found a fine field for the use of his newly-acquired power. Pope John, a man steeped in crime, justly branded in history as the Infamous, being detected in plots against the emperor whom he had himself crowned, was forced to flee. Leo VIII. was elected in his room. With his aid Otho Lrgnn a wholesome reform in Italy. Sweeping away the lawless nobles, he placed the large domains under the gentler and juster sway of the bisiiops- Thus a new day dawned upou PLACE OF GERMANY AMONG THE NATIONS. 91 Italy, and liberty, almost forgotten, began again to flourish. To this change may be traced the growth of those brilliant republics, by which the Italy of the Middle Ages was so much distinguished. After a third visit to Italy, lasting six years, Otho 973 came back to Germany to die. He drew his last A.D. breath in his old Saxon home. Through all the later history of Europe Germany has never lost the place among the nations, which he was among the earliest to win for her. And when we remember how much the world owes to the cradle of printing and Pro- testantism, and how closely Britain has become in these days of ours linked, through her most illustrious family, to that old Fatherland of her main race, we cannot but be glad that the century succeeding that which wept for Charle- magne, saw in Otho a wearer of the imperial crown so worthy of its ancient fame and its brightening splendour. Otho II., Otho III., and Henry II. were the remaining princes of the Saxon dynasty. The crown then passed to a Frankish line, of whom the first was Conrad II., elected ID 1024. THE SAXON AND FRANKISH EMPERORS OF GERMANY. CONRAD 1 911 HENRY 1 918 OTHO THE GREAT 936 OTHO II 973 OTHO III 983 HENRY II 1002 CONRAD II 1024 HENRY III 1039 HENRY IV 1056 HENRY V 1106 LOTHAIRF" 1125 Interregnum 1138 CONRAD III 1138 FREDERIC BARBAROSSA. 1152 HENRY VI 1190 PHILIP 1198 OTHO IV 1208 FREDERICK II 1212 CONF,AD IV 1250 WILLIAM 1250 Interregnum 1256-73 RISE OF THE GREEK CHURCH* CHAPTER IV. THE BYZANTINE COURT. Central Point : REIGN OF JOHN ZIMISCES, 969 A,D. TO 975 A.D. Position of the Eastern Empire. The Image Controversy. Rise of the Greek Church. The Macedonian dynasty. Leo VI. and John Zimis- ces. Byzantine government. Sketch of the court. Approach of the Cru- sades. THE Eastern Empire, pressed between two gigantic and growing dominions the German empire on the west, and on the east the caliphate of the Abbasides nevertheless held its ground as a centre of civilization and refinement, Constantinople looking loftily down on the barbaric pomp of Aix-la-Chapelle and the Oriental splendour of Bagdad. One hundred and sixty years after the death of Justinian, a great controversy about the worship of images began to agitate the mind of Europe. East and West were divided 725 against each other, and against themselves. Leo III., A.D. the Isaurian, then Emperor of the East, believing that the victories of Islam were owing more to Chris- tian weakness than to Moslem strength, resolved to root out the idolatry which had struck its roots so deeply in the Church. At once the factious spirit of the populace, no longer spending itself in trivial fights about the green and blue jockeys of the Circus, found a new and expansive field of action. All Christendom was severed into two great bands Eikonodouloi (image servers) and Eikonoklastai (image breakers). Pope Gregory III. solemnly denounced the sin of image breaking under pain of excommunication. But in spite of threat and curse the work went on, and a gulf, never since bridged over, grew between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople. The strife lasted for a hun- dred and twenty years, lulled only for a season, but not settled, by a decision of the second Council of Nica3a in 787, which sought to cast oil on the waves by permitting the veneration, but forbidding the worship of images, until the final triumph of the image party in the Council of Constanti- nople in 842. From this controversy we may date the rise TRIUMPHS OF JOHN ZIMISOES. 93 of the Greek Church, whose present stronghold is the Russian empire. The natural effect of the schism was to make the pope lean more strongly upon the Western emperor, whose ascendency in European politics folio wed as a matter of course. The rule of the Macedonian dynasty for nearly two cen- turies (867 to 1057) contains some of the most brilliant pages in Byzantine history. Hordes of barbarians, who, bursting through, had settled within the barriers of the empire, were converted to Christianity, and thus bound to the centre by the strongest ties. And never were the silk- looms and wool-marts of Constantinople so busy. Far west in Germany, and northward through all Russia, their beauti- ful fabrics were prized. Through the bazaars of the Byzan- tine capital the great tide of traffic from the East poured into Europe. The ablest of the Macedonian emperors were Leo VI. (886- 911) the Philosopher, author of a work on "Military Organiza- tion," and John Zimisces, who, during his reign of six years (969-975), restored the glory of the imperial name by his mili- tary exploits. John's most notable achievement was his defeat of the Russians. Swatoslaus, whose bed was a bear-skin, and whose meat was horse-flesh (such were early Russian generals), had swept all before him from the Volga to the Danube ; and, piercing to Adrianople, was menacing the city of Constantine. John drove him back upon the Danube, broke into his strong camp, and sent him with only a wreck of his army, famished and spiritless, back to his native wilds. Then, in sight of all Constantinople, the doughty little hero, climbing a great horse, paced in triumph through the streets with a golden crown on his head, and a garland of laurel i* his hand. The government of the Byzantine court was a thorough despotism. The emperor, who was dignified with the title " Autocrat," lived in splendid style. Take, as a specimen, the following sketch of an audience granted to some foreign envoys : The ambassadors, passing through endless files of body- guards, glittering with brilliant armour and suits of every hue, beneath the rustle of silken banners, over Persian carpets strewn with roses and inyrrh, at last enter the 94 SPLENDOUR OF THE BYZANTINE COURT. gorgeous palace of the empress. The air is loaded with per- fume ; and, when they have reached the top of the marble stair, leading to the hall of audience, suddenly the curtains, which fell in thick folds at their very feet, are drawn back, as if by magic, and a scene of bewildering splendour bursts upon their gaze. Upon a golden throne sits the emperor, robed in purple and white. Beside him is his beautiful wife ; and a throng of courtiers in white, the colour of the court- dress, encircle the imperial pair. A golden palm-tree over- shadows the throne, and flitting about in its branches are flocks of artificial birds of the brightest plumage. The lions carved in gold and silver, that guard the throne, spring forward ramping and roaring with terrific force. And high above every sound swells the mellow peal of trumpets. The barbarian envoys, poor Tartars or Sclavonians, sink to the earth; while the German knights, remaining erect though awestruck by the costly glare, feel their great rough hearts dying within them, and every word of their carefully conned speeches passing clean out of their bewildered brains. A day was coming, however, when all this magnificence was to change masters. Great events were brooding over Europe, when the Christian centuries passed into their second decade. The Crusades were at hand ; and in the wild hurry and crowding of these religious wars Constantinople was destined to suffer heavily. MACEDONIAN DYNASTY EASTERN EMPIRE. A.P. BASILIUSI 867 LEO VI 886 ALEXANDER and CON- STANTINE VII 911 ROMANUS 919 CONSTANTINE VIII 920 Five Emperors'rule 928 ROMANUSII 959 NICEPHORUS II. (Phocas). 963 A.D. JOHN ZIMISCES 969 BASILIUSII. andCONSTAN- TINE IX 975 ROMANUS III 1028 MICHAEL IV 1034 MICHAEL V 1041 CONSTANTINE X. and ZOE 1042 THEODORA 1054 MICHAEL VI 1066-57 THE HOME OF THE NORSEMEN. 96 CHAPTER V. THE NORSEMEN. Central Point: SETTLEMENT OF ROLLO THE SEA-KING IN NORMANDY, 911 A.D. Forebodings of Charle- magne. Home of the Vikinger. Battle of Braavalla. Their rovings begin. Norse passion for war. Ansgar. Norsemen in England. Rollo's invasion of Nor- mandy. Speedy refinement of Normans. Ruric founds Russia. The Varangian life- guards. Normans in southern Italy. THE Emperor Charlemagne, looking out one day over the blue Mediterranean, saw the snake-like galleys of the Norse- men stealing along the horizon, and, as he looked on them, he wept for his descendants. Already for many a year, as soon as the spring sunshine had unlocked the sea, these Vikings sea-kings as they called themselves stirred by a restless warlike spirit, had pushed out from the deep, rocky fiords of Scandinavia, steering south and south-west. In the names Norway, and Nor- mandy we still trace their old home, and the scene of one of their most successful descents. A branch of the great Teutonic family, they had spread over Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, from which lands, centuries earlier, had come the famous Goths, Teutons too. To guard the mouth of the Elbe against the Norsemen, Charlemagne built there a strong castle, which served as a nucleus for the great town of Hamburg. Before his reign their warlike fire had spent itself within the circle of their own lands. We read, in particular, of a desperate battle fought in 740, on the heath of Braavalla, between Harold Goldtooth the Dane, and Sigurd Ring the Swedish king. Harold, old and blind, died like a hero on the field ; and Sigurd ruled in Scandinavia. But then, sweeping both shores of the North Sea, began their wider rangings, which have left deep and lasting marks upon European history. One of the earliest of these rovers, 96 THEIR CONVERSION BY ANSGAR. Regnar Lodbrok, Sigurd's son, seized by Saxon Ella, as he was ravaging Lindisfarne, shouted his war-song to the last, while snakes were stinging him to death in a Northumbrian dungeon. Words cannot paint the ferocity of these northern war- riors. Blood was their passion; and they plunged into battle like tigers on the spring. Everything that could feed their craving for war they found in their religion and their songs. Their chief god, Odin, was the beau ideal of a Norse warrior ; and the highest delight they hoped for in Valhalla, their heaven, was to drink endless draughts of mead from the skulls of their enemies. There was, they thought, no surer passport to heaven than a bloody death amid heaps of slain. And their songs, sung by Skalds, when the feast was over, and still heard among the simple fur-clad fishermen, who alone remain to represent the wild V iking er, ring with clashing swords, and all the fierce music of battle to the death. But into the very centre of this dark raging barbarism sparks of truth fell, which brightened and b)azed until the fierce idolatry lay in ashes. Ansgar, the Apostle of the North, and first Archbishop of Hamburg, pressing with a few monks through fen and forest, early in the ninth cen- tury, preached the cross at the court of Biorn, on the banks of Maelarn. England and France, as was natural from their position, suffered most in the descents of the Norsemen. During a part of the time that Harold Haarfager (Fair-haired) reigned in Norway (863 to 931), Alfred, King of Wessex, the mightiest of all the Norsemen's foes, was laying the foundation of British greatness. Little more than a century later, Alfred's crown passed to the Norseman Canute, and Norsemen wore it for twenty-four years. Then a little gap, and William, no longer a Norseman, but a Norman mark well the change of name, for it denotes a deeper change of rough sea-kings into steel-clad knights sat as Conqueror on the English throne, and set the wild Norse blood flowing down through the whole line of British sovereigns. According to the Norse custom of piercing a land to the heart through its rivers, a swarm of boats, gilt and painted THE NORSEMEN IN FRANCE.' 97 like dragons, pushed up the Seine in 901. The captain of these pirates was Rolf Ganger, or Rollo. Seizing and fortify- ing Rouen, they made it the centre of a marauding warfare that lasted for years. Wherever a branch-stream met the main current, up they went to its very springs. New arri- vals swelled the fleet ; the discontented Frankish peasants flocked to Rouen ; Paris was twice besieged. Charles the Simple, terror-stricken and helpless, yielded up, 911 by a treaty concluded at St. Clair on the Epte, the A.D. rich fields of Normandy and Bretagne to Rollo, who, as Duke of Normandy and peer of France, took an oath of fealty to him. Already another Norse chief, Hastings, noted for his dash upon England in Alfred's later years, had settled on French soil as Count of Chartres. The infusion of Norse blood among the kings and people of England has just been noticed. Here then is the same fresh, vigorous stream flowing into France ; and, certainly, of the many elements, which have combined to make the French a great nation, this is not the least important. The old love of the salt waves still haunts -la belle JVormandie, from whose smiling fields have come the greatest admirals and best sailors of France. Rollo's men, marrying French wives, soon laid aside the rude Norse speech, except a few nautical words, which are still sung out by French captains to French crews. They began to speak the common French dialect. Their love of enterprise turned into new channels. The pirates became ploughmen ; but every day the plough- men grew more polished and poetic. Earing and sowing and reaping for their daily bread, they still cherished in their breasts a delight in the daring and the marvellous. Chivalry took deep root among them. Their poets, no longer skin-clad skalds, but gay trouveres, still sang of war, but in strains that gave the earliest shape and polish to that graceful language, in which La Fontaine and Moliere have written ; and in the great arena of the Crusades no knights dealt harder blows at the Infidels, or splintered lances more gracefully in the tilt-yard, than did the off- spring of those rough, old, yellow-haired Vikings who, but two hundred years before, had swept up the Seine in their dragon-ships, yelling the praises of the blood-stained Odin. (47) 98 RUEIC FOUNDS RUSSIA. But not by sea only did the Norsemen spread. The north-east of Europe was filled with Sclavonian tribes, by whom two chief cities were founded Novgorod on Lake Ilmen, and Kiev on the Dnieper. Some Norsemen, known as Waeregs (rovers) the name was afterwards Graecised into Varangians were invited to rule over one of these tribes, who were plagued with quarrels among their own chiefs. With others Ruric the Jute answered the call ; and 862 entering Novgorod, he founded a kingdom, out of A.D. which has grown the great empire of Russia.* Oleg, guardian of Ruric'sson, added much to the power of the Russo-Norsemen by the conquest of Kiev. The Christian worship, according to the forms of the Greek Church, was first made known in Russia under Olga, the daughter-in-law of Ruric ; and it was formally adopted as the state religion by her grandson Vladimir I., who was baptized in 980. For 736 years (862-1598) Ruric's descend- ants, of whom the last was Feodor, filled the Russian throne. Through Russia the Norsemen reached Constantinople; but thither they came not to conquer, but to defend. Vladimir having dismissed his Danish guard, they took service under the Byzantine emperors ; and nowhere could be seen finer troops than these Varangian life-guards, with their dark bear-skins and glittering steel, the heavy broadsword swing- ing by their sides, and the two-edged axe poised on their shoulders. None but Scandinavians were at first allowed to enlist in their ranks ; but, when William of Normandy scattered the Saxons at Hastings, some of the fugitives were admitted as recruits. A few Norman pilgrims, returning in 1016 from the Holy Land, helped the prince of Salerno in Southern Italy to repel an attack of Saracen pirates. Here then was a new field of warlike enterprise, where sharp swords were sure to bring a good price; and hither flocked over the Alps thousands of Norman adventurers. They at first took * The origin of the name Russia is much disputed. Some suppose that one of the Sclavonian tribes was called Russniak. Others, with more probability, eay that it is a Norse word signifying " Wanderers;" while others again take it from the name of the Gothic tribe Rhoxalanl NORMANS IN SOUTHERN ITALY. 99 service under the Byzantine emperors, whose catapans, or governors, were struggling to recover Sicily from the Sara- cens ; but irritated at the mean rewards they received for hard fighting, they seized Apulia and Calabria for the balance due. Foremost in the warlike band were two brothers from Hauteville in lower Normandy 1040 Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, and Roger, A.D. Count of Sicily. Guiscard, a stalwart handsome Norman, whose ruddy cheek and drooping moustache of golden flax almost won the heart of his fair foe, Anna Com- nena, made two inroads upon Greece. In the first of these was fought the great battle of Durazzo, 1081 where, by a strange destiny, the Varangian life- A.D. guards of the Byzantine camp met their country- men in battle, and were beaten. The conquest of Sicily from the Saracens was achieved by Roger, whose son of the same name was crowned first king of the fertile island. In less than a century, however, this Norman power in the south of Italy melted away, and the rough Norse warriors, having played out their part in history right well by giving new life to worn-out Europe, soon disappear from our view JLS a distinct nation. 100 CHARLEMAGNE AT HOME. CHAPTER VL LIFE AT THE COURT OF CHARLEMAGNE. The emperor's dress. Meals and sleep. His literary friends. His daughters Aix-la-Chapelle. The palace. The college. Counts of the palace. The Great Assembly. " De Villis." CHARLEMAGNE in undress wore a linen shirt and breeches, a tunic fringed with silk, stripes of cloth swathing his legs, and leather shoes. In winter a fur jacket kept him warm. A blue cloak, and a sword with hilt and belt of gold, com- pleted his equipment. But on grand occasions, such as high church solemnities or the reception of ambassadors, he shone out in a magnificent costume sparkling with gold and jewels. His love for the national Frank dress was so strong, that we find him only twice exchanging it for the Eoman garb. We are told that he was hunting one day with his cour- tiers, when a violent storm of wind and rain came on. The silks and furs of the richly dressed train were soaked through, at which the monarch, who was dressed in simple sheep- skin, laughed heartily. On his return to the pala.ce he mischievously kept them in attendance on him until their fine clothes were all shrunk and ruined. And next day, directing them to appear in these same garments, he took occasion to read the poor faded dandies a lecture upon their affectation and useless luxury. He dined off four dishes; and was very fond of roast venison, newly killed, and served up to him on the spit. At table books of history and Augustine's " City of God" were often read aloud to him. In summer, after eating a few apples at his mid-day meal, he took a simple cup of wine (he hated drunkenness), and then slept for two or three hours. At night he was very restless ; and we read of him rising and dressing four or five times in a single night. He held a levee of his friends while dressing in the morning. He was a first-rate Latin scholar, and knew something of Greek. Astronomy was one of his favourite studies. With the learned men, who thronged his court, he lived on terms THE CITY OP AQTO CRANIIM*. 101 of the most playful intimacy: - , To Rut ,them ,nu)ve >at, tJieir ease, he was known among thejti. as -L'a,\iflr, Alculii ;wa3 Horace ; Angelbert, the chancellor, a student of Greek, waa Homer ; another of the set, skilled in moulding verse, was Virgil. So, all royal pomp cast aside, the great monarch argued, wrote, and studied with his lettered friends. Nor did he disdain to take lessons from them. Peter of Pisa taught him grammar ; Alcuin gave him logic and astronomy ; and, when in his old age a new way of writing came into fashion, the rude Frankish characters being exchanged for Roman letters, he had models kept near his pillow that he might practise the new art when he awoke at night. The daughters of Charlemagne, whose bad conduct was the source of much grief to him, were occupied at home in the simple domestic duties of the household, stitching, cooking, and cleaning the rooms. But when the emperor left home, it was his custom to carry his sons and daughters in his train wherever he went. Aquis G-ranum, now Aix-la-Chapelle, a city of Rhenish Prussia near the Belgian frontier, was the northern capital of Charlemagne's empire. The town was founded by the Romans ; and the French name, by which we call it, is a compound, denoting its sulphur springs (Aix for Aqute) and the chapel built there by Pepin. This fertile basin with its pleasant stream and sheltering hills was a favourite resort of Charlemagne, who spared no pains to make the city worthy of his fame. Here he resolved to build a palace, which should be the wonder of the world. The pope had given him some magni- ficent porphyry pillars and mosaic pavements from Ravenna, such as France could not produce. Gathering workmen from every part of the Continent, he soon beheld a splendid building, with gates of the finest brass, and marble walls which enclosed, among many halls and galleries, a library, a college, a theatre, and baths, in some of which a hundred persons could swim at once. On all sides clustered houses for the courtiers, and large rooms warmed with stoves where all classes might at all times find shelter and comfort. A wooden gallery connected this great building with the chapel of the city. 102 THJ] GREAT FllANKISH COUNCIL. Tho Royal College was under the special charge of the great A-cui'i. And the library, there collected, preserved for modern times some rare and precious volumes of the ancient literature. Under the fostering care of Charlemagne educa- tion, radiating from this centre, began to nourish every- where ; and soon every province could boast its college or school. Every monastery endowed by the emperor was bound to maintain a school. Among the seminaries of France Orleans was then specially noted. Although Charlemagne took the advice of the wise and brave around him in cases of difficulty, yet he does not seem to have had any regular privy council. But under the im- perial roof, often presided over by the great man himself, sat the highest court in the realm. There the principal courtiers, no mere gaily dressed flutterers round a throne, were obliged to work as hard as the busiest lawyers, in de- ciding knotty cases of appeal. They were called the Counts of the Palace. The Great Assembly of the Franks met twice a year. Of these meetings, however, the earlier was the more impor- tant the second being rather used to overtake the arrears of state business. The field, thronged with ambassadors from almost all the lands in Europe, was a glittering scene. Here the laws were framed and the taxes for the next year decreed. For days and nights before the meeting of the council, groups of vassals, laden with bags of grain, or leading horses by the head, poured in from the country, which was budding with early spring, to pay in money or in kind their yearly gifts, corresponding to our modern rents. The Capitularies of Charlemagne that is, the enact- ments which he framed with the aid of the nobles and the bishops descend to most minute details. One headed " De Villis" is particularly interesting from the glimpses it gives of the country life at the manors of the emperor. The judex (steward) is enjoined to look after the bees and the poultry, the fish-ponds and the byres. Things made with the hand, such as butter, mead, preserved meat, wine, and vinegar, were to be very clean. Hawks' nests wore to be preserved ; and swans, peafowl, pheasants, and geese to be kept for ornament. The servants were not to idle at fairs ; THE CAPITULARY " DE VILLIS." 103 the accounts were to be accurately kept ; and a general taking of stock was to usher in the New Year. The fruit trees and flower gardens received special notice. Apples, pears, plums, chestnuts, filberts were to be grown. A list of some seventy names of flowers and herbs, headed with roses and lilies, appears amongst the enactments. The gardener was to have Jove's beard (what we call house-leek) growing on the roof of his cottage. The cars were to be covered with well-sewed hides, so that in passing a river they might not let in water. Flour and wine, a shield and lance, a bow and arrows, were to be stowed in every vehicle. And Sunday was to be strictly kept. On that day none were permitted to work in field or garden, to hunt, to wash clothes, to sew, or to shear. The law courts did not sit ; and no cars might be used except for three purposes war- like expeditions, the carriage of victuals, and the burial of the dead. GREAT NAMES OF THE THIRD PERIOD. ALCUIN Born at York pupil of Bede lived much at the court of Charlemagne, whom he taught wrote poetry, theology, and elementary science died in 804. PAUL WARNEFRID (About 740-799) called the Deacon an Italian connected first with the Lom- bard Desiclerius taught Greek at the court of Charlemagne a poet and his- torian chief work, " History of the Lombards." EGINHARD An Austrasian Frank secretary of Charlemagne wrote a life of that monarch and other historical works thought to have died about 841. JOHN SCOTUS ERIGENA...Born in Ireland the only learned lay- man of the Dark Ages lived chiefly in France about the middle of the ninth century theology and metaphysics were his favourite studies died in 875. ALFRED King of England translator of the Psalms, Bede's History, uEsop's Fables, &c. into Saxon like Charlemagne a great patron of learned uieii died 901 A.D. 104 GREAT NAMES OF THE THIRD PERIOD. AVICENNA, or ABEN SINA.Born near Bokhara, 980 A.D. a great Arabian physician and philosopher for centuries his great medical work, "The Canon," continued to be the standard authority even in Europe author of nearly one hundred works- chief philosophical work, "The Re- medy." GUIDO D'AREZZO Born at Arezzo in Tuscany, in end of tenth century a Benedictine monk famous as the inventor of our musical notation his work " Micrologus " de- scribes his plan of writing and teaching music died in middle of eleventh cen- tury. CHRONOLOGY OF THE THIRD PERIOD. EIGHTH CENTURY continued. A.D Charlemagne sole ruler of the Franks 771 Battle of Roncevalles 778 Haroun al Raschid caliph 786 Seventh General Council (at Nice) 787 First landing of Danes in England Irene empress of the East 788 Charlemagne crowned at Rome 800 NINTH CENTURY. Charlemagne's death 814 Egbert sole ruler of England 827 Battle of Fontenaille 841 Treaty of Verdun 843 Ruric founds the Russian empire 862 Alfred the Great king of England. 871 TENTH CENTURY. Alfred's death 901 Rollo the Norseman obtains Neustria 911 Otho the Great emperor of Germany 936 Emir al Omra first appointed 940 Otho crowned emperor of the West 962 John Zimisces emperor of the East 969-75 Otho's death 973 Capetian dynasty begins in France 987 CHKONOLOGY OF THE THIRD PEPwIOD. 105 ELEVENTH CENTURY. Canute the Dane on the English throne 1017 Normans conquer South Italy 1040 Edward the Confessor restores the Saxon line in England 1041 Bagdad taken by the Turks 1055 The Guelph and Ghibelline Feud begins 1061 Jerusalem taken by the Turks 1065 The Norman Conquest of England 1066 Battle of Durazzo -. , 1081 106 ORIGIN OF THE CKUSADES. FOURTH PERIOD. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES TO THE ESTAB- LISHMENT OF SWISS INDEPENDENCE. CHAPTER I. THE CRUSADES. Central Points: JERUSALEM TAKEN BY CRUSADERS 1099 RETAKEN BY SALADIN 1187 RESTORED TO THE CHRISTIANS BY TRUCE 1229 TAKEN BY THE TURKS 1239 Origin of the Crusades. Peter the Hermit Two General Councils. The first rush. Battle of Dorylaeum. Siege of Antioch. Capture of Jerusalem. Godfrey made king. Templars and Hospi- tallers. St. Bernard. March of Conrad III. Disasters of the Second Crusade. Saladin takes Jerusalem. Siege of Acre. Great muster of troops. March of Fred. Redbeard. Capture of Acre. False glare of the Cru- sades. Deeds of Richard I. End of Third Crusade. The Teutonic knights. JERUSALEM, the cradle of the Christian faith, suffered cruel insults at the hands of the Mahometans. Hakem, third of the Fatimide caliphs of Egypt, himself aspiring to the honours of a god, razed the Church of the Resurrection in 1009, and spared no pains to destroy the very rock-cave, which was pointed out as the Holy Sepulchre. The Turks then seized the city ; Christian pilgrims, flocking thither in crowds of thousands during the eleventh century, were cruelly maltreated by them. No Christian could pass the gates without first paying a piece of gold to these Tartar conquerors. Every day brought back to Europe weary palmers, who had been scoffed at and spat upon by the Infidels. This was borne for a time, but soon grew intolerable ; and the indignation, burning deep and long in the heart of Christendom, found its first great utterance in the wild eloquence of Peter the Hermit. PETER THE HERMIT. 107 This man, said to have been a native of Amiens, was a soldier in his youth. Upon the death of his wife he retired broken-hearted to a hermit's cell, from which, however, his innate love of change drove him a pilgrim to the Holy Land. Returning thence full of anger at the degradation of the sacred spot, he obtained leave from Pope Urban II. to call all true Christians to arms ; and as he passed through Italy and France, a fleshless spectre clad in mean raiment, with bare head and feet, and staggering under a heavy crucifix, his fierce war-cry woke an echo in millions of hearts. Within the same year two general councils were called by the pope one at Placentia, the other at Cler- mont in Auvergne. At the latter both the pope 1095 and the hermit spoke in words of fire. With one A.D. voice all who heard cried out in the old French, " Dieu li volt /" ' " It is the will of God ; " and few there were who left the old market-place on that day without a red cross on the shoulder, to mark them as soldiers in the sacred cause. THE FIRST CRUSADE. (1096-1099.) The first movement of the Crusaders was a mad and aim- less rush. A rabble of 300,000, comprising not men alone, but women and children, and even some stricken with deadly disease, gathered under Peter, and a soldier called Walter the Penniless. They passed through Germany with no achievement but the murder and robbery of thousands of Jews. Their plundering roused the rage of the Hungarians and Bulgarians, who set upon them ; and it was with sorely thinned and broken ranks that they reached Constantinople, where Alexis reigned. He persuaded them to fix their camp upon the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. Moving thence towards Nice in Bithynia, they were, all but a very few, cut to pieces by the Turks. But an army, fit to redeem the character of the West, was marshalling fast. The kings as yet held aloof, in person at least. Rufus of England was too fond of his money-bags ; while Henry of Germany, and Philip of France, both bitter foes of the pope, were not likely to arm at the call of one 108 SUFFERINGS OF THE FIRST CRUSADERS. they deeply hated. The great captain of the first Crusade (War of the Cross) was Godfrey of Bouillon, or Boulogne, the Duke of Basse-Lorraine. There were, besides, among the chiefs Robert of Normandy, Hugh the brother of the French king, Stephen of Blois, and Bohemund of Tarentum. Nine months were consumed in mustering the great army of more than half a million, and leading it by different routes to Constantinople. Having crossed the strait, the Crusaders moved, with horns blowing and drums beating, upon Nice, which fell after a siege of seven weeks. At Dorylaeum was fought one of the greatest cavalry battles the world has ever seen. Considerably more than 100,000 Turkish horse with curved sabres and light djereeds were scattered before the lances of the Christian \knights. Soli- man, Sultan of the Turks, fell back in rapid flight. But all this glory was purchased by much suffering. Thirst was the worst woe that befell the Christians ; we are told that once, when water was found after days of scorching drought, 300 of them drank till they died. They threaded the rocky wilds of Taurus, fainting with the weight of their armour under the burning sun ; and at last saw, set in the emerald meadows that line the Orontes, the fair turrets of the Syrian Antioch. Here the war raged anew. The Christian knights vied with one another in valorous deeds. Godfrey one day cut his foe in two ; one half fell into the river, the other sat still on horseback " by which blow," quaintly says Robert the Monk, " one Turk was made two Turks." The siege was pushed on amidst the worst miseries of winter, famine, and disorganization, until, by the treachery of a Syrian officer, the Crusaders were enabled, one dark stormy night, to sur- prise the town. A Saracen army, led by Kerboga, Prince of Mosul, advancing to the rescue, was then repulsed with great slaughter ; and Bohemund, the son of Robert Guiscard, was made prince of the captured city. After a delay of some months at Antioch, the Crusaders, now reduced to 20,000 foot and 1500 horse, moved south- wards toward Jerusalem. They ought to have reduced the great stronghold of Acre with its vast granaries as they passed ; but, eager to crown their enterprise with the capture of the Holy City, they contented themselves with extorting THE SECOND CRtJSADE, 109 a promise from the Emir of Acre, that, if Jerusalem fell, he would give them up his keys. At last the capital of Pales- tine, lovely even in her desolation, rose in their view. The knights, springing from their saddles, 1099 wet the turf with tears of mingled joy and grief A.D. Barefooted and weeping the little band advanced. Under a sky of burning copper, with no water in the pools and brooks, they fought for five long weeks before Godfrey and his stormers stood victorious within the walls. The massacre of 70,000 Moslems, and the burning of the Jews in their synagogue, stained the glory of the conquerors. A kingdom of Jerusalem being then founded, Godfrey was elected king. But modestly and wisely he chose rather the humbler title of Baron of the Holy Sepulchre. The opening of his reign was signalized by the battle of Ascalon, in which he defeated the Sultan of Egypt. After this victory, which closed the first Crusade, many of the actors in the great drama went home. Among these was Peter the Hermit, whose chequered life found a close in the abbey of Huy, founded by himself on the bank of the Meuse. The last great act of Godfrey's life was the enactment of a code of feudal laws, called the " Assize of Jerusalem." He had scarcely shaped these, and seen their earliest working, when death cut him off in the first year of his reign. THE SECOND CRUSADE. (1147-1149.) Before the second Crusade began, forty-eight years passed, during which the infant kingdom of Jerusalem was upheld chiefly by two orders of military monks the Hospitallers and the Templars. The former, whose scarlet surcoat was embroidered with a silver cross, derived their name from their being at first attached to an hospital, dedicated to St. John. The Templars, afterwards so haughty and powerful, calling themselves so from their residence close tc the site of Solo- mon's Temple, sprang from a little society of nine knights, who bound themselves by an oath to pass chaste and humble lives in constant war against the enemies of the faith. They received the sanction of Baldwin II. in 1118. When the news reached Europe that Edessa beyond 110 ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX. Euphrates, one of the strong outposts of the faith against the encroaching Moslems, had fallen before Zenghi, prince of Mosul, the smouldering fire began to blaze anew. St. Bernard took the place which had been filled by Peter the Hermit. Born in Burgundy in 1091, Bernard became a monk in early youth. As Abbot of Clairvaux in Champagne, he was soon noted for his austerity and abstinence. Coarse bread, beech-nuts, and even the leaves of trees formed at one time the only food of his monks and himself. But the spirit within lived and glowed, in spite of pale cheek and wasted frame. And when on the hillside at Vezelai in 1146, he addressed a countless crowd of French knights and nobles, urging them to another Crusade, the old war cry, " It is the will of God," rang through the air, and so gre^t was the rush for the Cross, that he and his priests were obliged to tear up their vestments in order to supply the eager soldiery with the sacred symbol. His eloquence enlisted in the war Louis VII. of France and Conrad III. of Germany. Their combined armies, amounting to 300,000, took the same route as the first Cru- saders had taken through Germany and Hungary right on to Constantinople, and so over the straits into Asia. But the schemes of Manuel, the Emperor of the East, who was espe- cially unfriendly to Conrad, so far reduced the strength of the Germans by cutting off their supplies, that they fell an easy prey to the Saracens among the mountains of Cappa- docia. Conrad returned in despair to Constantinople. The troops of Louis, passing in the deep winter of 1148 to the banks of the Meander, gained a slight triumph over the Saracens. But this success was soon eclipsed by a decided check near Laodicea. When they found the gates of Attalia, where they had hoped to find a refuge, shut against them, the heroic army, lessening every day, struggled on, storm- beaten and famine- worn, to Antioch. The entry of the two monarchs into Jerusalem Conrad had now joined Louis was a gleam of bright promise, reviving the hopes of the Crusaders. But their first undertaking, the siege of Damas- cus, proved a miserable failure, and the second Crusade closed in gloom. Nearly forty years elapsed before the third began. THE GREAT SIEGE OF AdRH 111 THE THIRD CRUSADE. (1189-1192.) When the news came that Jerusalem had fallen before Saladin, the great Sultan of Egypt, and that the golden cross, which had glittered for eighty-eight 1187 years on the Mosque of Omar, marking its transfer- A.D. mation into a Christian church, had been trampled in the streets, Europe for the third time girt herself for war. First, from the Italian ports there sailed out a large fleet, thronged with eager soldiers, who at once upon their ar- rival proceeded to aid the Christians in the siege of Acre, which had yielded to Saladin. But a greater movement followed. The three great West- ern princes took the Cross Richard I. of England, Philip Augustus of France, and Frederic Barbarossa (Redbeard) of Germany. A tax, called Saladin's tithe, was laid upon Christendom to meet the expenses of the war. As was usual in all the Crusades, complete absolution from sin was promised to every soldier who struck a blow at the in- fidel. While Richard and Philip were filling their purses and mustering their armies, Frederic, starting from Ratisbon, pushed by the usual land- route to Adrian ople, crossed the Hellespont, and pierced right through 1189 Asia Minor, routing the Turks, and conquering A.D. Iconium. But his career of victory was stayed in Cilicia, where he died, while bathing one summer day in the river Selef. A remnant of his army some 5000 ragged and footsore men reached the camp of the besiegers before Acre. The siege of that stronghold was pushed on in spite of terrific losses. For two long years a vague hope of aid from Europe upheld the hearts of the Christians. The Turkish garrison was renewed again and again, whenever the sea was left open. Nine battles were fought under the shadow of Mount Carmel with changing success. Thousands on thousands of the crusading soldiery laid down their lives before the ramparts ; but still the camp was filled with new hosts, burning with martial fury. 112 RICHARD I. IN PALESTINE. The armies of Richard and Philip, amounting together to 100,000, were transported by sea to the Holy Land, 1190 the former sailing from Marseilles, the latter from A.D. Genoa. They spent the winter together at Messina in Sicily, not indeed on the most friendly terms. Richard delayed, besides, at Cyprus, where he was married. He dethroned Isaac, king of that island, for treating some of his shipwrecked sailors badly. It was, therefore, nearly a year after their setting out that the royal warriors appeared before Acre ; Philip first, Richard shortly afterwards. New vigour stirred in the besiegers; and Saladin must have trembled for his hold upon the key of Syria, when he saw the plain whitened with a new camp of many thousand tents. One glimpse of the great Saracen's Character must not be passed by. Even at so great a crisis, this generous foe sent frequent presents of pears and snow to cool the fever, of which Richard and Philip lay sick in their tents. Ere long the broken ramparts of the city yielded to the Crusaders, and the Sultan fell back towards the south. The story of the Crusades, and of this third one especially, has been coloured with the gayest tints of romance ; and we are apt to be dazzled by a deceptive glare in reading of the noble achievements of the soldiers of the Cross. The truth is, that the crusading armies were filled with the worst ruffians in Europe. There were, no doubt, noble exceptions. But very few were inspired by motives of real piety. The hope of plunder and a reckless love of change were the main- springs of the war. The Cross met the eye everywhere throughout the camp, on banners, shields, and surcoats, sparkling over tent-doors, and shapen into the hilts of swords ; but it was not in the hearts of the soldiery ; and this being so. it is no wonder that the worst vices were ram- pant among them, and that all shame was cast aside. Soon after the fall of Acre, Philip returned to Europo, Richard then pushed southward along the sea-coast, fight- ing his way for eleven days amid the unceasing rattle of the brass kettle-drums, that called up new hosts of Saracens to the front. He found Joppa and Ascalon dismantled. Next spring he advanced within twenty miles of Jerusalem ; but turned away from what most likely would have been THE DEATH OF SALADTN. 113 the crowning achievement of the war. The sad havoc al- ready made in his ranks, the discontent of his allies, and news from England of danger menacing 1192 his crown, are assigned as reasons for this step. On A.D. his way home falling into the hands of the Duke of Austria, who had an old grudge against him, he lay in secret prisons for nearly two years. Richard's departure from Palestine was the signal for a peace which promised to be lasting ; but the death of Saladin, in 1193, gave a new turn to the history of the Holy Land. The rise of the Teutonic Order dates from the third Cru- sade, a few generous knights having joined to tend the sick and wounded in the camp before Acre. 114 SCHEMES OF THE EMPEROR HENRY TTL CHAPTER IT. THE ORUSADES Continued. Fourth Crusade begins. Berytus taken. Siege of Thoron fails. Foulque. Delay at Venice. Blind old Dandolo. Capture of Zara. Movement on Constanti- nople. The siege. Baldwin made emperor. The Boy Crusade. Frederic II. of Germany. Concludes a truce. Crowns himself king. St. Louis. In Egypt Dies in Tunis. Edward I. of England. The Ruin of Acre. THE FOURTH CRUSADE. (1195-1197.) THE Emperor Henry VI, gaoler of our Coeur de Lion, had his eye upon Sicily as a key to the conquest of the Byzan- tine Empire. To cloak his real design he organized a fourth Crusade. Reserving a body of 40,000 under his own command to execute his secret schemes on Sicily, he divided the rest of his forces into two parts. One, crossing the Danube, marched to Constantinople, and sailed in Greek ships to Acre. The others, setting out from the Baltic ports, did not reach Palestine till some time later. The Syrian Christians, just beginning to taste the sweets of peace, at first looked coldly on their brethren, who came, sword in hand, from Europe. But a movement of the Sara- cens, before whom Joppa fell, scattered all thoughts of dis- union. Banding together, the Christian soldiery waited only for their friends, who were making the long sea passage, and then besieged Berytus (Beirout). The capture of this great city enriched the Crusaders, and set free 9000 Chris- tian prisoners, who had long lain in its dungeons. The arrival of a third army, despatched by Henry, when he had succeeded in his designs on Sicily, raised high hopes that Jerusalem would soon be freed from the Infidels. But the approach of winter delayed the great enterprise. The siege of Thoron on the coast was undertaken instead. German miners tunnelled through the rock on which it stood ; and the walls were shaking whew the besieged sued THE FIFTH CRUSADE TURNED ASIDE. 115 for quarter. It was refused; and with the courage of de- spair the defence began again. The tide turned. Rumours of an advancing Saracen host struck terror into the hearts of the Crusaders. In the dead of night their leader fled, and next day saw the whole army, scared by a storm of thunder and lightning, and fiercely hunted by their infidel foes, scattered in headlong flight on the way to Tyre. This was the miserable end of the fourth Crusade. Other operations might have been undertaken ; but the death of the Emperor Henry, whose gold had been the mainstay of the war, brought the adventurers home, to see what might be picked up on less distant fields. THE FIFTH CRUSADE. (119&-1204.) Pope Innocent III. sent forth letters to stir up a new Cru- sade. But these would have had little influence, especially in France, which lay under an interdict, if they had not been backed by the simple eloquence of Foulque, curate of a little town on the Marne. At a great tournament he preached the Crusade with such a trumpet-tongue, that the lists were deserted by the knights, who thronged to take the badge of the Holy War. With the Doge of Venice, " the blind old Dandolo," a bar- gain was struck for ships, and Venice was named as the place of muster. But, when the day of muster came, so few of the barons had arrived, that they were not able to raise the sum demanded for the hire of the ships. In their distress they accepted the offer of the Doge, to free them from all claims, if they would retake for Venice the revolted city of Zara. It lay in Dalmatia, and had sought the protection of the Hungarian king. But in five days it was 1202 forced to yield to the arms of the Crusaders. A.D. Having once turned aside from the real object of the expedition, they easily took a second step of the same kind. Isaac, Emperor of the East, having been deposed and blinded by his brother Alexius, his son, another Alexius, came to the crusading chiefs imploring help. Some were for sailing instantly to Palestine ; but a stronger party resolved to grant the aid. Arid so a magnificent fleet, sweeping down 116 THE BOY CRUSADE. the Adriatic and up the ^Egean, anchored within sight of the glittering turrets of Constantinople. Fixing their camp at Scutari on the Asiatic side, the Cru- saders prepared to pass the rapid Bosphorus. The knights crossed in flat-bottomed boats, standing lance in hand beside their horses. The opposite shore was safely occupied ; and at the same time the Venetian galleys broke the boom across the entrance of the harbour. And then the siege 1203 began. Ever foremost in the fight was the blind A.D. old Doge, giving life and spirit to every movement of the besiegers. For eleven days (July 7-18) there was a feeble resistance, until Alexius the usurper, fled with all the gold he could lay his hands on. Isaac was restored to his throne; but, a quarrel aris- ing between the Crusaders and the Greeks, war began anew. A second siege of Constantinople ended in the com- plete triumph of the besiegers. Baldwin, Count of Flanders, was elected emperor over one-fourth of the eastern dominions, for Isaac and his son were both dead. The remaining shares were divided between the republic of Venice and the barons of France. THE BOY CRUSADE. One of the strangest sights of the Middle Ages was the Boy Crusade of 1212. A shepherd boy, Stephen of Vendome, gave out that God in a vision had bestowed on him bread, and had sent him with a letter to the King of France. Round him gathered 30,000 children of about twelve years. Boys were there, and girls in boys' clothes, on horseback and afoot. The tears and prayers of their parents could not turn them from their mad design. The strange flame spread through all France; from castle and from hut the little ones fled to follow the car of Stephen. With wax candles in their hands, clad in pilgrim's dress, they moved, singing hymns, over the hot dusty plains of Provence, upheld through all the toils and terrors of the way by the wild hope that the waters of the sea, drying up before them, would open a path to the Holy Land. Robbed by the way, they were yet more pitilessly cheated in Mar- seilles. Two merchants agreed to take them to Palestine, TRUCE BETWEEN THE EMPEROR AND THE SULTAN. 117 for the love of God, as the canting scoundrels said. The children set sail in seven ships. Two of these were wrecked, and all on board lost. The other five bore their precious freight to Egypt, where all were sold as slaves. It is some consolation to know that the rascal merchants were soon after hanged in Sicily. About the same time two armies of children, gathering in Germany, crossed the Alps to Genoa and Lombardy, where they were scattered and lost, very many of these too fall- ing into the cruel hands of slave-dealers. THE SIXTH CRUSADE. (1227-1229.) The next great movement, passing over the attack on Damietta in 1219, where the Christians suffered heavily, was headed by the Emperor Frederic II. Urged by Pope Gregory IX., the emperor embarked for the Holy Land ; but discontent among his troops, or, if we are to believe some, a severe fit of sickness turned him back, after he had been at sea only three days. The furious pope excommunicated him ; but next year, in spite of the pontiffs continued ill-temper, he set sail for 1228 Palestine, induced chiefly by the offered alliance of A.D. the Sultan of Egypt. The wrath of the pope, following him to Palestine, estranged from him all the clergy of that land. Nevertheless, he followed up his plans with consummate skill, and won from his friend, Malek Kamil the Sultan, by fair words and good fellowship, what so much blood had been spilled to gain. A truce for ten years was made between the 1229 princes. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and all the towns A.D. from Joppa to Ptolemais were given up to Frederic, almost the only stipulation being that the Mosque of Omar should remain open to Moslem worshippers. This gaining of the object, for which the Crusaders had striven from the first, ought to have filled Christendom with joy; but a sullen silence hung upon the clergy. And the excommunicated prince, entering Jerusalem in triumph with his Teutonic knights, was forced, for want of a priest to perform the cere- mony, to place the crown on his head with his own hands. 116 EXPLOITS OF St. LOtTIS. His reign in the East was short, for the schemes of the unfor- giving pope against his empire in Europe led him to return in haste to Italy. THE SEVENTH CRUSADE. Louis IX. of France, one of the few monarchs honoured with the title of Saint, led the Seventh Crusade. Jerusalem had again become the prey of the Infidels. As he left the French shore with a large force, the notes of a sacred anthem rose from the ships. After spending the winter at Cyprus, where his army wasted their strength in riotous living, he anchored before Damietta late in spring. Leaping sword in hand into the sea amid a deadly rain of arrows, the brave king led the way to the shore. The panic-struck Moslems left Damietta to its fate. But pestilence began to thin the ranks of the Crusaders ; and, when Louis moved inland to Mansourah, a sudden rally of the flying foe met his straggling files. The death of his brother and the flower of his army made his dearly-bought victory worse than a defeat. A retreat to Damietta was re- solved on ; but at the village of Minieh, Louis, who might have escaped, but nobly refused to leave his broken force, was made prisoner. Nor was he released until he 1250 agreed to restore Damietta, and to pay 400,000 A.D. golden pieces. He lingered at Acre for four years longer, until the death of his mother obliged him to return to France. THE EIGHTH AND LAST CRUSADE. (1270-1272.) Sixteen years later, a Crusade left France, bound, not for Palestine, but for Africa the grand object of St. Louis being to convert the Prince of Tunis with the sword. The Moslem troops gave way ; but a deadlier foe descended upon the French host, when plague, made worse by the un- buried corpses, began its ravages. Among others the king sickened and died. Edward of England, afterwards Edward I, was the last of the crusading princes. Arriving in Africa to find Louis THE DESTRUCTION OF ACRE. 119 dead, he lost no time in leading his little force to the Holy Land. But the glory of the war was past. A march into Phoenicia and a massacre of the Moslems at Nazareth were almost his only doings. His head-quarters were at Acre. The stab of a poisoned dagger we are told that his wife saved him by sucking the wound warned him to leave the land; and, after having spent in all some eighteen months of aimless enterprise, he returned to England to conquer Wales and vex Scotland. Acre, which after the loss of Jerusalem was the centre of the European power in the East, grew to be a disgrace to the name of Christianity. But its lust and riot were buried in its ruins, when after a siege of 1291 thirty-three days, the heavy engines of Sultan A.D. Khalil pounded its strong defences to dust, and opened the way for the Mameluke stormers. Sixty thou- sand Christians were slain or enslaved ; and of the few who escaped to their ships, the greater part perished in the waves before they could reach the friendly coast of Cyprus. CHRISTIAN KINGS OF JERUSALEM. A.D. GODFREY OF BOULOGNE. 1099 BALDWIN 1 1100 BALDWIN II 1118 FULK OF ANJOU 1131 BALDWIN III 1144 AMAURI 1162 BALDWIN IV 1174 A.D. SIBYL then Ms Son BALDWIN V 1185 GUY DE LUSIGNAN 1186 HENRY OF CHAMPAGNE.. 1192 AMAURI DE LUSIGNAN.. 1197 JEANNE DE BRIENNE.... 1209 EMPER. FREDERIC II. 1229-39 120 THE PROTESTANTS OF LANGUEDOC. CHAPTER III. THE ALBIGENSES. Central Point: THE BATTLE OF MUEET, 1213 AJX Innocent III. The Albigenses. Their doctrines and name. Outbreak of war. Dominic Guzman. Capture of Beziers. Of Carcassonne. The Castle of Minerva Of La Vaur. Battle of Muret. Prince Louis. Death of Montfort. Peace of Paris. Political aim of the Cru- sade, THE Papacy reached its noonday under Innocent III., who wore the tiara from 1 198 to 1 216. He it was who brought John to lay the crown of England at the foot of the papal chair. But we have here to speak briefly of his dealings with a nobler race than such as John the Albigenses of Southern France. Among the vines of Languedoc dwelt a people who spoke the rich musical Provenal, in which the troubadours sang of love and war. This intelligent and accomplished race looked with contempt on the vices of their clergy, as well they might, for their bishops were roues of high rank, and their curates mere ignorant hinds taken from the trencher or the plough. Hungering after a deeper teaching and a holier discipline than was common in their days, they scorned the dry husks of Rome ; and drawing aside from the established pale, formed themselves into a separate religious society, in which they strove to realize on earth the divine ideal of the Church, as a holy nation, a peculiar people, a brotherhood of saints. With some peculiar tenets of their own, closely resembling those of the ancient Manichees, and which subjected them not altogether without ground to the charge of a heretical tendency, they were yet in some points faithful witnesses for the truth, and pioneers of that great Reformation struggle that was yet to come. In an age of rampant superstition and lifeless formalism they testified both by word and deed for the spirituality of religion, and of the worship of God ; and even their errors were probably in large measure only an excessive reaction against the prevailing evils of the THE ALBIGENSES. 121 times. They denied the doctrine of the real corporeal pres- ence. They denounced all images as idols. Their worship was simple and unadorned ; and sumptuous ceremonial and gorgeous priestly vestments were alike eschewed. The holy volume lay open on the table, which, in their places of wor- ship, supplanted the pompous altar ; and the simple preach- ing of the word formed the most prominent feature of the service. They abounded in mortifications and fastings, and were distinguished, even by the confession of enemies, by a strictness of life which was then rare, and which went the length even of an ascetic severity. They received the name Albig^ois, or Albigenses,* from the town of Albi. They have been often classed, and, save for the serious heretical leaven above referred to, not unworthily, with the Wal- denses, who cherished the truths of Christianity in singular simplicity and purity during long ages of darkness among the valleys of Piedmont. Innocent, looking jealously upon these men, sent monks to watch them. One of these legates was 1208 stabbed to death by a retainer of Kaymond, Count A.D. of Toulouse. And then the war blazed out. Dominic Guzman, a Spanish monk, took the lead in stirring up this Crusade. In his dealings with the poor villagers of Languedoc, we trace the first sign of that terrible engine of the Eomish Church, the Inquisition, which began its deadly working formally in 1233 under Gregory IX., and continued to scorch Italy and Spain with its baleful fires until the close of the eight( j r ,th century. Wearing a cross on the breast instead of the shoulder, the Crusaders, encouraged by the most unbounded promises of absolution from sin, moved with joy from all parts of France to a field of plunder and bloodshed so near and so promising. The main body of the army descended the valley of the Rhone, entering Languedoc by the Mediterranean shore. Tumultuous mobs, armed with clubs and scythes, followed in their track. When he saw the terrors of war approaching, the Count * They belonged properly to the sect of the " Cathari," or "the pure," ex- tensively scattered over the whole of Europe during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. 122 THE SLAUGHTER AT BEZIERS. of Toulouse, cringing to the legate, underwent sore humilia- tion to prove his penitence. But his nephew, young Raymond Roger, showed a bolder front. Dividing his forces between his strongest cities, Beziers and Carcassonne, this young noble withdrew to the latter to await the attack The citizens of Beziers made a hot dash upon the besiegers as they were marking out a camp. But an overwhelming force driving back the sortie, pressed in through the open gates, 1209 and remained masters of the city. And then began A.D. a terrific scene of blood. Arnold Amalric, the legate, was asked by some officers how they were to know the heretics from the true sons of Rome. Satan might be proud of his reply. " Kill them all," said he, " the Lord will know well those who are his." Sixty thousand were slain, and the town was burned to ashes! Carcassonne held out until the water began to fail. The garrison escaped by an underground passage nine miles long. Raymond Roger, surrendering, died in prison within three months; and his territories were bestowed on Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who henceforward was the great captain of the war. In the summer of 1210 Montfort laid siege to the Castle of Minerva near Narbonne, which, perched on a steep crag, was looked upon as the strongest place in the land. For seven weeks the Albigenses held out ; but then their cisterns ran dry. Led to hope that their lives would be 1210 spared, they gave up the castle. But they soon found A.D. that, if they wished to live, they must confess the doctrines of Rome to be true. A heap of dry wood, filling the courtyard, was set on fire, and more than one hundred and forty men and women leapt willingly into the flames rather than deny their faith. The whole of that land of deep-green valleys was then ravaged by Montfort and his pilgrims, as the persecuting soldiery were called. As another specimen of the tender mercies of this trusty son of Rome, take the story of La Vaur. This castle, lying fifteen miles from Toulouse, had long opened its hospitable gates to those Albigenses who were SlEftE OF THE CASTLE OP LA VATTR. 123 driven from their homes by the flames. It was looked on by the Crusaders as a very nest of heresy. Five thousand men of Toulouse, banded together as the 1211 White Company, advanced to the siege. Strange A.I>. and terrible engines of war fronted the walls. One of them was the cat a mediaeval form of the old battering- ram. It was a great wooden tower, covered with sheepskin, from whose side a heavy beam, studded with iron claws, struck and tore at the masonry till a breach was made. At first Montfort could not reach the wall, for as fast as he filled up the ditch the garrison cleared away the earth. At length, however, dislodging them from their subterranean passages with fire, he got the cat to work, and made a prac- ticable breach. As the knights clambered up the ruined wall, the priests, clad in full robes, chanted a hymn of joy. AVhen the sword and the gallows had done their deadly work, a vast crowd of the captives were burned alive. Raymond, Count of Toulouse, at last plucked up heart to face the invaders. An alliance was formed between the Albigenses and Pedro, King of Aragon. At Muret, nine miles from Toulouse, a battle was fought, in 1213 which Don Pedro was slain, and the victory rested A.D. with Montfort. The iron-clad knights of northern France were as yet more than a match for the light horse of Spain and the defenceless infantry of the Pyrenees. This crushing blow struck terror into the hearts of the Albigenses. The war seemed to be over, and the Crusaders went home. In 1215 we find Prince Louis, son of Philip Augustus, taking the Cross against the heretics. The time allotted for the pilgrimage was six weeks, during which the chief pleasures were to be living at discretion in Languedoc, pillaging houses and castles, and singing the hymn " Veiii Creator" round the burning heretics. But for that time, at least, the pleasant programme was not fulfilled, for Montfort took good care to get Louis as quickly and quietly as possible out of the land which he had conquered for himself. Toulouse and Narbonne were the two capitals of Montfort'a rule. 124 FINAL CONQUEST OF LANGUEDOC. The citizens of the former revolted, inspired with new courage on the return of Count Raymond. In 1218 the attempt to retake the city, Simon de Mont- A.D. fort was killed by the blow of a great stone on the head. Still the war continued with the same terrible bloodshed under the same pretence of religious zeal. But the Albi- genses grew weaker. Raymond VI. died in 1222, worn out by care and age. Seven years later, his son Ray- 1229 niond VII. yielded up all his territory to the King A.D. of France, receiving back a part to be held as a fief. This arrangement was called the Peace of Paris. Some vain struggles followed, for the spirit of the Albigenses was yet alive, though sorely crushed. However, the final ratification of the peace in 1242 completed the con- quest of Languedoc. This was not only a religious persecution, but had a dis- tinct political aim. Guizot well describes it as the re- establishment of the feudal system in the south of France, when an attempt had been made to organize society there on democratic principles. So completely was the nationality of the Albigenses trampled out, that their beautiful tongue the Langue d'Oc, the sweet provenpal of the troubadour ballads perished for ever, as a distinct speech, from among the tongues of Europe, THE CAPET KINGS OF FRANCE. HUGH CAPET 987 ROBERT II. (the Sage) 996 HENRY 1 1031 PHILIP 1 1060 LOUIS VI. (le Gros) 1108 LOUIS VII. (the Young) 1137 PHILIP II. (Augustus) 1180 LOUIS VIII. CCoeur de Lion) 1223 A.D, LOUIS IX, (St. Louis) 1226 PHILIP III. (the Hardy)... 1270 PHILIP IV. (the Fair) 1285 LOUIS X. (Hutin) 1314 JOHN 1316 PHILIP V. (the Long) 1316 CHARLES IV. (the Hand- some) 1322 THE ANCIENT PRUSSIANS. 126 CHAPTER IV. CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA BY THE TEUTONIC ORDER. Central Point : THE SEAT OF THE ORDEK FIXED AT MARIENBURG. 1309 A.D. The BorussL I Removal to Marienburg. Occupation of Culm. German colonists. The war. 1 Territory of the order. The grand masters. Luxury and vice. Battle of Tannenberg. ONE of the most remarkable achievements during the hey- day of chivalry was the conquest of Prussia by the few thousand knights of the Teutonic order, which, it will be remembered, originated during the third Crusade. Among the heaths and marshes and pine forests, which bordered the Baltic on the south and east, the Borussi, fiercest, perhaps, of all the Sclavonic tribes, had long main- tained themselves. They wore furs and coarse linen ; ate horseflesh and drank mare's milk. The sun, moon, and stars were their gods; and when a chief died, his wives, slaves, arms, and horses were burned with his corpse. Their javelins and lances baffled every attempt to plant Chris- tianity among them. They were deadly and dangerous foes of the Polish nation, whose vigorous efforts to subdue them had been all in vain for nearly four hundred years. The fifth Crusade was over, and the sixth had not yet begun. During this lull in the fighting world, the Teutonic knights, just home from the Holy Land, accepted the invita- tion of a Polish duke to occupy Culm on the Vistula, and turn their arms against these fierce heathen. Fixing their head-quarters by the Vistula, first at Culm, then at Thorn, which was built by themselves in 1231, the knights commenced a war of fifty-three 1228 years, which ended in the complete overthrow to of the Borussi or Prussians. The Sword Knights 1281 of Livonia joined the banner of the Teutonic A.D. Order early in the war. About thirty years after the conquest of the land the 126 POWER AND GRANDEUR OF THE ORDER. grand master removed the seat of the order from Venice to Marienburg, thus completing the settlement of these new lords upon Prussian soil. Some of the native Prussian chiefs were ennobled ; but the mass of the people sank into serfdom. Feudal castles studded the conquered land ; and to fill the place of the thousands who had perished in the terrible war, German colonists were drafted in. The German tongue began to be freely spoken, and a spirit of enterprise pervaded the land. The Prussians turned to their cattle-rearing with new zeal. Commerce flourished along the Baltic and on the banks of the Vistula. Neat German farms smiled everywhere around. The Baltic supplied profitable stores of fish ; and the amber, gathered on the shore, drew wealth into the coffers of the state. Unbroken, except by a wedge of Lithuania, which, north of the Niemen, touched the sea with its point, the territory of the Teutonic Order stretched along the Baltic from a good distance west of the Vistula to the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. Running inland as far as Thorn, it included eastern and part of western Prussia, with Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia, three provinces of modern Russia. The islands of Dago and Gothland were also within the limit. The chief cities were Marienburg, Konigsberg, and Gdansk or Dantzic. In the first of these, which was the capital of the Order, from 1309 to their fall in 1466, the grand old Gothic ruins of their palace das Deutsche Jiaus still mark the greatness of a pride long since crumbled into dust. The grand masters lived in most magnificent state. One of them, gathering an army on the banks of the Niemen to invade Lithuania, entertained his knights at a grand banquet. Richly dressed servants held canopies of cloth of gold over each knight as he sat at table ; and, when the thirty courses of the banquet had come and gone, the guests were permitted to carry away the golden plate and cup they had just been using. Such luxury began to sap the prosperity of these soldier-monks. Vices, at first hidden within castle walls, began to be practised more openly with little shame. With blacker vice there grew up greater arrogance. They lashed their Prussian serfs and the German settlers with such THE DECISIVE BLOW. 127 merciless severity, that the trampled races, rising in revolt, called in the aid of the gallant Poles. On one fear- ful field Tannenberg in Southern Prussia the 1410 Grand Master Ulric died with most of his knights, A.D. and 30,000 meaner soldiers. This blow utterly broke the power of the order. And, half a century later we find the Teutonic knights, shorn of their old splendour, sink into nothingness as the vassals of the Polish crown* 128 THE FOREST CANTONS OF SWITZERLAND, CHAPTER V. THE SWISS WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. Central Points: 3ATTLE OF MORGARTEN, 1315 A.D. BATTLE OF SEMPACH, 1386 A.D. Old Helvetia. Rodolph of Hapsburg. Appointment of bailiffs. The meadow of RutlL Tell and the apple. Gessler slain. The outbreak. Battle of Morgarten. The name Switzerland. The eight cantons. Battle of Sempach. Battle of Nefels. The Sempach Conren tion. EARLY in the Christian era Helvetia, which was peopled chiefly by Gallic tribes, formed a part of the Roman Empire. Then, overrun by various barbarous races, it was included in the kingdom of Burgundy the Less, and as such fell under the rule of Charlemagne. After his death it was annexed to the Romano-Germanic Empire. Conspicuous among the many small sovereignties and states, into which it was broken, even while owning a sort of dependence on the empire, were the Forest Cantons of Schweitz, Uri, and Underwalden, clustered round the southern shore of Lake Lucerne. In 1273 Count Rodolph of Hapsburg (Hawk's Castle on the Aar in North Switzerland) was elected King of the Romans, or Emperor of Germany. He is distinguished in history as the founder of the Imperial House of Austria. Lord of many lands and towns in Switzerland, he held besides, by the free choice of the foresters themselves, the advocacy or protectorship of the Forest States. He did not allow his elevation to the imperial throne to sever the ties which bound him to the mountain-land. He spent much time among the Swiss ; and the many benefits and enlarged privileges they received from him were repaid on their part by unbroken affection and unbounded trust. But when, in 1298, his son Albert Duke of Austria, which had been taken by Rodolph from Bohemia was made emperor, a gloom fell upon Switzerland. It soon became clear that his design was to make himself despotic master of all the land. The Forest Cantons were placed under two WILLIAM TELL AND HIS FAMOUS SHOT. 129 bailiffs or governors, Gessler and Beringer, whose insolent tyranny grew intolerable. Three of the oppressed foresters, Walter Fiirst, Arnold von Melchthal, and Werner Stauffacher, met to plan the deliverance of their country. On a November night in the meadow of Rutli by Lake Lucerne, these 1307 three patriots, in the presence of thirty tried friends, A.D. swore beneath the starry sky to die, if need were, in defence of their freedom. And all the thirty joining in the solemn vow, the coming New Year's Night was fixed for striking the first blow. Meanwhile Gessler, the Austrian bailiff, was slain by one of the thirty, William Tell, a native of Burglen near Altorf, and famous over all the country for his skill with the cross- bow. The romantic story, upon which, however, some doubt has been cast by modern historians, runs thus : Gessler, to try the temper of the Swiss, set up the ducal hat of Austria on a pole, in the market-place of Altorf, and commanded that all who passed it by should bow in homage. Tell, passing one day with his little son, made no sign of reverence. He was at once dragged before Gessler, who doomed him to die, unless with a bolt from his cross- bow he could hit an apple placed on his son's head. The boy was bound, and the apple balanced. Tell, led a long way off, aiming for some breathless seconds, cleft the little fruit to the core. But, while shouts of joy were ringing from the gathered crowd, Gessler saw that Tell had a second arrow, which he had somehow contrived to hide while choosing one for his trying shot. " Why," cried the bailiff, " hast thou that second arrow?" And the bold answer was, " For thee, if the first had struck my child." In a violent rage Gessler then ordered Tell to be chained, and carried across the lake to the prison of Kussnacht. A Btorm arising when they were half way over, huge waves threatened to swamp the boat. By order of the governor, Tell, whose knowledge of the lake was remarkable, was unchained and placed at the rudder. Resolved on a bold dash for liberty, he steered for a rocky shelf which jutted into the waters, sprang ashore, and was soon lost among the mountain glens. And some time after, hiding in a woody <4W 9 130 BATTLE OF MORGARTEN. pass within a short distance of Kussnacht, he shot the tyrant Gessler dead with his unerring cross-bow. Thus for a few hours Tell shone out in the story of the world with a lustre that has never since grown dim. Dark- ness rests on his after life. We know nothing more than that he fought in the great battle of Morgarten, and that in 1350 he was drowned in a flooded river. The dawn of 1308 saw the foresters in arms. The Aus- trian castles were seized. The Alps were all alight with bonfires. Albert, hurriedly gathering an army, was advancing to crush the rising, when he was assassinated at the Reuss by his nephew, Duke John of Suabia. To their lasting honour, be it said, that the three revolted cantons refused to shelter the murderer, who lived and died miserably in Italy. Three great battles Morgarten, Sempach, and Nefels mark the steps by which the brave Swiss achieved their independence. Seven years after Albert's death, his son, Duke Leopold of Austria, resolving to pierce the mountains of Schweitz and punish the audacious herdsmen, left Zug with an army of 15,000 men, carrying great coils of rope to hang his prisoners. The Pass of Morgarten, which ran for three miles between the steep rocks of Mount Sattel and the little Lake Egeri, was the only way by which heavy cavalry could pass into the doomed canton. With the dawn of a November Uov. 16, morning, as the sun shone red through a frosty 1315 fog, the Austrians entered the pass a host of steel- A.D. clad knights in front, and the footmen following in close order. Their advance was known and pre- pared for. Fourteen hundred herdsmen, who had com- mended their cause and themselves to the God of battles, lined the rocky heights. Fifty exiles from Schweitz, burning to regain an honoured place among their countrymen, gathered on a jutting crag that overhung the entrance of the defile, and when the Austrians were well in the trap, hurled down great rocks and beams of wood upon the close-packed ranks. Amid the confusion, which was increased by the fog, the Swiss rushed from the heights, and with their halberts and iron-shod clubs beat down the Austrian knights in crowds. Horses plunged into the lake ; many knights BATTLE OF SEMPACH. 131 fell back upon the footmen, trampling them to death. It was a woeful day for Austria, and for chivalry, when the steel cuirass and the knightly lance went down before the pikes and clubs of a few untrained footmen. Duke Leopold scarcely saved himself by a headlong flight over the moun- tains to Winterthur, where he arrived late in the evening, a haggard, beaten man. The valour of the Schweitzers was so remarkable in this battle, and throughout the great future struggle, that the name of their canton was extended to the whole country, henceforth named Switzerland. The three cantons renewed their solemn league of mutual defence. Lucerne joined the Confederation in 1335 ; Zurich and Zug in 1351 ; Glarus and Berne soon followed, thus completing the list of the eight ancient cantons of the infant Republic. A treaty, ratified at Lucerne, is remark- able as being a distinct acknowledgment on the 1353 part of Austria that the Swiss had triumphed, and A.D. were free. The ceaseless industry and steady eco- nomy of the mountaineers proved them worthy of the free- dom they had so bravely won. But their task was not yet done. Bent on crushing the Confederation with one terrible blow, Leopold, Duke of Suabia, one of the Hapsburg line, marched from Baden towards Lucerne. He found his way barred at Sempach by 1300 men, who held the wooded heights round the lake. The Austrian force consisted of 4000 horse, July 9, and 1400 foot. At the hastily summoned council 1386 the arrogant nobles were loud in their cry that the A.D. peasant rabble should be crushed at once, without waiting for the rest of the army. And rashly the duke gave orders for the fight. As the broken mountain-ground was unfit for cavalry movements, the knights, dismounting, formed a solid mass of steel blazing in the hot harvest sun. A short prayer, and the Swiss were formed for the charge. On they came, the gallant mountain men, some with boards on their left arms instead of shields. But the iron wall stood fast, with its bristling fence unbroken ; sixty of their little band lay bleeding on the earth ; the wings of the Aus- trian line were curving round to hem them in a fatal ring, 132 THE SEMPACH CONVENTION. when Arnold von Winkelried, a knight of Underwalden, dashing with open arms on the Austrian lances, swept together as many as he could reach, and as they pierced his brave breast, bore their points with him to the ground. Like lightning the Swiss were through the gap ; the Austrian line was broken; all was rout and dismay. Two thousand knights perished on the field. Duke Leopold himself died while gal- lantly defending the torn and bloody banner of Austria. This brilliant success was followed, two years later, by an- other at Nefels, in which 6000 Austrians were scattered by a handful of Swiss. Here, as at Morgarten, rocks flung from the heights caused the first disorder in the Austrian lines. At the diet of Zurich, held in 1393, a general law-martial, called the Sempach Convention, was framed to bind the eight cantons together in firmer league. It enacted that it was the duty of every true Switzer " to avoid unnecessary feuds, but where a war was unavoidable, to unite cordially and loyally together ; not to flee in any battle before the contest should be decided, even if wounded, but to remain masters of the field; not to attempt pillage before the general had sanctioned it ; and to spare churches, convents, and defenceless females." So Switzerland shook off the yoke of Austria ; and never since, but once, when for a time Napoleon laid his giant grasp upon her, has the liberty won at Morgarten and Sempach been imperilled. GEEMA1ST EMPEROES OF THE HOUSES OF HAPS- BURG, LUXEMBURG, AND BAVARIA. RODOLPH (Count of Haps- burg) 1273 Interregnum 1291 ADOLPHUS(Count of Nassau)1292 ALBERT (Duke of Austria) 1298 HENRY VII. of LUXEM- BURG 1308 Interregnum 1313 LOUIS IV. (of Bavaria)....) FREDERIC III. (of Aus->1314 tria), reigning rivals ) Louis alone 1330 CHARLES IV. (of Luxem- burg) 1347 WENCESLAS (King of Bo- hemia) 1378 FREDERIC (Duke of Bruns- wick 1400 RUPERT (Count Palatine of the Rhine) 1400 JOSSUS (Marquis of Mora- via) 1410 SIGISMUND (King of Hun- gary) 1410 THE ORIGIN OF CHIVALRY. 133 Origin of chivalry. Three grades. The page. The squire. His chief duties. Creation of a knight. Chain mail. CHAPTER VL CHIVALRY. Plate armour. Picture of a knight. Overweighted. The tournament. The three elements of chivalry. Battle of Courtrai. Swiss infantry. Gunpowder and guns. The last knights. Literature of chivalry. The gentleman. THE life of the Middle Ages is deeply coloured with the brilliant hues of chivalry. There the knight is the central figure the model of mediaeval art the hero of mediaeval literature foremost in every court revel and greenwood sport, in the glittering tilt-yard and the dusty battle- field. The origin of chivalry cannot be marked by any distinct date. While the Caesars ruled in Rome, the germs of the system were alive amid the German forests. Of this Tacitus gives us a glimpse, when he writes, " that the noblest youths were not ashamed to be numbered among the faithful com- panions of a celebrated leader, to whom they devoted their arms and their service." Silently, but surely the system grew amid the warring waves which swept over Europe after the fall of the Western Empire. In the days of Charle- magne it received a powerful impulse. Then the caballarii or horsemen got a separate summons to serve in the army. But chivalry ripened to its fullest growth during the two centuries of the Crusades. The young aspirant served in two subordinate grades before he received his spurs. First a page, and then a squire, he became at last a knight. A boy, destined for military life, was sent at seven or eight years of age to the castle of some noble distinguished in war. There, called a page or varlet, he was at first set to attend the ladies of the mansion, to run their messages, to follow them in their walks, or to accompany them when they rode out hunting or hawking. In return for these services. 134 THE DUTIES OP PAGE AND SQUIRE. which he was obliged to render with all humility and cour- tesy, he received instruction in the use of light weapons, in music, chess, and the chief doctrines of religion. For these last, indeed, he was oftener indebted to the kindness of his lady than to the zeal of the priest. The page was made a squire at the age of thirteen or fourteen. His father and mother, bearing tapers in their hands, brought him before the altar, where the priest, with words of prayer and blessing, gave him a sword and belt. The introduction of religious sanction into the ceremonies of chivalry which, however, does not appear till after the time of Charlemagne gave the system its greatest strength. In one sense, indeed, and that the literal, chivalry may be called the religion of the Middle Ages, for its influence kept down to some extent the growth of barbarous vices, giving a gentler and softer tone to social intercourse. The page was the attendant of the ladies ; but the squire served the men. Every squire for in a great household there were many had his own special work to do. One, the body-squire, was the personal attendant of his lord ; another, the squire-trenchant, bore the napkins and bread at meal-time, and carved the chief dishes ; a third looked after the horses, and others kept the keys of the cellar and the pantry. When the meal was over, the squires prepared the hall for dancing, and through the evening their time was fully taken up in handing round sweetmeats and spiced wine during the pauses in the pastime. The squires, too, were often called on to add to the pleasures of the evening with music and song. These duties, however, were secondary to the more impor- tant work which lay before the squire, when the dangers of the hunting field and the constant practice of military sports had strengthened his thews and quickened his eye. His great duty was to follow his lord to the battle or the tour- nament, leading the war-horse. On the high-peaked saddle was piled the armour of the knight, who, lightly dressed, rode before on a hack. When the hour of battle came, he arrayed his master in full armour, rivetting the plates with a skill which it had taken much time and pains to gain. During the tight he kept behind his lord, handed a fresh ?HE CREATION OF A KNIGHT. 135 lance, led in a horse if his lord was dismounted, dashed to the rescue if he saw him hard pressed, and often bore him bleeding to a place of safety. Such were a squire's duties until he reached the age of twenty-one. The change from squirehood to knighthood was marked with much religious pomp. Christmas, Easter, and Whit- suntide were the chief seasons for the creation of new knights. Having fasted and confessed all his sins, the can- didate passed a night in prayer and watching. Then having bathed, he was dressed in new robes, an underkirtle, a silk or linen vest embroidered with gold, a collar of leather, and over all the coat of arms. Proceeding to the church, he handed his sword to the priest. A prayer was said ; a vow to defend churches, widows, and orphans, and to fight for the faithful against all pagans, was taken ; another prayer, and a part of the 44th Psalm was sung. The prince, who was to confer the distinction, then put the usual questions as to the motives of the candidate in seeking to be made a knight, and the final oath being taken, the sword, now con- secrated by the priest, was handed to the attendants. The baldric a belt of white leather and gold was slung round the candidate, and his golden spurs were buckled on. The prince then drawing the sword, completed the ceremony with a blow of its fiat on the neck, thus dubbing the candi- date squire a knight in the name of the Trinity. A box on the ear sometimes took the place of the sword-stroke. The dress and equipment of the knight varied much at different periods. The Roman cavalry being clad in mail, made of metal scales sewed on a leather garment, the Goths, Alans, and other barbarous tribes began to wear the same. But when the Moslem horsemen, in later times, met the troops of the West, this Roman mail was exchanged for the Saracen chain armour, formed of interlinked rings of steel. The heroes of the first Crusade wore this chain mail, of which the great advantage was, that it allowed freer move- ment of the limbs. A great clumsy hauberk or tunic oi steel rings hung to their knees. The head, too, was protected by a hood or cowl of chain-mail over which was worn a low flat cap of steel. Mittens covered the hands, and pointed shoes of mail the feet. Their long iron spurs had 136 THE PICTURE OF A KNIGHT. no rowels. The clumsy sombreness of the whole equipment was hardly relieved by the bright colours of the device, shining on the three-pointed shield, which hung over the breast, or by the embroidery of the surcoat with its ermine lining, which was worn over the hauberk. In such attire Godfrey and Tancred fought. The horses were at first quite unprotected. But when at Dorylaeum and other early battles of the Crusaders, the Turkish arrows unhorsed the knights by thousands, and slew many of them in spite of their mailed hauberks, it became the custom to sheathe the horses in complete armour. And during the fourteenth century the chain-mail of the early knights was exchanged for armour formed of overlap- ping metal plates, which was found more^ serviceable in resisting pointed missiles. The knight, as he appears in the hey-day of chivalry, glittering in his costly armour of steel inlaid with gold, with plume and crest and vizored helmet, wearing gauntlets instead of the old chain cuffs, his lance and mace, axe and sword and dagger all ready for the fray, presents a splendid and romantic figure too well known to need fuller descrip- tion. His robe of peace was of silk or velvet ; on great occasions he wore a long scarlet cloak doubled with ermine, and a massy gold signet ring, like that worn by bishops, glittered on his finger. But this splendid warrior soon became of little use in the field. When it was found that the weight of a mass of iron-clad men and horses in full charge bore down every- thing before it, to increase the weight heavier armour was used, until both knight and horse were locked up in a little fortress of steel, safe, indeed, from most missiles, but very harmless to an active, light-armed foe. Those great suits of armour, at which we gaze with wonder in museums and armories, belong to the decline of chivalry ; and when we think of the herculean frames that must have borne them, we should not forget that it was no uncommon thing for knights to be so lamed in their shoulders with the weight of such armour, as to be unfit for active service at the early age of thirty-five. The tournament has been well called the link which THREE ELEMENTS OP CHIVALRY. 137 united the peaceful to the warlike life of the knight. They were first held in France, as the French origin of the name seems to show. England and Germany soon followed the example of their neighbours. The lists, in which the en- counters took place, were roped or railed off in an oval form, generally between' the city and a wood. The open spaces at each end were filled with stalls and galleries for the ladies and the noble spectators. The tilting was gene- rally with lances, 'on the points of which were fixed pieces of wood, called rockets ; and the great object with each knight was to unhorse his antagonist. When the heralds cried, " Laissez aller" off they dashed from opposite ends of the lists, and met in the centre. This rough sport often ended fatally, as when Henry II. of France got his death- wound at a joust with one of his knights. Accidents like this brought the tournament into disrepute, and soon the clergy began to set their faces against it, nominally, because it was a perilous and bloody sport really, perhaps, because they thought that the gold and silver wasted on these spec- tacles of useless glitter would be safer and better in the money boxes of the Church. Chivalry in its fullest development was a compound of three distinct elements. It was at first a purely military institution, growing out of the warlike character of the Teutonic tribes. But a religious element was introduced about the eleventh century, when the clergy began to feel the importance of gaining a hold upon a body so great and powerful as the military order. The ceremony of creating a knight became a solemn religious scene, and among other vows he swore to protect Mother Church, and to pay faith- ful attention to his religious duties. Latest of the three chivalric elements was the spirit of gallantry fostered by its vows. This influence, though deeply tinged with licentious- ness, helped to raise woman from the low, servile place she always holds in barbarous society, to her true position as the equal and companion of man. The decay of chivalry came in the natural course of events, when the system had done its destined work It was found that the ponderous knight was as useless and helpless as a log when he lay unhorsed upon the ground. 138 THE DECAY OF KNIGHTHOOD. A very striking instance of this and that which sank, per- haps, most deeply into the mind of Europe at the time was afforded by the battle of Courtrai in West Flanders, fought in 1302, between the French and the Flemish. To quote the words of an eloquent living writer, who sketches the scene in stirring Saxon words : "Impetuous valour and con- tempt for smiths and weavers blinded the fiery nobles. They rushed forward with loose bridles ; and as they had disdained to reconnoitre the scene of the display, they fell headlong, one after another, horse and plume, sword and spur, into one enormous ditch, which lay between them and their enemies. On they came, an avalanche of steel and horseflesh, and floundered into the muddy hole. Hundreds thousands, unable to check their steeds, or afraid to appear irresolute, or goggling in vain through the deep holes left for their eyes, fell, struggled, writhed, and choked, till the ditch was filled with trampled knights and tumbling horses, and the burghers on the opposite bank beat in the helmets of those who tried to climb up with jagged clubs, and hacked their naked heads." Our English archers, too, formed a force, against whom heavy-armed cavalry were of little avail. At Cressy and Poictiers the cloth yard shafts won the day. Infantry began, towards the close of the Middle Ages, to be reckoned of some value in the field once more. In this movement the Swiss took the lead, inspired by the victory of their foot-soldiers over the chivalry of Austria ; and for some centuries the Swiss foot were to be found on almost every Continental battlefield, ranged in deep battalions, bristling with pikes, two-handed swords, and spiked maces, which bore the poetic name of morning stars. But it was gunpowder which really blew chivalry to pieces. Armour of proof might have been forged, and no doubt was forged, able to withstand the English shaft, or turn the edge of the Swiss broadsword ; but what could resist the cannon-ball ! Battles were now to be fought chiefly at a distance, no longer hand-to-hand ; science began to take the place of sheer strength. The art of war was wholly changed by this invention, which is said to have been brought into Europe by the Saracens. An Arabic writer in 1249 speaka CHIVALRIC LITERATURE. 139 of its use in war in his own day, one hundred years before the time of Schwartz, the monk of Goslar, who is reported to have mixed the ingredients accidentally one day during some chemical experiments. A hand cannon was at first used. In the sixteenth century a long musket, which rested on a forked stick, dealt out leaden death. At first pikemen were scat- tered among the musketeers to repel cavalry ; but the inven- tion of the bayonet made the musketeer a pikeman too. Since that time infantry have formed the main strength of armies. Bayard, who fell in France in 1524, was almost the last of the preux chevaliers of that knightly land. The Emperor Maximilian I. is still called in Germany " der letzte Ritter" the last knight. In England chivalry, as a system, lasted till the time of Elizabeth. We find a brilliant reflection of chivalry in the romantic literature which grew up about the time of the Crusades. The Romance pictures the knight in his glory, splendid but clumsy ; suave and courteous in the extreme, but very often brutal. The enchanted castle with its beautiful and dis- tressed captives, the monster dragons and other terrors to be overcome by the unconquered arm of the hero, were the allegorical images of evils existing in that terrible time, when might was the only right, highly magnified and coloured by the untaught poets, who sang of them. It is a pity to think that the knight-errant is a very doubtful cha- racter, whose picture, if ever he existed, must have been drawn from those chevaliers who travelled from tournament to tournament, claiming and receiving hospitality every- where as citizens of the world. The Romance, owing its birth to chivalry, repaid the benefit by prolonging the life of chivalry for many years. The deeds of Arthur and Charlemagne formed the subjects of some of the earliest Romances. The trouveres of Normandy, the troubadours of Provence, and the minnesingers of Suabia kept up the strain. We find it, its wild ruggedness all toned away, flowing in the melodious verse of Ariosto and Tasso, and the less musical, but not less picturesque tales of our own Chaucer. And, in our own day, the Idylls of the King, breaking from the harp of Tennyson, tell a delighted laud that the noble old music of chivalry is not yet dead 140 THE KNIGHT AND THE GENTLEMAN. From the Knight of the Middle Ages grew the Gentleman of modern days, the elements of character remaining the same. As the true knight of old, the true gentleman now must be religious, brave, and courteous. All who pretend to the " grand old name," without possessing these qualities, are cheats and counterfeits. But as there is no good in the world, out of which by Satan's device some evil is not made to grow, so from these three roots of true knighthood and gentlemanhood, strange distorted things have sprung. From the warlike element came absurd fantastic notions of honour, and the duel, now happily all but extinct in this country. And too often the courtesy due to the weaker sex has been lost in a degrading licentiousness, whose foul breath, pollut- ing the very word " gallantry," has turned it\into a light and jesting name for a deadly sin. GREAT NAMES OF THE FOUETH PERIOD. A.BELARD Born, 1079, in Bretagne a famous teacher of logic and divinity 5000 students attended his lectures at once charged by St. Ber- nard with heresy author of many theolo- gical works died near Chalons in 1142. THOMAS AQUINAS.... Born, 1227, at Aquino in Naples a noble- famed for theology chief work, " Summa Theologiae" wrote also Latin hymns the great opponent of Duns Scotus his follow- ers, called Thomists, upheld the supreme efficacy of divine grace died 1274. CIMABUE Born, 1240, at Florence a noble the father of modern painting restored the study from living models worked in fresco and distemper, for oil painting was not yet in use died in 1300. JOHN DUNS SCOTUS.. Born about 1265 famed as a theologian a Franciscan monk called the " Subtle Doctor" had great controversies with T. Aquinas about free-will and divine grace his followers called Scotists died in 1308. DANTE Born, 1265, at Florence one of the Alghieri family much engaged in political feuds the greatest of Italian poets chief work, " Divina Commedia," a vision of the invi- sible world died at Kavenna in 1321, GREAT NAMES OF THE FOURTH PERIOD. 141 PETRARCH Born, 1304, at Arezzo a great Italian poet- lived much at Avignon, at the papal court deeply attached to a lady called Laura, whose praises are sung in his soft melodious " Sonnets" he wrote, besides, Latin verse and prose died 1374. BOCCACCIO Born, 1313, in Florence the author of the earliest chivalrous poem in Italian, " La Teseide," from which Chaucer took the Knight's tale but more remarkable as the father of Italian prose chief work the " Decameron, " consisting of one hundred tales died 1375. WYCLIFFE Born in Yorkshire professor of divinity, Baliol College, Oxon the first English reformer the father of English prose famous as the translator of the Bible into English died 1384. FROISSART Born, 1337, at Valenciennes son of a herald- painter for some time secretary of Queen Philippa of England noted as a historian and poet chief work his " Chronicle," a brilliant picture of war and chivalry in Western Europe from 1326 to 1400. CHAUCER Born, 1328, in London the first great English poet lived at the courts of Edward III. and Richard II. chief work, the " Canter- bury Tales" died 1400. CHRONOLOGY OF THE FOURTH PERIOD. ELEVENTH CENTURY Continued. A.D. The First Crusade begins..... 1096 Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders 1099 TWELFTH CENTURY. Guiscard of Normandy, King of Naples 1102 Knights Templars instituted 1118 Justinian's Pandects discovered at Amalfi 1137 The Second Crusade 1147 Accession of Plantagenets in England 1154 Invasion of Ireland under Henry II. of England 1172 Jerusalem taken by Saladin 1187 The Third Crusade 1189 The Fourth Crusade 1196 The Fifth Crusade 1198 149 CHRONOLOGY OF THE FOURTH PERIOD. THIRTEENTH CENTURY. A.D. Conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders 1203 War against Albigenses inLanguedoc 1208 The Boy Crusade 1212 Magna Charta signed by John of England 1215 The Sixth Crusade 1227 Zenghis Khan overruns the Saracen empire Inquisition formally established by Gregory IX 1233 The Seventh Crusade 1248 End of the Abbaside Caliphs 1258 The Greeks retake Constantinople 1261 The Eighth Crusade Death of St. Louis 1270 Rodolph of Hapsburg, elected Emperor of Germany 1273 Conquest of Prussia by the Teutonic Order ^ 1281 Conquest of Wales by Edward I. of England 1282 Acre taken by the Turks End of the Crusades 1291 FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Battle of Courtrai 1302 Seat of the Popedom removed to Avignon 1305 The Swiss Revolution begins 1307 Battle of Bannockburn 1314 Battle of Morgarten 1315 Battle of Cressy 1346 Rienzi tribune of Rome 1347 Charles IV. of Germany institutes the Golden Bull the funda- mental law of the empire 1356 Union of the eight Swiss cantons 1352 Final embodiment of the Hanseatic League by act signed at Cologne 1364 Return of the Popes to Rome 1377 Battle of Sempach 1386 RISE OF ITALIAN REPUBLICS. 143 FIFTH PERIOD. CHIEFLY FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SWISS INDEPEN- DENCE TO THE REFORMATION. CHAPTER I. ITALY IN THE MIDDLE AGES. Central Point: RIENZI TRIBUNE OF ROME, 1347 A.D. Rise of Italian republica Gregory VII. Guelphs and Ghibellines. Frederic Redbeard. The Council of Ten. Marino Faliero. The Foscari. Her decline. Battle of Legnano. Decline of most repub- lics. Florence. The Signoria Feuds. Glory of Venice. Her territory. Cosmo de MedicL Plot of the Pazzi. Lorenzo the Magnificent Savonarola. Crescentius Consul of Rome. Arnold of Brescia. Popes at Avignon. Rienzi the Tribune. EXCEPT a few scattered spots chiefly in the south, Italy formed a part of the empire of Charlemagne ; and when that great fabric fell to pieces, this, its loveliest fragment, dowered with the fatal gift of beauty, became a prey to unceasing changes, which left it what it has been ever since, a piece of patchwork on the map of Europe. In the ninth century the ravages of Hungarians and Saracens compelled the inhabitants of Italian towns to build strong walls round their homes and market-places. The sturdy burghers then, feeling their own strength, refused any longer to brook the insolent dominion of the nobles, who were accordingly forced to retire to their castles in the coun- try. Thus arose the famous Italian republics, whose story is the brightest page in the history of modern Italy. About the same time, and from causes somewhat similar, arose the communes of France, and the great free cities of the Low Countries and Germany. A Tuscan monk, Hildebrand. who had long been Arch- 144 POPE OKEGORY VII. deacon of Rome, became pope in 1073, with the title of Gre- gory VII. His grand aim being to subdue the whole world to the power of the priesthood, he enacted that all rulers, even up to the emperor himself, who should dare to invest any one with an ecclesiastical office, should be excommuni- cated. The emperor, Henry IV. of Germany, tenacious of rights long held by his fathers, among other deeds in de- fiance of this edict, appointed an Archbishop of Cologne. Gregory summoned him to Borne to take his trial for such conduct. Henry wrote with his own hand a letter to the pope, announcing that he, Gregory, had been deposed by the Synod of Worms. But it was an unequal contest. The ter- rible thunders of excommunication, pealing from the chair of St. Peter, fell upon the devoted empero^, drove his faith- less or terror-stricken chiefs from his side, and brought him in mid- winter over the snowy Alps, to make his peace with the offended pontiff. In the courtyard of the castle 1077 of Canossa he lay, barefooted and clad in a hair shirt, A.D. for three frosty days of January, before Gregory would grant him an audience. Yet even this humi- liation was forgotten, and the War of Investitures, as it was called, being renewed, continued to convulse Italy, until 1122, when it was closed by the Peace of Worms. The owner of Canossa, when Henry IV. did penance there, was Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, who was one of the warmest friends the papacy has ever had. At her death she bequeathed to the Church the duchy of Spoleto, and the march of Ancona. The legality of this gift being questioned, a new quarrel sprang up between the emperors and the popes, which widened into the great feud between Ghibel- lines and Guelphs. These names were borrowed from two great rival German houses, the Guelphs of Bavaria, and the Hohenstaufens of Suabia, who were called Ghibellines from a corruption of Waiblingen, one of their forts on the Rems. The Ghibellines were the friends of the emperors; the Guelphs, with whom the pope generally sided, upheld the cause of the Italian people, who were striving to rend the links that bound them to the German empire. The great struggle desolated Italy for centuries. Frederic Redbeard, already named in the story of the THE BATTLE OF LEGNANO. 145 third Crusade, was emperor from 1152 to 1190. His at tempts to strip the Italian towns of their dearly-prized liber- ties kindled a war. Milan first took up arms : but after a valiant resistance it fell in 1162, and all its fine old Roman buildings, monuments of dead grandeur, were mingled with the dust. Frederic then placed over the Italian towns military governors, called Podestas, whose oppression kept alive the fire of revolt, which was carefully fanned, too, by the exiles of Milan. In 1 1 67 the League of Lombardy was formed, when twenty- three Italian cities united to claim, among other privileges, the right of electing their own magistrates and making their own laws. By granting charters, and working on local jealousies, Frederic contrived to muster in opposi- tion a league of Ghibelline cities. For nine years war wasted northern Italy, until the decisive battle of Legnano was fought on the road from Milan to Lago Mag- 1176 giore. There, at one time of the day, the carroccio of A.D. Milan, a great chariot drawn by oxen, which bore the huge flagstaff of the city, was all but captured by a fierce rush of the German horse. But when the company of death 900 young Milanese, sworn to die rather than be defeated rescued the sacred banner by a gallant charge, the fortune of the day was changed, and Redbeard narrowly escaped with his life. Seven years later, by the peace of Constance, the emperor acknowledged the right of the Republics to govern themselves, to levy their own troops, and to wall their own towns. In the early days of these Italian Republics their chief magistrates were consuls, varying in number from two to six, whose power was checked by certain municipal councils. Bitter jealousy of one another blazing often into war, and within the walls unceasing discord between the nobles and the people sapped the prosperity of the Republics. One by one they fell, petty sovereignties rising on their ruins. And it would seem, as if, when these scattered points of light went out one by one, the brilliance of Italian glory was not dimmed, but concentrated with intenser lustre in a few great survivors. Venice and Florence were stars of the first magnitude. Pisa and Genoa still burned bright, though with an inferior splendour. (47) 10 146 THE RISE AND GLOKY OF VENICE. In order, then, to get some idea of Italian history during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, let us rapidly glance at Venice and Florence, concluding the chapter with a glimpse of Rome during the same period. VENICE. Fleeing from the sword of Attila in 452, the in- habitants of Venetia, a province which lay round the head of the Adriatic, sought refuge in the clustered islets near the mouth of the Brenta. There, governed by tribunes, they and their descendants fished, made salt, and carried on a con- stantly widening commerce for more than two centuries. In 697 it was found necessary, from growing jealousies, to unite all the island republics under the rule of a Duke or Doge. Through all the changes of early Italian history these islanders maintained independence atnid their lagoons, defying even the power of Charlemagne. While at war with Pepin, the son of the great Frank, they built the 809 capital of their republic on the island of Bivo Alto, A.D. or Rialto. Thither, some years later, they carried from Alexandria the body of their patron, Saint Mark, whose lion-flag ever after floated from the top-masts of their galleys, and from the cupolas of that magnificent pile of gold and marble the cathedral of St. Mark which is still the crowning beauty of romantic, picturesque Venice. The glory of Venice began with the Crusades. Her posi- tion, favourable for commerce, had already led to ship- building on a large scale ; and the hire of vessels to carry the Crusaders to Palestine filled her coffers with gold. Her ships brought back from Syria the silks and jewels and spices of the East. So this city of the waters, like Tyre of old, grew rich and strong, and her merchants became princes. The same causes led to the rapid rise of her rival Genoa on the opposite shore of Italy. With her commerce her manu- factures, too, throve, the silks and the glass made at Venice being especially prized. Among the splendid pageants of her days of pride the most striking was the wedding of the Adriatic. Every year, on Ascension Day, the Doge, accom- panied by a countless fleet of black gondolas, sailing out in the great Bucentaur, flung a ring into the blue waters of the sea. The Venetian territory spread at an early date round the THE TEN FALIERO THE FOSCARI. 147 northern shore of the gulf. Istria and Dalmatia became hers. During the fourth Crusade she gained the Ionian Islands, the Morea, and Candia ; and later she extended her sway inland through Lombardy, as far as the Adda. Cyprus was conquered by her in 1480. In 1172 the appointment of the Doge and other magistrates was vested in the grand council of four hundred and eighty members. Change after change took place, until a Council of Ten secured the government to themselves. Under this unchecked oligarchy a reign of terror began. 1325 The Ten were terrible ; but still more terrible were A.D. the three inquisitors two black, one red appoint- ed in 1454. Deep mystery hung over the Three. They were elected by the ten; none else knew their names. Their great work was to kill ; and no man doge, councillor, or inquisitor was beyond their reach. Secretly they pro- nounced a doom ; and erelong the stiletto or the poison cup had done its work, or the dark waters of the lagoon had closed over a life. The spy was everywhere. No man dared to speak out, for his most intimate companions might be on the watch to betray him. Bronze vases, shaped like a lion's mouth, gaped at the corner of every square to re- ceive the names of suspected persons. Gloom and suspicion haunted gondola and hearth. Forty-ninth Doge of Venice was old Marino Faliero, elected in September 1354. A lord, who had a grudge aga'inst the Doge, stole into the banquet-hall one night when the guests were gone, and wrote upon the wooden throne some words insulting to the young and lovely wife of Faliero. Next day the writing was seen ; the culprit was soon discovered. But the light punishment inflicted on him by the council so enraged the Doge, that he joined in a plot to murder the chief nobles and make himself Lord of Venice. The conspiracy was discovered, and the Doge was beheaded on the Giant's Staircase in April 1355. Another noted Doge was Francesco Foscari, a man of much military genius, who ruled from 1423 to 1457. In- spired by his warlike ardour, the Venetians conquered a part of Lombardy. But the nobles grew jealous of his popu- larity. His son Jacopo, charged upon suspicion with receiv- 148 THE MERCHANTS OF FLORENCE. ing bribes from the Duke of Milan, was terribly tortured three times, and driven into exile where he died ; and the old man, deposed after a government of thirty -four years, died while the great bell of St. Marks was pealing out its welcome to his successor. The aristocracy had then no rivals in ruling Venice. But the power of the State was decaying. The League of Cambray was formed against the island city in 1508 by the Pope, the Emperor, and the Kings of France and Spain ; and the defeat she suffered at Aignadel in May 1509 was a blow from which she never recovered. Her principal foes in after times were the Turks, who stripped her of Cyprus and Candia. FLORENCE. Florence was originally a Colony of Eoman soldiers. Lying, in the opening of the twelfth century, under the dominion of the Countess Matilda, it naturally became strongly attached to the popedom ; and, when all the Re- public cities of Tuscany took one side or other in the great struggle pope versw emperor we find Florence at the head of the Guelphic League, organized by Pope Innocent III., while Pisa headed the Ghibelline cities. But long be- fore the days of Innocent III. the Florentines had drawn blood in the great quarrel. It was their first feat of arms. Matilda was still alive in 1113, when at Monte Cascioli the goldsmiths and weavers of the fai ; city met the imperial Vicar in battle, scattered his knight/-, and slew himself. The strength of the State lay in the commercial spirit of the citizens. They wove in silk and wool, made jewellery, and especially followed the occupation of bankers. They transacted business with kings. Their gold florin, coined in 1252, became the standard currency of Europe. The neigh- bouring nobles sought to be admitted as citizens ; but by tha city law they were obliged to enrol themselves on the regis- ter of some trade. Thus we find the name of Dante gracing the roll of the Florentine apothecaries. In 1250 the citizens, revolting against the rule of the Ghibelline nobles, established a magistracy styled the Sig- noria. One of the first acts of the newly-formed power was to recall the Guelph exiles to Florence. The year 1254 is known in the annals of Florence as the " year of victory," THE GREAT FAMILY OF MEDICI. 1 49 for during it they took Volterra and Pistoia. In 1406 they con- quered Pisa, and in 1421 bought Leghorn from the Genoese. It would be tedious and confusing to trace the feuds, in spite of which Florence grew great and rich. Enough to say that the Guelphs triumphed, and then split into two fac- tions Bianchi and Neri white and black. Dante was a white Guelph ; but, when banished with his party, the mode- rates, he became a Ghibelline, and died poor and broken- hearted at Ravenna. In 1342 a leader of mercenaries, Gualtier de Brienne, Duke of Athens, became Lord of Florence, a sad sign of the state of things within the city. In a few months, backed by his troops, he cut off the chief men of the city, and con- trived to make up for himself a purse of 400,000 gold florins. But one day when he had summoned a meeting of the citizens, more of whom he meant to slay, the burghers rose with their rallying cry, " Popolo, Popolo" besieged his palace, and soon forced him to leave the Florentine territory. The feuds of the Albizzi and the Ricci convulsed the state at the opening of the fifteenth century. Siding with the latter were the great family of the Medici. The merchant, Giovanni de Medici, made a great fortune ; and his son Cosmo, born in 1389, himself too a banker, took a lead in Florentine politics. The Albizzi gaining the upper hand, he was imprisoned and exiled. But he was recalled within a year. Although he held no distinct name as governor of the state, he yet continued to guide all poli- tical movements by his influence over the Balia a commit- tee of citizens, to whom all sovereignty was intrusted. And when he died in 1464, the grateful epitaph, " Father of his country," was graven on his tomb. Lorenzo, the grandson of Cosmo, was born in 1448. His crippled and delicate father, Pietro, had left the government in the hands of five friends ; but Lorenzo and his brother, when they came of age, took the reins themselves. The rage of the Pazzi, rich ambitious merchants, one of whom had been among the five, being excited, an attack was made upon the brothers in the cathedral. Giuliano was Blain ; but Lorenzo, parrying the blow, escaped into 1478 the sacristy. The friends of the Medici then fell A.D, 150 MARTYRDOM OF SAVONAROLA. upon the conspirators. The archbishop and three of the Pazzi were hanged out of the palace windows. So Lorenzo became chief of Florence, fulfilling the design of his grandfather, whose aim had been to subject the state to the Medici. The pope, Sixtus IV., enraged at the death of the archbishop, excommunicated Lorenzo, and, with the aid of the King of Naples, made war against him. After two campaigns Lorenzo, visiting Naples, made a treaty with the king, which led to a peace with the pope. Both events were hastened by a descent of the Turks upon Otranto. His splendid patronage of art and literature gained for Lorenzo the name of the Magnificent. Himself was no mean poet. He enriched the Laurent ian library with many hun- dred rare manuscripts collected in Italy an^ the East. He turned his gardens at Florence into an academy, to which students flocked to study the antique from the exquisite sculptures gathered there. And by supporting young artists, and bestowing prizes for works of merit, he gave an impulse to art, which made Florence the scene of some of the most brilliant triumphs ever won by brush or chisel. In 1489 Savonarola, a Dominican monk of Ferrara, came on foot to Florence, and soon began with eloquent tongue to lash the abuses of the Eomish Church. Three years later, Lorenzo, dying of gout and fever, sent to seek absolution from the brave monk ; but Savonarola would not grant it unless the dying prince restored liberty to his country. Lorenzo, unwilling to do this, died unabsolved. He was then forty-four. Savonarola was burned to death in the grand square of Florence in the year 1498. When Charles VIII. of France, crossing the Alps, invaded Italy (1494), the fair city of Florence was rudely spoiled. The magnificent library was destroyed; statues, vases, cameos were wantonly defaced, or carried off and lost. The Medici, then banished from Florence, were restored in 1512. And in the following year Giovanni, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, became pope under the title of Leo X. The extinction of the republic dates from 1537, when Cosmo I., one of a collateral branch of the Medici, was pro- claimed T)iike of Florence. In 1509 he \vaa created by tilt pope Grand JJuke of Tuscany. NICOLA DI RIENZI. 151 ROME. The names of Crescentius and Arnold of Brescia are prominent in the story of medieval Rome. The consul Crescentius, a man of patrician rank, made a vain effort, at the close of the tenth century, to revive the old republic. The emperor, Otho III., 998 stormed the Castle of St. Angelo, and hanged the A.D. daring patriot. About a century and a half later, a monk, named Arnold of Brescia, was by. order of the pope burned alive at the gate of St. Angelo for preaching against 1155 abuses in Church and State. " Roman Republic," A.D. " Roman Senate," " Comitia of the People," were strange and dangerous words to be heard in Roman streets ; and therefore the bold tongue that spoke them withered in the flames. But most remarkable was the revolution, of which Nicola di Rienzi was the central figure. It took place during the seventy- two years (1305-1377) spent by the popes at Avig- non, to which place a French pope, Clement V., removed the papal court in 1305. Rienzi, the son of an innkeeper and a washerwoman, was in early youth deeply read in the great masters of the Latin tongue. Cicero and Livy were his special favourites. His classic enthusiasm gained for him the friendship of Petrarch. He was very poor, reduced to a single coat, when he received the post of apostolic notary, which rescued him from poverty. The feuds of the noble families, Colonna, Orsini, and Savelli filled the streets with daily riot and bloodshed. Rienzij whose fiery eloquence made him a man of mark in Rome, might often be seen in the centre of an eagerly attentive crowd, interpreting the words of some old brass or marble tablet, and dwelling fondly on the ancient glories of senate and people. Encouraged by the flashes of patriotic fire which from time to time burst from the enslaved people, he formed the bold design of seizing the helm of the state. When the time was ripe, and old Stephen Coloniia was ab- sent from Rome, one hundred citizens met by night on Mount Aventine. Next day a solemn procession May 20 I>- Mi-ing three great banners passed from St. Angelo 1347 to the Capitol. Rienzi was there, bareheaded, but A.I>. 152 THE FALL AND DEATH OF RIENZI. clad otherwise in full armour ; and on his right hand marched the papal vicar, the Bishop of Orvieto. The deep tolling of the great bell drove the nobles in alarm from Rome. Rienzi, then elected tribune, ruled Rome for seven months. At first all went well. He was beloved at home and hon- oured abroad. His grand design was to unite all Italy into one great republic. Throughout the Roman territory rob- bers found their occupation gone ; the inns were full ; the buzz of commerce sounded in the markets, and the plough- man's whistle was heard in the fields. But Rienzi's vanity spoiled all. Forgetting the simple grandeur of the old tri- bunes, he dressed in silk and gold. Silver trumpets sounded his approach, as he rode on a white steed amid his fifty guards- men. The nobles, secretly gathering strength, rose in arms against him. Possessing no military genius, he speedily lost the confidence of the people. A papal bull was issued against him. When the Count of Minorbino with one hun- dred and fifty soldiers seized Rome, the alarm-bell tolled in vain. None answered the summons ; and the degraded tri- bune hid his head within the Castle of St. Angelo, whence he soon escaped to lead a miserable life, wandering through Italy, Germany, and Bohemia. In 1352 the emperor gave him up to the pope, and for some time he dwelt in custody at Avignon. Two years later he was sent to Rome by Pope Innocent VI. with the title of senator. A burst of enthusiastic welcome greeted him. But in four short months, Oct. 8, his palace being stormed and burned by a furious 1354 mob, he was stabbed to death beside the Lion of A.D. Porphyry which guards the base of the Capitol stairs. POPES OF THE 14TH AND 15TH CENTUKIES. 163 POPES OF THE FOUKTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES. BONIFACE VIII BENEDICT XI 1303 Vacancy for Eleven Months 1304 CLEMENT V 1305 Vacancy, 2 years 4 months... 1314 JOHN XXII 1316 BENEDICT XII 1334 CLEMENT VI 1342 INNOCENT VI 1352 URBAN V 1362 GREGORY XI 1370 URBAN VI 1378 BONIFACE IX 1389 BENEDICT XIIL 1894 INNOCENT VII 1404 GREGORY XII 1406 ALEXANDER V 140$ JOHN XXIII 1410 MARTIN V 1417 EUGENIUS IV 1431 NICHOLAS V 1447 CALIXTUS m 1455 PIUS II 1458 PAUL II , 1464 SIXTUS IV 1471 INNOCENT VIII 1484 ALEXANDER VI 1492 164 THE TURKISH EM1K OTHMAN. CHAPTER II. THE OTTOMAN TURKS. Central Point: SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE 1453 A.D. Rise of the Turks. The Emir Othman. The Janissaries. First footing in Europe. Victories of Bajazet. Timour the Lame. Accession of Mahomet II. Siege of Constantinople begins. The fire ships. The turning-point. The great assault Death of Constantino, Policy of Mahomet. Defeat at Belgrade. Crimea taken. Otranto. SOMEWHERE in the wild steppes between t^ie Caspian Sea and Lake Aral the Turkomans or Turks once dwelt. The first branch of this Tartar race that came pouring westward, extending their empire even up to the very Bos- phorus, were the Seljuk Turks. But their power went down into ruins before the terrible Mongol, Zenghis Khan, who in the thirteenth century drenched Asia with the blood of millions. There was, however, another Turkish tribe destined to play a more brilliant part in the world's history. These were the Osmanlis or Ottomans,* who derived their name from the Emir Osman or Othman (the Bone-breaker), the founder of their empire. Othman, a handsome black-browed man, with very long arms, ruled the Turks from 1299 to 1326. The great object of his unceasing efforts was to conquer the possessions of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor; and when he lay on his deathbed, the news came that the arms of his son Orchan had been crowned by the capture of the great city of Brusa. There the seat of the Ottoman Empire was for some time fixed. The reign of Orchan (1326-1360) was marked by the establishment of the famous Janissaries (New Troops). Every year a thousand Christian children were torn from their parents, forced to become Moslems, and trained to a * The modern Turks call themselves U&manii -- not Turks, which latter name implies rudeness aud barbarism. THE TURKS INVADE EUROPE, 155 soldier's life by the most rigorous discipline. This was done yearly for three centuries ; and thus was formed that terrible body of troops, whose fierce military ardour and unpitying hearts made them first the safeguard and then the terror of the sultans. Solyman, the eldest son of Orchan, crossing the Helles- pont one night with a few warriors, seized a castle on the European shore. In three days 3000 1356 Ottomans garrisoned the stronghold. This event A.D. marks the first firm footing gained by the Turks on European soil; and they never since have lost their hold. Under Amurath I. (1360-1389) Adrianople, being taken by the Turks, was made for a time the centre of their Euro- pean possessions. A league was formed by the Sclavonic nations along the Danube to repel the infidel invaders, but in vain. The crescent such was the device borne on the Turkish banners still shone victorious in Thrace and Servia. Bajazet, a drunken sensualist, who, succeeding his father, reigned from 1389 to 1402, exchanged the title Emir for the prouder name of Sultan. At Nicopolis he routed the chivalry of Hungary and France, which had mustered to roll back the dark flood of Moslem war. Classic Greece, too, was ravaged by his victorious hordes. Steadily he seemed to be advanc- ing in the gigantic plan of European conquest sketched out by his ambitious father, when the most terrific warrior Asia has ever borne, rising on his eastern frontier, dashed his power into fragments. This was Timour the Lame, whose name has been cor- rupted into Tamerlane, a Mongol descended from Zenghis Khan. From his capital, Samarcand, he spread his con- quests on every side from the Chinese Wall to the Nile ,- from the springs of the Ganges to the heart of Kussia. "Whenever this demon conqueror took a city, he raised as a trophy of his success a pyramid of bleeding human heads. Bajazet was obliged to forego the intended siege of Con- stantinople by the attack of the ferocious Mongol upon the. eastern frontier of his newly acquired dominions in Asia Miiiur. The decisive battle \\as fought at 156 THE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. where Bajazet, utterly defeated, was made prisoner. Car- ried about with the Mongol army in a litter with 1402 iron lattices, which gave rise to the common story A.D. of his imprisonment in an iron cage, the Turkish sultan died, eight months after, of a broken heart. His conqueror Timour died in 1405, while on the march to invade China. Four Turkish sultans reigned between the wretched Baj azet and the conqueror of Constantinople. Amurath II., last of the four, having died at Adrianople in 1451, his son Mahomet, crossing rapidly to Europe, was crowned second sultan of that name. He was a terrible compound of fine literary taste with revolting cruelty and lust. One of his very first acts after he became sultan was to cause his infant brother to be drowned, while the baby's mother was congratulating him on his accession. The throne of the Eastern Empire was then filled by Con- Btantine Palaeologus, no unworthy wearer of the purple. Limb after limb had been lopped from the great trunk. There was still life in the heart, though it throbbed with feeble pulses ; but now came the mortal thrust. After more than a year of busy preparation, 70,000 Turks, commanded by Mahomet II. in person, sat down in the spring of 1453 before Constantinople. Their lines stretched across the landward or western side of the triangle on which the city was built. A double wall, and a great ditch 100 feet deep, lay in their front; and within this rampart the Emperor Constantine marshalled his little band of defenders. A little band indeed it was, for scarcely 6000 out of a popula- tion of more than 100,000 souls would arm for the defence of the city ; and Western Christendom was so dull or care- less, that, with the exception of 2000 mercenaries under Giustiniani, a noble of Genoa, these had no foreign aid. The harbour of the Golden Horn, guarded by a strong chain across its mouth, sheltered only fourteen galleys. The Turkish fleet consisted of 320 vessels of different sizes. The siege began. On both sides cannon and April 6. muskets of a rude kind were used. One great gun deserves special notice. It was cast by a European brassfounder at Adrianople, and threw a stone ball of 600 THE TURKISH FLEET CARRIED OVERLAND. 157 pounds to the distance of a mile. But such cannon could be fired only six or seven times a day. Lances and arrows flew thick from both lines ; and heavy stones from the balista filled up the pauses of the cannonade. At first fortune seemed to smile on the besieged. A vigo- rous assault of the Turks upon the walls was repulsed, and the wooden tower they had used in the attack was burned. One day in the middle of April the watchmen of the besieged saw the white sails of five ships gleaming on the southward horizon. They came from Chios, carrying to the beleaguered city fresh troops, wheat, wine, and oil. The Greeks, with anxious hearts, crowded the seaward wall. A swarm of Turkish boats pushed out to meet the daring barks, and, curving in a crescent shape, awaited their approach. Mahomet, riding by the edge of the sea, with cries and ges- tures urged his sailors to the attack. Three times the Turks endeavoured to board the enemy ; but as often the flotilla reeled back in confusion, shattered with cannon shot and scorched with Greek fire, while the waters were strewn with the floating wreck of those vessels, which were crushed by collision with the heavy Christian galleys. Steadily onward came the five ships, safe into the harbour of the Golden Horn. The Turkish admiral was doomed by the furious sultan to be impaled ; but the sentence was commuted to one hundred blows with a golden bar, which, we are told, Mahomet himself administered with right good wilL Then came the turning-point of the siege. The sultan, feeling that his attack by land must be seconded by sea, formed a bold plan. It was to convey a part of his fleet overland from the Propontis, and launch them in the upper nd of the harbour. The distance was six miles ; but by means of rollers running on a tramway of greased planks, eighty of the Turkish vessels were carried over the rugged ground in one night. A floating mattery was then made, from which the Turkish cannon began to play with fearful effect on the weakest side of the city. When the attack had lasted for seven weeks, a broad gap was to be seen in the central rampart. Many attempts at negotiation had come to nothing, for Constantine refused to 158 THE FINAL ASSAULT. give up the city, and nothing else would satisfy the sultan. At last a day was fixed for the grand assault. At May 29, daybreak the long lines of Turks made their attack. 1453 When the strength of the Christians was almost A.D. exhausted in endless strife with the swarms of irre- gular troops who led the way, the terrible Janis- ' saries advanced. The storm grew louder, the rattle of the Turkish drums mingling with the thunder of the ordnance. Just then the brave Giustiniani, defending the great breach, was wounded ; and when, after this loss, the defence grew slacker, a body of Turks, following the Janissary Hassan, clambered over the ruined wall into the city. Amid the rush Constantine Palseologus, last of the Csesars, fell dead, sabred by an unknown hand ; and with himXfell the Eastern Empire. At noon on the same day Mahomet summoned the Mos- lems to prayer in the church of St. Sophia thus establishing the rites of Islam where Christian worship had been held ever since the days of Constantine the Great. It was not, however, the policy of the sultan to root the Greek worship out of the conquered city ; and so, ten days after his victory, we find him installing a new patriarch, and announcing himself to be the protector of the Greek Church. And to fill the ruined and deserted streets of the long decay- ing city, he transplanted thither crowds from all parts of his empire ; so that once more Constantinople was alive with a busy throng. Mahomet was only twenty-three when he overthrew the Eastern Empire. The remainder of his reign twenty-eight years was spent in ceaseless endeavours to extend the Turkish power. His great opponents were Scanderbeg, Prince of Albania, and Hunyades, who drove him, with broken ranks and the loss of all his cannon, from before the walls of Belgrade, then the key of Hungary (1456). Two years earlier he had conquered the Peloponnesus. But his great conquest, next to the capture of Constanti- nople, was the reduction of the Crimea in 1475 by the Grand Vizier Ahmed. The failure of an attack upon Rhodes, held by the Knights of St. John, and a successful descent upon Southern Italy, which was crowned by the taking of Otranto, DEATH OF MAHOMET II. 159 were the chief events of his last years. The success at Otranto was the first step to a long cherished plan the con- quest of Italy ; but his sudden death in 1481 checked the further progress of the Moslem arms in that land. THE LAST EMPERORS OF THE EAST. MICHAEL VIII 1261 ANDRONICUS II. (Palseo- logus the Elder) 1282 ANDRONICUS III. (the Younger) 1332 JOHN PAUEOLOGUS 1341 MANUEL PAL^OLOGUS.... 1391 JOHN PAL&OLOGUS II 1425 CONSTANTINE XIII. PA- LM)LOGUS 1448-53 THE FIRST TWELVE TURKISH SULTANS. A.D. OTHMAN 1299 ORCHAN 1326 AMURATH 1 1360 BAJAZET 1 1389 SOLYMAN 1402 MUSA-CHELEBI 1410 MAHOMET 1 1413 AMURATH II 1421 MAHOMET II 1451 BAJAZET II 1481 SELIM 1 1512 SOLYMAN II. THE MAG- NIFICENT - 1520-66 160 THE GLORY OF ABD-EL-RAHMAN. CHAPTER III. THE EXPULSION OF THE MOORS FROM SPAIN. Central Point: THE CAPTURE OF ALHAMA, 1482 A.B. Emirate of Cordova. Abd-el-Rahman. Al-Hakem. The Moors. The Cid. Navas de Tolosa, Kingdom of Granada. The Alhambra. Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Alhama taken. Fall of Malaga. Siege of Granada. Building of Santa F. Fate of Abdallah. THE Ommiyads, as already said, breaking^ loose from the Caliphate of Asia, established the Emirate of Cordova in 755. Their dominions soon extended as far north as the Douro and the Ebro. But among the mountains of Astu- rias the wreck of the Visigothic nation, shattered on the field of Xeres, still survived ; and these, breathing the free mountain air and eating the bread of hardship, became steeled into a race of heroes, whose succeeding generations never rested until the infidels, driven continually southward, were at last expelled from the peninsula. The greatest of the Ommiyads was Abd-el-Rahman III. (912-961). Having assumed the title of Caliph, he cleared the land of rebels, defeated the Christians of Leon at Zamora on the Douro, and developed the resources of the country with surprising wisdom. Roads, canals, and aque- ducts spread a net-work of industry everywhere. There were, besides eighty cities of lower rank, six capitals glitter- ing with gorgeous mosques and palaces. The fields smiled like lovely and fertile gardens. The seventeen universities, famous for the teaching of mathematics, astronomy, chemis- try, and medicine, were thronged with students from every corner of Europe. The peaceful reign of Al-Hakem, his successor, has been called the golden age of Arab literature in Spain (961-976). This prince delighted in the society of literary men; no present pleased him better than a good book. His chief enjoyment wa.s in the collection of rare manuscripts, with THE CID. 161 which, to the number of 600,000, he filled every nook and corner of his palace. And this at a time when England, France, and Italy were steeped in intellectual darkness. Quarrels for the throne of Cordova broke up the great Emirate ; and in 1031, when Hisham III., the last of the Ommiyads died, a number of petty princes sprang up, whose feuds led to their own destruction. Pressed hard by the Castilians, they called in the aid of the Moors. Yusef came over the strait with a great army burning with fanatic zeal, overthrew Alfonso VI., and then subdued beneath his rule all the pigmy Saracen princes, whose battles 1086 he had come to fight. So upon the ruins of the once A.D. brilliant Saracen dynasty a Moorish power was built up, whose glory, though long dimmed, still lingers in romantic twilight among the hills of southern Spain. Rising from amid the dust of these early wars was seen the famous hero of the Spanish ballads, Roderigo Diaz de Bivar, called by the Christians Campeador (the Champion), and by the Moors, whom he so often defeated, El Seid, the Cid (lord). Like the British Arthur, the outlines of his story are so dimmed, that some have doubted his existence at all. He was born at Burgos in the eleventh century. Driven from Castile by the usurper Alfonso, he began a guerilla warfare against the Moors of Aragon, where he fixed his castle on a crag, which is still called the Rock of the Cid. His great achievement was the conquest, after a long siege, of the Moorish city of Valencia. There he estab- lished a little state, over which he ruled until his death in 1099. The first half of the thirteenth century was a fatal time for the Moslems in Spain, whose power was terribly shattered in the great battle of Navas de Tolosa. 1212 We then find the great Emirate of Cordova dwindled A.D. down to one half its former size, and pressed to the south of the peninsula by the five kingdoms of Portu- gal, Leon, Castile, Navarre, and Aragon. The crowns of Leon and Castile were united in 1230 in the person of Ferdinand III. (the Saint), whose arms carried defeat ami dismay into the heart of Moorish Andalusia. He took from the infidels the rich basin of the Guadalquivir, the cradle of 162 THE ALHAMBRA. their Spanish dominion. Cordova fell in 1236, and the Moors were then forced to concentrate their power 1236 within the mountain-land of Granada. A.D. Here shone the last blaze of Moorish splendour in Spain. Though shrunken to a circuit of one hundred and eighty leagues, the kingdom of Granada, under the Alha- marid monarchs, remained strong and glorious for two centuries and a half, defying the chivalry of Spain, and enriched by a commerce which carried her silks and sword-blades, her dyed leather, her fabrics of wool, flax, and cotton to the bazaars of Constantinople, Egypt, and even India. Mulberry trees and sugar canes clothed her fertile valleys. The fair Vega, or cultivated plain, sweeping away from the city of Granada for ten leagues, brought forth delicious fruits and heavy grain, nourished by the waters of the Xenil, which were spread through a thousand rills by the industry of the Moorish husbandmen. To the east rose the white peaks of the Sierra Nevada; and crowning one of the two hills on which the city stood, was the palace or royal fortress of the Alhambra, still even in its ruins the great sight of Spain. Outwardly the Alhambra seems to be but a plain square red tower ; but within, in spite of monkish whitewash and the vandalism of Charles V., who pulled down a large part to make room for a winter palace that was never finished, it is a group of halls, courts, and colonnades of wonderful grace and beauty. Their slender columns rivalling the taper palm-tree ; walls whose stones were cut and pierced into a trellis-work, resembling in its exquisite delicacy lace or fine ivory carving ; domes honej^-combed with azure and vermilion cells, and bright with stalactites of dropping gold; groves of orange and myrtle, clustering round the marble basins in which cool silver fountains plashed their merry music, formed a scene of fairy splendour, amid which the monarchs of Granada held their brilliant court. Towards the end of the fifteenth century Ferdinand, son of John II, King of Aragon, married Isabella, the 1469 daughter of John II., King of Castile. This happy A.D. union was a great turning-point in the history of Spain. On the death of her brother Henry in THE WAR OF GRANADA. 163 1474, Isabella was proclaimed Queen of Castile; and Ferdi- nand received the crown of Aragon in 1479 when his father died. Thus all Spain, except the little states of Navarre and Granada, lay under the double sceptre of this illustrious pair. At once Ferdinand and his wife formed the design of rooting out the Moorish dominion from the peninsula. The famous War of Granada began. The surprise of the little border town, Zahara, by the Moors pro- 1481 voked the storm. Well might an old Moorish A.D. Alfaki cry out, when he heard the news, " Woe is me; the ruins of Zahara will fall on our own heads!" Ere long the first stone fell. The Marquis of Cadiz, gathering 5500 horse and foot, marched upon Al- bania, a strong city embosomed among hills, about 1482 eight leagues from Granada. In the silence of A.D. night the citadel was surprised; but the city was not so easily taken. Barricades were flung up, cross-bow bolts and arquebuse balls swept the narrow streets, while women and children poured hot oil and pitch from the flat roofs upon the Christian soldiery. But all in vain. Moorish blood choked the kennels ; Moorish gold and jewels rewarded the exulting victors. Twice during the same year vain attempts were made to recover this key of Granada. Loxa on the Xenil was then invested by the Spaniards; but they soon abandoned the siege. Meanwhile the strength of Granada was paralyzed by internal discord. The old king was deposed; his brother and his son, both named Abdallah, contended for the throne. Soon after the Spanish arms sustained a severe reverse. The grand master of St. Jago on his return from a descent upon the borders of Malaga becoming entangled among savage mountains, his troops were shot down in crowds by the Moors who lined the heights. But this was an exception; one success after another crowned the arms of the Christians. The king Abdallah was made prisoner, as he was lurking among the willows by the Xenil after his defeat at Lucena. He was soon, how- ever, released for 400 Christian captives and 12,000 pieces of gold 164 THE SIEGE OF GRANADA. Immense cannon, throwing huge balls of marble, gave the Spaniards a decided supremacy in this war of sieges. Gradually the circle of fire narrowed round Granada. After a brave resistance of three months, the starving 1487 garrison of Malaga yielded their shot-torn ramparts A.D. to Ferdinand. And the fall of Baza, two years later, prepared the way for the last great scene. During the spring and autumn of 1490 the Vega was ravaged under the very shadow of Granada itself. April, Early in the next year Ferdinand encamped by the 1491 Xenil with 50,000 men. The city was choked with A.D. fugitives from all the country round. Challenges often passed between the besieged and the be- siegers; and the Vega was the scene of many single combats between the Spanish and Moorish cavaliers. The bright eyes of Isabella and her ladies kindled the valour of the gallant Dons ; and surely the dark-skinned warriors fought none the less bravely for remembering the soft Moorish eyes that watched their deeds from the lattices of Granada, But Isabella took, besides, a more active share in the siege, for like our own Elizabeth at Tilbury, she rode about in full armour, inspecting, reviewing, and encouraging her troops. Constant skirmishes took place. One day the garrison made a grand sally at early dawn. They were met by the Marquis of Cadiz. The Moorish horse fought bravely; but the foot giving way, all were driven into the city with the loss of their cannon. Force of arms, however, did less for Ferdinand than the building of Santa Fe. In three months this town arose where his tents had been. Solid stone took the place of fluttering canvas ; and the hearts of the Moors died within them, when they saw the masonry which typified the stern resolve of the Christian king to win Granada. Famine, too, began to be felt. Unknown to the people, Abdallah and his advisers entered into negotiations with the Jan. 2, Spaniards. On a fixed day the Moorish king gave 1492 up the keys of the Alhambra; and the great cross A.D. of silver, which had been throughout the war the leading ensign of the Christian host, was borne THE FATE OF ABDALLAH. 166 into the Moorish capital amid the pealing notes of the Te Deum. A few hours, and Abdallah reined his horse on a rocky hill, which is still called " The last Sigh of the Moor," to take a farewell look of Granada. His eyes were brimming with tears. " Well doth it become thee," said his mother, " to weep like a woman for what thou couldst not defend as a man." The treaty of surrender had left him still a shadow of royalty, the lordship of a mountain territory, for which he was to do homage to the Castilian sovereigns. After holding it for a year, he sold it to Ferdinand, and, crossing to Africa, died in battle there. So with the fall of Granada ended the Moslem power in Spain, after an existence of nearly eight centuries. The loss of Constantinople to Christendom was well atoned for by the day when " Down from the Alhambra's minarets Were all the crescents flung.'* KINGS OF CASTILE DURING THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES. FERDINAND IV ALFONSO XI 1312 PETER THE CRUEL 1350 HENRY II 1368 JOHN 1 1379 HENRY III 1390 JOHN II 1406 HENRY IV 1454 FERDINAND V. the Catho- lic ~ 1474 166 EAKLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. CHAPTER IV. THE DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF AMERICA. Central Point : COLUMBUS LANDS ON ST. SALVADOR, Oct. 12, 1492 A.D. Early days of Columbus. At Lisbon. His grand idea. His struggles. Success at last. The voyage out. A light ahead. Lands on St. Salvador. Reception at Barcelona. His last days. Ferdinand Cortez. Occupies Mexico. Seizure of Montezuma. Battle of Otumba. Francisco Pizarro. The Massacre of the Peru- vians. Death of the Inca. Pizarro slain. \ THE autumn of the year, whose dawn witnessed the fall of Granada, was distinguished by the discovery of America, and the planting there of the Spanish flag. Christopher Columbus (the Latin form of the Italian Colombo in Spanish, Colon) was born at Genoa about 1435, the son of a wool-comber. A few months' study at Pavia deepened his natural love for mathematics. He was especi- ally fond of geography, astronomy, and navigation. At four- teen he went to sea. After many voyages and adventures he settled, about 1470, at Lisbon, which was then the great centre of maritime enterprise. The fiery boy, ever ready for a fight, had then sobered down into a man of thirty-five, gentle, temperate, with a long fair freckled face, sharp light-grey eyes, and flowing hair prematurely white. There he married an Italian lady, Felipa. His chief occupation, when not at sea, tvas the construction of maps, a pursuit which brought him into contact with the leading scientific men of the day. There, as he pored over his maps, a grand idea began to take definite shape within his brain. He believed that it was possible to reach Asia by sailing westward across the Atlantic. His thoughts upon the globular shape of the earth, the opinions expressed by old writers on geography, and, stronger still, the facts that pieces of carved wood, huge reeds, and pine-trees even two drowned men of unknown race-drifted towards Europe by westerly winds, had been THE SPANISH COURT GIVES HIM SHIPS. 167 picked up in the Atlantic, or washed ashore at the Azores, deepened this conviction; and his soul kindled within him, as he felt that he was the man chosen by Heaven to carry the light of the Cross into a new world beyond the western waves. His plans were first submitted to John II. of Portugal, who was mean enough, while haggling about terms, to send a vessel out on the proposed route. A few days' sailing, however, cowed the would-be robbers, who put back with- out having seen anything but a waste of stormy waters. His offers to the government of his native Genoa were rejected too. In 1485 we find him in the south of Spain. The time was not in his favour, for the land was ringing with the din of the Moorish war. Obtaining an audience through Cardinal Mendoza, he pleaded eloquently for aid. But he was put off, his plans being referred to pedantic monks, who either could or would make no decision. In truth, for many of these years his bitter portion was that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick At last the banner of Spain floated on the Alhambra. The war was over. Once more Columbus laid his plans be- fore the court. Filled with the grandeur of his scheme, he demanded that he should be admiral and viceroy of all the lands he discovered, and that he should receive one tenth of all the gains. As an offset to these demands he offered to bear an eighth of the expense. Unfortunately the Castilian treasury was empty ; and Ferdinand, grudging the two ships and 3000 crowns needful for the voyage, had already re- jected the proposals of Columbus, when Isabella to her lasting honour declared that she would pawn her jewels for the cost of the expedition. Columbus, who had left Santa Fe, was recalled, and an arrangement was completed. On a Friday morning, three ships two of them being caravels, or light undecked boats, called the Pinta and the Nina, the third a larger vessel, the Santa Aug. 3, Maria, which bore the flag of Columbus left the 1492 harbour of Palos in Andalusia. One hundred and A.D. twenty men were on board. As the last farewells were said, and the heavy tears fell fast, hope died out in every breast but one. True as the needle to the pole, the 168 DISCOVERY OF THE BAHAMAS. brave heart of the admiral pointed to its grand purpose. Touching at the Canaries, they sailed westward for forty days, when it was noticed that the needle was not pointing to the north star. The pilots were in alarm, until Columbus explained away their fear. Seaweed drifting past, and birds wheeling round seemed to betoken that land was near. But as day after day rose and set on the heaving circle of water, unbroken by one speck of shore, the murmurs of the crews grew deep. Clouds on the horizon deceived them more than once. On the evening of the 10th of October the clamour broke wildly out. Go home they would. But still the iron will of Columbus beat down these feebler souls, and the prows still pointed to the west. Sternly he told them that, happen what might, he was resolved to go on, and, 1^ith God's bless- ing, to succeed. Next day their hopes revived, for they saw green rock fish playing in the sea, river weeds, and a branch with fresh berries floating by, and they picked up a reed, a board, and a carved stick. That evening at ten o'clock, Columbus, standing on the raised poop of his ship, thought he saw a light on the dark horizon. He called two of his associates. One saw it the other caught some gleams as it rose and fell in the dim night. Four hours later, at two o'clock, a shot from the Pinta announced that land was ahead. And when 1 4. Q 9 ^at famous Friday morning dawned, there it lay six J miles off, the dream of many struggling years realized at last, a low green shore fringed with many trees. Columbus, dressed in rich scarlet, landed with the royal banner of Spain in his hand. Kissing the welcome soil with tears of joy, he returned thanks to God; and then with drawn sword took possession of the island, which he named San Salvador. It was one of the Bahama group. The simple natives, who had at first fled in fear to the woods, soon returning, timidly made friends with the Spaniards, touching their beards and wondering at their white faces. Cruising among these islands, which have ever since been called the West Indies from the mistaken idea of Columbus that they formed a part of Asia,* the Spaniards discovered * The aborigines of America are still called Indians from the same error. THE DEATH OF COLUMBUS. 169 Cuba and Hispaniola. Columbus reached Palos just seven months and twelve days from the sailing of the ex- pedition. His reception at Barcelona was a bril- March 15, liant triumph. The king and queen, rising to re- 1493 ceive him, bestowed on him the rare honour of a A.D. seat in their presence. He told his story ; showed the birds, the plants, the gold ore, and the natives, he had brought from the New World ; and when he ceased to speak, the sovereigns fell on their knees, while a hymn of thanks- giving rose from the assembled choir. Columbus made three more voyages of discovery. In 1500, upon a false charge of oppressing the colonists of Hispaniola, he was superseded by Bobadilla, who sent him in fetters to Spain. These irons he kept ever after, hanging up in his private room, to remind him of the ingratitude of princes: and he ordered them to be buried in his grave. Returning from his last voyage in 1504, this greatest of the world's sailors laid down his weary head to die at Valladolid, May 20th, 1506. In 1518 the Spanish governor of Cuba sent an officer, Ferdinand Cortez, with ten ships and six hundred men, to conquer the newly discovered Mexico. Having founded the colony of Vera Cruz as a basis of operations, Cortez then broke all his ships to pieces. This he did to insure success, for he thus shut himself and his soldiers up in the invaded land. Montezuma was the emperor of the Mexicans. Gradually advancing through his territories, the Spanish force at last reached the capital. Everywhere they were regarded as deities children of the sun. Scrolls of cotton cloth were carried far and wide through the terror-stricken land, on which were pictured pale-faced bearded warriors, trampling horses, ships with spreading wings, and cannons breathing out lightning, and dashing to the earth tall trees far away. The emperor admitted Cortez to his capital, but at the same time sent a secret expedition to attack Vera Cruz. The hopes of the Mexicans revived when they saw the head of a Spaniard carried through the land ; for then they knew that their foes were mortal. At this crisis Cortez resolved on a bold stroke. Seizing Montezuma, he carried him to the Spanish 170 CONQUEST OF MEXICO. quarters, and forced him to acknowledge himself a vassal of Spain. Having held Mexico for six months, Cortez left it to defeat Narvaez, whom the Cuban government, jealous of his success, had sent against him with nearly a thousand men. During his absence all was uproar in the capital. Two thousand Mexican nobles had been massacred for the sake of their golden ornaments ; and the Spanish quarters were surrounded by a furious crowd. The return of Cortez, with a force increased by the troops of the defeated Narvaez, was oil cast on flame. Montezuma, striving to mediate, was killed by a stone flung by one of his angry subjects. The Spaniards were for a time driven from the city ; but in the valley of Otumba (1520) the Mexicans w\ere routed, and their golden standard was taken. Soon afterwards 1521 the new emperor was made prisoner, stretched on A.D. burning coals, and gibbeted. The siege of Mexico ; lasting seventy-five days, was the final blow. The cruelty of Cortez is undoubted ; but it is possible to find in the story of our own empire cases which can rival in atrocity the bloodiest deeds of the Spanish adventurer. He, too, like Columbus, was looked coldly on at home. He died in 1547 at Seville, aged sixty-two. The conqueror of Peru was Francisco Pizarro, a man who could neither read nor write, and whose early days were spent in herding swine. Kunning away from home in early life, he became a soldier, and saw much service in the New World. Between 1524 and 1528, while exploring the coast of Peru, he formed the design of conquering that golden land, being tempted by the abundance of the precious metals which glittered everywhere, forming not merely the orna- ments of the people, but the commonest utensils of every- day life. He sailed from Panama with one hundred and eighty-six men in February, 1531. A civil war then raging in Peru between two brothers, who were rivals for the throne, made his task an easier one than it might otherwise have been. The strife seems to have been to some extent decided when the Spaniards landed, for Atahualpa was then Inca of Pern BO they called their kings. MASSACRE OF THE PERUVIANS. 171 Pizarro found the Inca holding a splendid court near the city of Caxamarca; and the eyes of the Spanish pirates gleamed when they saw the glitter of gold and jewels in the royal camp. The visit of the Spanish leader was returned by the Inca, who came in a golden chair, encompassed by 10,000 guards. A friar, crucifix in hand, strove to convert this worshipper of the sun, telling him at the same time that the pope had given Peru to the King of Spain. The argu- ment was all lost on the Inca, who could not see how the pope was able to give away wha,t was not his, and who, be- sides, scorned the idea of giving up the worship of so magni- ficent a god as the sun. The furious priest turned with a cry for vengeance to the Spaniards. They were ready, for it was all a tragedy well rehearsed beforehand. The match was kid to the levelled cannon, and a storm of shot from great guns and small burst upon the poor huddled crowd of Peru- vians, amid whose slaughter and dismay Pizarro carried off the Inca. As the price of freedom, Atahualpa offered to fill his cell with gold. The offer was accepted, and the treasure divided among the Spaniards ; but the un- 1533 happy Inca was strangled after all. The capture of A.D. Cuzco completed the wonderfully easy conquest of Peru. Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 ; and, six years later, was slain by conspirators, who burst into his palace during the mid-day siesta. KINGS OF ARAGON DURING THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES. JAMES II ALFONSO IV 1327 PETER IV 1336 JOHN 1 1387 MARTIN 1 1396 Interregnum 1410 FERDINAND the Just 1412 ALFONSO V 1416 JOHN II., King of Na- varre 1458 FERDINAND V., the Cath- olic 1479 172 ITALIAN AIlCHITECTtrKE. CHAPTER V. LIFE IN ITALY AND SPAIN DURING THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. Rise of cathedrals. Houses of Florence. Condottieri. Monks and monasteries. Pilgrimages. Life in Venice. The Guilds of Florence. Italian amusements. Literature and art. Chivalry in Spain. Three military orders. The Inquisition. Auto da Fe. Learned ladies. Royal dress. Popular sports. The drama. DURING the last years of the tenth century a great horror fell on all Christendom. It was everywhere believed that the last day of the year 999 would close the book of human history. And so everything was neglected. But when the mornings of 1000 A.D. grew brighter as the year rolled on, hope revived. Men felt that they had a new lease of life, and one striking form their gratitude took was the rearing of those magnificent cathedrals, which are the noblest monuments of the Middle Ages. In Italy, as over all Europe, many a solemn minster rose. Amongst the Italian temples of that date were the Cathedral of Pisa, and St. Mark's at Venice. In Italy the pure Gothic architecture never took root. There are, indeed, buildings called Gothic there ; but the style is an awkward mixture of classic and Gothic. There are specimens pf Norman buildings in Southern Italy, and traces exist of Moorish mason- work too, especially in Sicily. The history of early Florence may be read in the dark, square, rough-hewn mansions, built for her restless nobles. Four piles of building, unadorned even by a pillar, sur- rounded a central court. On the summit frowned a heavy cornice, more like a rampart, as indeed it was. The lower story rose some thirty feet, either without windows, or pierced by a few grated loop-holes. Within such dark prison-houses the tyrant nobles were often forced to shut themselves, when the angry commons came surging like a stormy sea down the street with pikes, and cross-bows, and shouts of war. The constant feuds of the Italian towns drew into the peninsula hordes of mercenary soldiers. These Free Lances, MONKS AND PILGRIMAGES. 173 or Companies of Adventurers, were led by capti. ins called Condottieri. From city to city they roved, living by murder and pillage, ready to draw sword in the cause of the highest bidder. Sometimes the chances of war cast them to the head of the State, in whose cause or against whose freedom they were fighting. Since it was their object to make their profession pay, they lengthened out war into campaigns ; and often for the length of a summer day rival bands of these rovers, tilting gracefully, perhaps unhorsing a foe now and again, fought without bloodshed, merely playing at soldiers. Everywhere throughout Italy the shaven crown and sad- coloured robe of the monk were to be seen. These men were often of the highest birth. The novice generally spent his preparatory year in herding swine and other drudgery ; and sometimes, at the time of admission, was forced to lay his cowled head on the bare earth for three days and nights, while he mused on the mysteries of religion. And hard was the discipline by which the rank of saintship was sometimes won. St. Eomuald, founder of many monasteries, passed several of his last years in perfect silence. The chief monas- teries of Italy were placed high among the wooded cliffs of the Apennines. From the eighth to the thirteenth cen- tury most of the religious orders arose. The close of this period was marked by the institution of the two orders of begging friars Franciscans and Dominicans beneath whose foul patched gowns and girdles of rope too often there lurked hearts swollen with lust and pride. The devotion of the people found vent chiefly in pilgrim- ages. The Holy House of the Virgin at Loretto, placed miraculously, so the story went, on the hill, was a favourite resort of remorseful penitents. The Jubilee Pilgrimages drew crowds to Rome every fifty years. And for three months of 1399, through all Italy, bands of penitents, dressed in white, with crucifix in hand, went singing a low wailing hymn to the Virgin. It was no uncommon thing, about the same time, to see the Flagellants trooping along among the vine- yards or through the city streets with bleeding backs and limbs, on which their own cruel hands were laying the scourge Lu Venice the merchants went on 'Change in the little 174 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. square of che Rialto. In the cool evenings the bridges were thronged with sailors, glass-workers, and silk-weavers. The waters of the Canal were alive with the black-peaked gon- dolas. Faction-fights, sanctioned by the authorities, com- monly took place on the Bridge of St. Barnabas, where black cap and sash slashed with stiletto or sword at his opposite neighbour, who, dwelling on the other side of the Grand Canal, wore red. Spies crept everywhere in Venice. The terror of the time has been already spoken of, when often in the dead midnight a sullen splash in the waters told but too surely that to-morrow would see in some princely house a vacant chair that would never be filled again. The citizens of Florence were of two grades Greater and Less. The seven Greater trades were lawyers, dealers in foreign cloth, dealers in wool, silk-mercers, and, higher still, furriers, apothecaries, and goldsmiths. Among the fourteen Less guilds were butchers, smiths, shoemakers, builders. The seven Greater had each its own consul, council, and gonfa- loniere, or standard-bearer, who led the guild to war. Such was the arrangement of the Guelph Constitution of Florence, formed in 1266. Shows of various kinds were provided for the people by the rulers. The Carnival wildest of modern Italian revels was in the Middle Ages a religious festival only. There were, of course, in a land of song many minstrels. Some- times, as at Mantua in ] 340, a court of pastime was pro- claimed, to which from all parts of Italy resorted a motley crowd, princes and nobles mingling with actors, rope- dancers, and clowns. The glittering, many-coloured Harle- quin of our Christmas pantomimes and his partner, Colum- bine, made their first appearance on the Italian comic stage. The tragedy of Punch and Judy, too, so often enacted in our streets, had its origin in the Italian puppet-show. The lighter amusements and pageants of chivalry, such as con- tests in music and poetry, and mock-trials upon points of honour, prevailed to a considerable extent in Italy; but rougher sports like the tournament had scarcely any home in the peninsula. The court of the Florentine Medici shone conspicuous as fche most splendid scene of mediaeval life in Italy. The THE CHIVALRY OF SPAIN. 175 Roman court of the Borgias, a Spanish family of whom two held the popedom (Calixtus III. and Alexander VI.), pre- sented a spectacle of gilded and jewelled crime hardly paral- leled in history. Her works of literature and art give unfading lustre to mediaeval Italy. Dante and Petrarch are foremost among her poets ; and though all must lament the licentious tain* which sullies his pages, none can help acknowledging the graceful beauty of many of Boccaccio's " Hundred Tales." The noonday of Italian art had not yet come. But to the close of the Middle Ages belongs Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of " The Last Supper." Born in the valley of the Arno in 1452, he drew his last breath at Fontainebleau, in the arms of King Francis I. of France (1519). SPAIN. Chivalry lingered in Spain long after it had died out in other parts of Europe. It received its death-blow from the sarcastic pen of Cervantes, whose inimitable ''Don Quixote " turned the knight-errant into undying ridicule. The hostility of Moors and Spaniards contributed much to keep alive the spirit of knighthood, for the Moors were brilliant cavaliers, skilled in all knightly exercises, and therefore foe- men well worthy of the Spanish steel. The Moors of Granada especially were noted for their skill with the cross- bow and in horsemanship. The chivalry of the Spanish Moors displayed itself in the freedom granted to their wives and daughters, who, unlike the women of Mahometan lands in general, mingled freely in the most public society. The learned ladies attended academic meetings ; and the fair sex, as with the Christians, rewarded the victors in the tourna- ment. Three great military brotherhoods succeeded the dominion of the Templars and Hospitallers in Spain. These were the orders of St. Jago, Calatrava, and Alcantara. The chief object of the Order of St. Jago (St. James), which was established by papal bull in 1175, was to protect from the attacks of the Arabs those who were making a pilgrimage to the saint's tomb in Galicia. The cavaliers wore a white mantle, embroidered with a sword and the escalop shell, which was the device of their patron. The knights of Cala- trava, whose order was established in 1164, kepi perfect 176 TERRORS OF THE INQUISITION. silence at table and in bed, ate meat only three times a week, and slept sword by side. The knights of Alcantara wore a white mantle with a green cross. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella was remarkable for the establishment of the Inquisition in Spain. Four priests, armed with terrible powers, were sent in 1480 to commence operations in Seville, Pope Sixtus IV. having already issued a bull to authorize their appointment. Ere a year had passed, three hundred Jews had perished. Suddenly and silently the accused was snatched from his friends. None but his jailer and a priest were permitted to see him. If he refused to confess his guilt, the torture was applied in a dungeon, whose thick walls no cry could pierce. Then with dislocated joints and crushed bones he was flung into a dark cell once more, perhaps not to leave it again but for the last sad scene. This was the Auto da Fe (Act of Faith). Clad in black, the highest nobles of Spain bore the flag of the Inquisition. The Romish priests stood round, robed in their gorgeous vestments. The wretched victims were brought out to die, clad in san benitos. These were long robes of coarse wool, dyed yellow, and painted with a red cross and the figures of devils and flames. The populace thronged to witness the exciting spectacle; and a savage joy thrilled the assembled crowds as the red-tongued flame licked up the life of the so-called heretics. In the days of Isabella the study of Latin and rhetoric was fashionable among the ladies of Spain. The queen herself was a woman of much literary taste, speaking her own tongue with elegance, and versed, too, in several modern languages. Latin she studied after her accession, and took only a year to gain great proficiency in it. She took delight in the collection of manuscripts, which in that day were, according to Moorish fashion, bound in bright colours, and richly decorated. We read of Spanish ladies of this time lecturing from the university chairs upon classical literature and kindred subjects. The first printing-press in Spain seems to have been set up at Valencia in 1474 ; and the first book printed there was a collection of songs in honour of the Virgin. SPANISH DRESS AND SPORTS. 177 A meeting of Ferdinand and Isabella during the Moorish war is thus described by the curate of Los Palacios : " The queen sat in a saddle-chair embossed with gold and silver, upon a chestnut mule, whose housings were of crimson and bridle of gold-embroidered satin. The infanta, her daughter, wore a scarlet mantle of the Moorish fashion, a black hat laced with gold, and a skirt of velvet. The king figured in a crimson doublet, and breeches of yellow satin, a cuirass and Moorish scimitar. Both king and queen wore a close-fitting coif of fine stuff below the hat, to confine the hair." The tournament was the great pastime of the day. Splen- did galleries, hung with silk and cloth of gold, enclosed the lists. After the day's tilting, music and dancing enlivened the evening hours. Bull-fights now the grand national sport of Spain and the graceful tilt of reeds were foremost among the popular amusements. We find dramatic entertainments taking their rise in Spain, as in our own country, in the mysteries or sacred plays of the clergy. A law, passed in the thirteenth century to forbid some profanities that were creeping into the per- formances, laid down as fit subjects for exhibition the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of our Saviour. Towards the close of the Middle Ages we read of the Spanish stage being constructed of a few planks laid upon benches. The " pro- perties" consisting of four dresses of white fur and gilt leather, with accompanying beards, wigs, and crooks were then carried in a single sack. GREAT NAMES OF THE FIFTH PERIOD. FAUST (JOHN) .............. A goldsmith and engraver of Mentz one of the earliest printers associated for five years with Guttenberg in the working of a press with movable metal types (1450-55) first work printed, ' An Indulgence oi Pope Nicholas V.' died 1466, at Paris. KEMPIS (THOMAS A)...Born about 1380 at Kempen, near Cologne studied at De venter became a canon of the monastery of Mount St. Agnes tran- scribed the Bible, the Missal, and other religious books good copyist, and fond of it said to be author of four books of great (47) 178 GREAT NAMES OF THE FIFTH PERIOD merit, entitled, ' De Imitatione Christi,' but he transcribed these from older manu- scripts. The work is more justly ascribed to John Gerson of Paris, who died 1429 T. 'AKempis died in 1471, aged 90. POLITIAN (ANGELOV...Born in Tuscany, 1454 in after life took the name of Poliziano a great friend of Lo- renzo de Medici, whose children he edu- catedprofessor of Latin and Greek at Florence wrote scholia and notes to many ancient authors translated into Latin the History of Herodian noted also for his Italian poems wrote 'Orfeo,' which is said to be the earliest specimen of the opera or Italian musical drama. DA VINCI (LEONARDO). Born in the Val d'Arno, below Florence, in 1452 a famous painter remarkable for his knowledge of other arts and sciences his works are not many one of his greatest is 'The Last Supper/ painted on the wall of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie wrote very many treatises lived much at Rome, but died at Fontainebleau in France, 2d May, 1519, aged 67. RAPHAEL (SANZIO) Born at Urbino, 6th April, 1483 perhaps the greatest of modern painters lived both at Florence and Rome the ' Trans- figuration ' usually considered his master- piece famous for his Madonnas died on his birth-day, 1520, at the early age of 37. CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIFTH PERIOD. FOURTEENTH CENTURY continued. A.D, The Cape of Good Hope discovered by the Portuguese. 1392 The Treaty of Calmar, uniting Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under Margaret 1397 Tamerlane takes Delhi 1398 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Battle of Agincourt 1415 John Huss burned Jerome of Prague burned .., 1416 CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIFTH PERIOD. 179 A.D. Jfoan of Arc victorious at Orleans 1428 Her death 1431 Guttenberg prints at Strasburg 1444 Accession of Constantino Palseologus, last of the Byzantine Emperors 1445 Constantinople taken by the Turks 1453 Wars of the Roses begin in England 1455 Lorenzo the Magnificent rules Florence 1478 Union of Castile and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella 1479 Battle of Bos worth 1485 Fall of Granada 1491 Columbus discovers America 1492 Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. of France 1494 Cape of Good Hope doubled by Vasco di Gama 1497 Sa\oAarola burned at Florence .....1488 180 PROTESTANTS BEFORE LUTHER, SIXTH PERIOD. FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE CLOSE OP THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. CHAPTER I. THE REFORMATION. \ Central Point: THE DIET OF AUGSBURG, 1530, A.D. Earlier Protestants. Sources of the Reforma- tion. Three central figures. Luther's early days. The cloisters of Erfurt. Professor at Wittenberg. Sale of indulgences. The ninety-five theses. The disputation at Leip- sic. Burning of the Papal bull. The Diet of Worms The Castle of Wartburg. Ulric Zwingle. Diet of Augsburg. Last days of Luther. John Calvin. Settles in Geneva. Stay in Strasburg. His return to Geneva. His code of discipline. Death and character. THERE were Protestants before Luther. Paulinus of Aquileia in the days of Charlemagne; the Albigenses in sunny Langue- doc ; the Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont ; John Wyc- liffe in England; Huss and Jerome, the Bohemians, who perished in the flames at Constance ; and Savonarola, who met the same fate at Florence, all nobly deserved the noble name. But it was not until the printing-presses of Guttenberg and Faust and Caxton had multiplied books, especially the Bible, a thousandfold, and the capture of Constantinople by the Turks had scattered far and wide the Greeks and their language, thus giving to the West the key to the right understanding of the New Testament, that Central Europe, in the grey dawn of a new era, could see the shackles laid on her by Borne, and summon all her might to tear them from her burdened limbs. Then, in the fulness of the time, Martin Luther arose, LUTHER'S COLLEGE LIFE. 181 and, somewhat later, John Calvin and Ulric Zwingle, the three leaders of the Continental Reformation. Grouped round these three grand central figures stood a little band of brave spirits, foremost among whom were Melancthon, the friend of Luther; Lefevre and Farel, the associates of Calvin. Luther, the son of a miner, was born at Eisleben in Saxony in December 1483. While at school in Eisenach he used to sing in the streets for bread, a custom which was common among the German students. Entering the Uni- versity of Erfurt, he took his degree in 1505 : he was then twenty-two. Towards the close of his college life, which was free and jovial, three events stirred his mind powerfully : he found in the library a Latin Bible ; a dear friend died ; and he him- self was sick nigh unto death. Calling his fellow-students around him one night, he entertained them at a merry Bupper; and scarcely had they left his lodging, when he stood knocking at the door of the Augustine convent with two books in his hand a Virgil and a Plautus. His three years within the cloisters of Erfurt were spent in terrible mental struggles, and in vain attempts to gain peace by monkish fastings and penances. It was not until the advice of Staupitz, his vicar-general, directed him to the Bible and the works of St. Augustine that Luther began to see light. We, who glory in the privileges of Protestantism, owe a deep debt of gratitude to that wise and kind-hearted priest, who, pitying pale and haggard young Brother Martin, showed him the tree of life. In 1508 Luther was appointed Professor of Philosophy in the University of Wittenberg. There he won renown as a bold and original preacher. The little old wooden chapel of the convent could not hold his audience. The great idea of the Reformation was now taking full possession of his soul. So strong was its influence, that when he went to Rome in 1510 or 11, on a certain mission, and tried to climb Pilate's staircase on his knees as an act of penance, his conscience never ceased to thunder in his soul, " The just shall live by faith." The Rome of that day he found to be a hot-bed of infidelity, blasphemy, and criui-e. In 1512 he was made 182 THE NINETY-FIVE THESES. Doctor of Divinity. So far we have traced the outlines of his preparation ; now for his great work. Leo X., in want of money to build St. Peter's at Rome, authorized the sale of indulgences. John Tetzel, a Domini- can monk, arrived within a few miles of Wittenberg with a bundle of these paper lies, and the simple country-folk of Saxony crowded round his counter to buy. With brow of brass and lungs of leather, he shouted all day long the wonderful powers of the indulgence. " Drop a penny in my box for some poor wretch in purgatory," said he, " and the moment it clinks on the bottom, the freed soul flies up to heaven." Luther heard of these things, and saw their effect upon some of his own flock, who, believing themselves pardoned by the indulgence they had bought, refused to submit to his direc- tion. He felt the time had come for the first blow in a momentous struggle. " God willing," said he, "I will beat a hole in his drum." Then, shaping his belief on the subject of the indulgences into ninety-five theses or propositions, he sent a copy of them to the Archbishop of Magdeburg ; and on the same day that which we call Hallow-Eve he nailed another copy, 3lst Oct. signed with his name, on the gate of the Castle 1517 Church of Wittenberg. In these theses Luther A.D. did not altogether deny the power of the Church to grant absolution ; but he maintained that, unless there was real contrition on the part of a sinner, an indul- gence was of no avail. This public defiance was the start- ing-point of the Reformation. The news ran with lightning- speed through Germany and Europe. Tetzel, retiring to Frankfort on the Oder, issued a list of counter theses, maintaining the infallibility and the supreme authority of the pope. These were burned by the students of Wittenberg, who entered heart and soul into the cause of their professor. Pope Leo, a literary and architectural ama- teur, heard a buzz in Germany, but treated it lightly,, as a monkish quarrel. " This Luther," said he, " is a man of genius ; he writes well." Cajetan, the papal legate, a smooth and subtle Italian, was foiled in an attempt to make Luther retract at a conference held at Augsburg. Miltitz, a German, had apparently better THE DISPUTATION AT LEIPSIC. 183 success,- having enticed Luther into a conditional promise to keep silence upon the disputed points. The disputation of Leipsic, however, proved that Luther had not merely drawn the sword, but had flung away the scabbard. When that man, of middle size, so thin as to seem mere skin and bone, yet with nothing forbidding or sad in his bright happy face, mounted the platform in the royal hall of Duke George, with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, those who sat around the noblest and wisest and most learned in the land must have wondered at the daring of the solitary monk. Yet not solitary, for June the shield of God was over him ; and thousands of 1519 German hearts blessed him where he stood. Dr. A.D. Eck, Professor of Divinity at Ingolstadt, a man noted through all Germany for skill in controversy, was his rival. Taking his stand upon the text, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church," Eck maintained the supremacy of the pope. Luther, applying the word *'rock" to Christ, contended that He was the sole and abso- lute Head of the Church. So the fencing went on for days, and they parted, each claiming the victory. During the folio wing summer Luther published a few pages of an address to the Christian nobles of Germany, in which, with that strong, blunt speech, that he was noted for, he characterized the seat of Papacy as a devil's nest. His work "On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church" followed in autumn. At length the thunder of Rome broke forth. A bull was published, declaring Luther a heretic, ordering his writings to be burned, and summoning him to Rome within sixty days. The crisis had come, and bravely the monk of Saxony met it. -One winter day, gathering the 10th Dec. students and townsfolk of Wittenberg to the Elster 1520 Gate, he cast the Papal bull, a document once so A.D. potent and terrible, into the flames of a fire of wood. A few months later, he set out for Worms, where the young Emperor Charles V. was holding his first Diet of the Ger- man States. Greatly had the soul of Luther rejoiced when he, received a summons to plead his cause in so proud a pre- sence. He journeyed sluwiy., ciuwds thronging round his 184 THE DIET OF "WOBMS. coach, and joyous music welcoming him at every stage, Friendly warnings met him ; a heavy sickness seized him on the way; yet still he pressed undaunted on. And when the roofs and spires of Worms rose in view, standing up in his carriage, he sang the famous hymn, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, which has ever since borne his name. That night till very late his inn was thronged with nobles and scholars. But when all were gone, alone upon his knees, he sobbed out a broken prayer, casting himself at this hour of great need entirely upon the help of God. Next day, as the April sun was near its setting, he came before the emperor, who sat enthroned among his splendid courtiers. April 17, It was a striking contrast, a pale monk against a 1521 brilliant court. As at Leipsic, his\cheek was thin ; A.D. but there was that within his heart which could brave the dark looks of the red-robed cardinals and violet-clad bishops, the sneers of dressy Spaniards, or the wrath of the great emperor himself. Eck rose to ask him if he would retract his works. Luther required a day to pre- pare his reply ; and next day he closed a two hours' speech in German and in Latin thus : " Unless I be convinced by Scripture and reason, I neither can nor dare retract any- thing ; for my conscience is a captive to God's word, and it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I take my stand ; I can do no otherwise. So help me God." Paul himself might have spoken the brave and honest words. He was then dismissed from Worms, the emperor having declared his resolve to treat him as a heretic. Luther's own epitome, in a letter to a friend, of the proceedings of these three momentous days is a gem of condensation. " Are the books yours ?" " Yes." " Will you revoke, or not ?"- " No." " Get you gone then." On his way home he was seized by a band of armed men in masks, and carried to the Castle of the Wartburg up among the mountains. This is said to have been done by his friend the Elector of Saxony to keep him out of harm's way. There he lived for about a year disguised as a knight, rambling, hunting, and writing. During this retirement he began his great work, the translation of the Bible into German. Before he left Wartburg he had finished the New DLRIC ZW7NGLE. 185 Testament; but the entire work was not completed until 1534. The news that Carlstadt and other extreme Reformers were carrying things with a high hand at Wittenberg, smashing images, and seeking to banish from the University all books but the Bible, called Luther down from the moun- tains. Then came a controversy with Carlstadt, who was forced to flee from Saxony to Switzerland. A quarrel between Luther and Erasmus occurred about the same time. In 1524 Luther threw off his monk's dress ; in the follow- ing year he married Catherine Von Bora, an escaped nun. About the same time the Peasants' War, excited by the Anabaptists under Munzer, arose in the Black Forest, and raged through out the Rhine provinces, en ding in the slaughter of fifty thousand people. Luther, whose enemies blamed him for this outbreak, took the rashness of the misguided peasants deeply to heart, and inveighed bitterly against their mad actions. In 1529 the Landgrave of Hesse, desirous of a union be- tween the Reformers of Germany and Switzerland, invited Luther and Zwingle to meet at Marburg. Zwingle was born in 1484, a Swiss farmer's son. He saw service early in life, as chaplain to the Swiss troops in Italy. After he was settled as a preacher at home, the sal^ of indulgences excited his anger at Einsiedlen, as it had ex- cited Luther's at Wittenberg. At Zurich, somewhat later, he preached reform more boldly still, and won for that canton the honour of being the first to embrace the pure doctrines of Protestantism. His great mistake as a Reformer was the attempt to mix politics with religion, to reform the State while he purified the Church. When the Swiss and the Saxon met at Marburg, they differed upon the subject of the Lord's Supper. Luther maintained the doctrine of consubstantiation, in which he was a steadfast believer; Zwingle verged to the opposite extreme; and they parted, no great friends. Two years later, in a war between the Reformed and the Romish cantons, Zwingle, whose warlike spirit led him to join the ranks of the Zurichers, was killed in the battle of Cappel. A diet was held at Spires in the spring of 1529, partly to 186 THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. raise forces for the Turkish war, and partly to settle, ii possible, the religious differences of the nation. 1529 The Romish party having drawn up a decree in A.D. favour of their creed, the Lutherans gave in their famous " Protest," from which they were henceforth called Protestants. The names of the Elector of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Duke of Liinenburg, the Prince of Anhalt, and the deputies of fourteen cities, were affixed to this document. Next year a great assembly of princes met at Augsburg. Luther was not there, but Melancthon was; and to this gentle friend of the brave Reformer fell the task of 1530 reading the celebrated Confession of the Protestant A.D. Faith. In twenty-one articles the belief of Protes- tants was summed up ; the remaining seven were devoted to the errors of Rome. The document was written by Melancthon, but much of the matter was Luther's. Although this Confession was condemned by the Diet of Augsburg, the determined attitude of the Protestants made the decision of little use. The emperor wavered, not willing to estrange so powerful a section of the German nation. The league of Protestants at Srualcald and Frankfort gave new strength to the cause of truth, and the emperor, 1530 whose grand object then was to lead all Germany A.D. into the field against the Turks, annulled the pro- ceedings of the Diets held at Worms and Augs- burg. This victory of Protestantism marks, for the time at least, the close of the struggle. Luther lived until 1546, writing and teaching at Witten- berg. Every year saw the doctrines, for which he had so stoutly contended, spreading more widely. There was much to vex him in the perils which still beset the cause, and in the follies of some of its friends ; but within his little home there was peace. While visiting his native town, Eisleben, to reconcile the Counts of Mansfield, he died after a short illness. As he said himself, " The world is weary of me ; and I of the world." His work was done : he lay down to sleep. Well for us all if, when the summons comes, our work be so bravelv and fully done ! He was a blunt, affec- tiouate, jovial man, free-spoken sometimes, but always to JOHN CALVIN. 187 the point. His tender love of his Kate and children, and his noble, manly trust in G-od, endear to our grateful hearts this first and greatest of the Reformers. No sketch of the Reformation would be complete without a notice of John Calvin. Born in 1509, at Noyon in Picardy, he received his education chiefly hi the schools of Paris, and afterwards attended law-classes at Orleans and Bruges. The study of the Bible, and the conversation of two friends first opened his mind to the truths of the Reformed faith, while he was a student at Orleans ; and his association at Bruges with the Professor of Greek, Melchior Wolmar, deepened his convictions of Romish error. To teach religion then became his grand desire. After many vain efforts to teach the Reformed doctrines peacefully in France, we find him an exile at Basle. There, in 1535, he published the first outline of his great work, "The Institutes of the Christian Religion," which was undoubtedly the book of the Reformation, and is still a standard text-book in some of our schools. After a stay of some time in Italy, and a short visit to France, he settled in Geneva in the summer of 1536. Here he became teacher and preacher of theology ; and in conjunction with Farel framed a Confession of Faith for the citizens ; who were, however, scarcely yet prepared for the strict, and, as some thought, over-rigid discipline which he sought to establish. A hostile party accordingly arose, known as the Libertines, whose influence grew strong enough to banish Calvin and Farel from the city. Strasburg was Calvin's refuge ; and during his three quiet years of literary and pastoral labour in that city he married. His strong interest in the Genevans was shown by two remarkable letters, written from Strasburg, to strengthen them in the Protestant faith. The completion of the Insti- tutes in 1539, too, marks this green resting-place in a troubled life. Late in 1540 he received a letter from the Council of Geneva, entreating him to return ; and in the autumn of the following year he obeyed the call. He lost no time in laying down a code of laws, regulating, not the Church only, but the minutest details of every-duy lite. 188 THE DEATH OF CALVIN. The rest of Calvin's hard-working life was spent in thia city, which became a great centre of the Reformation. Con- troversy filled up his days, for enemies were thick around him. After a long struggle, he expelled the Libertines from the city. By many he is supposed to have given his sanction to the burning of the Spaniard Servetus, who denied the doctrine of the Trinity, a circumstance which, if true, only affords another melancholy proof that even the greatest and purest spirits cannot always rise above the prevailing spirit and rooted prejudices of the age in which they live. After much suffering from gout and other diseases, this great man died, one evening in May, just as the 1564 sun was setting. His frame was meagre, and rather A.I), low-sized : his sallow face told of Jiard study and rigorous self-denial. He stands out among a noble army as the great lawgiver and organizer of the Reformed Church, the "impersona- tion of the spirit of order in the surging movement of the sixteenth century." POPES OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. ALEXANDER VI PIUS III 1503 JULIUS II 1503 LEO X 1513 ADRIAN VI 1522 CLEMENT VII 1523 PAUL in 1534 JULIUS in 1550 BLARCELLUS H 1555 PAUL IV 1555 PIUS IV 1559 PIUS V 1566 GREGORY XIII 1572 SIXTUSV 1585 URBAN VII 1590 GREGORY XIV 1590 INNOCENT IX 1591 CLEMENT Vin 1592 OHARLES BECOMES KING OF SPAIN. 189 CHAPTER II. THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. Central Point: BATTLE OF PAVIA, 1525, A.D. Early life of Charles. Becomes King of Spain. Elected Emperor. Troubles in Spain. War with Francis I. Imprisonment of Francis. Sack of Rome. The Treaty of Cambray. Anabaptist war. The taking of Tunis. Invasion of France. The great design of Charles. Close of the French war. Council of Trent Rise of the Jesuits. Maurice of Saxony. The Interim. The danger at Innspnick Peace of Passau. Resignation of Charles. His cloister life. His death and charac- ter. CHARLES, the son of Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria, and the grandson of the Emperor Maximilian, was born at Ghent early in 1500. His mother was Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. His early life was spent in the Netherlands, where Adrian of Utrecht acted as his tutor. But the tastes of the young prince lay rather in warlike exercises than in books. History and politics were made the groundwork of his education. At the age of fifteen he assumed the government of Flanders, which came to him through his grandmother, Mary of Burgundy. The death of Ferdinand in 1516 placed on his head the brilliant crown of Spain, which he held jointly with his mad mother Joanna. The celebrated Cardinal Ximenes, long the faithful minister of the dead king, ruled as regent, until Charles, whose Flemish friends, in their jealousy of the Spaniards, kept him among them for more than a twelve- month, reached the shore of Asturias. There a splendid throng of Spanish nobles welcomed their new king. Ximenes, kept back by illness, wrote to the young monarch, advising him to dismiss all strangers from his train, or he would mortally offend the haughty grandees. The sensible advice was rejected, and the poor old cardinal, stabbed by a cold cruel letter of reply, laid down his grey head to die. While at Barcelona Charles heard that his grandfather Maximilian was dead. At once a great struggle for the vacant empire began between the young King of Spain and 190 CHARLES ELECTED EMPEROR. Francis I. of France. The seven Electors, with whom the choice lay, fearing that the power of such candidates would be dangerous to the liberties of Germany, offered the crown to Frederick, Duke of Saxony. But he, refusing it 1519 on the ground that his hand was too weak to hold A.D. the sceptre when the Turks were showing so threatening a front along the eastern borders, advised that Charles, a German by blood and by tongue, should be elected emperor. So Don Carlos L, whose do- minions now embraced Austria, the Netherlands, Naples, and Spain, with all its golden possessions beyond the Atlantic, became Charles V., Emperor of Germany. In the following year he was crowned with the diadem of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle. In sketching the story of his reign, his share in the great scenes of the Reformation need not be touched on, since they have been noticed in the previous chapter. The appointment of his tutor Adrian to be Regent of Spain, and other acts of the same kind, kindled a rebellion in the peninsula. Many towns, Toledo among the number, took up arms. A " Holy Junta," or association of deputies, was formed ; and Joanna, then enjoying a lucid interval, was entreated to take the government into her hands. She graciously consented ; but, when the glimpse of reason had passed away, she could never be got to sign a paper. War began. The troops of the Junta, successful at first, were in the end defeated. They lost the favour of the nobles and the clergy. The arrival of Charles, who soon won the hearts of the alarmed Spaniards by granting a free pardon to all except some twenty of the ringleaders, calmed the tumult ; and the removal to Italy of Adrian, who had just been made pope, helped to re-establish peace in Spain. The grand struggle of the time was between Charles and his brilliant rival, Francis of France. Italy, so often the battle-field of Europe, was the theatre of war. There, in 1515, Francis had, by a rapid dash over the Alps, made him- self master of Milan and Lornbardy. But nine years later, in one short season, he lost his brave Chevalier Bayard and every fragment of his Italian conquests. And then was fought the great battle of Pa via, in which the generals of THE SACK OF ROME. 191 Charles shattered the French power in Italy beyond repair. King Francis, fighting in the front like a gallant young soldier, received many wounds, and had his horse killed under him ; but the desertion of his Swiss troops, and an attack upon the rear scattered his brave 24th Feb. battalions. He was taken prisoner, and 10,000 1525 of his noblest lay dead upon the bloody field. A.D. "Madame," wrote he to his mother, " all is lost but honour." After lying in prison at Madrid for nearly a year, Francis regained his freedom by a treaty, in which he agreed to give up to Charles the Duchy of Burgundy, to renounce all his pretensions to Italy, and to give as hostages his eldest and second sons. Between France and Spain, on the waters of the Andaye, the father and sons met, they, bound for a Spanish prison he, for the free French shore. Landing, he sprang on his Turkish steed, and dashed off for Bayonne with the joyous words, "I am yet a king." The promise about Burgundy was never fulfilled, and the war was at once renewed. The league, now formed against the Emperor by Francis, included the pope, upon whom the heavy hand of Charles soon fell. Bourbon, once High Constable of France, who had been driven thence by the malice of the king's mother, led to Rome the imperial troops, mutinous for want of pay. Rushing on the city in the mist of morning, they scaled the walls, and nothing daunted by their leader's death, who was struck down from a ladder by a musket ball, they fought their way into the city. A fearful scene of 1527 plunder and debauchery ensued. Pope Clement, who A.D. had shut himself into the Castle of St. Angelo, was soon starved into a surrender. Charles tried to calm the in- dignation which this act roused by pretending deep sorrow for the imprisonment of the pope. His court went into mourn- ing, and prayers were offered up for " His Holiness " in the churches of Madrid. But all Europe saw through the flimsy veil. Francis I. and Henry VIII. of England united against the Emperor. The French army entered Italy. The fiery Francis challenged his rival to fight a duel, and Charles agreed ; but after some hard names had been bandied be- tween the monarchs, the matter dropped. Misfortunes then 192 THE ANABAPTISTS. fell thick on Francis. One heavy blow was the revolt of Andrew Doria, a famous sailor of Genoa, who had been fighting under the French colours. In quick succession there followed the ruin of a French army before Naples by hunger and disease, and the loss of Genoa. The threatening attitude of the Turks, and the ferment of the Eeformation in Germany inducing Charles to wish for peace, two old ladies the emperor's aunt and the king's mother met quietly in the little border town of Cambray to 1529 talk over the matter. There a treaty was agreed A.D. to, in terms of which Francis was to pay two millions of crowns, to resign Flanders and Artois, and to give up all thoughts of Italy ; while Charles was to set free the French princes, and to say no^more about the promised Burgundy. In the following year at Bologna Charles was crowned Emperor and King of Lombardy by the pope, whom he had so hardly used. The war of the German peasants, excited by the Ana- baptist Munzer, has been already noticed. The doings of this sect assumed a more alarming phase, when, in 1533, Matthias, a baker, and Boccold, a tailor, seizing the West- phalian city of Munster, and changing its name to Mount Zion, set up a commonwealth, of which polygamy was the most notable feature. Upon the death of Matthias, Boccold assumed the title of King. But after a long blockade 1536 Munster was taken ; and the tailor king, having A.D. been carried in chains through the cities of Ger- many, was put to death with lingering tortures where he had held his guilty court. Twice Charles led great expeditions to the coast of Africa : one a brilliant success in 1535, the other a wretched failure in 1541. All the harbours of Barbary swarmed with Ma- hometan pirates, of whom the chief was the daring Barba- rossa. Sultan Solyman, flattered by the submission of this wily corsair, had given him the command of the Ottoman fleet ; and Barbarossa, thus strengthened, had seized the kingdom of Tunis. To dislodge him, and thus cripple the Turkish power by sea, was the object of the enterprise of Charles. The great fort of Goletta, bristling with three WAR WITH FRAXCIS L 193 hundred cannon, was carried with a rush by the troops of the emperor. And when the defenders of Tunis were driven back into the city in headlong rout, ten thousand Christian slaves, who had knocked off their irons, turned the guns of the citadel upon the pirates. Barbarossa fled in dismay ; the imperial troops, wild for plunder, burst into the streets, and Tunis was filled with riot and blood. Then having restored the exiled king to his throne, Charles re-crossed the sea. At once the French war was renewed. Savoy was over- run by French soldiers, but speedily lost. Charles then invaded Provence with fifty thousand men. But Mont- morency stood firm in his camp at Avignon ; Marseilles and Aries were besieged in vain ; and after two inglorious months the emperor re-entered Italy a baffled man. Through the mediation of Pope Paul III., a truce for ten years was con- cluded at Nice in 1538. Next year we find Charles trusting so far to his rival's honour as to seek permission to travel from Spain to the Netherlands through France, that he might punish the revolted citizens of Ghent. The leave being freely given, he passed safely through the hostile land, everywhere splen- didly received. The favourite design of Charles during all his reign was to roll back the tide of Moslem war, which threatened Christendom on the east. Solyman and his Turks now subdued Hungary. But his constant and wasting wars with Francis prevented the emperor from ever realizing this glorious vision. The terror of his name, indeed, did some- thing to blunt the Turkish sabre. We have already seen him striking a blow at Tunis on the Barbary shore. He aimed another at Algiers late in the autumn of 1541 ; but it was a blow that recoiled upon himself ; for storm and sword and hunger and plague drove him back to Europe with but a miserable wreck of his splendid force. The outbreak of renewed war between Charles and Francis marks the year 1542. The worthless truce was cast aside. Francis, forming an alliance with Solyman, raised five great armies ; Charles with his ally, Henry of England, gloated over a fancied partition of France which seemed to float in w> 13 194 THE JESUITS. his future. However, the defeat of the emperor at Cerisoles, where he lost ten thousand men, quenched these glowing hopes, and the strife was closed by the peace of Crespy in 1544. Towards the close of the following year the nineteenth and last of the general councils met at Trent. Nominally convened to settle religious differences by fair discussion, it was yet a packed assembly filled with Italian bishops, whose overwhelming number enabled the pope to turn the course of debate at his will. The Council of Trent, continuing to sit at intervals during eighteen years, denounced the doc- trines of Luther ; it is therefore not surprising that the Pro- testants have always denied its legality, while the Church of Rome still appeals to its decisions as a gr^eat standard of faith, morals, and discipline. Foremost in all its delibera- tions were the Jesuits, a new order of monks founded by Ignatius Loyola, a meagre Spaniard, once a soldier, who, with five others Francis Xavier among them had sworn one starry night, on the top of Montmartre, to devote himself to the cause of his tottering Church. Formally instituted in 1540, these roving monks, who, in addition to the three usual vows, took an oath of implicit obedience to superiors, made their first great public appearance at the Council of Trent ; and ever since, with a wonderful and restless energy in court and camp and market-place and private house, all the world over, they have been weaving their dark plots against Protestantism. The chief events, which marked the remaining years of the Emperor Charles, belong to the history of Germany. Francis I. and Luther died within a few months of each other ; and Charles, thus freed from his two great opponents, re- solved to root out the reformed faith at once by force of arms. The Protestants of Germany took the field ; but an ill-timed negotiation wasted the precious days which should have been spent in active war. There was a traitor in their camp Maurice of Saxony a deep, smooth-faced hypocrite, whose guiding star was self. This man, joining the em- peror, invaded Saxony. The League of Smalcald fell to pieces. The Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse alone stood sword in Kand ; but the former was defeated, MAURICE OF SAXONY. 195 and made prisoner at the battle of Mulhausen in 1547, and the latter was soon terrified into a surrender. Maurice re- ceived as the price of his infamy the Electorate of Saxony. Great seemed the glory of Charles now, the sword of Francis rusting in the grave, the tongue and pen of Luther stilled for ever, the great league of Protestantism lying in shivers, and its two boldest champions chained at his feet. It was at this time that the emperor published his cele- brated system of religious doctrine, called the " Interim," because it professed to settle the points in dispute in a tem- porary way. An unhappy move, which pleased neither party, seeming to the one to yield too much, and to the other too little. Maurice, meanwhile, had been growing tired of the em- peror's service. His father-in-law, the Landgrave of Hesse, was still a prisoner in spite of his pleading. And, although a traitor to the Protestant cause, he had yet a lingering feeling that it was good and true. Managing cleverly to hoodwink the emperor until his plans were ripe, and taking care to secure the alliance of the French king, Henry II., he appeared suddenly at the head of 25,000 men, and issued a manifesto setting forth his reasons for the 1552 daring step. These were three to secure the A.D. Protestant religion, to maintain the German con- stitution, and to deliver the Landgrave of Hesse from bond- age. Sweeping rapidly through Upper Germany, he moved upon Innspruck, where Charles lay ill of the gout ; and so quick was his approach, that the emperor, gaining only a few hours' start, was obliged to flee over the Alps, carried by torch-light in a litter through the dark and rainy night. Hostilities ensued ; but the poverty of Charles and his dread of a French war forced him to conclude a peace at Passau, by which he granted to Maurice the three demands (1552). The Diet of Augsburg, meeting three years later, confirmed this treaty by a solemn declaration, known as the Peace of Religion. At the age of fifty-six Charles resigned the sceptre of Spain and the Low Countries to his son Philip, for whom he had been vainly trying during some years 1556 to secure the empire. Addressing the assembled A.D. 196 DEATH OF CHARLES T, States of his native land at Brussels, he recounted what he had done in fulfilment of his public duty, pleaded broken health as the cause of his resignation, and touchingly sought the pardon of those whom he had neglected or in- jured. Sailing from the Netherlands to Spain, he soon hid his weary head within the monastery of Yuste, in Estrema- dura; and there amid dark woods of oak and chestnut, and under the shadow of a great mountain chain, he spent two quiet years, devoting much time to religious exercises, still taking an interest in public matters, but quite content to listen to the hum of the rest] ess world as to the roar of a far-off sea. The rich landscapes around him, and his collec- tion of pictures, especially eight gems from the glowing pen- cil of his well-loved Titian, were never-failing sources of de- light ; but his favourite occupation, which he pursued with the help of an Italian engineer, was the making of time- pieces and little puppets, amongst which are mentioned soldiers, dancing girls, and wooden birds that could fly iu and out of the window. In the summer of 1558 he took the strange notion of hav- ing his own funeral rites performed. The chapel was hung with black ; dim wax lights burned all around ; a huge scaf- folding, draped with black, was reared in the centre ; and round it stood the mourners, Charles himself bear- 1558 ing a taper in the sombre ring. As the wailing A.D. chant arose, a strange chill struck through his blood, and a few 'hours later he was laid in a rag- ing fever upon the bed from which he never rose again. The gout, racking him for years, had so wasted his strength that in three weeks he breathed his last (21st September 1558). As a monarch and a statesman, Charles V. possessed shin- ing qualities. Few could so skilfully have guided the ever- tangling threads of politics in three great realms. Amid discontented Spaniards, surly Flemings, and intriguing Italians, with French cannon ever thundering in the west, and the flash of Turkish sabres gleaming along his eastern frontier, with all Germany agitated by a question that stirred the heart to its lowest depths, he yet held hia power unbroken, reading the men around him at a glance, CHARACTER OF CHARLES T. 197 and shaping out his own course with a rapid and dauntless decision. The secret of his success lay chiefly in his untir- ing industry. His great faults were those of an ambitious man. The haunting fear of his life was, that, like his mother, he should die mad ; from this, however, he was mercifully spared. GERMAN EMPERORS OF THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA. ALBERT II 1438 Interregnum 1439 FREDERICK IV 1440 MAXIMILIAN 1 1493 CHARLES V 1519 FERDINAND 1 1558 MAXIMILIAN II 1564 RODOLPH II 1576 MATTHIAS 1612 FERDINAND II 1619 FERDINAND in 1637 LEOPOLD 1 1658 JOSEPH 1 1705 CHARLES VI 1711 MARIA THERESA 1740 CHARLES VH 1742 FRANCIS 1 1745 JOSEPH II 1765 LEOPOLD II 1790 FRANCIS H 1792 198 LES GLTEUX CHAPTER III THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, Central Point: THE SIEGE OF LEYDEN, 1574 A.D. Philip of Spain. Les Gueux. Counts Egmont and Horn. Cruelty of Alva. Rise of the Dutch Navy. Siege and relief of Leyden. Sack of Antwerp. Pacification of Ghent Don John and the Arch- duke. Union of Utrecht. Murder of William. Independence acknow Prosperity of Holland. WHEN Charles V. retired to the convent of Yuste, his son, Philip II. of Spain, a cold-hearted and bigoted Romanist, the husband of one Queen of England, the rejected suitor and beaten foe of her successor, received the Netherlands as a part of his dominions. Throughout the well-tilled fields of this country, where such cities as Brussels the Noble, Ghent the Great, Mechlin the Beautiful, and Antwerp the Rich arose strong and prosperous, the doctrines of the Reformation had spread fast. Philip resolved to root out the heresy. Having made his half-sister, Margaret of Parma, regent, he attempted to introduce the Inquisition. But the attempt was met with a storm of opposition. The Dutch had heard of the Auto da Fe, and knew how Mexico had been 1566 drenched in blood. " We are no stupid Mexicans," A.D. said they. " We will maintain our ancient rights." The nobles, walking two and two to the palace with Count de Brederode at their head, presented a petition against the Inquisition. " Ah ! " said a sneering courtier as he looked upon the procession, " it's a heap of beggars." The name stuck to the faction, who were henceforth called Les Gueux, the beggars. The king taking no notice of this protest of the nobles, the Dutch rose in revolt with the storming of monasteries and the destruction of many fine pictures. This was what Philip wanted. He had now a pretext for executing his bloody schemes. The Duke of Alva, whose name is a by-word for bigoted cruelty, entered Brussels with 12_,000 Spanish and some German troops in the summer of 1567. The shadows of the CAPTURE OF BRILLE. 199 coming storm fell deep upon the hearts of the Dutch, as the news of Alva's march was buzzed about the land. Many fled in fear ; most of them to England. Brederode soon died in exile. The greatest man of all, the central figure of a magnificent drama William the Silent, Prince of Orange unable as yet to organize an effective movement of the States against the deceitful king, went into Germany to his brother John. The leading nobles who remained behind Counts Egmont and Horn were arrested after three weeks of pre- tended mildness on the part of Alva. About nine months later, they were both beheaded in the 1568 market-place of Brussels amid the sobs of the de- A.D. spairing citizens. Alva then let loose the full flood of his revengeful bigotry on the wretched Netherlander. The land was poisoned with the stench of 18,000 decaying corpses. But a change came just when it seemed impossible to bear such oppression longer. A band of the Water Beggars, under the Count of Lumay, who had sworn never to cut or comb his hair until he had revenged his friend Egmont's death, made a dash by sea upon the fortified town of Brille, and took it. Every- where the Dutch, inspired with new strength, rose and ex- pelled the Spaniards, who could retain their footing only in Middleburg. During the war that ensued, Frederick, the son of Alva, starved the little garrison of Haerlem into a surrender (1573) ; and then, enraged at the gallant defence they had made, butchered them without mercy. When the execu- tioners were worn out with their bloody work, he tied the three hundred citizens that remained back to back, and flung them into the sea. A repulse at Altmaar, and a great defeat sustained at sea, when the Water Beggars, with twenty-four small vessels, beat thirty large Spanish ships, taking seven of them, turned the scale completely against Alva. By similar successes, and the capture of richly-laden merchantmen, the Dutch soon found themselves masters of a fleet of one hundred and fifty sail. The brutal Alva was then recalled, and Requesens, a milder man, appointed in his stead. Still the war went on with changing fortune. The Spanish soldiery, who were 200 RELIEF OF LEYDEN. badly paid, growing mutinous, were led to the siege of Ley- den. A circle of sixty-two forts was drawn round 1574 the devoted city. It was a terrible time, and the A.D. cause of Protestantism was clouding fast. Famine pinched the poor wretches within the walls, and without, the Dutch soldiers had been scattered. In vain the Water Beggars, whose broad-brimmed hats bore a half moon, with the motto, " Better Turkish than Popish," chafed on their decks as they cruised along the low shore. All was despair, until William the Silent ordered the dikes to be cut and the sea let in on the Spanish works. It was done. The foaming billows rushed over the cornfields. A wind arose, which drove the salt waves into the Spanish trenches, while at the same time it bore t|ie boats of the bold Dutch skippers, piled up with bread and fish, to the walls of the rescued city. Fifteen hundred Spaniards were slain or drowned. The university of Leyden was erected as a memorial of this gallant defence and happy de- liverance. The relief of Leyden was a fatal blow to Spanish power in the Netherlands, although Holland was not yet quite free. The exulting people elected William Stadtholder, and Pro- testantism of the Calvinistic form was re-established in the land. Much to the grief of William, who tried to repress the spirit of revenge, the Eeforming party, having now gained the upper hand, inflicted very cruel persecution upon the few Romanists that remained. Requesens died suddenly in 1576 ; and his soldiers, thus left without a leader, and maddened by want of pay, sur- prised and sacked Antwerp, leaving 5000 citizens dead and 500 houses in ashes (November 4, 1576). At a meeting of the States held about the same time, it was proposed to form a Union of most of the Netherland provinces, upon the double condition that religious differ- ences should be arranged, and the Spaniards expelled. This, which was accomplished in November 1576, is known as the Pacification of Ghent. Don John of Austria, famous for his great victory over the Turks at Lepanto in 1571, then came to represent the King of Spain. There was a party among the nobles THE UNION OF UTRECHT. J01 jealous of the fame of the Silent Prince of Orange, and the liberties of the infant republic seemed in fatal peril, when William, with a wise self-denial which proved him to be a true patriot, refusing to take the head of affairs, gave place to the Archduke Matthias, who was a German prince and a Romanist. The war continued between Don John on the one side, Matthias and Orange on the other. A French duke strove amid the clash of parties to seize the government ; but he was driven from the land. The leading soldier on the Spanish side was the young Duke of Parma, who soon re- duced to subjection the southern provinces, in which the greatest cities, Ghent especially, were hot-beds of civil strife. Fortunately for themselves and the cause of Protestantism, there was harmony enough among the northern provinces to make them follow the advice of Elizabeth of England, whose heart and whose aid, when she could give it, had been with them through all the perilous struggle. The famous Union of Utrecht laid the founda- Jan. 22 tion of the Dutch Republic. Seven provinces 1579 Guelderland, Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, A.D. Overyssel, and Groningen agreeing to unite their strength as a single state, chose William of Orange to be their Stadtholder. Philip's rage was terrific when he heard that these lands, poor, indeed, in natural qualities, but trebly rich in the skill and industry of their sturdy inhabitants, had broken loose from his realms. Setting a price of 25,000 ducats upon William's head, he promised, moreover, to grant no- bility to any one who should murder this leader of the rebel Dutch. The base bribe bought a ready hand. A villain named Balthasar Gerard came to Delft seeking an audience of the Stadtholder. He was courteously received, and honoured with a rich gift, yet his heart never melted. Drawing a pistol, he fired, and three balls pierced the body of the Prince. " God ! have mercy upon me, and upon this poor nation," were the last words July 17, of this great man, whose life, of only fifty-one 1584 years, most truly worked out the meaning of his A.D. motto, " Calm in the midst of storms." The Spanish war was continued by his son and successor Maurice, who ruled the Dutch Republic until 1625. 202 PROSPERITY OF HOLLAND. The independence of the Seven United Provinces, though really won at the relief of Leyden, and declared by the Union of Utrecht, was not formally acknowledged by Spain until 1609, when a truce for twelve years was made. A sad*and striking contrast was soon manifest between the free provinces of the north, and those provinces of the south, which were still pining in the bondage of Spain. In the same year that saw the murder of Orange, the Duke of Parma got complete possession of Ghent. There, having first shut the schools and stopped the printing-presses, he planted a colony of Jesuits. There was no surer way of strangling liberty ; and while free Holland bloomed like a garden, and the docks of Amsterdam bristled with a forest of masts, the cities of the south stood empty, or peopled only with a sluggish few. The population of Holland soon grew too great, for thither fled numbers of Calvinist refugees, driven from the Belgic provinces, from France and Germany. So thick was the crowd in some places, that many families lived in boats. But here the native enterprise found a speedy remedy. The Bremstersee was drained ; and the wonderful Water Staat, or system of canals and dykes, was wrought out over all the land. The ships of the Water Beggars, which had done puch gallant service in the War of Independence, manned with their hardy crews, were ready for sea on more peaceful errands ; and before many summers had shone on the young republic, the Dutch flag was flying in every sea, and the merchandise of all the world, from the spices of Java and the tea of China to the cod-fish and whale oil of North American waters, filled the giant warehouses on the banka of the Y, KULEH3 OF HOLLAND. $408 RULEKS OF HOLLAND. WILLIAM of Nassau, first Stadtholder 1579 PRINCE MAURICE of Nas- sau 1587 FREDERICK HENRY of Orange 1625 WILLIAM II. of Orange 1647 The States suppress the Office of Stadtholder 1650 WILLIAM III. of Orange ... 1672 (States in power again) 1702 WILLIAM IV. (Office of Stadt- holder made hereditary in the House of Orange) 1747 WILLIAM VI. of Orange.... 1751 Netherlands united to French Republic 1795 WILLIAM FREDERICK 1806 LOUIS BONAPARTE King Holland 1806 Holland again united to France 1810 WILLIAM FREDERICK, Prince of Orange, first King of the Netherlands 1815 WILLIAM II. (second king of Holland) 1840 WILLIAM III. (third king) 1849 204 THE NAME HUGUENOT. CHAPTER IV. THE HUGUENOTS. Central Point : THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, August 24, 1572, A.D. Henry IV. Struggle with the League- Battle of Ivi-y. Henry's abjuration. Edict of Nantes. France under Henry IV. The name Huguenot. Reverses of the Hugue- Heniy II. nots. Bourbons versus Guises. Peace of St. Germain. Francis II. St. Bartholomew's Day. Massacre of Vassy Deathbed of Charles IX. Battle of Dreux. The Catholic League. Murder of Guise. THE French Reformation began in the reign of Francis I., to whom, as a peace-offering, John Calvin dedicated his u Christian Institutes." Amid his ceaseless wars with the Emperor Charles this knightly monarch did not forget to fight the battle of Mother Church. He doomed to the stake crowds of Huguenots, as the French Protestants now began to be called, probably from a German word, Eignots, mean- ing sworn confederates, and applied to a party in Geneva.* During the reign of Henry II. (1547-1559) the fires of persecution continued to blaze, the Queen Catherine de Medici, who was destined afterwards to brand her name deeply on a terrible page of French history, rejoicing in the glare. This king, holding a Bed of Justice, issued 1558 an edict to establish the Inquisition in France ; and A.D. the students of Paris, who used to gather in the " Pr$ aux Clercs" now a part of the Faubourg Saint Germain, to sing psalms in the still summer twilight, were denounced as guilty of sedition. A political element, now beginning to weave itself into the battle between the creeds, gave a peculiar bitterness to the strife. The great family of Bourbon, descended from Robert, the fifth son of Louis IX., were the rivals and foes of the princes of Lorraine, who are known as the Guises. We, * Other derivations of this word are from Hugon'a tower at Tours, where tlio Protestants often met; and from the first words of their petitions, "Hue noj venimus " THE MASSACHE AT VASSY. 205 therefore, do not wonder to find the leaders of these great factions ranged on opposite sides in the religious contest. Anthony of Bourbon, who was King of Navarre through hia wife, though afterwards a renegade, became at first a leader of the Protestants. His brother Louis, Prince of Conde, took the same side. Marshalled against them were the Queen, the Duke of Guise, the Cardinal of Lorraine, and the Constable Montmorency. The death of Henry II., from a wound in the eye accidently inflicted at a tournament, saved him from the worse shame that haunts the memory of his son (1559). Francis II., the husband of Mary Queen of Scots, then becoming king, fell so completely into the hands of the Guises, who were the uncles of his wife, that the conspiracy of Amboise was formed by Conde and others to crush the haughty clique. But the attempt was drowned in blood, the Prince of Conde narrowly escaping the vengeance of the Guises. The death of young Francis in 1560 left the throne to his brother Charles IX. The Queen-mother then became the ruling spirit of France, for she had unbounded influence over the mind of Charles, who was a boy of only ten. Every day grew darker to the Huguenots. Guise, Montmorency, and Saint Andre, three leading nobles of France, formed a triumvirate to root out the so-called heresy. Hope, indeed, seemed to brighten, when the edict of July 1561, freeing the Huguenots from the punishment of death, was followed by the edict of January 1562, giving them leave to meet unarmed for worship out- side of the towns. But the murmurs of the Romish party grew deep ; and a massacre of Huguenots at Vassy by the followers of Guise, acting as the first taste of blood to the tiger, let loose a host of butchers upon the unhappy Pro- testants. Loire and Seine, Garonne and Sornme ran red with Huguenot blood. War then broke out. The Prince of Conde headed the Huguenots, and not less distinguished in the cause of truth and freedom was Gaspard Chatillon, better known as Ad- miral Coligny. Conde seized Orleans, which became the head-quarters of his party, and from this centre the Hugue- not influence spread far and wide. Elizabeth of England, 206 KEVERSES OF THE HUGUENOTS. receiving Havre as a gift, sent them 6000 troops, while the alliance of Spain gave weight to their Romish foes. The first great battle was fought at Dreux, forty-five miles from Paris. For seven, hours the strife raged; and 1562 just as the capture of the Constable Montmorency A.D. seemed to make the victory of the Protestants sure, up came the fresh troops of Guise, beat back the exulting Huguenots, and took Conde prisoner. That night the vanquished Prince shared the bed of his captor. Orleans was at once besieged by Guise, and the hopes of the Huguenots were sinking low, when the assassination of the duke, who was shot in the dusk of the evening from be- hind a tree by a young Protestant named Poltrot, saved the stronghold and broke up the triumvirate. \ It is wonderful what life there is in truth. The defeat of the Protestants at Dreux was only the first in a series of similar repulses, suffered during the eight following years. And yet the cause still lived ; for every champion who bled on the battle-field, or shrivelled up amid blazing faggots, tens and hundreds arising with swords as sharp and hearts as meekly brave. The Komanists triumphed in 1567 at St. Denis ; but the death of Constable Montmorency, who was shot by a pistol bullet, cast a gloom over their rejoicings. In 1569 the Huguenots were defeated at Jarnac, and their great leader, Conde, was slain. Their attempt upon Poic- tiers, which was then the second town in France, was foiled by the valour of the young Duke of Guise ; and a month or two later they were beaten at Montcontour in spite of the bravery of Coligny, who escaped with difficulty, bleeding from many wounds. The young King of Navarre, a boy of sixteen, and the young Prince of Conde, were already, under the guardianship of Coligny, numbered amid the Huguenot leaders. After a winter spent in the south, Coligny, nothing daunted, collected a new army, and reinforced by some German troops, was marching upon Paris, when a peace 1570 was concluded at St. Germain en Laye, in terms A.D. most favourable to the Huguenots. They were to be pardoned for taking up arms ; their forfeited property was to be restored ; they were declared eligible to ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY. 207 most public offices ; and they were to hold four towns, Rochelle among the number, for two years as security for the fulfilment of the treaty. But already dark shadows had begun to fall upon the Protestants of France. Five years ago Catherine de Medici had met the infamous Duke of Alva at Bayonne, and such a meeting boded no good to the cause of the Reformation, either in Flanders or in France. The terms of the treaty of St. Germain were too sweet to be sincere. But the favour of King Charles seemed to go further still; for, in order to cement the union of the rival parties, he proposed a marriage between the young king of Navarre and his own sister Mar- garet. " Ah ! " said a wary noble of the time, " if it takes place at Paris, the wedding favours will be crimson." Coligny, Conde, and the leading Huguenots went to Paris to the wedding, which took place on the 18th of August 1572. Four days later, as the admiral was walking slowly on his way from the Louvre reading some papers, he was fired at from a window by a man, Maureval, known as the " king's assassin." A ball struck each arm. The king, though secretly enraged that the murderer had missed his aim, paid Coligny a visit of pretended friendship. Meanwhile a hor- rible plot, of which Catherine de Medici was the life and soul, was darkening to its fatal crisis. The wretched irre- solute king trembled at the prospect of the fearful crime ; but neither pity nor fear could pierce the granite heart of his mother. At midnight bands of armed men mustered according to orders at the Hotel de Ville. A church bell rang ; a single pistol shot was heard ; and the work of blood began. It was then two o'clock on Sunday morn- ing St. Bartholomew's Day the 24th of August Aug. 24 t 1572. The first victim was the grey-haired Coligny ? 1572 whose lodging was broken into by the retainers of A.D. Guise. Guise himself, Aumale, and Angouleme stood in the court-yard below, and when the corpse of the old man was flung from the window, they were wet with the spirting blood. Shots and screams echoed through the streets, into which the defenceless Huguenots fled half-naked; and by the glare of torches which were placed in the win- dows, bauds of Romanists, wearing a white cross in their 208 THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE, hats, butchered without mercy. The Paris mob went mad with the lust of blood ; one wretched man, a goldsmith, boasted of having killed four hundred persons with his own hand. The Komish nobles rode about in the summer dawn encouraging the murderers. " Crush the viper blood," yelled the savage Guise. " Bleed, bleed," cried Tavannes ; "doctors say bleeding is as good in August as in May." During the week of the massacre ten thousand were slain in Paris alone ; and fast as the news reached Rouen, Orleans, Lyons, and other cities, similar tragedies were enacted, seventy thousand Huguenots perishing in the provinces. The King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde escaped only by professing to abandon the Protestant faith. At Rome cannon were fired, and a Te Deum sung in honour of the great event ; but to the court of Protestant Elizabeth the news brought fear, and anger, and deepest gloom. Notwithstanding this fearful blow, the Huguenots held out bravely in Rochelle, and after a time gained some im- portant concessions. Only eighteen months after the mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew, Charles IX. lay dying at the early age of twenty-five. His soul was frozen with unutterable horror, as the pale and bloody spectres of that fearful Sunday morning seemed to crowd around his fevered- bed. His brother, Henry of Anjou, who had lately been crowned King of Poland, then became King of France ; but so strong was the desire of the Polish nobles to keep him among them, that he was obliged to leave his palace there by stealth. The reign of this prince, under the title of Henry III., is marked by the establishment of the Catholic League 1576 for the extermination of the Huguenots. Already A.D. the King of Navarre, having escaped from custody after three years' imprisonment, and having flung to the winds his forced adherence to the Romish creed, was at the head of the Protestants. Conde was with him. War was renewed. The king, who was at first in favour of the League, soon formed a party of his own. The desolating war that followed is called the War of the Three Henrys, for the Leaguers were under Henry of Guise, and the Huguenots under Henry of Navarre. Paris having declared for the Guises, the king caused the duke and his brother, the cardi- THE BATTLE OF IVRY. 2O9 nal, to be assassinated. Then all France rose in flame ; and the king had no resource but to throw himself on the help of the Huguenots. Aided by Navarre, he undertook the siege of Paris ; but at St. Cloud he was stabbed by James Clement, a Dominican monk, who gained admission to the royal quarters. So perished the last king of the princely line of Valois. On the 5th of January in 1589 the same year his infamous mother, Catherine de A.D. Medici, had already died. Henry, King of Navarre, who had for twenty years been the acknowledged head of the Huguenots, then became King Henry IV. of France at the age of thirty-six. He was the first monarch of the great Bourbon line, under whose rule France was destined to see days so glorious and so disas- trous. The death of his mother in 1572 had left him King of Navarre. Two months later, he had married the sister of Charles IX. His struggle with the League still continued after the crown of France became his. Only half of the kingdom at first acknowledged his sway ; and his rival, the Duke of Mayenne, was appointed Lieutenant-General of France by the Parliament of Paris. In the war of four years which ensued the chief events were the battle of Arques and the still more celebrated fight of Ivry, both resulting in favour of the king. Elizabeth of England aided her royal cousin with men, money, and ammunition. The battle of Ivry was the crisis of the struggle between the Huguenots and the Leaguers. On a plain near the Eure the two armies lay under torrents of rain during the night before the conflict. The king had eight thousand foot and more than two thousand horse; Mayenne had twelve thousand foot and four thousand horse. A March 14, cannonade began the battle; but the cavalry did 1590 the real work of the day. Never was the dashing A.D. valour of King Henry more conspicuous than on this eventful day. Before the onset, riding out in front of his men " all in his armour dressed," with stirring words he had bidden them follow the snowy plumes with which his helmet was adorned. There was one anxious quarter of cin hour, when the dust of a sweeping charge hid this guiding 210 THE EDICT OF NANTES. star from the straining eyes of the Huguenot soldiery ; but when the white gleamed out again, and their king, breath- less, bloody, and soiled with battle-dust, rode safe out of the melee, a cheer arose which struck panic into the army of the League. Mayenne fled across the Eure ; and scarcely four thousand of his fine force escaped death or capture. Count Egmont, a Spanish officer, was among the slain. Henry then laid siege to Paris ; but the advance of a Spanish force under the Duke of Parma obliged him to abandon the undertaking. Negotiations began between the king and the members of the League, who were gaming no ground in the strife. And then took place that remarkable event, which stamps Henry as a worldly-wise politician, Badly at the expense of his character as a^man of true reli- gious feeling. " The perilous leap" so he himself called it was taken in 1593, when, acting by the advice of his cele- brated minister, Rosni, Duke of Sully, and desirous to end the distractions which had torn France for so many years, he abjured the Protestant faith. All the Romanists, except the extreme bigots, were overjcyed ; town after town opened its gates to him ; foe after foe laid down the sword, until in 1598 he ruled in peace over all France. Though he had ceased to be a Protestant, he had not ceased to care for the cause. Five years after his abjuration, in the face of an opposing Parliament, he signed the April 30, famous Edict of Nantes, which gave freedom of 1598 conscience to the Protestants, declared them eli- A.D. gible to all offices, and permitted the public exer- cise of their worship in certain parts of the king- dom. In the following month, a treaty between France and Spain was concluded at Vervins, much to the advantage of the former nation. Thus Henry gained his earnest wish peace at home and abroad. His twelve remaining years were spent in constant efforts to make France a land of plenty. " The poorest peasant in my realm," said he, " shall eat meat every day in the week, and have a fowl for the pot on Sunday." He gave to Sully the task of arranging the money matters of the State, which had fallen into such a miserable condition, that only one- fifth of the taxes exacted from the people reached the roya] POLICY OF HENRI QTJATRE. 211 treasury. The remaining four-fifths stuck to the fingers of the robbers, worse than the publicans of old, who were in- trusted with the collection. But by Sully's skill and the strict economy of the court, where the plain grey cloth of the king's dress, and the simple dishes of his table left the nobles no excuse for luxury, debts to the amount of one hundred and thirty-five millions of livres were paid off, the king's revenue was increased by four millions, and thirty-five mil- lions gathered in the treasury ; and all this, while the mason's chisel and the hammer of the ship-builder were ringing and clattering without rest in every town and dock-yard. New and splendid buildings decked the streets of Paris. Churches, bridges, hospitals, forts, and ships grew up everywhere. Schools were endowed, libraries were filled, and men of learning were rewarded. Grotius, Scaliger, Casaubon, and De Thou were among those, in whose society the king often enjoyed his leisure. So reigned Henri Quatre, of all monarchs still the dearest to the French heart, until the dagger of Ravaillac, a mad Jesuit, slew him one day while his carriage May 14, was blocked up in a narrow street. His son Louis, 1610 the eldest of three children by Mary de Medici, his A.D. second wife, succeeded him with the title of Louis XIII. FKENCH KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF VALOIS. A.D. PHILIP VI. (de Valois) 1328 JOHN II. (the Good) 1350 CHARLES V. (the Wise) 1364 CHARLES VI. (the Beloved) 1380 CHARLES VII. (the Victo- rious) 1422 LOUIS XI 1461 CHARLES VIII. (me Affable) 1483 A.D. LOUIS XII 1498 FRANCIS 1 1515 HENRY II 1547 FRANCIS II. (husband of Mary Stuart) 1559 CHARLES IX 1560 HENRY III. (King of Po- land) 1574-89 212 GENEALOGICAL TREE, I d -2 S SS O g w S 1 1 1 * 1 -^ Ig 8 4| UIS delBourbon, ( TOINE de Bourboi ag JEANNE D'ALi M ~l a - S"_|_ o h5 (5 M^ ^ H ^ P3 CD a o T3 d qj > ct> n^ M M P4 H e^ o - 15 a 3 8 a ^ jfl s 6 1 ^ PH eT 1 -s I 1 3 1 tn - m" O O 'S o 1 PQ- ~ a ^_T 3 w REGENCY OF MARY DE MEDICI. 213 CHAPTER V. CARDINAL RICHELIEU. Central Point : THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF LA ROCHELLE, 1628 A.D. Repency of Mary de Me- dici. Her favourite Concini. Misgovernment. Louis XIII. His favourite De Luynes. Rise of Richelieu. His three aims. He tames the nobles. Curbs the Parliament. Revival of Huguenot power. Buckingham at Rhe'. Taking of Rochelle. Huguenots subdued. Gloiy of Richelieu. His death. His character. Death of Louis XIII. A MISERABLE chaos followed the wise rule of Henri Quatre of France. Louis XIII. being only nine years of age, his mother, Mary de Medici, was made Kegent ; and under her weak government a total change took place. Sully, whose wisdom was set at nought, resigned, and left the court. Concini an Italian, and his wife, having gained ascendency over Mary's mind, guided the affairs of the state as they pleased. A close alliance was formed with the pope and the court of Madrid. The nobles, with Conde at their head, rose in arms, enraged at the favour shown to foreigners. All over the land the laws were utterly despised. But Louis was growing up ; and in 1617 Concini was arrested and shot, and soon after his wife was beheaded The Queen Regent was driven into exile at Blois, where she lived, until, two years later, she was released by the rebel- lious nobles under D'Epernon. These steps were taken by the advice of Albert de Luynes, the falconer of young Louis, who, finding means to slip into the dead favourite's place, rose to be Constable of France. This new minion was more bitterly hated by the nobles than his predecessor had ever been. Out of this confusion and crime there arose one who, with all his faults, ranks first man of his age. Born of noble parents at Paris in 1585, and educated at the College of Na- varre, young Armand Jean Du Plessis, though at first in- tended for u soldier, was consecrated Bishop of Lucon in 214 CARDINAL RICHELIEU. his elder brother's place, at the early age of twenty-two. Chosen in 1614 to represent the clergy of Poitou in the assembly of the States General, this clever young priest created so great a sensation by a speech which he delivered before the King, that the Queen Regent made him her almoner. This was the turning point in his career. Thrown henceforward into the wild turmoil of restless court in- trigue, with cool head and resolute heart he won step after step in the perilous struggle. While the star of Concini was in the ascendant, he was made Secretary of State. In 1622 he wore for the first time the red hat of a cardinal ; and, two years later, the influence of Mary de Medici having gained for him a seat in the Council, his eloquence and deep politi- cal wisdom raised him to the proud positio^ of first Minister of France. Such was the rise of the great and ruthless Car- dinal Richelieu, of whom Montesquieu says : " He made his master the second man in the monarchy of France, but the first in Europe ; he degraded the king, but he made the reign illustrious." The writer just quoted gives the essence of the great French statesman's policy in a few striking words : " He humbled the nobility, the Huguenots, and the house of Aus- tria ; but he also encouraged literature and the arts, and promoted commerce, which had been ruined by two cen- turies of civil war. He freed France from a state of anarchy, but he established in its place a pure despotism." The first two of Richelieu's three great achievements claim our notice now. His successful schemes against the house of Austria will, in the next chapter, appear as part of the story of the Thirty Years' War. Bitterest of Richelieu's political foes were the restless Mary de Medici and her son, Gaston d' Orleans, who could not tamely see their influence over the king's mind swept away by the subtle cardinal. But so it was let them bear it how they might and so it continued to be. Their hold upon the king was loosened for ever ; and, spell-bound by the genius of his minister, whom he never really liked, Louia saw with no regret his mother and his brother Gaston banished from the realm. In vain Gaston, plotting agjihist his foe, called his friends to amus. The Dukes uf Guise., POLICY OF RICHELIEU. 215 Soubise, and Vendome were forced to flee into exile. Mar- shal Bassompierre was thrown into the Bastile. Marillac, Montinorency, Cinq-Mars, De Thou, and many others were put to death. Not without fierce resistance did those ter- rible blows fall ; but the unerring craft of the priestly states- man was too much for the nobles many, and rich, and un- scrupulously wicked though they were. Plot after plot sprang up ; but the iron hand of the cardinal calmly, yet very mercilessly struck them all down. The Parliament too, and the Court of Aids, by which the money-edicts were registered, felt the power of the haughty minister heavily many of the members being suspended and banished, because they refused to carry out his views. Thus Richelieu gained his first grand aim. Perhaps the secret of his success lay in the fact, that the French people made no move in aid of the nobles or the Parliament. The second aim of his domestic policy was the humiliation of the Huguenots, who under the protecting shadow of the Edict of Nantes were beginning to be once more formidable. The spirit of freedom in religious matters, for which this section of the people had been struggling so bravely for nearly a century, could not but influence their political opi- nions, and make them dangerous enemies of despotism. Now, as the establishment of a despotism in France was the great end of Richelieu's policy, these Huguenots, for whose reli- gious opinions the cold and worldly statesman seems to have cared not a whit, must either bend or break before him. Bend they would not. So, to break their power, he planned the siege of La Rochelle, a seaport on the western coast, which ever since 1557 had been their great stronghold and asylum. The British court, whose councils were then ruled by that wicked fop, Buckingham, sent aid to the Huguenots. The duke sailed with a large force to La Rochelle in July 1627 ; but the citizens, shutting their gates, refused to give entrance to allies of whom they were not sure. Rhe and Oleron lie out in the sea opposite Rochelle. Instead of seizing the lat- ter, which would have been an easy capture, he attacked the former, although it was studded with strong stone forts. Then followed a series of miserable blunders. A small ibit 216 THE TAKING OF ROCHELLE. guarded the harbour, yet he left it behind him untaken ; he allowed French ships to break through his fleet with food for the garrison of St. Martin ; he lost week after week doing nothing ; and before any breach was made he sent his men to storm the rock-built citadel of the town. They were of course beaten back, and had to fight their way to the ships through a Trench army under Schomberg. Half of the English troops were lost in this ill-fated expedition, and the rest went home with hanging heads. Then Richelieu, exulting in the defeat of the English, on whose aid the Rochellers had mainly relied, went with King Louis XIII. to the camp of the French army, which had already begun to besiege this "proud city of the waters. 5 ' The cardinal, beneath whose priestly robe a soldier's heart was ever burning, threw himself with all his energy into the working of the siege. The Dukes of Soubise and Rohan, now the leaders of the Huguenot party, were not within the walls ; but the mayor, Guiton, directed the defence. The king, growing weary, soon went back to Paris. The cardinal stayed behind. Finding that his greatest efforts by land could not take the city so long as the sea was open to the garrison, he tried to shut up the har- bour at first with stakes and then with a boom. Both plans failed, but his resources were not yet exhausted. Remem- bering how Alexander the Great had taken Tyre, he began to build up the entrance of the gulf. The Hugue- 1628 nots at first laughed loud, when they saw his sol- A.D. diers, all turned engineers for the nonce, tumbling the rocks into the sea for the foundation of the mole ; but when the structure topped the water and began to grow out into the deep, very blank they looked. Still the masonry increased, until a dark mass of cemented rocks half a mile long, closing in the harbour, completed the circle of blockade. Earl Lindesay came with ships from England, but could do nothing to aid the besieged. Famine ground them with its slow and terrible pain, until they had no resource left but to yield up to the triumphant Richelieu the last hope of the Huguenots. The siege had lasted more than twelve months. Of 15,000 who had begun the defence, there were then remaining only 4000 wasted spectres. CHARACTER OF RICHELIEU. 217 But the work was not yet done. There were towns in France where Protestants still stood armed within stone walls. The Duke of Rohan held out in Languedoc, until the active cardinal taught him that to continue the struggle was a useless waste of strength. Then began negotiations, which ended in the destruction of the political power held by the Huguenots, but left them still free to worship God in their own way according to the terms of the Edict of Nantes. So for eighteen years this great minister worked out hia schemes of foreign and domestic policy -his strong will tri- umphant in them all. He left the stamp of his excelling genius, not upon France alone, but on all Europe. In every court his name was spoken with respect. The French Academy and the Palais Royal, then called Palais Cardi- nal, remain as monuments of his wisdom and his taste. His right-hand man, to whom was intrusted the manage- ment of his deepest political intrigues, was Father Joseph, a Capuchin friar, who held the office of almoner to his Emi- nence. In the last month of 1642 the cardinal died in his palace at Paris, at the age of fifty-eight, almost with his last breath recommending to the king the Italian Mazarin as his suc- cessor. The good of France may have been, as we are told it was, this priest's ruling passion ; but certain it is, that while he worked for France, he never for a moment forgot Richelieu. That his genius as a statesman was magnificent is beyond question. The very grandeur of his success lies in the fact, that he could reconcile two aims seemingly opposite his own glory and his country's good which have often clashed in meaner hands. His vanity led him to think himself a universal genius. Not content to be known as a statesman of surpassing brilliance, and a respectable writer of sermons and despatches, he aimed at the fame of a poet and a wit, and wrote some very middling plays. He seems to have had a passion for work. He never swerved from the end he had in view. Crafty, pitiless, and cold, he crushed rudely down the gentler feelings of our human nature ; and woe to the man or woman, who dared to cross his path as he climbed the steeps of power. 218 DEATH OF LOOIS XITI. The king, Louis XIII., who had been a mere puppet in the hands of his great minister, died five months later, leaving a son, Louis, who was then only four years old. The queen mother, Anne of Austria, assumed the go veriimeiit us regent, with Mazariu for her prime minister, OPENING OF TilE WAR, CHAPTER VI THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. Central Point: THE BATTLE OF LUTZEN, 1632, A.D. Buttle of the Reforma- Wallcnstein. Gustavus on the Rhine tion. Defeats Christian IV. Death of Tilly. Ferdinand, King of Bo- Fails at Stralsund. Wallenstein recalled. hemia. His dismissal. Battle of Lutzen. Frederic elected king. His life at Prague. Oxenstiern. The Union and the Gustavus Adolphus France in the field. League. Lands at Rugen. Peace of Westphalia. Bohemia invaded. Sack of Magdeburg. Wretched state of Ger- Count Mansfeklt. Battle of Leipsic. many. CHARLES V. was succeeded in the empire of Germany by his brother Ferdinand, after whom reigned in succession Maxi- milian II., Eodolph II., and Matthias. Ever since the Keformation Europe had been split into two parties Protestants and Komanists and the conflict, at first waged only with tongue and pen, had in later days been often maintained with the cannon and the sword. Early in the seventeenth century, when Matthias had held the imperial throne for six years, the last grand struggle began, the great Thirty Years' War, which enlisted on one side or the other all the chief powers in Europe. The war opened on a small scale in a contest for the throne of Bohemia, to which the Emperor Matthias had managed to raise his cousin Ferdinand, Duke of Styria. This man, who was a bitter enemy of Protestantism, was looked on with alarm and dislike by a great mass of the people of that land, which had cradled John Huss and Jerome of Prague. And good cause the Bohemians soon 1618 found for their alarm. Putting into practice that A.D. craft which he had learned in the schools of the Jesuits, he rested not until in town after town of the whole country the Protestant service was repressed. This was not to be tamely borne. The Bohemian Protestants, rising in linns, man-bed to the very walls of Vienna,. When Matthias died in 1619, Ferdinand was elected Em- 220 STRUGGLE FOR BOHEMIA. peror. But almost in the same hour he heard that the Bohemians, disgusted with the spirit of his entire govern- ment, and specially enraged at a secret family compact, by which he had bequeathed their crown to Spain if he died without male heirs, had with prayers and many tears chosen for their king the Elector Palatine, a leader among the Pro- testants of Germany. So the struggle for a crown between Protestant Frederic and Romish Ferdinand was the out- break of a wider war, of which the first year's fighting had been confined within the curve of the Bohemian mountains and the Danube. Already there existed in Europe two great antagonistic confederacies the Evangelical Union of Protestants, and the Catholic League, which was supported by th^ Romish powers. The League naturally sided with Ferdinand, and the Union with Frederic. The former depended chiefly on Spain ; the latter looked for aid to England, the Dutch Republic, and all the Protestant princes of Germany. The march of 50,000 Romanist troops under Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, into the Bohemian territory, took Frederic somewhat by surprise. A battle was fought at the "White Mountain near Prague, in which the elector was 1620 defeated and forced to flee by night from the city, A.D. leaving his crown behind him. Twenty-seven of the leading Protestants were sent to the scaffold, and thousands were driven into exile. Ferdinand tore to pieces with his own hand the "letter of majesty," a docu- ment by which Rodolph II. had been forced to grant a cer- tain degree of religious freedom to the Bohemians. The beaten elector and would-be king fled to Brandenburg, and thence to Holland. The electors of Brandenburg and Saxony both stood aloof from their fellow-elector the one afraid of Austria, the other cautious, selfish, and watchful of his own position. But there was a Bohemian soldier, Count Mansfeldt, who still dared to lift the sword against the generals of Ferdinand. Frederic came back with reviving hopes, for Mansfeldt was at the head of 20,000 men. The Bavarian general, Tilly, proving more than a match for the elector and hia friends, drove him to take refuge once more in Holland. ALBERT COUNT WALLENSTEIN. 221 The kings of Northern Europe were then greater men than are their descendants of the present day. Christian IV. of Denmark and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who were both powerful princes, contended for the honour of leading the Protestant armies. The Swede was the Protestant hero of this great war ; but the time had not yet come for his appear- ance on the changeful scene. The King of Denmark, nearer the battle-ground, and anxious to be beforehand with his royal neighbour and rival, took the field with a great army, as the leader of the Union and the champion of the Pro- testant cause. Meanwhile the hero of the other side had arisen. When the Emperor Ferdinand was at his wit's end for men and money to meet this new confederacy, Albert Count Wallen- stein, a rich and distinguished Bohemian officer, proposed to raise an army at his own expense, saying that when once in the field they could easily support and pay themselves by plunder. The emperor accepted the proposal, and in a short time Wallenstein, at the head of a motley force of 30,000 men, moved to the Elbe. The Danish war did not then last long. Christian IV. was defeated by Tilly at 1626 Lutter in Hanover ; and in the following year Wai- A.D. lenstein, whose rapid marches with a gigantic host, now swelled to 100,000 men, are the wonder of historians, drove him out of Germany, and, seizing all the peninsula of Denmark except one fort, shut him up in his islands. We are told that the great freebooter, raging that he had no ships to cross the Belt, bombarded the sea with red-hot shot a pitiful caricature of Xerxes' folly at the Hellespont. For his great service Wallenstein was rewarded with the duchies of Mecklenburg, and he also assumed the title of Generalis- simo of the Emperor by land and sea. The next step in his plan of action was to secure the com- mand of the Baltic ; and for this purpose he laid siege to Stralsund, a strong fort on the narrow strait, which sepa- rates the island of Kugen from the mainland. His want of ships prevented him from blocking up the harbour, so that, when the Danish garrison was weakened by repeated as- saults on the land side, reinforcements from Sweden found a ready entrance by sea, and defended the town until Wallen- 222 THE DISMISSAL OF WALLENSTEIN. Btein had to abandon the hopeless siege. This repulse led the emperor to treat with Christian, who, by the 1629 inglorious peace of Lubeck, agreed to lay down the A.D. sword he had so feebly wielded. It has been already said that the great aim of Riche- lieu's foreign policy was the humiliation of the House of Aus- tria. In 1629 he found himself free for the accomplishment of this design, since the two leading objects of his domestic government had been attained. He had broken the power of the Huguenots at Rochelle, and he had tamed with iron hand the haughty noblesse of France. Already he had been deep in political intrigues against Ferdinand, and now, by the aid of his trusty Father Joseph, he gave a new turn to the war. Wallenstein, who had wrung million after million of dollars from the indignant Germans, was hated by them all for his arrogance and extortion. Foremost among a clamorous complaining crowd was Maximilian of Bavaria, who found himself quite thrown into the shade by the victorious brigand. The emissary of Richelieu, making a handle of the emperor's desire to please the German princes, artfully per- suaded him to dismiss Wallenstein. Obeying without a murmur, though he was then at the head of 100,000 troops flushed with victory, the Bohemian soldier retired to Prague, where he lived with more than royal magnificence. Schiller gives us a strange picture of his darling hero during this time of eclipse. A tall, thin, yellow-faced man, with short red hair, small glittering eyes, and a dark, for- bidding brow, sat silent within a palace of silent splendour. The pen seldom left his fingers, for his despatches still flew over all Europe. The surrounding streets were blocked up, lest the noise of carriage- wheels should reach his ear. There, still and unsmiling, he waited for the time which the golden stars had promised he was, like most men of his time, a devout believer in astrology when he should be once more called to play a great part in history. The crafty Richelieu, having thus weakened the cause of Ferdinand, rested not until he saw the Protestant armies marshalled by the greatest soldier of the age, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who had indeed been long desirous of measuring his strength with the emperor There LANDING OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 223 is, in all the range of history, no character finer than that of Gustavus, the hero of this war. Brave himself, he kindled like fire of courage in his soldiers' hearts ; religious himself, he took care that, morning and evening, every regiment gathered round its chaplain in a ring for prayer ; severe apon sin, yet ever tempering justice with mercy, he was at once loved and feared by his subjects and his soldiers. On the 20th May 1630, Gustavus, having assembled tho States at Stockholm, took in his arms his little Christina, only four years old, and showed her to his people as their future sovereign. His farewell was uttered with broken voice, and heard with many tears. A month June 24, later, he landed on the island of Kugen in Pomerania 1630 with 15,000 men. At first all that was done in A.D. Vienna was to sneer at the Snow King, who, as the wits said, would surely melt as he marched southward. But when this same Snow King, seizing Stettin, over- ran all Pomerania, it was time to act. Tilly was made General-in-chief of the Austrian armies. Still the career of the victorious Swedes went on. Strengthened by an alliance with France, they took Frankfort, and all that Tilly could do in revenge was to wreak his rage upon the helpless popu- lation of Magdeburg. This town, which was then a great Protestant stronghold, stands on the Elbe. Enraged at the gallant defence of the place, this ugly, big-whiskered dwarf, whose green doublet, and little cocked hat with a red feather hanging down his back, must have made him cut a rather remarkable figure, let slip his dogs of war upon the city, which he took by storm, before the Swedes could come to its relief. The horrors of the sack of Magdeburg are unspeakable. Beautiful girls and wrinkled grand-dames, strong men and helpless infants were shot and stabbed and thrown for amusement into the flames of the burning streets. The pavement was slippery with the blood of 30,000 dead. Gustavus Adolphus, forcing the selfish Elector of Saxony to join him, marched upon Leipsic, which had opened its gates to Tilly. And then there was a great battle, which secured the freedom of Germany. Tilly, without much difficulty, routed the Saxons, who fought apart from 224 BATTLE OF LEIPSIC. the Swedes. Seven times Pappenheim, the leader of the Austrian cavalry, dashed with his heavy cuirassiers Sept. 7, upon the lines of Swedish blue-coats ; but every 1631 time the sweeping wave recoiled in broken foam. A.D. Having thus repulsed Pappenheim, the royal Swede attacked the troops of Tilly, who had broken the Saxon wing, and, seizing the heights where their cannon were planted, he turned their own guns upon them. This decided the day. Tilly fled, bleeding and defeated ; and Gustavus knelt among the slain and wounded to thank God for his victory. Seven thousand of the Austrian army lay dead. Their camp, all their cannon, and more than a hundred colours fell into the hands of the victors. Gustavus, then penetrating central Germany, took Frank- fort on his way, and crossed the Rhine to besiege Mentz. The Spanish troops, who held this town, surrendered on the fourth day. The Swedish king thus gained the command of the Rhine, much to the alarm of Louis XIII. , and even of Richelieu, who thought that the royal victor would surely push on to join the Huguenots, and overturn the Romish faith in France. But soon, turning south-east, Gustavus pressed on to the Lech, a tributary of the Danube. Tilly, having broken down all the bridges, defended the passage of the stream until he was mortally wounded by a cannon-ball, which shattered his leg. Then, breaking up his camp, he retreated to die. The Swedes, at once overrunning Bavaria, entered Munich in triumph. Already their Saxon allies were masters of Prague. Ferdinand had then no resource but to recall Wallenstein, who, when he heard of these brilliant victories won by Gustavus, knew with secret joy that his star was rising once more. Coming forth from his retreat, by the magic of his name and his splendid promises he raised in three months a fine force of 40,000 men. But of these he would accept the command only on condition that he should hold unlimited power over all the armies of Austria and Spain, and that no commission or pension should be granted by Ferdinand without his approval. To these demands, insolent and imperious though they were, the distressed emperor was forced to yield. Wallenstein took the field and drove the BATTLE OF LUTZEN. 225 Saxons out of Bohemia. Then uniting his forces with those of the Elector Maximilian, he found himself at the head of 60,000 veteran soldiers, an army much larger than that marching under the banners of Gustavus. The Swede shut himself up in Nuremberg. There for eleven weeks the two armies lay in strongly fortified camps, watching each other, and wasting away with hunger and disease. In vain Gustavus offered battle ; and on one occasion he made a furious attack upon the camp of Wallenstein, which, however, was repulsed. At last, weary of doing nothing, both armies broke up their camps, to meet soon upon a memorable battle-field. Wallenstein moved towards Dresden. Gustavus followed his march with rapid steps. On a plain near Lutzen, a village twelve miles south-west of Leipsic, the imperial general awaited his royal foe. A fog delayed the attack until eleven o'clock. Gustavus went to Nov. 6, battle with the mus:'o of Luther's noble hymn on 1632 his lips. The Swedish infantry took a battery, A.D. whose guns had galled them severely; but the flying imperialists, rallied by the stern voice of Wallenstein, turned and drove them back in confusion. Gustavus, who had been victorious on the right, galloping like lightning to their aid, rode too near the enemy's lines. A bullet broke his arm, another pierced his back, he fell riddled with balls, and his riderless horse, dripping with blood, carried the sad news over the field. The Swedes, roused to fury, grew careless of danger or death. In spite of the cool daring of Wallenstein, whose cloak was torn with many bullets, and the dashing valour of Pappenheim, who was shot to the heart at the head of his dragoons, the troops of the emperor gave way and fled. It was the u crowning mercy " of the Protestant cause ; but there was no joy in that victory, for Gustavus Adolphus was dead. To quote the eloquent words of Schiller, " With the fall of their great leader, it is true, there was reason to apprehend the ruin of his party ; but to that Power which governs the world the loss of no single man can be irreparable. Two great statesmen, Oxenstiern in Germany, and Richelieu in France, took the guidance of the helm of war as it dropped from his hands ; destiny pursued its relentless course over 226 FRANCE IN THE FIELD. his tomb, and the flame of war blazed for sixteen years longer over the ashes of the departed hero." But with the death of Gustavus nearly all interest fades from the story of the war. At once Oxenstiern, the chan- cellor and dear friend of the dead king, being then in Ger- many, hastened to the camp, and was soon chosen head of the Protestant confederacy by an assembly of princes meeting at Heilbronn. The Swedes and Germans still kept the field. Katisbon was taken by the Protestants ; but the war degenerated into a succession of skirmishes, and pitched battles became very rare. Wallenstein, entering into secret correspondence with the Germans, grew inactive, was deserted by his army, and in February 1634, being then lifty years of\age, was assassi- nated in the castle of Eger. The murderers were richly rewarded by the emperor. When the Swedes, who were now fighting, not for the empire of Germany, but for their very existence, suffered a severe defeat at Nordlingen in Suabia (August 1634), Oxen- stiern, unable to get money or aid of any sort from the German States, threw his cause upon the compassion of France. Richelieu, whom we have already beheld working behind the scenes, and whose covetous eye had long been fixed on Alsace, as a means of extending the French frontier to the Rhine, gladly obeyed the summons. Two fleets were fitted out, and six French armies took the field. In aid of the Protestants the cardinal undertook to cripple the power of Spain, whose alliance formed the main prop of the em- peror's cause. In the Netherlands, in Italy, and in the Valteline his soldiers fought the Spaniards ; and on the Rhine, siding with the Swedes and Germans, they met the troops of the emperor. Ferdinand died in 1637, but the war kindled by his tyranny still desolated Europe. Many gallant leaders rose to fill the place of Gustavus ; and of these perhaps the best was Ber- nard of Weimar, who died of plague in 1639 at Neuburg on the Rhine. Banner and Torstenson, who was once the page of Gustavus, led the Swedish armies towards the close of the war. After the death of Richelieu the French sustained two sig- nal defeats in 1643 at Diittlingen, and in 1644 at Friburg. MISERY OF GERMANY. 227 The peace of Westphalia, signed at Minister, closed this eventful war. The leading terms of this celebrated treaty, which is looked upon as having laid the 1648 ground- work of our modern Europe, were 1. That A.D. France should retain Metz, Toul, Verdun, and the whole of Alsace except Strasburg and a few other cities ; receiving, instead of these, two fortresses Breisach and Philippsburg, which were regarded as the keys of Upper Germany. 2. That Holland should be a free state, inde- pendent alike of Spain and of the Empire. 3. That the Swiss Cantons should be free. 4. That Sweden, receiving Stralsund, Wismar, and other important posts on the Baltic, should also be paid five millions of dollars, as indem- nification for the expenses of the war. Thus Germany lost for a time the free navigation of the Rhine and many of her richest provinces. The glorious old empire dwindled away to a mere shadow of its former greatness. The leading princes soon made themselves wholly independent ; and, if the petty states still clung to their emperor, it was only that he might shelter them from the inroads of their more powerful neighbours. The social condition of Germany after the war was utterly wretched. Scarcely one-third of her old population crouched in the poverty-stricken land, whence art and science seemed to have fled for ever, where heaps of ashes marked the site o* once busy towns, and where sandy deserts, stretching for leagues, filled the place of golden corn-fields. Even the sturdy German tongue was changed ; a host of French, Span- ish, and Italian words had invaded and held possession of the land ; and a mongrel speech, formed of foreign words tipped with German endings, became the miserable fashion of the dav. LIST OF SWEDISH SOVEREIGNS. SWEDISH SOVEREIGNS AFTER THE UNION OF CALMAR. MARGARET and ERIC XIII 1397 ERIC alone 1412 CHRISTOPHER III 1441 CHARLES VIII. (Canuteson) 1448 Interregnum 1470 JOHN II. (I. of Denmark) 1483 Interregnum 1502 CHRISTIAN II. of Denmark (Nero of the North).. 1520 GTJSTAVUS VASA (frees Sweden from Danish yoke) 1523 ERIC XIV 1560 JOHN III 1568 SIGISMUND (King of Po- land) 1592 CHARLES IX 1604 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 1611 Interregnum 1632 CHRISTINA 1633 \ THE JESUITS AND THE CAPUCHINS. 229 CHAPTER VII LIFE IN GERMANY DURING THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION. Jesuits and Capuchins. Reformed clergy. Coronation splendours. Courts of law. Torture and punish- ment Soldiers and arms. The citizens. Their amusements. Their houses. The peasantry. Their taxes. The universities. Rage for alchemy. Witchcraft Poets and poetry. Other arts. IMMEDIATELY after the Reformation, Rome strove with all her might to regain her lost ground and prop her tottering Church. Foremost in the counter-work were the Jesuits and the Capuchins. The latter, an offshoot from the old Franciscan order, took their name from the fact that they seceded from the original brotherhood, because they main- tained that St. Francis wore a pointed hood or capuchin. These two orders divided the land between them. The Jesuits haunted the cities and towns ; the Capuchins, by their jocular sermons, strove to draw the country folk to their services ; and both drove a profitable trade in amulets and little pictures of the Virgin and the saints. The wily Jesuits, studying medicine and practising as physicians, gained a power over life, of which they made terrible use ; for their knowledge of poisonous herbs and minerals often served them at a pinch, when they desired secretly and safely to get rid of some active foe. Some laymen, too, were mem- bers of the order ; nor were these, who were called short- robed Jesuits, the least useful of the brethren. With deep foresight the Jesuits strove to get the education of the young into their hands. In Germany, however, their influence was feebler than in Southern Europe. The poisonous creeping- plant, springing first in Spanish soil, never throve on the heaths and hills of Germany. There, indeed, a great blow was levelled at its root, when a German named Jansen, in the University of Louvain in the Spanish Netherlands, de- nounced the hypocrisy and pride of the Jesuits, demanding instead humility, piety, and the fear of God (1638). His doctrine, called Jansenism, spread especially in France. 230 CORONATION OF THE BMPKROS. The Church of the Reformation was torn by internal strife after the death of her great fathers. The Lutherans were opposed to the Calvinists ; and these two sections were split into sub-divisions. Country ministers became too often mere hangers-on of the nobility, in whose gift were the village churches ; and the condition of these German curates grew even worse than that condition of our English clergy in 1685 of which we read in the brilliant pages of Macaulay. The sermon continued to be the great central power of the Pro- testant worship ; but a crop of controversies about certain mysterious articles of faith, springing up, had well-nigh choked all life in the pulpit. But still the mass of the people held by that German Bible which their good Luther had translated for them amid the solitudes o^f the Wartburg ; and all the war of empty words broke harmless at the foot of that great rock of truth. A sketch of the coronation of the emperor will best con- vey an idea of the splendour, which, soon after the decay of the imperial power, still adorned the imperial court : " The regalia, which were kept at Nuremberg, were brought to Frankfort-on-the-Main. Besides some relics, they consisted of Charlemagne's golden crown, set with rough diamonds ; his golden ball, sword, and sceptre ; the imperial mantle and robes ; the priestly stole and the rings. The election over, a peal of bells ushered in the coronation-day : the emperor and all the princes assembled in the Romer, and proceeded thence on horseback to the cathedral, where, mass having been said, the Elector of Mayence rose, as first bishop and arch-chancellor of the empire, and, staff in hand, demanded of the emperor in Latin, ' Are you willing to preserve the Catholic faith?' To which he replied, 'I am willing,' and took the oath on the Gospel. Mayence then asked the elec- tors * whether they recognised the elected as emperor ]' To which they with one accord replied, ' Let it be done.' The emperor then took his seat, and was anointed by Mayence, whilst Brandenburg held the vessel, and assisted in half dis- robing the emperor. When anointed, he was attired in the robes of Charlemagne ; and with the crown on his head he mounted the throne, while the hymn of St. Ambrose waa clianted by the choir. His first act as emperor was per- LAW AND PUNISHMENT. 231 formed by bestowing the honour of knighthood with the sword of Charlemagne, usually on a member of the family of Dalberg of Khenish Franconia. The emperor headed the procession on foot back to the Romer. Cloths of purple were spread on the way, and afterwards given to the people. The banquet was spread in the Homer. The emperor, and (when there happened to be one) the Roman king, sat alone at a table six feet high ; the princes below ; the empress on one side, three feet lower than the emperor. The electoral princes performed their offices. Bohemia, the imperial cup- bearer, rode to a fountain of wine, and bore the first glass to the emperor ; Pfalz rode to an ox roasting whole, and carved the first slice for the emperor ; Saxony rode into a heap of oats, and filled a measure for his lord ; and, lastly, Branden- burg rode to a fountain, and filled the silver ewer. The wine, ox, oats, and imperial banquet, with all the dishes and vessels, were in conclusion given up to the people."* There had been in former days in Germany a secret tri- bunal of strange and terrible power, called Vehmgericht. First formed under Engelbert, Archbishop of Cologne, it num- bered in the fourteenth century 100,000 members, all bound together by a solemn oath. No churchman, Jew, woman, or servant was admitted a member, or was liable to the punish- ment of the court. The meetings of the tribunal were secret, and if sentence of death was passed, the unhappy criminal was found dead some day with a dagger, marked S.S.G.G. (stick, stone, grass, grein), sticking in his heart. Though this tribunal was now disused, the secrecy, which had been necessary to shield the judges from the dagger of revenge, * as still retained in the decisions of the law courts. All German law was despised ; and the old Roman law, which had never died out, became general. Since the people did riot understand this, it became necessary to employ advo- cates, who soon grew rich, and too often were tempted to lengthen out a case for the sake of larger fees. Torture, borrowed from Roman days, was now inflicted in Germany to a terrible extent. Every township and court had a chamber of horrors, where the accused as often inno- " Menzel't. History of Germany. 232 SOLDIERS AND THEIR WEAPONS. cent as guilty were racked, thumb-screwed, pricked under the nails, burned with hot lead, oil, or vitriol ; and on every one of the fair hills of Germany a wheel and a gallows stood, as ghastly sentinels over the bleaching bones of the wretches they had slain. Some of the punishments were horribly ingenious. At Augsburg clergymen, found guilty of serious crimes, were hung up in iron cages on the church towers to die of hunger, because, by the ecclesiastical laws, the hands of laymen were not allowed to inflict punishment on priestly wrong-doers. And in the White Tower of Cologne a dreadful choice was offered to criminals either to starve to death, or break their necks in climbing up to the bread, which was hung high above their heads. Germany was affected like the rest of Europe by the change which the invention of gunpowder wrought upon the art of war. Troops of Free Lances under experienced captains roved from court to court, serving for pay. These soldiers by profession, caring nothing for the cause of a war, but glad to find it raging, sold themselves for the time to the highest bidder. They were chiefly pikemen and arque- busiers ; the former bearing long spears with a hatchet at one end, the latter armed with clumsy guns which were rested on forks. Gustavus Adolphus made many changes in the arms and accoutrements of his soldiers. Taking away the heavy arquebuse, he gave them the lighter musket. The first light artillery was used by him; and those dragoons without armour, carrying carbines, whom Mansfeldt had first introduced, were by him brought to much greater efficiency. The power of the German cities, which had been very for- midable in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when they were united by the Hanseatic League, began to decline in the age of the Keformation, and during the storms of the Thirty Years' War crumbled nearly altogether away. Of the Hansa towns, Bremen, Lubeck, and Hamburg were free as of old. Gradually the great towns had fallen into the hands of the princes, and the spirit of government had grown very aristo- cratic. The breaking up of the Hanseatic League and the con- sequent decline of German commerce, was one result of the enterprise of the English and Dutch merchants, who now THE DRESS AND MANNERS OF THE CITIZENS, 233 began to draw the traffic of the world into their havens. The fat old burghers had now grown lazy and luxurious, and had little notion of leaving their cans of strong beer, for the manu- facture of which Northern Germany was then famous, to face the toils and dangers of war, as their ancestors used to do. Enough for them that their fathers had fought and laboured for power and wealth ; it was theirs to enjoy the ease bought with ancestral sweat and blood. So the citizens began to ape the court life, and even exceeded it in costly magnificence. This showed itself as well in their dress a^j m their manner of living. Shoes with long points, wide sleeves and hose, were sported by the portly burghers to so great an extent, that the clergy began to preach against the ridiculous fashions of the day. And, after the Thirty Years' War, among a host of foreign importations of dress, speech, and manners, we find the poor fat burgomasters covering their heads with long flowing wigs, in spite of the oozy dis- comfort which such finery entailed on the fat fops during the hot noondays of a German summer. The amusements of the citizens, like their feasts and finery, were on a rich, clumsy scale. The Carnival and the fair days called out all the wild fun of the city. The guilds vied with each other in splendid shows and decorations, in which something to eat or drink seemed to be the grand inspiration of the design. Gigantic tuns were built, like that of Heidelberg ; enormous loaves and sausages were exhibited, to the intense delight of the well-fed crowds. As the princes had their buffoons and court fools, so each guild had its Hanswurst or Jack-pudding. Plays, called farces or mummeries, in which the actors wore masks, became a favourite amusement of fair time. Still, in the old quarters of German cities we may see the narrow streets, and tall, old, gloomy houses, which tell of the troubled Middle Ages. Even at the period of the Keforma- tion many changes for the better were visible in the streets of the free towns. Schools, libraries, hospitals, poor-houses, and hotels were built by rich citizens, for the benefit of the poor. Fugger, a wealthy merchant of Augsburg, who was honoured with the notice of Charles V., built more than a hundred cottages for the poor in the suburb of St. Jacobs. 234 TflE GERMAN PEASANTRY. In every city there was still a Jewry, or Jews' quarter, into which they were locked at dusk. The peasants of Eastern and Western Germany stood on very different footing. The Sclavonians of the east Austria, for example though not free to leave their lord, had few burdens of taxation to bear ; but the boors of Wiirtemberg and the west generally, while they possessed more personal freedom, were ground to the very dust with taxes and dues of all kinds. From early feudal times it had been the custom for the peasant to pay his rent in grain, flax, fruit, cattle, poultry, or eggs. He also gave, in accordance with a practice called soccage-service, his own labour and that of his horses to his lord at stated times. Year after year, as the reckless nobles grew poorer, these dues became heavier on the villagers ; and, if any signs of revolt appeared, the screw only got another turn or two. The baron, who had ridden after wild boar and deer day after day over the green crops of his tenantry, came at har- vest time clamouring for the better part of the reaped grain. Every change in the peasant's family, birth, marriage, or death every season of the year, every part of his dwelling, or of his little farm, had its own tax ; and all must be paid. So bitterly was the German boor oppressed. There were left him but two consolations his love for the fine legends of his old Fatherland, which were too homely to please the foreign tastes of his degenerate masters ; and his unshaken faith in those truths of the Eeformed religion, which, floating over the land like winged seeds, had settled and taken root even in the poorest cottage homes. Ballads, proverbs, aad coarse cutting jests were the only way in which the im- bittered heart of the peasant could speak out. It would be wrong to omit in this sketch of German life a notice of the German universities. During three hundred years (1348-1648) thirty-five universities were founded in the land. Before the Reformation the Romanist colleges had been ruled by the Franciscans and Dominicans; but after the great change they fell into the hands of the wily Jesuits. The Protestant universities were at first placed under the Reformed clergy, and then under the lawyers and court-counsellors. The students were once divided THE GERMAN COLLEGES. 236 according to their nations, but after the Hussite war there was a change. The professors were then paid by the State ; and the students (hence called Burscheri) were arranged according to Bursa, which were institutions for their sup- port. Students of older standing treated those who had newly joined the college with great roughness and brutality. A system, resembling the fagging in some of our public schools, was carried to so great an extent, that in 1661 John George II. of Saxony was obliged to prevent the Pennales or young students from being robbed by the Schorists or elder ones, who took away the good clothes of the newly joined boys, compelling the poor creatures, too, to black their shoes and run their errands. Before the Reformation, empty cavilling about words and the splitting of straws in religious and political disputations formed the hollow learning of the schools. A more healthy tone was given to the universities, when the study of classics began during the Reformation to be steadily cultivated, as affording the key to the true inter- pretation of the Bible. As a natural result of this, eminent critics and grammarians arose during the sixteenth century ; and the classical scholars of Germany are still looked to with deep respect by the learned of all lands. Natural philosophy, medicine, and anatomy began now to receive special attention. Even the great and learned were infected at this time with the rage for alchemy. The Emperor Rodolph II. is called the prince of alchemists. An Elector of Saxony spent his whole life in searching for the philosopher's stone. Men, supposed to have found out the secret, were chased from court to court, or broken on the wheel. The most absurd statements were seriously made and believed. A potter announced his dis- covery that the bodies of twenty-four Jews burnt to ashes would yield an ounce of gold. The Society of the Rosicru- cians, founded in Suabia by Valentin Andrea, spread abroad the knowledge of the art and the mystical teachings of the physician Paracelsus. Besides the philosopher's stone, a universal medicine and an elixir of life were eagerly sougl it for, but these chiefly by physicians. Astrology, too, and fortune-telling from the lines of the hand, were thoroughly believed in, and afforded to many a profitable trade. The belief in witchcraft, long resisted in Germany during 236 WITCHCRAFT AND WITCHES. the Middle Ages, sprang suddenly and strongly up m the fifteenth century. Sprenger, a Dominican monk, wrote a book called " The Witch's Hammer," and forthwith all Ger- many and Switzerland trembled with fear. This man, whose greatest pride was that he had burned one hundred old women, obtained a papal bull against witchcraft. It was believed that there was a certain ointment, prepared by Satan himself, with which the woman smeared her body, and thus acquired the power of flying up the chimney and away on a broom, a spinning-wheel, a spit, or a cat, to the Blocksberg, where, on Walpurgis Night (the 1st of May), the witches held their great meeting. There, dancing back to back, they worshipped a black goat, which caught fire of itself and was burned to ashes ; and these ashes, being carefully gathered, were carried off by the company to be used in working their magical mischief. The chief ordeal, by which an accused victim was tried, consisted in tying each thumb to the oppo- site toe and flinging the poor thing into the water, where, if she floated, she was surely a witch. So it was a sorry choice between drowning as a proof of innocence, and burn- ing on suspicion of guilt. The misery and wickedness result- ing from this vile superstition cannot be told. We read of a faithful wife and mother carried out to the stake, her weep- ing husband and little ones clinging to her side, and there burned without mercy. In 1678 six hundred were doomed at one time by a bishop, for having, as it was alleged, caused disease among the cattle. So late as 1783 a woman was burned for witchcraft at Glarus in Switzerland. Some mer- ciful men tried to preach against this wretched error, but their voice was drowned in a howl of anger. A priest of May- ence was imprisoned for daring to raise his voice against the superstition, and another was himself denounced as a wizard for so doing. The old German Minnesingers, whose lays were bright with pictures of chivalry, gave place at the close of the four- teenth century to the Mastersingers, who carried on the manufacture of feeble and pompous verses as a profession under the patronage of the civic guilds. The Mastersingers disappeared after the Reformation ; and many fine ballads were then composed by soldiers or travelling students. These LITERATURE AND THE ARTS. P37 became great favourites with the common people, who love Nature in such things all the better when she wears a home- spun dress. The best poems of the Reformation age are the satires, which, however, grew very coarse in the sixteenth century. Among dramatic writers the most noted of the time was a friend of Luther, Hans Sachs, the cobbler-bard of Nuremberg. Religion and politics deeply tinged all the stage literature of this age. We find such plays represented as " Luther's Life," " The Peasant War," and " The Calvin- istic Post-boy," in the last of which a Lutheran writer holds his religious adversaries up to ridicule; and during the Thirty Years' War dramas entitled, " A Swedish Treaty," and " Peace-wishing Germany," were publicly performed. The Reformation was a great blow to German architec- ture; for many grand Gothic structures the Cathedral of Cologne and the Minster of Strasburg, for example were left to stand unfinished. But, where architecture lost ground, other arts advanced. Painting on glass was much improved ; engraving, which had been invented about the middle of tha fifteenth century, received a great impulse ; and a German school of painting was formed, of which Lucas Cranach, Albert Diirer of Nuremberg, and Hans Holbein of Basle were the chief masters. Music, too, especially church music, was cultivated with much success. In 1628 the first Ger- man opera, " Daphne," was composed by Schutz, who bor- rowed his materials from the Italian. GREAT NAMES OF THE SIXTH PERIOD. MACHIAVELLI CNTCCOLO). Born at Florence, 1469 at twenty- nine made Secretary of the ' Ten' employed much in political missions chief work, ' The Prince,' a book written to please and guide the Medici, and first published in 1532 at Rome, after his death wrote also ' Commentary on Livy ' and ' Short Chron- icles ' in terza rima died at Florence, June 22, 1527. DURER (ALBERT). Born at Nuremberg, 20th May 1471 a painter and engraver his masterpiece said to be a drawing of Orpheus was the first man in Germany who taught the rules of per- spective according to mathematical principles died 1528, in his 58th year. AEIOSTO (LUDOVICO). Born near Modena, 8th September 1474 gained the notice of Cardinal Ippolito by his lyrics when a 238 GREAT NAMES OF THE SIXTH PERIOD. boy \vrote a drama is considered one of the best Italian satirists his great work, ( Orlando Furioso,' a chivalric poem, in 46 cantos, describing the madness of the famous knight Or- lando : it took ten years to write, and was published at Ferrara in 1516 died 6th June 1533, in his 59th year. CORREGGIO (ANTONIO). Born in 1493 or 94, in the Duchy of Mo- dena a painter remarkable for his use of light and shade, and his pure sweet colouring his pictures, 'Notte,' 'The Penitent Magdalen,' 'Venus Instructing Cupid/ and ' Ecce Homo,' are very beautiful died March 5, 1534. COPERNICUS (NICOLAUS). Born at Thorn in Prussia, some say 19th January 1472, others February 19th, 1473 spent much time in youth at mathematics and painting struck with the com- plex nature of the Ptolemaic system, he wrote a work on the ' Re- volutions of the Heavenly Bodies,' in which he fixes the sun as the centre of the system; his theory has been shaped out by Kepler, Galileo, Newton, &c., and freed from many errors died in 1543. RABELAIS (FRANCOIS). Born in 1483, at Chinon in Touraine a monk, then a physician appointed cure of Meudon a great humourist chief work, a satirical romance, of which a giant Gargantua, and his son, are the heroes Swift is said to have imitated Rabelais in ' Gulliver's Travels' died in 1553. BUONAROTTI (M. ANGELO). Born in Tuscany, 1474 the father of epic painting, also a fine architect, engineer, sculptor, and poet the chief architect of St. Peter's at Rome used to study the antique in the gardens of Lorenzo de Medici, who took him to his own house his greatest existing picture, ' The Last Judg- ment,' the work of eight years, finished in 1541 his statues of ' Lorenzo' and of 'Moses' are magnificent died February 17, 1563, aged 89. TITIAN (VECELLIO).-Born in the Venetian State, 1477 fellow- pupil of Giorgione painted the portraits of doges, popes, and kings lived at the courts of Charles V. and Philip II. it was his fallen brush that Charles V. picked up, saying, ' Titian is worthy of being served by Caesar ' among his pictures may be named ' The Tribute-Money,' ' The Martyrdom of San Lorenzo,' ' Bacchus and Ariadne' died of plague in 1576, aged 99 the finest colourist that ever lived. CAMOENS. Born at Lisbon or Coimbra, about 1517 the great poet of Portugal studied at Coimbra saw service against the Moors sailed to India returned a beggar after sixteen years' roving died in an hospital, 1579 his great poem, ' The Lusiad,' an epic national picture of Portuguese glory, of which Vasco di Gama is a leading hero, was first printed in 1572. PAUL (VERONESE). Born at Verona, about 1532 son of a sculptor an eminent master of ornamental painting painted the walla of the ducal palace at Venice his chief works are there, GREAT NAMEB OF THE SIXTH PERIOD. 239 ' The Marriage at Cana,' one of his finest, is in the Louvre died very rich at Venice in 1588. MONTAIGNE (MICHEL, LORD OF).- Born, 1533 son of a noble of Perigord a judge in the Parliament of Bordeaux, and after- wards mayor of that city chief work, his ' Essais,' printed in 1580 -tinged with scepticism died 13th September 1592, aged 60. TASSO (TORQUATO). Born at Sorrento, in 1544 a great Italian poet studied at Padua wrote a chivalric poem, ' Rinaldo,' at 18, also many love sonnets his great poem, ' Jerusalem De- livered,' is an epic on the great Crusade, published at Parma complete in 1581, afterwards at Mantua in 1584 while on a visit to Rome to receive the laurel wreath, he died 25th April 1595, aged 51. SPENSER (EDMUND). Born 1553 second great English poet- secretary to the Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland lived at Kilcol- inan, county of Cork chief work, ' The Faerie Queen,' an allegorical poem, written in a stanza of nine lines, called the Spenserian died 1598. TYCHO BRAKE. Born of noble parents at Knudsthorp in Den- mark, 14th December 1546 the reviver of correct astronomy remarkable for his invention of instruments and his numerous works much favoured by Emperor Rodolph II. died October 24, 1601. SHAKSPERE (WILLIAM). Born 1564 the prince of dramatists- born and died at Stratford-on-Avon lived chiefly in London wrote thirty -five plays between 1591 and 1614 wrote also sonnets and tales died 1616. CERVANTES (or SAAVEDRA). Born at Alcala de Henares in Castile, October 9, 1547 famed as the author of the romance 'Don Quixote,' first published in 1605 wrote also ' Journey to Parnassus,' a satire on bad poets, and many novels in early life a soldier died at Madrid, April 23, 1616, aged 69. DE THOU (JACQUES-AUGUSTE). Born at Paris October 8, 1553 a president of the Parliament of Paris made royal librarian by Henri IV. chief work, a Latin history of his own time, from 1544-1607, in 138 books died at Paris May 7, 1617 wrote also Latin poems. BACON (FRANCIS). Born 1561 Lord Chancellor and Viscount St. Albans a great philosopher wrote ten volumes chief work, 'The Instauration of the Sciences,' a union of two books, namely, 'The Proficience and Advancement of Learning' (1605) and the ' Novum Organum' (1620) died 1626. KEPLER (JOHN). Born at Weil in Wiirtemberg, 21st December 1571 studied at Tubingen a great astronomer appointed Professor of Astronomy at Gratz in Styria, 1593-94 afterwards principal mathematician to the emperor great work, his ' Now 240 CHRONOLOGY OF THE SIXTH PERIOD. Astronomy/ containing his book on the motion of Mars died of fever, November 1630, aged 59. LOPE BE VEGA. Born at Madrid, November 25, 1562 a great Spanish dramatist at first a soldier served in the Armada- then a secretary to the Inquisition then a priest remarkable for the number of his writings served as a model to Corneille and others 518 dramas remain from his pen, perhaps twice as many lost died August 26, 1635, aged 73. RUBENS (PETER PAUL). Born at Cologne 29th June 1577 great- est painter of the Flemish school painted the ' Descent from the Cross' (Antwerp), and the allegory of ' War and Peace/ (Nat. Gallery) patronized by Charles I. of England died at Antwerp very rich, May 30, 1640, aged 63. VANDYCK (ANTONY). Born at Antwerp, March 22, 1599 son of a glass painter pupil of Rubens came to England in 1632 celebrated for his portraits those of Charles I. and Strafford very fine best historical picture, ' The Crucifixion ' died in London, 1641, aged 42. GALILEO. Born at Pisa, February 15, 1564 first to use the telescope much in astronomy made his first telescope in 1609 discovered mountains in the moon, satellites of Jupiter, Saturn's rings, &c. great work, ( Dialogue on the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems' died January 8, 1642, aged 78. POUSSIN (NICHOLAS). Born at Andely in Normandy, June 19, 1594 a great painter among his works are the ' Death of Germanicus/ the 'Taking of Jerusalem/ and the ' Last Supper' died afe Rome, November 19, 1665, aged 71. CHRONOLOGY OF THE SIXTH PERIOD. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. A.D. Battle of Cerizoles the French lose Naples 1504 League of Cambray against Venice 1508 Battle ofFlodden 1513 Francis I. becomes King of France 1515 Charles I. becomes King of Spain 1516 Luther publishes Ms ninety-five Theses 1517 Charles I. of Spain becomes Emperor Charles V 1519 The Disputation at Leipsic Luther burns the Papal Bull 1520 Cortez takes Mexico 1521 Battle of Pavia 1525 The Sack of Rome by Bourbon's Troops 1527 The Reformers first called Protestants at Spires 1529 The League of Smalcald 1530 Pizarro conquers Peru 1633 CHRONOLOGY OF THE SIXTH PERIOD. 241 A.D. The order of Jesuits founded by Loyola , 1535 The Council of Trent begins to sit 1545 Charles V. grants the Interim 1549 The Treaty of Passau 1552 The Abdication of Charles V 1556 Elizabeth becomes Queen of England 1558 The Inquisition established in France Battle of Dreux 1568 The Peace of St. Germain en Laye 1570 Battle of Lepanto Turks defeated by Don John of Austria 1571 The Massacre of St. Bartholomew 1573 Siege of Leyden 1574 The Union of Utrecht 1579 Mary Queen of Scots beheaded : 1587 Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588 Henry IV. (first royal Bourbon) becomes King of France 1589 Battle of Ivry 1590 The Edict of Nantes 1598 Peace of Vervins SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Union of the English and Scottish crowns 1603 Assassination of Henry IV 1610 Opening of the Thirty Years' War 1618 Defeat of the Elector Frederick at Prague 1620 Richelieu gains a seat in the Council 1624 The Siege of Rochelle 1628 Peace of Lubeck 1629 Gustavus Adolphus lands in Pomerania 1630 Sack of Magdeburg Battle of Leipsic 1631 Battle of Lutzen Death of Gustavus Adolphus 1632 The great peace of Munster or Westphalia , 1648 Charles I. of England beheaded 164* 16 242 FIVE PERIODS OF THE REIGN. SEVENTH PERIOD. PEOM THE END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR TO THE BEGINNING OP THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. CHAPTER I. LOUTS XIV. OF FRANCE. Central Point : REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES, 1685, A.D. Five great periods. The Triple Alliance. War of Spanish Succes Battle of Rocroi. William of Orange. sion. Les Frondeurs. Spirit of the Dutch. The Grand Alliance. Battle of St. Antoine. Peace of Nimeguen. Victories of Marlborough Taking of Dunkirk. Arrogance of Louis. Treaties of Utrecht and Louis seeks the empire. Edict of Nantes revoked. Rastadt. Treaty of the Pyrenees. Turks beaten at Vienna. Last days of Louis. Death of Mazarin. League of Augsburg. His character. Colbert. Battle of La Hogue. The regency of Orleana War in Belgium. Peace of Ryswick. THE long reign of Louis XIV., woven as it is into a thousand great events of European history, may best be viewed in five sections: 1. The administration of Mazarin, extending from the beginning of the reign to the cardinal's death in 1661. 2. From the coming of Louis himself to power, to the treaty of Nimeguen in 1678. This period was oc- cupied chiefly by a war in the Spanish Netherlands. 3. An interval of eleven years, during which the domestic policy of the king is most clearly displayed (1678-89). 4 A second great war, in which William III. of England was the life and soul of a powerful league, formed to check the ambition of Louis. This war broke out in 1689, and was closed by the treaty of Ryswick in 1697. THE WAR OF THE FTiONDE. 243 5, The last period, embracing the great war of the Spanish succession, which opened in 1701, and was closed by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Two years later Louis died. When in May 1643 Anne of Austria was left with her little Louis, then not five years old, at the head of French affairs, she placed all her confidence in the Italian priest, Mazarin, whom Kichelieu with his dying breath had recommended to Louis XIII. A victory won over the Spaniards by the young prince of Conde at Eocroi, on the north-east frontier of France, only a few days after the opening of the reign, auguring well for the brilliance of the new era, raised both Mazarin and Conde high in public favour. Mazarin directed the closing operations of the French armies in the Thirty Years' War ; but these were marked by no great events. About the time that the treaty of West- phalia was signed, an insurrection broke out in France. This, which is known as the civil war of 1648 the Fronde (from the French word for a sling), con- A.D. vulsed the land for six years. The courtiers in mockery called the rebels Frondeurs (slingers), because on the first outbreak of the quarrel the gamins of the Paris streets were foremost with their slings. The cardinal had many enemies. A strong, discontented party, directed chiefly by Coadjutor Archbishop de Retz, after- wards a cardinal, and the Duchess de Longueville, plotted un- ceasingly against him. From the highest to the lowest, the women of Paris were deep in the politics of the day, and wielded a remarkable influence over the movements of the nation. On the one side in this civil war were the Queen, Mazarin, and the courtiers ; on the other, the leading nobles, the Parliament, and the citizens of Paris. The disputes between the Court and the Parliament of Paris formed the chief cause of the rebellion. One day in August 1648, several of the most obsti- nate members of the Parliament were arrested and sent into exile. At once the Paris mobs always inflammable rising in a blaze of revolt, threw up barricades in the streets. Anne, her royal son, and her pliant minister had soon to bow before the storm, Retiring to St. Gerrnains, they lived a while 244 TRIUMPH OF MAZARIN. in poverty so great, that they were obliged to pawn the crown J ewe ^ s f r their daily bread. Mazarin was declared ^y fa e p ar ii amen t; an enemy to the kingdom and the public peace. The Frondeurs had the upper hand, and rose aimlessly over all France, until Conde. siding with the king, scattered the troops of the Parliament. The court then returned to Paris, where the mob, veering round with their wonted fickleness, received the cardinal with roars of joy. Conde, whose great military renown cannot blind us to his arrogance and discontent, having deserted the royal cause, was arrested in 1650 at the council board, along with some of the leading Frondeurs. The rebels again took arms under Turenne, whose name as a soldier was rising fast. Mazarin, obliged to leave France, \took refuge in Cologne, where he still wove his crafty schemes, and con- tinued, though far away, to act as pilot of the State. Turenne then joined the court party, and a great battle was fought between him and Conde, in the Faubourg St. Antoine. Young Louis looked on from a hill. All 1652 Paris sat waiting the event of the fight, which A.D. raged until the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, a leading Fronde ur, firing the cannon of the Bastile upon the royal troops, forced Turenne to retreat. Thus the Frondeurs won a short-lived triumph ; but Louis, again dis- missing for a little Mazarin, whose stay at Cologne had not been long, won the citizens over to his side. The Fronde war was really over, though its embers smouldered for a year or two longer. De Betz was in prison ; Conde fled to the Spanish armies, with them to draw sword against his country. The Parliament submitted; and in 1653 the triumphant Mazarin became again prime minister of France. During these miserable years of aimless change and blood- shed the great English Revolution reached its crisis. How different was the picture on each side of the narrow sea ! In England, a great national movement, whose forces were cen- tralized, and whose aims were directed by one master mind, proceeded steadily towards a fixed purpose. In France, a jumble of petty street fights and broken ]aws, with leaders changing sides, and no man seeming to know his own mind, TREATY OF THE PYRENEES. 246 except the crafty Italian fox, who, watching the scrambling crowds, bided his own time for a spring. A war with Spain, growing out of the Thirty Years' War, continued meanwhile. The renegade Conde, fighting under Spanish colours, was opposed by the great Marshal Turenne. The Spanish Netherlands were the scene of war. The genius of Turenne had the best in this struggle ; and, when Mazarin induced Cromwell to throw in 1658 the weight of his great name, and to send his invin- A.D. cible ships and pikemen to the aid of France, Dun- kirk, the strongest fortress in Flanders, fell before the allied besiegers. According to the treaty, Dunkirk was made over to the English, who received it, no doubt in the hope that it would prove a second Calais, and once more give England a footing on the Continent. How basely it was sold by our second Charles we all know ; but we of the nineteenth cen- tury know, too, that no Calais or Havre or Dunkirk would ever repay Britain for the blood and money it would cost her to keep up a useless power in France or Flanders. Upon the death of the Emperor Ferdinand III, Mazarin put forth all his energies to gain the imperial throne for his master, Louis. Louis himself, too, was dazzled by the glit- tering prize ; but neither the gold of the young king, nor the craft of the old priest could prevent the election of Ferdinand's son, Leopold, King of Hungary and 1658 Bohemia. Thenceforward there never ceased to A.D. rankle in Louis' heart a bitter hatred of the em- peror, which, sharpened by his lust of absolute power, was the cause of all his great wars. From that hour he never ceased to assail the power of the House of Austria. The war between France and Spain was closed by the treaty of the Pyrenees, when Mazarin and his rival in craft, Don Luis de Haro, the Spanish minister, met on the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa, The chief terms Nov., of this treaty were, that Louis XIV. should marry 1659 the Infanta Maria Theresa ; that Conde should be A.D. pardoned for his desertion of the French cause; that Roussillon should become a part of France ; and that the northern French frontier should be extended to Gravelines. By the same treaty Louis agreed to renounce all claims to the 246 MINISTRY OF COLBERT. Spanish throne, which might arise from his marriage. This he did both for himself and his descendants. Cardinal Mazarin, whose hold upon the king never loos- ened to the last, died of gout on the 9th of March 1661. His avarice was unbounded. In his last days he had, to use Voltaire's words, two-thirds of the national coin in his chests; and the livres, rubies, emeralds, and dia- 1661 monds, shared by his will among his relatives and A.D. friends, seem like the treasures of some fairy-fa- voured prince in the Arabian tales. He was the very prince of dissemblers, supple, sly, and polite. His death left Louis XIV. the most absolute ruler in Christendom. Louis was then twenty-three. "With Colbert as his Minis- ter of Finance, and Louvois as his Minister of War, he began the most splendid period of his reign. Colbert, who found the state loaded with enormous debts, and the farmers of the revenue pocketing fifty millions a year, set himself to retrieve the desperate state of the fin- ances. A man of method in all things, he knew business well, for his early years had been spent in a counting-house at Lyons. Cutting down the land and income-tax, he greatly increased the taxes on articles of consumption, pre- ferring the indirect method of raising a revenue. Then he steadily encouraged commerce; established colonies; gave an impulse to manufactures ; cut the Languedoc Canal ; built dockyards at Brest, Rochefort, and Toulon ; made Marseilles a free port ; bought Dunkirk and Mardyk from Charles II. ; and sent French consuls to the chief ports of the Levant. This man of marble and of method, having served his king faithfully for twenty-two years, had the vexation in his last years to see ruinous loans obtained for the ceaseless wars of his royal master. But a source of still deeper grief was the knowledge, that the Protestants, whose skill and industry he justly regarded as the great prop of French commerce, were hampered with penal laws, and shut quite out of office* He died in 1683. On the death of the Spanish king, Philip IV., in 1665, Louis, conscious of his strength, laid claim to the Spanish Nether- lands. Wilfully shutting his eyes to the treaty of the Pyre- nees, he pointed, in defence of his claim, to an old law of WAR IN THE NETHERLANDS. 247 Brabant, by which, in cases of private property, the daughter of a first marriage sometimes came in before the son of a second. The new king of Spain was a delicate child, and the queen mother a weak woman. " Why," thought Louis, " may I not seize the golden moment ? My friend, De Witt, is ruler of Holland ; and there is none to guard Flanders." So, with three great armies, amounting to 60,000 men, he passed the frontier, and pierced Belgium to the Scheldt. The many towns he took, Lisle among the number, were fortified for him on a new plan by the great military en- gineer, Yauban. Europe was startled into action by this sudden success. England, Sweden, and Holland formed the Triple Alliance, of which William of Orange was the chief promoter. Louis then thought it best to wait for a time, until he could under- mine and blow to pieces a confederacy so dangerous to his plans. In 1668 he therefore agreed to the peace of Aix-la- Chapelle. But, even while the ink that signed the peace was wet, his heart was charged with war. This audacious little Holland must be crushed. It was a fitting time for the blow, since civil strife between the Orange and De Witt factions had weakened the nation. With ease he bought off the mean Charles II. of England, whose aid was the great hope of the Dutch; and then, gathering a fleet of 100 sail, and arming 120,000 French soldiers with the bayonet, a new and terrible weapon, he began the war again. The Dutch placed their army, not numbering at the outsido 50,000, under the command of Orange, who, even at the unripe age of twenty-two, was esteemed for his grave steadi- ness and silent wisdom. Early in 1672 the French crossed the Ehine in great force, Louis had with him Turenne and Conde, the greatest cap- tains of t'he age ; and nothing seemed surer than the ruin of the Dutch Republic. Town after town surrendered to the French armies ; and William retreated with his little band to the province of Holland. In a few weeks Gueldres, Utrecht, and Overyssel lay at the feet of Louis, who, fixing his brilliant court at Utrecht, wasted the precious days in idle splendour, 248 TREATY OF NIMEGUEN. Meanwhile the sturdy burghers of Amsterdam had caught the spirit of their young captain. Remembering what their forefathers had clone in the Spanish war, they opened the sluices, let in the sea, and laid the whole land under water. But the history of this noble struggle is stained with a red crime. John and Cornelius De Witt, strong Republicans, by whose means the Perpetual Edict, abolishing for ever the office of Stadtholder, was passed in 1667, fell victims to the factious rage of the Orange party. They were dragged from prison, and torn to pieces by a mob. The spirit of the Dutch was wonderful. Resolved to cling to the uttermost to the low meadows they had rescued from the ocean as William strongly put it in his reply to the English ambassador, " to die in disputing the last ditch," they had still, even if their last standing-place in Europe were cut from beneath their feet, one resource left The sea was open, and when the worst came, far away be- y ond its Eastern waves, " the Dutch Commonwealth might commence a new and more glorious existence, and might rear, under the Southern Cross, amidst the sugar canes and nutmeg trees, the Exchange of a wealthier Amsterdam, and the schools of a more learned Leyden." And, as if the elements were commissioned to preserve this last safeguard for the Dutch, a mighty storm arose, which shat- tered the French fleet, and prevented new troops from land- ing. Gradually aid came from many quarters to revive the hopes of Holland. Peace was made with England. 1 6 74 Then William of Orange met the veteran Conde on A.D. the bloody field of Seneffe, and, though worsted, extorted from his noble foe the praise of having acted like an old captain in everything, except in venturing his life like a young soldier. At the same time Turenne was fighting successfully on the Rhine, where, with a small force of 20,000, he cleared Alsace of a host of German and Austrian invaders. There, early in the next year (1675), while surveying the position of his rival Montecuculi, he was killed by a cannon ball. A tomb at St. Denis received his body, which there mingles with the dost of the French kings. POLICY OF LOUIS XIV. 249 After six years of war, during which Louis put forth hia full strength in unavailing efforts to break the spirit of the Dutch, a treaty was made at Nime- 1678 guen, of which one of the leading terms was, that A.D. the French king should keep Tranche- Comte, and several towns in the Southern Netherlands. Between the treaty of Nimeguen and the outbreak of the great war in 1689, there were eleven years of comparative peace, which afford us a clear view of the policy followed by "Le Grand Monarque." So the municipal authorities of Paris had begun to call their king, who, in the new-blown magnificence of the name, squared his elbows and strutted on his red-heeled shoes more majestically than ever. The task of establishing a thorough despotism, begun by Riche- lieu, and earnestly wrought at by Mazarin, was completed by Louis XIV. The picture of the beardless king of seven- teen, flinging himself from his horse after a sharp ride from Vincennes, and striding with heavy boots and whip in hand into the chamber where the Parliament of Paris sat, discuss- ing his edict upon coinage, gives us a glimpse of a will which hardened into iron as the years went by. " I forbid you, M. le President," said the royal stripling, " to discuss my edicts." The key to his whole policy lies in his well-known words, when some one talked of the State. " L'Etat ?" said Louis, " c'est moi." It was the sublime of arrogance. Acting upon this principle of selfish centralization, he made Paris the heart of France more truly than it had ever been ; and still every throb of the mighty centre is felt from Calais to the Pyrenees. A revolution in Paris decides the destiny of France. The reign of Louis XIV. is the most brilliant period of French literature. Of this more will be said in a future chapter. Science and art flourished too, but in less degree. Louis' great blunder as a statesman was his silly treat- ment of the French Protestants. They had come to be the marrow of the land. They carried on nearly all the manu- factures, and numbered among them the most skilful work- people ; yet Louis never looked kindly on them. One right after another was wrested from them, until at last their 250 THE EDICT OF NANTES REVOKED. ministers were forbidden to preach, and their teachers to give instruction, except in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Public offices and professions were shut against them ; and they lost even the shelter of the laws. Eegiments of dragoons hunted them down ; and these barbarous raids called dragonnades scattered the poor cottars and silk weavers over all the face of Europe. And to crown this senseless cruelty, the Edict of Nantes was revoked, two years after the death of Colbert, who was the best friend 1685 the Huguenots had in his day. This was the last A.D. drop in their cup of bitterness. Shaking the dust of France for ever from their feet, six hundred thousand carried their brave hearts and skilful hands to other lands, where quiet homes, bright with^ religious free- dom, were the rewards of honest toil. J England, Holland, and Germany received the refugees. The virulent hatred which Louis bore towards the Protestants may be traced in a great measure to the influence of Madame de Maintenon, who, at the time of the Eevocation, filled his dead wife's place. She had been the wife of the buffoon-poet, Scarron. Formerly a Calvinist herself, she hated and would hunt to the death those who clung to the faith she had abjured. Another motive to the persecution of the Protestants was Louis' desire to gratify the bigoted James II. of England. In the same year, as if to show his utter disregard of Christianity in any form, Louis bitterly insulted and humbled Pope Innocent XL, sending his soldiers even into the sacred city. This example certain later rulers of France have not been slow to follow. In 1683 an event occurred a turning point in European history in which Louis played a very shabby part. The Turks, mustering in overwhelming force, 200,000 strong, marched upon Vienna, from which the Emperor Leopold fled in terror. It was a terrible moment. Once before had the liberties of Christendom been in similar deadly peril, with the Moslem sabre swung for a fatal blow, which seemed about to cut them for ever to the earth. It was ten centuries earlier, on the plain of Tours, when Charles the Hammer saved Europe. Now, too, a deliverer arose. John Sobieski, King of Poland, leading an army of Poles and Germans to the rescue, BATTLE OF LA HOGUE. 251 drove the Turks from their trenches in such headlong rout, that tents, cannon, baggage, even the famous standard of Mahomet, were all left behind. It turned out afterwards that Louis had secretly encouraged the Turks, although in public he had plumed himself greatly on his forbearance in not having fallen upon the distressed emperor in this time of trouble. The League of Augsburg was formed in 1686, in order to check the overweening ambition of the French king, and thus preserve the balance of power. Formed at first by the princes of the empire, it soon included Spain, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Savoy, and last, though far from least, England. The great second Eevolution soon dethroned James II. of England, and placed William of Orange, Louis' mightiest foe, in a position of commanding eminence. That great cap- tain accepted with grave joy the leadership of the League. Then war opened in 1689. Louis had two armies in Flanders, and sent another into Spain. Then, that there might be a barrier between France and Germany, with fire and sword he turned the fertile Palatinate into a silent, black, blood-stained desert. At the same time he supported the cause of the dethroned James in Ireland, with how little success every reader of English history knows. At first, in- deed, the cause of Louis prospered, especially by sea. In 1690, his admiral, Tourville, beat the Dutch and English fleets in a hot action off Beachy Head. His marshals over- ran Savoy and Flanders ; and in 1692 the strong fortress of Namur fell before his troops. But even then there fell on him the heaviest blow he had yet felt. About four o'clock on a summer morning, Admiral Rus- sell, sailing in the Channel with English and Dutch ships, caught sight of the French fleet under Tourville cruising off Cape La Hogue. They closed at once May 19, in action, and through all the hot noonday the 1692 cannon roared. Not a French ship would have A.D. been saved, had not a fog fallen in the afternoon. As it was, the loss of twenty great line-of-battle ships crippled the navy of Louis beyond remedy. And so his great scheme of invading England vanished into thin air. By laud, however, the French arms were still victorious. 252 TREATY OF RYSWTCK. &t Steinkirk and Nerwinde (1693) the latter a most bloody day William was beaten by Luxemburg. But William was one of those rare characters whose defeats are really vic- tories, so many blows of the hammer that but weld and toughen the metal. He bided his time ; and the time came at last. When Luxemburg and Louvois died, Louis, with an empty purse and a famine-stricken kingdom, ceased to show himself in his camp. The news of English mortars shelling into ruin the walls of his seaports Calais, Havre, and Dun- kirk quite sank his failing heart. Then William retook Namur, and Louis was glad to conclude the treaty of Rys- wick, by which his rival was acknowledged to be 1697 the lawful king of England. One great point gained A.D. by Louis was his being confirmed in\the possession of Strasburg, which he had seized in 1681, and had caused Vauban to surround with huge fortifications. Thus he still held a key to the Rhine. The marriage of Louis to Maria Theresa of Spain has been already noticed, and we have seen him claiming the Spanish Netherlands through this marriage. We now find him, in 1700, upon the death of Charles II. of Spain, proclaiming one November morning, at his levee, that his grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, was King of Spain. To this prince the dying Charles, indignant at an arrangement for parcel- ling out the Spanish dominions, which had been proposed by the English king, had already left the throne by will. But the Archduke Charles of Austria, the second son of the emperor by a Spanish princess, came forward as a competi- tor for the vacant kingship ; and the destructive " War of the Spanish Succession" began. England, Austria, and Holland united in a league called the Grand Alliance, which had for its chief aim the 1701 rescue of Spain from the Bourbons. Prussia and A.D. Denmark also supported the Austrian claimant, who called himself Charles III. The grandson of Louis was known among his friends as Philip V. The death of William III. of England in 1702 was a heavy blow to the Austrian cause ; but of the two captains who rose to fill his place, one, at least, was greater in the field than he this was John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, so WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. 253 great a soldier, so mean a man ; and the other was Prince Eugene of Savoy. It would be useless and confusing to trace in detail the marchings and counter-marchings, battles, sieges, and sur- prises of this war of twelve campaigns. Louis had now no marshals like Conde or Turenne. Men, called Villars, Tal- lard, Marsin, and Yilleroi, led his armies, skilfully, no doubt, BO far as their skill could go, and with all due attention to the cut and dry rules of warfare ; but they lacked that ori- ginal genius for soldiering which Nature had given to their foes. Besides, Louis required from them an implicit obe- dience to his will, which greatly cramped their plans. In 1702 the Dutch and English ships destroyed a French fleet in the Bay of Yigo, and took many Spanish galleons heaped with American gold. Then came Marlborough's four magnificent victories, which well deserve our notice. A French and Bavarian army of 80,000 men, under Tallard and Marsin, lay on a hill above the Danube, between the village of Blenheim and a thick wood. A brook, whose water spread into the swampy plain, ran between them and an allied force of equal numbers under Aug. 2, Marlborough and Eugene. Tallard allowed Marl- 1704 borough to cross the swamp unopposed ; and thus A.D. his chance of victory was gone. Rapidly the Eng- lish general scattered the French horse and foot, slaying and seizing nearly 40,000 men. The same year is renowned in the annals of Britain for the taking of Gibraltar from the Spaniards. At Ramillies, a Belgian village, the second great blow was given. The struggle was now between Marlborough and Villeroi ; and the English chief threw his rival's lines into confusion by a feigned attack on the left wing (May 23, 1706). Oudenarde on the Scheldt was the scene of the third great triumph. There, during a long summer day, Marlborough, with Eugene not far off, beat a part of the great French force under Brunswick and Vendome so thoroughly, that they all fled next night by five different roads (July 11, 1708). The victors then took Lisle. Within a league of Mons, which Marlborough and Eugene 254 THE TREATY OF UTRECHT. were besieging in 1709, Marshal Villars intrenched himself strongly, beside the village of Malplaquet. The allied leaders advanced to dislodge him (Sept. 11), and a long and bloody battle was fought, until Villars was wounded, and his second in command, Boufflers, beat a speedy retreat. The capture of Mons followed at once. Blows like these were irresistible ; but, besides, the power of the French had been broken in Italy. In Spain alone, notwithstanding the early successes of the Archduke Charles, aided by the splendid talents of the English Earl of Peter- borough, the arms of Louis were crowned with victory. The battle of Almanza, won in 1707 by the Duke of Berwick, placed Philip V. on the Spanish throne. Henceforth Charles III. of Spain was nowhere. Smarting under so many reverses, it is no wonder that Louis longed for peace. A conference, soon broken up, how- ever, was opened in 1710 at Gertruydenberg. The war con- tinued. But the death of the Emperor Joseph in 1711 gave a new turn to affairs. The Archduke Charles succeeded his brother on the imperial throne. Marlborough, already in disgrace at home, was fast sinking deeper in the slough. All Europe was tired of the deadly war ; and so the Peace of Utrecht was signed. By this treaty England got possession of Gibraltar and Minorca great keys of the Mediterranean along March 31, with Newfoundland, St. Kitts, and Hudson's Bay. 1713 Philip V. was permitted to hold the Spanish throne, A.D. on condition of giving up all claim to the crown of France. The Treaty of Rastadt, between Austria and France, which completed the Peace of Utrecht, was signed March 6th, 1714. Austria received Naples, Milan, Sardinia, and Spanish Flanders ; while Lisle and French Flanders went to France, the Rhine, too, being fixed as her eastern boundary at Alsace. The reign of Louis XIV. closed in the following year. For seventy-two winters he had held the sceptre of France ; and during fifty-four of these he had centralized all power ip himself. Before cutting down the grey-haired monarch, death left his splendid palace lonely. His son, the Dauphin, died in 1711. His grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, died iu CHARACTER OF LOUTS XIV. 25 1712. None lived but a little child, his great grandson, afterwards Louis XV., to take up the sceptre, which was dropping from his withered hand. He died on the 1st of September, 1715, aged seventy-seven. Louis XIV. received the title of Great from the lips of his flatterers ; but history has not endorsed the name. Great in sinful extravagance, great in love of pomp and show, great in selfishness and irreligion, he was perhaps the most remarkable specimen of a royal fool that the world has ever seen. He wore shoes with red heels, four inches high, to lift his little body to the level of average-sized men. Strutting about with rolling eyes and out-turned toes, be- dizened with rich laces and velvets, diamonds and gold, he strove by his majestic deportment to awe the men and cap- tivate the women of his realm. His example, penetrating all French society, froze the whole land into an artificiality of life and manners so costly, that the nation was beggared by the icy splendour. Louis XV. being only five years old w T hen his great grandfather died, the government was placed in the hands of Philip, Duke of Orleans, the nephew of the dead king. This prince, whose licentious extravagance was rivalled by that of his worthless minister, the Cardinal Dubois, held the regency for eight years (1715-1723). During this time the chief event was the rise and bursting 1719 of a great bubble the Mississippi Company, simi- A.D. lar to our own South Sea scheme. It was started and directed by a Scotchman, named John Law. The shares rose to twelve hundred per cent. Then came a panic, a crash, and a scene of wide-spread bankruptcy and ruin. In 1723, Louis XV., then aged thirteen, took the reins of power himself. SIX FRENCH KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF BOURBON. A.D. LOUIS XV. (the Well-be- loved) 1715 LOUIS XVI 1774 LOUIS XVII 1793-96 A.D. HENRY IV. (King of Na- varre) ; 1589 LOUIS XIII. (the Just) 1610 LOUIS XIV. (the Great) .... 1643 256 GENEALOGICAL THEE. T3 3f P^ PH CO s M w " 11^ Gf s s ^ 2 4 M a al > M -a ^ H O Angoulem -3T S^ ACCESSION OF PETER THE GREAT. 257 His social reforms. Charles XII. of Swe- den. Battle of Narva. Building of St. Peters- burg. Charles invades Russia. Battle of Pultowa, War on the Pruth. Charles in Turkey. Peter's second tour. His last exploit. His death. His character by Vol- taire. CHAPTER II. PETER THE GREAT OF RUSSIA, AND CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN. Central Point : BATTLE OF PULTOWA, June 15, 1709, A.D. "Sarly facts of Russian history. Accession of Peter the Great. His reforms. His first success. His tour among the dock- yards. WE have already seen the foundation of the Russian Empire laid in the ninth century by the Norseman Ruric ; the conversion of Wladimir about 986 to the Christianity of the Greek Church ; and the extinction of the royal race of Ruric in 1598, in the person of Feodor, last of the Norman czars. That Russia was overrun by the Tartars of Zenghis Khan, and rescued again from their hands during the reign of Ivan III., who ascended the throne in 1462, are the most remark- able facts in this period of seven centuries. The Russia of our day is the creation, humanly speaking, of Peter the Great, who became sole Czar in the year 1689. His father, who had reigned from 1645 to 1676, had been honoured with the title of the " Good Alexis." In 1682 Peter was crowned along with his half-brother Ivan ; but the latter, a poor deformed idiot, was only a name in the State. Having baffled the ambitious schemes of his half-sister Sophia, a bold and beautiful woman, who acted as Regent, the young Peter, when only seventeen, seized alone the sceptre, which he was destined to wield so well. This tall, rough, debauched youth set himself first to reform the army, as the right hand of his power. In this task he was lucky enough to have the aid 1689 of two skilful officers, Patrick Gordon, a Scotch- A.D. man, and Le Fort, a Swiss, who soon filled his ranks with recruits from Western Europe. The long cum- 258 PIETKR TIMMKRMAN. brous coat was exchanged for a shorter dress. Hair and beards were cropped close ; and the Russian soldiers were soon dressed, armed, and drilled in the European fashion. The navy, too, received much of Peter's attention. We are told that at first he sailed his yachts, built by an old Dutch exile named Brandt, upon a lake near his palace. Then he saw the sea at Archangel, felt the weakness of Russia in having little or no available sea-board, and resolved not to rest until the Black Sea, the Baltic, and the Caspian should be merely lakes in a Russian Empire, upon whose shores Atlantic and Indian waves should wash for thousands of leagues. Beginning war, therefore, against Turkey \ in aid of the Poles, he seized Azof, thus gaining his first success (1696). A plot formed by the Strelitz against his life they were guards organized by Ivan the Terrible was met by Peter with singular courage, and punished with barbarous cruelty. He then began his first tour of Europe. Leaving Gordon with some thousand soldiers to support the old Boyard who acted as Regent, he set out for Holland. There at Saardam he began to explore the shipping, jumping down into the holds, and running up the rigging amid the jeers of Dutch sailors and street-loungers, whom he sometimes refreshed himself by thrashing. But odder still was his settling down in two rooms and a garret as Pieter Timmerman, receiving his wages every Saturday night as a common ship-carpenter, and every day boiling his own pot for dinner. At the same time he picked up rope and sail making, blacksmith's work, and as much surgery as enabled him to draw teeth and bleed. Then (1698) he went to England, where William III. received him heartily, and made him a present of a fine yacht. But Peter was not happy until he got his darling adze in his hand again. Lord Caermarthen was his attend- ant while he was in England, and many a night the two sat up together drinking brandy and pepper. But no matter how late he sat, Peter rose at four to his work. He seldom spent more than a quarter of an hour at his meals. Having seen Depttord, Woolwich, and Chatham, the Czar left Eng- land for Vienna, to see the soldiers of the Emperor, whose dress and discipline were then the model for all Europe BATTLE OF NARVA. 259 But after an absence of seventeen months alarming news called him home. The Strelitz had rebelled. Peter, hasten- ing to Moscow, found on his arrival there that his faithful Gordon had crushed the revolt. With his own hand the Czar beheaded twenty of the wretched guards in one hour ; and all Russia heard the groans of tortured men. Peter's social reforms then began. Dressing himself in a brown frock coat, he insisted on all Russians, except the priests and the peasants, casting off the long Asiatic national robe. He laid a tax on beards. He changed the titles and lessened the power of the aristocracy. Giving greater free- dom to the Russian women, who had previously been shut up as in a Turkish harem, he got up for their amusement evening parties, lasting from four to ten, at which the Rus- sian gentlemen were required to keep strictly sober. Dan- cing, chess, and draughts were the chief amusements of the evening. He checked the arrogant clergy by tolerating all sects, except the Jesuits, and giving free circulation to the Sclavonian Bible. We now turn to the great rival of the Czar, Charles XII. of Sweden. Born in 1682, this prince succeeded his father at the age of fifteen (1697). Three years later, Russia, Denmark, and Poland, looking across the sea with hungry eyes, formed a league for the dismemberment of his kingdom. They had yet to learn that the 1700 sword was a toy familiar to the hand of the boy- A.D. king, who had loved from his earliest days to play at soldiers. Moving swiftly first upon Denmark, and then upon the Polish army at Riga, Charles rid himself of two out of his three foes. And then he beat the Russians in the great battle of Narva. A Russian force of 80,000 men, largely officered by Ger- mans, was besieging Narva, a small town near the Gulf of Livonia, when Charles advanced with only 8000 troops to its relief. Having battered the Russian camp with his cannon, he poured through the breach his gallant Swedes, with bayonets fixed. A snow storm just Nov. 30; then drove its flakes into the eyes of the Russians, 1700 who gave in after three hours of close and desperate A.D. 260 THE BUILDIXG OF ST. PETEKflBTJBG. fighting. The jealousy, with which the Russians looked upon their foreign officers, prevented that cordial union which might have saved the camp. The Russians lost 5000 men ; the Swedes scarcely 1200. Charles let all his 30,000 prisoners go free, except a few of the officers. Peter was not at the battle. " Ah," said he, when the vexing news came, " These Swedes, I knew, would beat us, but they will soon teach us how to beat them." Charles made use of his victory to invade and conquer Poland. Three campaigns completed the humiliation of Frederic- Augustus, and the crown of the deposed monarch was conferred by the conqueror on Stanislaus Leczinski(1704). Meanwhile Peter had been straining every nerve to meet the Swedes, and have his revenge for Narva, melting down the church bells to make new cannon, and drilling his soldiers with incessant activity, he prepared for a great struggle. Nor amid his warlike preparations was he for- getful of social reforms. The building of hospitals, of linen and paper mills, the introduction of a fine breed of Saxon sheep, and the establishment of the printing press were among the many boons, which his fertile and untiring spirit gave to Russia. The foundation of St. Petersburg dates from this time. The Czar, filling lakes Peipus and Ladoga with his ships, worked his way steadily northward through Livonia and Ingria, took Marienburg, and secured the pos- session of the Neva. At the mouth of that river, upon a swampy island, he built his new capital. While superin- tending the work in person, he lived for a while in a wooden hut. It was nothing to him that the cold and wet and poisonous gas from the marshes killed 100,000 of his workmen. In spite of all obstacles the city rose fair and strong. About the same time Menzikoff, raised from selling- pies in the street to be the friend and favourite of the Czar, was employed in founding a very strong fortress on the island of Cronstadt, twenty-one miles down /rom St. Petersburg. Every succeeding Czar has strengthened and enlarged the granite batteries of this great stronghold. On all these doings Charles cast a scornful eye. But he had little cause for scorn. The conquest of Ingria, along the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, still further BATTLE OF PULTOWA. 261 increased the growing power of the Czar, who made Menzi- koff governor of the newly acquired province, conferring upon him at the same time the titles of Field-Marshal and Prince. At last Charles turned from his Polish and Saxon wars to invade Russia with 80,000 veteran troops. It was a fatal step. "Nowhere but at Moscow will I 1707 treat with Peter," said the boastful Swede. " Ah," A.D. said rough Peter, " my brother wishes to play the part of Alexander ; he shall not find a Darius in me." The plan adopted by Peter was simple and sensible. Laying waste the western provinces, he decoyed Charles into the heart of a hostile barren land, where frost and famine did their deadly work on the Swedish battalions. The invitation of Mazeppa, hetman of the Cossacks, turned the Swedish king from the road to Moscow to the district of the Ukraine. But Mazeppa's promises of aid were broken reeds. At last came the time for which Peter had planned and longed. "With an army of 18,000 frost-bitten, ragged, hungry men, Charles besieged the small town of Pultowa on the Worskla, an eastern tributary of the Dneiper. Peter, coming up with 70,000 fresh troops, poured reinforcements into the town. And then a great pitched battle was fought. Charles, who was suffering from a wound in his foot, was carried in a litter to the field. The Czar led the centre of his army, intrust- June 15, ing the wings to MenzikofF and Bauer. The 1709 Swedes fought with desperate valour. More than A.D. once they broke the Russian lines ; but at last, out- numbered and exhausted, they gave way and fled. In two hours the ruin was complete. The litter in which Charles lay was smashed by a round shot; Peter had a bullet through his hat ; Menzikoff had three horses killed under him. The royal Swede rode from the field with a few hun- dred horse, and hid his diminished head within the Turkish town of Bender. Nine thousand of his men fell on the bloody field. From that day Russia, overshadowing all the East with her giant bulk, has been one of the great powers of Europe. The Turks were not unwilling to draw the sword against 262 DEATH OF CHARLES XIL a neighbour so dangerous as Peter. When Charles, there- fore, came among them, a beaten man burning for revenge, they declared war against Russia. The Czar, marching with 40,000 men to the Pruth in Moldavia, was 1711 surrounded by a Turkish host of far greater number. A.D. For three days the Russians, formed into a square, maintained a hopeless contest. Then Peter's young wife, the celebrated Catherine Alexina, saved her husband and -his troops by sending a present of her jewels to the Turkish vizier. Peace was proposed, the offer was accepted, and a treaty was concluded, greatly to the anger of Charles. This " Madman of the North," as he has been called not unjustly, wore out his welcome in Turkey, ana would take no hint about returning to his own land. Money was given him to pay his expenses home. He took it, spent it, but would not go. He even armed his servants against the Turkish janissaries, who came to remove him, and killed twenty of them with his own sword. Still scheming, and tasking the generosity of the Turks, he lived on in a sort of state-custody, while Peter stripped Sweden for ever of Ingria, Livonia, and Finland, and the kings of Prussia and Denmark laid violent hands on the Swedish dominions south of the Baltic. Returning in 1714 to Sweden, he spent his last strength in a vain attempt to conquer Norway, during which he was killed by a cannon shot, that struck him in the head, at the siege of Fredericshall (December 1718). Military glory was his one absorbing passion. In 1716 Peter made a second tour of Europe, visiting Stockholm, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin; in the last of which Frederic William I., who was a kindred spirit, gave him a hearty welcome. Catherine, his second wife, who had formerly been married to a sergeant of dragoons, accom- panied him on this tour. But the news of a plot, in which Alexis, his son by the divorced Eudokhia, had some share, recalled him to Russia. The unhappy young man was tried for his life, and condemned; but he died mysteriously in prison (1718). Peter's last military exploit was an unsuccessful expe- CHARACTER OF PETER THE GREAT. 263 dition to Persia, undertaken on pretence of supporting the rightful Shah against a usurper, but in reality with a view to secure a footing on the Caspian 1722 shores. A. D. This greatest of the Czars died January 28, 1725, of fever, caught by wading knee-deep in lake Ladoga, to aid in getting off a boat, which had stuck on the rocks. The character of Peter may best be given in the words of Voltaire : " He gave a polish to his people, and was himself a savage ; he taught them the art of war, of which he was himself ignorant ; from the sight of a small boat on the river Moskwa he created a powerful fleet ; he made himself an expert and active shipwright, sailor, pilot, and com- mander ; he changed the manners, customs, and laws of the Russians, and lives in their memory as the l Father of his country.'" In spite of his savagery and coarseness, the name "Great" is fairly due to him, whose foresight and energy moulded a mass of brutal nobles and crouching serfs into the great nation of the Hussions. SOVEREIGNS OF SWEDEN. CHARLES X 1654 CHARLES XI 1660 CHARLES XII 1697 ULRICA ELEANORA 1719 FREDERIC I. (her husband) 1741 ADOLPHUS FREDERIC 1751 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS III.1771 GUSTAVU3 ADOLPHUS IV. 1792 CHARLES XIII 1809 CHARLES (JOHN), XIV., Bernadotte 1818 OSCAR .' 1844 SOVEREIGNS OF RUSSIA. PETER THE GREAT 1689 CATHERINE 1 1725 PETER II 1727 ANNE 1730 IVAN VI 1740 ELIZABETH 1741 PETER III 1762 CATHERINE II 1762 PAUL 1796 ALEXANDER 1801 NICHOLAS 1825 ALEXANDER II - 1355 264 EARLY LIFE OF FREDERIC. CHAPTER III. FREDERIC ii. (THE GREAT) OF PRUSSIA. Central Point: THE CAMPAIGN OF 1757, A.D. Rise of the Prussian king- dom. Early life of Frederic 1 1. His accession. The Pragmatic Sanction. Frederic seizes Silesia. Maria Theresa. The Austrian war. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Eight years of peace. The Seven Years' War be- gins. Rossbach and Leuthen. Liegnitz and Torgau. Peace of Hubertsburg. Partition of Poland. Her unhappy fate. Last acts of Frederic. His death and character. Good deeds of Maria Theresa. WHILE Elizabeth sat on the English throne, the Electors of Brandenburg added to their dominions the dukedom of Prussia. Frederic William, the " Great Elector," acquired Halberstadt and Minden by the treaty of Westphalia. In 1657 the same active prince flung off the yoke of Poland; and, some years later, he obtained possession of 1701 Magdeburg. So, with gradually widening boun- A.D. daries, Prussia grew to be a kingdom, the first year of the eighteenth century marking the change of the last elector, Frederic III., into the first king, Frederic I. Third on the list of Prussian kings stands his name most renowned in the royal roll who forms the subject of this chapter. Frederic the Great was born in 1712. His father was Frederic William I., and his mother Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. Exposed during childhood and youth to the fury of his savage father, who seems to have cared little for any one except the giant guardsmen whom he paid so well, young Frederic grew up amid hardships such as princes seldom suf- fer. He learned to love his mother ; but it is not wonderful that he bitterly hated his other parent. At last, weary with being kicked, raved at, and fed on bread and water, the prince ran away ; and, when he was caught, was saved from the death of a deserter only by the pleading of the Emperor of Austria. Having married a German princess in 1733, he spen-t the THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION. 265 six years previous to his accession quietly at Kheinsberg playing billiards, scribbling books, and writing letters to Voltaire and other literary friends. The opinions of the brilliant French infidel had no small share in moulding the character of Frederic. The death of old Frederic William in 1740 raised his son to the throne of Prussia. At once this son began to realize the darling dream of his unhappy boy- 1740 hood to be a great soldier. Plenty of money and A.D, a fine, well-drilled army were ready to his hand He took them, and began a war. Nearly thirty years before, a law, called the " Pragmatic Sanction,"* had been passed by the Emperor Charles VI. By this he decreed that, if he left no sons, his dominions should descend to his daughters. One by one in some cases with trouble and delay the consent of the great European powers to this arrangement had been won. And now, upon his death (October 1740), his daughter Maria Theresa became mistress of the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria. At once a rapacious host rose around the hapless princess, greedy to despoil her of her realms. Foremost among these was Frederic of Prussia, who pounced upon Silesia, claiming it as an old territory of the house of Brandenburg. The victories of Mollwitz in 1741, and Czaslau in 1742, left him master of the coveted lands. Maria Theresa, dreading this formidable soldier, and anxious to bend all her energies against her other foes, made over to him, by the treaty of Breslau, the full sovereignty of Silesia and Glatz (June 11. 1742). The other foes of Maria Theresa were many; but chief among them were the Elector of Bavaria made Emperor Charles VII. at Frankfort in February 1742 who claimed all the Austrian possessions, and the King of France, who helped the Elector, in utter contempt of the Pragmatic Sanc- * There are four " Pragmatic Sanctions " in modern history 1. A law passed by Charles VII. of France in 1438, defending the Gallic Church from certain interferences of the Pope; 2. A decree of the German Diet in 1439; 3. That of the Emperor Charles VI. here noticed; 4. That by which Charles III. of Spain gave up Naples to his third son in 17S9. 266 MARIA THERESA. tion, which he himself had guaranteed. Her only friend was England. It was when the troops of Bavaria and France had advanced in 1741 within a few leagues of Vienna, that the princess, fleeing to Presburg, had flung herself on the chivalry of the brave Hungarians. When her sorrow- ful words, spoken in Latin, as she stood in her mourning dress, with her little son nestling in her bosom, fell upon their ears " Abandoned by my friends, persecuted by my enemies, and attacked by my nearest relations, I have no resource but in your fidelity and valour" the hall grew bright with flashing swords ; and " We will die for Maria Theresa!" echoed from its ancient roof. So, with Hunga- rian steel bristling in her defence, and English gold pouring into her coffers, and Frederic, who, as we have seen, was bought off by the cession of Silesia, standing aloof, the cause of the queen began to prosper. The French, who held Prague, were forced to retreat in the depth of a severe win- ter ; and the emperor, too, had to flee. But this sudden turn in the tide of war brought Frederic again into the field. Fearful that in the flush of victory the Queen of Hungary might wrest the newly-won Silesia from him, he formed a secret alliance with France and the em- peror. In accordance with this, he invaded Bohemia in 1744, but was forced to leave it before the end of the year. The death of the Emperor Charles VII, which happened early in 1745, relieved Maria Theresa from a formidable foe, and excited new hopes in her breast that her husband, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, might be elected to fill the vacant imperial throne. These hopes were realized, in spite of all that the great house of Bourbon could do ; and Francis I. became emperor. Frederic, though victorious in the cam- paign of 1745, was glad to sheathe the sword ; and by the treaty of Dresden, which closed the war in Germany, he acknowledged the husband of Maria Theresa as head of the empire. During this war, in which England and France took oppo- site sides, were fought the battles of Dettingen (1743) and Fontenoy (1745). After the peace of Dresden the struggle was continued in the Netherlands and Italy between the houses of Bourbon and Austria, until a peace concluded OPENING OF THE SEVEN YEARS WAR. 267 at Aix-la-Chapelle gave rest for a while to worn-out Europe. This treaty confirmed in general the arrangements made by those of Westphalia, Nimeguen, Ryswick, Oct. 7, and Utrecht ; secured the possession of Silesia and 1748 Glatz to Prussia ; and made over to Don Philip A.D. of Spain, under certain conditions, Naples, Parma, Placentia , and Guastalla. Eight years of peace followed. This breathing-space was devoted by Frederic to the good of Prussia. He drew up the Frederician code of laws. He travelled through many parts of his kingdom, doing what he could for tillage, trade, and manufactures. He built palaces in Berlin and Pots- dam ; and he spent much time, pen in hand, writing books in French. Of these works the most considerable are his " Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg," and his poem on the " Art of War." But he never forgot that he was a sol- dier. A large slice of his revenue went to maintain his army, which he had lately raised to 160,000 men. These soldiers, officered with care and drilled incessantly, were lodged in barracks enriched with the most costly and beautiful orna- ments of architecture. Both in India and America the interests of France and England had long been clashing. Open war was at last declared. Already blood had been spilled in the colonies ; but it was not until 1756 that the German King of Eng- land, trembling for the safety of his beloved Hanover, formed an alliance with Frederic of Prussia, and prepared for a stern struggle. The great powers of Europe ranged them- selves on one side or other. Austria, glad to see the tie between France and Prussia at last broken, took arms in the hope of recovering the lost Silesia. Thus Austria, France, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and Poland were arrayed against Prussia and England ; and the great Seven Years' War began. The Colonial War between France and England, which in- terweaves itself with the Seven Years' War, lies beyond our scope. We shall trace the story of the war as it affected Continental Europe only ; and, to make the sketch clearer, we shall follow the order of the seven campaigns. Frederic began the war. At the head of 70,000 men he invaded Saxony, moving his troops by converging roads 268 BATTLE OF ROSSBACH- towards Dresden, the great centre of attack. He defeated the Austrians at Lowositz. Then seizing the Sept. archives of Dresden, and smashing the cabinet in 1756 which the state papers were kept, he read the A.D. whole story of the secret plot laid for the partition of Prussia. These papers he published in order to defend the step he had taken. The second campaign greatest of the seven began with the invasion of Bohemia by Frederic and his Prussians. Near Prague he won a great battle over the Austrians, and then besieged the city. But the advance of the Austrian Marshal Daun, whose intrenched camp at Kolin was the scene of Frederic's first great defeat, saved the Bohemian capital. A thunder-shower of misfortunes then seemed to burst over the head of the Prussian king. The house of Brandenburg tottered to its lowest stone, Russians break- ing through his eastern frontier, Swedes in Pomerania marching on Berlin, his friends the English driven in dis- grace from Hanover by the French, who were rapidly ad- vancing into Saxony. In the midst of all his mother died. He loved her well, and in his utter despair suicide seemed his only refuge from a crowd of miseries. Then came the turn of the tide. The Russian empress took ill, and her troops were recalled. This was one foe less. Dashing sud- denly into Saxony, with only 20,000 men, he faced a French and Austrian army, twice the size of his own, at the village of Rosebach. About eleven o'clock in the morning of a winter day tho massive lines of the allied armies advanced in battle Kov. 5, array, exulting in their strength, and sure of vic- 1757 tory. Frederic, seeming not to stir, silently moved A.D. his troops into a new position. Their march was concealed by the broken ground ; and when, later in the day, the allies moved to the attack, they were met and broken into huddled crowds by an avalanche of horses, men, and cannon-shot, pouring with terrific speed and force upon their lines, already disordered by the hurry of their advance. In half an hour the fate of the day was decided. While Frederic lost only a few hundred men, nearly 9000 of the foe were killed, wounded, or made prisoners. BATTLES OF LEUTHEN AND ZOKNDORFF. 2C9 Just a month later (December o) Frederic defeated the Austrians in the great battle of Leuthen, or Lissa, in Silesia. His tactics were here the same as at Rossbach. Feigning' to attack their right wing, he suddenly concentrated a great force, which he had quietly mustered behind the hills, upon their weakened left, and swept it before him. Instead of returning the move, the Austrian general moved the right wing up to support the broken left. But he was too late ; and the whole Austrian force was driven from the field, in spite of their gallant stand, maintained for a full hour among the houses of Leuthen. The action lasted from one to four in the day. The Austrians lost in killed and wounded 12,000 men ; the Prussian loss was at least 5000. The immediate results of the victory were the re-capture of Silesia, which had been overrun by the Austrians, and the exaltation of Frederic to the greatest fame. London was a blaze of illumination in his honour, and the English parliament voted him 700,000 a year. Early in the third campaign, an army of English and Hanoverians, under the Duke of Brunswick, drove the French back across the Rhine. Later in the year, Frederic in- flicted a terrible defeat upon the Russians at Zorn- dorff in Brandenburg. From nine in the morning Aug. 25, till seven in the evening, the Russians, formed into a 1758 square, held their ground under incessant discharges A.D. of artillery, followed by rapid charges of horse and foot. Twenty-one thousand Russians lay slain on this fatal field. Still later in the season, Count Daun, the leader of the Austrians, broke the right wing of Frederic's army at Hoch- kirchen in Saxony ; but on the whole the cause of the Prus- sian king was triumphant in the campaign. He still held Silesia ; and the French had been driven from Germany. Blow after blow fell heavily on Frederic in the fourth year of the war. It is true that his ally, Ferdinand of Brunswick, defeated the French in the battle of Minden (August 1), thus saving the Electorate of Hanover from a second conquest. But the Prussian king himself, meeting Aug. 12, the Russians at Kunersdorf in Brandenburg, was 1759 driven from the field with the loss of 18,000 men. A.D. Dresden was taken and held by the Austrians, 270 BATTLES OF LIEGNTTZ AND TOKGATL An army of nearly 20,000 Prussians, hemmed in by Austrian bayonets among the passes of Bohemia, was forced to sur- render at discretion to Marshal Daun. After some vain attempts at negotiations, the war con- tinued with increased bitterness. Frederic was desperate. He stood at bay amid a gigantic host of 200,000 men ; and all his efforts could not muster half that number. Yet with these he was victorious, gaining strength from the very hope- lessness of his cause. The defeat of his general Fouqud in Silesia roused him to action. Drawing off Daun by a pre- tended march into Silesia, he turned suddenly upon Dresden. For many days a storm of cannon-shot poured upon the city, crumbling some of its finest buildings into dust. 1760 But the return of .Daun, who quickly perceived the A.D. false move he had made, obliged Frederic to abandon the siege. Yet he soon made up for this temporary check. By his victory over Laudohn at Liegnitz, when three Austrian generals lay round his camp, sure now that they had the lion in their toils, he prevented the union of the Russian and Austrian forces. Then, enraged by the pillage of Berlin, into which the Russians and Austrians had made a hasty dash, he followed up his success by an attack upon the camp of Daun, who had intrenched himself strongly at Torgau on the Elbe. Broken three times by the fire of two hundred Austrian cannon, the Prussian troops struggled bravely up to the batteries, took them, and drove the defenders in disorder across the river. Darkness alone saved the Austrians from annihilation. The immediate result of this great victory was the recovery by Frederic of all Saxony except Dresden. And, stricken with sudden fear, his enemies all shrank away from Prussia. This year is also marked by the formation of a secret treaty, called the Family Compact, formed between the Bourbons of France and Spain. The war dragged on through its sixth campaign. The King of Prussia, thoroughly exhausted by his enormous efforts, remained in a strong camp in the heart of Silesia, watching his foes, but able to do no more. Again, we are told, the thought of suicide crossed his mind. A death saved him. Elizabeth of Russia died on the 5th of January 1762, and her successor, Peter III., Frederic's PEACE OF HUBERTSBUKO. 271 warm admirer and friend, not only made peace, but sent him aid. The example set by Russia was followed by Sweden. Then came the Peace of Paris, concluded by Eng- land, France, and Spain. Thus Austria and Prussia Feb. fronted each other alone, and they, too, signed the 1763 Peace of Hubertsburg, which left the face of Ger- A.D. many on the whole unchanged. Frederic still held the small province of Silesia, for the sake of which the life- blood of more than a million had been poured out like water. And so ended the great Seven Years' War, of which the Prussian king was the central figure, and in which he won im- perishable renown as a gallant soldier and a daring tactician. Frederic then set himself to repair the terrible mischief done by the war. He gave corn for food and seed to the starving people, and rebuilt the houses that had been burnt. Silesia was freed from the payment of all taxes for six years, and other districts received the same boon for a shorter time. Rewards to his living soldiers, and pensions to the widows a,nd children of the dead were bestowed with no niggard hand. In his attempts to revive the drooping commerce and increase the revenue of Prussia, he made some sad mistakes, of which perhaps the worst was the debasement of the coin. Great as he was in military affairs, he was no political economist. And amid all his plans and works of peace, he maintained a great army of 160,000 men. Frederic's share in the great crime of the eighteenth cen- tury must now be noticed. It is said that the wicked plot was hatched in the fertile brain of this great Prussian king ; but there is reason to think that it was an old design, dating so far back as 1710, in the days of Frederic I. A kingdom, " the eldest born of the European family," bright with fair fields, broad rivers, and a genial sky, and filled with a valiant but very restless people, lay overshadowed by three giants. The curse of discord filled the land with blood and tears and failing strength. When great assemblies of her armed knights met to elect their king or transact other state business, they often returned home without having passed a single act, paralyzed by the strange power of a veto, which they all possessed, and by which a single man could dissolve the assembly Poland was the unhappy land. Around her 272 THE PARTITIONS OF POLAND. stood Austria, Prussia, and Russia, who, seeing her weakness and her broken heart, stooped together and with 1772 felon hands tore away one-third of her dominion, A.D. Frederic thus gained Polish-Prussia as far as the Netz, except Dantzic and Thorn. Catherine II. of Russia and Maria Theresa, whose conscience stung her sorely before she joined in the robbery, had each a share of the unrighteous spoil. Stanislaus II. was then King of Poland. Twenty-two years later, there was a great uprising of the brave Poles under Kosciusko. But might was stronger than right. Stanislaus resigned his crown ; and the second and final partition of Poland took place (1795). And in 1832, while Britain was dreaming of Parliamentary Reform, and France was still throbbing with the pangs of her second Revolution, the old kingdom of Poland was swept from the map of Europe by a ukase of Nicholas the Russian Czar. In 1778 the emperor formed a design of partitioning Bavaria. But here Frederic interfered on the weaker side; and by the Peace of Teschen the evil was averted. Another attempt on Bavaria was thwarted by the " Fur- stenlund," an alliance among the German princes, which was concluded chiefly at the instance of Frederic. His last great public act was the conclusion of a commercial treaty with the United States of America in 178G. Gout and asthma, ending in dropsy, brought Frederic to his death-bed, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, Aug. 17, He had reigned nearly forty -seven years. He was a 1786 great soldier, of daring courage in battle, of quick A.D. and fertile genius in difficulty, of most elastic spirit in the hour of depression and dismay. But, like all men of inordinate ambition, he cared nothing for the feelings of others. Blood he shed in torrents, yet the " red rain" seemed never to cost him a thought. When it is added that he was a hater of women and a scoffer at religion, we can see that Frederic, with all his brilliancy of fame, was not a lovable man. The name of Maria Theresa has often occurred in the story of Frederic's reign. When her husband, Francis I., died in 1763, her son Joseph was raised to the imperial throne. DEATH OF MARIA THERESA. 273 Still holding the reins of power, she continued to rule until 1 780, when death cut short her course of usefulness. Among the benefits which she gave to her subjects, the checking of the Inquisition and the suppression of the Jesuits were not the least. There are few names more honoured in the long roll of illustrious women than the name of this Empress- Queen, upon whose fair fame there rests but one blot, her unwilling part in the division of Poland. DUKES AND KINGS OF PRUSSIA. DUKES. A.D. JOHN SIGISMUND 1616 GEORGE WILLIAM 1619 FREDERIC WILLIAM (the Great Elector) 1640 FREDERIC 1688 KINGS. A.D. Crowned King as FREDE- RIC I 1701 FREDERIC WILLIAM 1 1713 FREDERIC II. (the Great)... 1740 FREDERIC WILLIAM II.... 1786 FREDERIC WILLIAM III. 1797 FREDERIC WILLIAM IV. 1840 274 THE SOLDIERS OF LOUIS JX.TV. CHAPTER IV. LIFE IN FEANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV. The noblesse humbled. The soldiers. Sale of offices. The Roturier. The Gabelle/ The rich lords. View of the Court. Shifts to raise money. Vanity of Louis. His expensive life. Palace at Versailles. Dress of the time. Brilliant writers. Influence of ladies. Duelling. IT was the great aim of Louis XIV. to centralize all power in himself. He, therefore, lost no opportunity of humbling the French noblesse. Selecting his chief ministers from the plebeian ranks, he drove many of the lower and poorer nobles, who found their chance of making a name and living by politics gone, to become merchants and shopkeepers. He whose pride could not stoop to such a fall, took mask and pistol and turned chevalier d? Industrie, or w r hat we in plain English call a highway robber. But the army was the grand refuge for the cadets of noble houses, and to this they flocked in spite of the humiliations which awaited them there. The army then became the true aristocracy ; and the haughtiest duke in the realm, who could count back his ancestors for centuries, had to give place to the youngest mare'chal of France. This army was the grand instrument of Louis' despotism. There was no disputing his will, for the soldiers were always at hand. They had been trained and drilled from early boy- hood according to the military system of Gustavus Adolphus. For the first time French soldiers were armed, clothed, and accoutred on a uniform plan regulated by the king. From him alone could promotion come; his royal hand signed every commission. To him they were taught to look for every command and every reward. All the glory they won was for him. While they were young and strong, he drilled them, petted them, and made them the great men of France ; and when their beards grew grey, or they left a limb on some bloody field, the splendid Hotel des Invalides stood ready to receive them in their decay. The French police system was founded by Louis, who OPPRESSION OF THE LOWER ORDERS. 275 found the need of spreading his spies into every corner of the land. Nothing could happen by the meanest hearth without the knowledge of the police, who sent up constant reports to head-quarters. The Church lands and livings were often given by this despot to laymen ; and many a rich abbey had for its owner some fair favourite of the king or his chief courtiers. Unblushingly and most openly the pub- lic offices were sold, sometimes even put up to auction. At Eennes, for example, within fourteen years the king sold, besides all the seats in the Civic Tribunal, twenty-seven other posts, taking money even for the appointment of a house-porter. The tiers etat, or lower orders, groaned under fearful bur- dens and led a very wretched life. It was this evil which grew into the tornado of revolution a hundred years later. The roturier, or ignoble vassal, owed to the king, as hia seigneur, eight very heavy duties. One of these, called cor- vee, was the obligation to work on the public roads for a certain number of days every year. There was a capitation tax, too, imposed by Louis XIV., which fell most heavily on the roturiers. But of all imposts, that which excited the greatest bitterness of spirit was the gabelle, or salt tax. In the fourteenth century the trade in this necessary of life began to be made a royal monopoly. Tour times a year every householder was obliged, whether he would or not, to buy as much salt as was determined by the authorities to be needful for the use of his family. The natural result of such oppression was to demoralize the lower orders. Smuggling became a common trade; and the passion for it grew so strong, that whole cavalry regiments deserted in order to fol- low the dishonest occupation. But the king and his court cared little for this miserable state of the tiers etat. Their business was to enjoy life as brilliantly as possible. The humiliation of the poorer nobles has been already noticed. That of the rich seigneurs was yet more degrading, because it was voluntary. The court was an irresistible magnet, which drew them from their chateaux among the woods of Auvergne, Bretagne, and Pro- vence. They plunged into the whirlpool of fashion and folly, and were fooled to the top of their beiit. Gambling was 276 WICKED COURT LIFE. carried on to a most incredible extent. It was thought no shame, but the best fun in the world, to cheat at cards. Koyal dukes did it, and were esteemed for their gentlemanly ekill in swindling : why, then, should not men and women of meaner station trick and lie. Faithful husbands and wives were held up to open mockery in the theatre of the time ; and, therefore, husbands and wives who loved each other and were true became scarce at the French court. The king set an example of unfaithfulness to his queen, which his train were not slow to follow. Life was a constant round of dressing, driving, gambling, and licentiousness ; to pay the heavy cost of which, all over France ancestral trees were cut down, fair acres were loaded with debt or brought to the hammer, and the poor tenantry were squeezed dry, left hope- less and heart-broken. The young nobles, finding common society to pall upon their depraved taste, invited to their tables forgers and highwaymen, whose anecdotes highly flavoured with crime delighted them immensely. Then, to get money, the meanest and most cruel things were done. Among such expedients, the raking up of forgotten penalties and unclaimed forfeitures was adopted by crowds of needy lords and ladies, who hunted all the country over in search of victims. The central figure of the brilliant, giddy, wicked throng, was of course the absurdly affected little man who wore the crown, and believed in his heart that he was in reality Louis le Grand. His strut and swagger were copied on every side, and the most outrageous flattery was poured upon him. One gravely called him u a visible miracle." A lady writing of him said, " That even while playing at billiards, he preserved the air and deportment of the master of the world." This and much more he received merely as his due, for his vanity was inordinate. We read of him singing the hymns written in his praise by some flattering lyrist, and weeping with delight at the sound of his own sweet voice and the thoughts of his darling self. Louis' expenditure was on a most extravagant scale. His wars cost the country enormous sums, and his home-life was scarcely less expensive. We find him in 1670 on his way to the theatre of war in the Low Countries, travelling DRESS OF THE PERIOD 277 in a glass coach. Kich furniture was sent on before him, so that when he stopped he might be lodged in royal style. Every night there was a file, or masked ball, with a grand display of fireworks. It seemed as if he could not live a week without these splendours. His palace of Versailles swallowed up incalculable livres. The little hunting-lodge of Louis XIII. could not hold le Grand Monarque, who called his architects and gardeners together, and set them to work upon a mansion worthy of his splendour. The principal feature of the huge building, which cost sixteen millions sterling, is its cold, monotonous formality. Magnificent, but not beautiful, it has been well called a type of the age that produced it. The age was in- tensely artificial; and in the far-stretching Ionic colonnades, the closely shaven lawns, the symmetrical terraces, and wide straight walks which divide the trim parterres, the lakes, cascades, and fountains, resembling anything but Nature, the even row T s of stately elm-trees which border the avenues, and the mathematically correct lines of the palace itself, the artificial seems to have reached its perfection. Statues and vases in great profusion adorn both palace and gardens. The dress of Louis may be taken as a specimen of the national costume of the time. A great periwig, full of pow- der, rose high above his forehead, and flowed in floury ring- lets on his shoulders and back. Round his neck was a lace cravat, with embroidered ends hanging on the breast. Puffed cambric sleeves with hanging ruffles at the wrist came out from below the large wide cuffs of his coat, which was broad- skirted and of velvet. A long waistcoat of rich brocade fell half way down over his knee-breeches of satin. Tightly fit- ting silk stockings, and high shoes with silver buckles and red heels, completed his dress. A gold-headed cane, a dia- mond-hilted small-sword, and a jewelled snuff-box were es- sential parts of a fine gentleman's equipment. The little three-cornered cocked hat was seldom perched on the top of the wig, but was generally carried under the arm. The ladies carried fans, wore curls, powder, and necklaces, and contrived to spend at least as much time and money on their dress as did their be-wigged and snuff-box-tapping admirers. The great brilliance of the court of Louis XIV. was owing 278 FRENCH LITERATURE AND LADIES. to the cluster of wits and literary men whom he gathered round him. Corneille and Racine, the tragedians ; Moliere and Regnard, the comedians ; Boileau and La Fontaine, the poets ; La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyere, the wits ; Des Cartes and Pascal, the philosophers ; Bossuet and Arnauld, the divines ; Mabillon and Montfaucon, the scholars ; Bour- daloue and Massillon, the preachers; all gave lustre to his reign. "With such men he lived in close intimacy ; and thus, too, he struck a blow at the old noblesse, for this aristocracy of talent, of which he made so much, was drawn almost alto- get Jier from the ranks of the people. The writings of these great stars of French literature bear the stamp of the age. They are highly polished and have a stately grace ; but they were written by men who breathed an atmosphere of splen- did artificiality ; and they lack, in consequence, " that touch of Nature which makes the whole world kin." They were not written for the whole world, but for the favoured few who wore ruffles and brocade. Dryden and Pope, who got their inspiration from Paris, are the best examples in our own literature of a similar style. The influence of the French ladies upon the political changes of the nation was an important feature of the age. The ascendency, which such favourites as Montespan and Maintenon gained over the mind of Louis, caused them to be courted by all applicants for royal favour ; and in that age of king-worship, who did not look eagerly for the sun- shine of the royal countenance ? The boudoir usurped the functions of the cabinet ; grave secrets of state were revealed, and weighty strokes of policy discussed beneath silken cur- tains, amid guitars and flowers and tambour- work. The duel, unhappily, still prevailed to a great extent in France, though the evil had certainly grown less. At one time, soon after the well-known cartel of defiance which Francis I. had sent to the Emperor Charles V., duels were alarmingly common. A word or a look often cost a life ; and the loss to the country was as great almost as the drain of a bloody war. Under Louis XIV. the code of honour, as it was called, was very formally laid down and punctiliously observed ; and the cold stateliness of the proceedings had the good effect of cooling down the fierce brutality which GREAT NAMES OF THE SEVENTH PEKTO1). 279 liad often marked earlier duels. But still the French gen- tlemen, with all their frippery, were high-spirited and brave: even the ice of Louis' ceremonials could not freeze their valour ; the hot blood would often boil up, and the diainond- hilted swords grow red. GEEAT NAMES OF THE SEVENTH PERIOD. MOLlfc-RE (assumed name of Jean Baptiste Poquelin). Born at Paris, January 15, 1622 a distinguished French dramatist also an actor his first play, ' L'Etourdi,' produced in 1653 among his many works 'Le Misanthrope,' ' Le Tartuffe,' 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,' may be named died February 17, 1673. MILTON (JOHN). Born December 9, 1608, in Bread Street, London- greatest modern epic poet Latin secretary under Cromwell- chief works, 'Paradise Lost,' and 'Paradise Regained' chief minor poems, 'L' Allegro,' 'IlPenseroso,"Comus,'and'Lycidas' chief prose works, 'History of England, 'and the 'Areopagitica/a plea for the liberty of the press died November 8, 1674. CALDERON (DE LABARCA). Born of noble parents at Madrid, 1601 a great Spanish dramatist wrote about 500 pieces like Lope a soldier in youth entered the Church at the age of 50 then devoted his pen to writing ' Autos Sacramentales,' or sacred plays (like our Early Mysteries) died in 1681, aged 80. CORNEILLE (PIERRE). Born 1606 at Rouen son of an advocate- a great French dramatist made his fame by his tragedy of the 'Cid' other great works 'Horace' and 'Cinna,' produced in 1639 his comedies are not first-rate died in 1684, aged 78. LA FONTAINE (JEAN). Born in 1621 at Chateau- Thierry a French poet lived a quiet, lazy life in patrons' houses chief work, his ' Fables,' chiefly selected from ^Esop died in 1695 succeeded Colbert as a member of the French Academy. RACINE (JEAN). Born in 1639 at Ferte Milon in Aisne a French dramatic poet his first tragedy, ' La Thebaide,' brought out in 1664 ' Phedre' is considered his masterpiece ' Athalie' was his last play wrote also historical fragments died April 21, 1697, aged 59. DRYDEN (JOHN). Born August 9, 1631, at Aldwinckle in North- amptonshire educated at Trinity College, Cambridge poet- laureate in 1670 chief works, a satire called 'Absalom and Achitophel,' an 'Ode on St. Cocilia's Day,' and a translation of the JSneid died May 1, 1700, aged 69. LOCKE (JOHN). Born at Wrington near Bristol, August 29, 1632 educated at Westminster school and Oxford the great mental philosopher of his time great work, his ' Essay on the Human Understanding '--died October 28, 1704, aged 73. 280 GREAT NAMES OF THE SEVENTH PERIOD. BOSSUET (JACQUES BENIGNE). Born at Dijon, September 27, 1627 consecrated Bishop of Meaux in 1681 one of the greatest pulpit orators of France died at Paris, April 12, 1704, aged 76. BOILEAU (NICOLAS). Born in Paris, November 1, 1636 a noted French poet, remarkable for the moral tone of his writings chief works, his ' Satires' and ' Epistles,' and the ' Lutrin,' a mock heroic died March 13, 1711, aged 74 a member of the Academy. FENELON (FRANCOIS). Born at Perigord in 1651 Archbishop of Cambray one of the sect called Quietists denounced as a heretic by Bossuet best known work, the romance ' Telemaque' died January 7, 1715. ADDISON (JOSEPH). Born near Amesbury in Wiltshire, May 1, 1672 educated at Oxford much engaged in politics under Anne and George I. famous for his prose papers in the Spectator wrote also ' Cato, a tragedy/ a ' Letter from ttaly/ and other poems died June 17, 1719, aged 47. NE WTON (ISAAC). Born at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, December 25, 1642 professor of mathematics at Cambridge discoverer of the law of universal gravitation remarkable also for his optical discoveries chief work, ' Principia, ' a Latin treatise on natural philosophy wrote also on Daniel and Revelation died at Ken- sington, March 20, 1727, aged 85. ROLLIN (CHARLES). Born at Paris, January 30, 1661 professor of rhetoric at Plessis chief work, his 'Belles Lettres' and ' Ancient History' died 14th September 1741, aged 80. MASSILLON (JEAN BAPTISTE). Born at Hieres in Provence, 24th June 1663 the greatest of the French preachers made Bishop of Clermont in 1717 died of apoplexy, 18th September 1742, aged 79. POPE (ALEXANDER). Born in London, May 22, 1688 son of a linen- draper chief works, the ' Dunciad/ the ' Essay on Criticism,' the ' Rape of the Lock,' a mock heroic poem, and his translation of Homer's Iliad died May 30, 1744, aged 56. LE SAGE (ALAIN-RENE). Born May 8, 1638, at Sarzeau in Morbi- han wrote many plays translated much from the Spanish best-known work his novel, ' Gil Bias de Santillane,' published between 1710 and 1735 died at Boulogne, November 17, 1747, aged 80. MONTESQUIEU (CHARLES). Born near Bordeaux, January 18, 1689 a president in the parliament of that city chief works, 'Lettres Persanes,' 'Esprit des Lois,' and a classic romance, ' Temple du Gnide' died February 1755, aged 66. HANDEL (GEORGE FREDERICK). Born at Halle in Saxony, Feb- ruary 24, 1684 a great musician came to London in 1710 com- poser of many grand oratorios, among which may be named ' Saul,' * tlie Messiah/ and ' Samson' died April 13, 1759, aged 75- CHRONOLOGY OF THE SEVENTH PERIOD. g^] VOLTAIRE (FRANCOIS-MARIE). Born at Chatenay near Sceaux, February 20, 1694 author of the ' Henriade,' the only French epic poem among his historical works are the ' Age of Louis XIV.,' ' History of Charles XII.,' and ' History of Russia' wrote numerous plays and minor poems lived his last twenty years at Ferney in Ain an enemy of the Christian faith died 30th May 1778, aged 84. LINNAEUS (CARL). Born at Eashult in Sweden, May 13, 1707 a great botanist professor of botany and medicine at Upsal author of many works died January 10, 1778, aged 71. ROUSSEAU (JEAN JACQUES). Born at Geneva in 1712 son of a watchmaker a sceptic in religious matters author of many operas, and eloquent literary works obliged to leave France on the publication of his 'Contrat Social,' an essay which main- tains the equal rights of all men died July 1778, aged 66. METASTASIO (PIETRO). Born at Rome January 6, 1698 a dis- tinguished poet made imperial laureate at Vienna about 1729 among his sacred dramas may be named ' La Passione,' * La Morte d'Abel,' and ' Isacco' died April 12, 1782, aged 84. BUFFON (GEORGE COMTE DE). Born at Montbard in Burgundy, September 7, 1707 a great naturalist chief work, his ' Histoire Naturelle' died April 16, 1788, aged 81. CHRONOLOGY OF THE SEVENTH PERIOD. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Continued. A.D. Cromwell, Protector of England 1653 The Restoration of the Stuarts in England 1660 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 1668 Battle of Seneffe 1674 Treaty of Nimeguen 1678 Habeas Corpus Act passed in England 1679 John Sobieski of Poland defeats the Turks at Vienna 1683 The Edict of Nantes revoked by Louis XIV 1685 The League of Augsburg 1686 The Second English Revolution 1688 Peter the Great sole ruler of Russia.. 1689 Battle of the Boyne 1690 Battle of La Hogue 1692 Treaty of Ryswick 1697 Charles XII. becomes King of Sweden Battle of Narva 1700 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. The Grand Alliance 1701 French Fleet destroyed at Vigo 1702 Battle of Blenheim 1704 282 CH-RONOLOGY OF THE SEVENTH PE1UOI). A. IX Battle of Ramillies 1708 Union of England and Scotland 1707 Battle of Oudenarde 1708 Battle of Pultowa 1709 Battle of Malplaquet - Treaty of Utrecht 1713 The Guelphs ascend the English throne 1714 Death of Louis XIV. of Prance 1715 Charles XII, of Sweden killed at Frederic-shall 1718 Death of Peter the Great 1725 Frederic the Great becomes King of Prussia 1740 Treaty ofBreslau 1742 Battle of Dettingen 1743 Battle of Fontenoy .. 1745 Peace of Dresden A Second Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 1748 The Seven Years' War begins 1756 Battles of Rossbach and Leuthen 1757 Battle of Zorndorff 1758 Battle of Minden 1759 Close of the Seven Years' War Peace of Paris 1763 Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte 1769 First Partition of Poland 1772 Accession of Louis XVI. of France 1774 Beginning of American War , 1775 Independence of the United States acknowleaged by Britain 1783 Death of Frederic the Great of Prussia 1786 AGiJ OF LOUIS XV. 283 EIGHTH PERIOD. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT DAY. CHAPTER I. THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. Central Point : LOUIS XVI. GUILLOTINED, January 21, 1793, A.D. France under Louis XV. Accession of Louis XVI. His ministers. Meeting of the Notables. Recall of Necker. The States- General Tiers Etat. The National Assembly. Storming of the Bastile. March of women to Ver- sailles. Events of 1790. Death of Mirabeau. The Legislative Assembly. The three parties. A foreign war threaten ing. Sack of the Tuileries. Battle of Jemappes. The National Convention Trial and death of Louis. The Reign of Terror. Christianity abolished. La Vendee and Toulon. Murders on the Loire. Fate of Robespierre. The New Constitution. 13th Vende'iniaire. WHEN, in 1723, Orleans and Dubois sank within a few months of each other into the grave, Louis XV. was a boy of fourteen. Three years later began the administration of Cardinal Fleury, tutor to the king, which, lasting for seven- teen years (1726^13), marks the best period of a shameful reign. Then, when Fleury died, France went rapidly down the hill. The court, ruled by the painted favourites of the licentious king, Pompadour and Dubarry, exhausted every shape of costly debauchery. The last sou of taxation was wrung from the starving peasants. The soldiers of France were beaten at Dettingen, at Kossbach, and at Minden. Canada, Nova Scotia, and some of the finest of the Antilles were wrested from Louis by the English. The health of the public mind was sapped by the infidelities of Voltaire and the mock bcntiineutalisui of Rousseau. Bitter^ indeed, iiiuat 284 MINISTERS OF LOUIS XVI. have been the fading days of the worn-out voluptuary, aa he sank from his throne into a dishonoured grave. Looking on to the future he was not to see, no wonder that he sighed out to his courtiers the terrible truth, " A pres moi le deluge" Louis XVI. succeeded his grandfather on the 10th of May 1774. Then twenty years of age, he had been already four years married to Marie Antoinette, the beautiful daughter of Maria Theresa. The young couple entered with the fresh joy of their years into the gaieties of the coronation, and all high-born France rang with the noise of feasting. But in every square mile of the land there were men whose wives and children cried to them in vain for bread Louis XV. had left a debt of four thousand millions of livres. It was a gigantic task an unsolvable problem to support an expensive court and government under this enormous pressure. Old Maurepas, the first prime minister of Louis XVI., tried it and failed. Turgot, a clever disciple of Voltaire and Diderot, failed too. The lawyer Malesherbes had to give place to Necker, a banker of Geneva, who re- formed the taxation and restored public credit during his five years' tenure of office (1776-81). Then Calonne took the purse from Necker, who was dismissed by a court-cabal ; and never was seen such a financier. When the king or queen wanted money to meet a jeweller's bill, or pay the expenses of a ball, or what purpose you please, this smiling, witty minister never refused to honour the demand. His plan was a simple one, but by no means a new invention. We meet Calonnes every day of our lives. He borrowed on every side, without one thought of repayment. For a time this lasteol. But the day came when even Calonne could not fill the royal treasury, and some new plan must be devised to make both ends meet, and stave off clamorous creditors ; and the expedient adopted in this difficulty was the assembling of the Notables the chief noblea 1787 and magistrates gathered from all parts of France, . A.D. who met at Versailles. Calonne wanted to make up for the deficiency of revenue by a land-tax, but his proposal was rejected by these lords of the soil. They suggested other plans, which were adopted by the king. Then came the dismissal of Calonne, who was soon sue- THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 285 ceeded by Brienne, Archbishop of Toulon. But Brienne could do nothing to stem the rising tide, and Necker was recalled in 1788. There were then only 250,000 francs in the royal treasury. Necker yielded to the cry for a meeting of the States- General, an assembly not unlike our English Parliament. There had been no such thing since the days of Richelieu. It was a sign that the day of despotism in France was, for a time at least, nearly over. All over France the elections went on, and no man who wore a good coat was refused leave to vote. Three millions of the people sent up their deputies lawyers, doctors, priests, farmers, writers for the press to the great States- General, in which, for the first time during nearly two hundred years, the down-trodden "tiers etat" was to sit in council with the nobles and the high clergy. After hearing a sermon in Notre Dame, they met in a great hall at Versailles. Here a difficulty arose. May 5, The deputies of the tiers etat would not submit 1789 to be separated from the other houses. Sitting in A.D. their own chamber, they asked the coronets and mitres to join them ; and, when the invitation was rejected in scorn, they formed themselves into the National Assembly. The king, forgetting the lesson he might have learned when, in early days, he read the History of England with Fleury, stationed soldiers at the door of the hall to keep out the members of Assembly. This was the fatal move. Bailly, then president, led them to the Jeu de Paume (Tennis Court), where they swore a solemn oath June 20. not to dissolve their Assembly until they had framed a constitution for France. Then the mitres and some of the coronets began to flock into the Assembly hall. Among the latter sat the Duke of Orleans, infamously known as Philip Egalite, a name he took to please the mob ; and the Marquis de La Fayette, a hero of the American war. But greatest of the throng in fiery eloquence and political genius was the ugly debauchee, Honore Gabriel, Comte de Mirabeau, who sat as deputy for the town of Aix. Robespierre, too, the sea-green, as Carlyle loves to call him, whose pinched face, deeply pitted with the small-pox, was 286 THE STORMING OF THE BASTTLE. soon to be the guiding-star of the Jacobins, had already in thin cracked voice made his maiden speech. At last, after many muttered warnings, and long gathering darkness, the tempest broke in awful fury. A fierce mob, whose souls were leavened with infidelity, and brutalized by changeless misery and never-satisfied hunger, raged through Paris streets. The spark which fired the mine was a rumour that the soldiers were marching to dissolve the Assembly. Necker, too, the sole hope of the starving people, had been dismissed. Cockades of green leaves, torn from the trees, became the badge of the rioters. Shots were heard in many quarters. An old man was killed by a bullet from the German guards. \ Then the grim old prison of the Bastile was stormed. Within its dark walls hundreds of innocent hearts had broken, pierced through with the iron of hopeless captivity. The terrible lettres de cachet sealed orders from the king to arrest and fling into prison without a trial, and often without any distinct charge had packed its dungeons with wretched men during the late reign. Little wonder, then, that the first rush of the mob was to the Bastile. July 14. Dragging cannon from Les Invalides, they opened a fire upon the walls, burst in, and, seizing the governor, slew him in the Place de Gr&ve. The flames then burst out all through the land, except in La Vendee. The chateaux of the nobles were pillaged and burned to the ground. Tortures were inflicted by the fierce peasants upon their former masters. The royal Fleur de Lis was trampled in the mud, and the Tricolor upraised. One day in autumn a swarm of women gathered round the Hotel de Ville, crying, " Bread ! give bread !" It became the nucleus of a riotous crowd, surging with wild outcries through the streets. Then out came Millard with a drum, who said he would lead them to Versailles. Outside the barriers he strove to disperse them, but no they would go on. Hungry and wet with heavy rain, when they Oct. 5. found that the king and the Assembly would give them only words, they gathered round the palace. Some fool fired on them. Sweeping through an open gate, they spread through all the splendid rooms ; and the queeu DEATH OF MIRABEATL 287 had scarcely time to escape by a secret door, when her bed- chamber was filled with a fierce and squalid throng. The timely arrival of La Fayette, and the consent of the king to remove to Paris, alone quelled the tumult. The next year saw sweeping changes in the constitution of France. The Assembly, of which Mirabeau was the master-spirit, proceeded to parcel out the kingdom into eighty-four departments of nearly equal size. 1790 Stripping the king of his patronage, they gave the A.D. appointment of new magistrates and officers to the people. Violent hands, too, were laid on the Church lands ; and to create a currency, by which these might be purchased, paper bills called Assignats were issued. But these speedily became worth nothing, for nearly all the gold and silver coin was either carried out of France by the flying nobles, or buried in quiet corners of field and garden. Hereditary titles were abolished ; and no greetings were heard in the streets but "citizen" and " citizeness." On the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastile there was a grand pageant in the Champ de Mars, where the king, the Assembly, the soldiers, and the people swore a solemn oath to maintain the new constitution of France. The Jacobin club, so called from holding its meetings in a hall lately occupied by the Jacobin friars in Paris, now began to be formidable in its influence over the Assembly. Branch societies, all in correspondence with the central club, grew up in every corner of France. The dismissal of Necker, who was not radical enough in his policy to please the heads of the Assembly, took place in the last month of this most threatening year. Dark and still darker grew the sky. Mirabeau, " our little mother Mirabeau," as the fishwomen of the gallery used lovingly to call him, was made President of the Assembly in January 1791. He exerted all his giant genius to quell the storm, whose rising gusts had been felt at the Bastile and Versailles; and poor Louis clung to the hope that this aristocratic darling of the rabble might yet save him. But Mirabeau died in April ; and while the ' * spring blossoms were brightening in all the fields of France, the Bourbon lilies drooped their golden heada 288 THE THREE PARTIES. There aeemed no hope for Louis but in flight. He fled in despair, but was recognised, stopped at Varennes, and brought back to Paris. The Constituent Assembly, having sat for three years, passed a resolution dissolving itself (Sept. 29). The break- ing of the nobles' power, the establishment of the National Guard, and the abolition of torture, tettres de cachet, and many oppressive taxes, were among the boons it had conferred on France. Its place was taken by a new body called the Legis- lative Assembly, which began to sit on the 1st of October. Three distinct factions were already clearly marked out in this terrible time, and among these a strife began for pre- eminence. It was, in truth, a battle to the death. The spirit of the vanished Assembly was embodied in the party of the Feuillants, who sat on the right of the tribune. These friends of limited monarchy numbered among them the National G-uard and most of the officers of State. The Girondists, or Moderate Republicans, formed the second party. Occupying the highest seats in the hall, and there- from called the " Mountain," sat the Red Republicans chiefly members of the Jacobin and Cordelier Clubs whose rallying cry was " No King." The list of this third party contained those terrible names which make us shudder at their very sound, and turn sick with thoughts of blood. The sympathy of the neighbouring sovereigns for the wretched Louis, and for the imperilled cause of monarchy, led them now to interfere. A great army of Austrians and Prus- sians, under the Duke of Brunswick, entered the French terri- tory. Already the violent manifesto which Brunswick issued had roused the French to show a most determined front. Matters then grew worse than ever at the centre of the Revolution. The Paris mob rose like a sea, swelled by some troops from Marseilles, who, first singing along Paris streets the war-hymn of Rouget de Lille, caused it henceforth to be known as the Marseillaise. Amid pealing bells, and drums beating the generate in every street, they crowded to the Tuileries, whose steps were soon piled with the Aug. 10, bleeding bodies of the brave Swiss Guards. Louia 1792 escaped to the Assembly; but he was imprisoned A.D. with his family in the old palace of the Temple. EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI. 289 A National Convention was summoned. La Fayette fled to the Netherlands, where he was arrested by the Aus- trians. While the prisons of Paris were still wet with innocent blood, shed by order of the Jacobin leaders, Dumouriez, having taken command of the French army, was marshal- ling his men on the Belgian frontier. Crossing into Belgium, he inflicted a signal defeat upon the allies at the village of Jemappes (November 6). Acting as aid-de-camp of the French leader was the young Duke of Chartres, whom we know better in later days as Louis Philippe, King of the French. The Assembly gave place to the National Convention, whose members were also elected by the people. The wildest orators of the clubs found here their fitting sphere. But three men stood far above the rest in Sept. 21, lust of blood. These were Danton, Marat, and 1792 Robespierre. The lawyer, Danton, was a strong, A.D. thunder- voiced bully, who held office as Minister of Justice. Marat, a quack-doctor and editor of the Peoples Friend, was the most blood-thirsty villain of the lot. Robes- pierre we have already seen sitting on the benches of the Constituent Assembly, a very serpent coiled for his deadly spring. Now the time had come. Louis must die. The trial of the king, for treason and conspiracy against the nation, began in December. He denied, with proud calmness, the justness of the charge. But denial was use- less before judges such as his. Death was the sentence of the court after a discussion of some days. At ten o'clock on a January morning he was brought in a Jan. 21, carriage to the Place de Louis XV., where the 1793 guillotine* awaited its noblest victim. Before the A.D. fatal knife fell, he tried to address the crowd, who were stunned for the time into deep silence ; but the inces- sant rattle of drums drowned his voice, and in a few seconds * " La Guillotine," as the French call this deadly machine, forgetting their native gallantry when they make the name feminine, was invented about 1785, by Dr. Guillotin. It is a large loaded knife set in a wooden frame, and its action is instantaneous. Dr. Guillotin did not, as is commonly thought, perish by his own invention. A similar instrument was in early use in Scotland, where it wao called the Miiden. It was also used at Halifax in England, (47) 19 290 THE RETGN OP TETTROR. more the head of poor Louis Capet so his Republican mur- derers called him rolled bleeding in the sawdust. At this insult to royalty all the powers of Europe arose, and a circle of steel began to narrow round devoted France. But her energies were not exhausted. AH the powers of the State were now centred in a small body of Jacobins, called the " Committee of Public Safety," foremost among whom were the three tigers lately named. The Reign of Terror began. The Girondists, friends of moderate repub- licanism, were slain without mercy, or driven over the land, without shelter or food, to die. When Marat met a merited death he was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Cor- day, a young girl from Caen (July 1793) Robespierre was left sole dictator of France. A frightful carnage followed. Every day saw red baskets of human heads carried from the guillotine, whose dull thud was music to the crowd. Women sat and worked as calmly as in the pit of the theatre, while the fearful tragedy was played out before their eyes. Fathers brought their little ones to see the heads fall. And as fast as the prisons were emptied by this wholesale butchery, fresh victims, denounced often by their nearest neighbours, were thrust into the cells to await their certain doom. Queen Marie Antoinette followed her husband to the guillotine and the grave in the October of the same year. Bailly, Condorcet, Barnave, and Madame Roland met the same fate. Philip Egalite, whose vote had been given for the death of his royal kinsman, went also to his richly de- served doom. Still the mob cried for more heads. The guillotine could not be stopped. Some of the Mountain-men, less tigerish than their fellows, were first laid below its edge. Such were Danton and Camille Desmoulins. It is little wonder that Christianity was cast aside in this Reign of Terror. The Goddess of Reason, impersonated by a worthless woman, was openly worshipped, and torches were burnt before her shrine. A thing was then tried, the failure of which is a noteworthy proof how little man's wisdom is when compared with that of the all- wise God. Every tenth day was ap- pointed a day of rest and amusement ; but neither man nor beast could bear the strain of ten days' work. It was found DEATH OF ftOBESPIEHRE. 201 that no arrangement will suit the human frame but that of God's own making one day in seven not for sloth or re- velry, but, as His law says, to be kept holy. During these terrible days the Republic was in great danger. The army of Dumouriez was defeated by the Aus- trians at Neerwinden (1793), and he, finding himself hated and suspected by those in power at home, rode away to the Austrian camp. The desertion of so skilful a leader was a heavy blow. Insurrection raged both in La Vendee, where the Royalists mustered strong, and in the cities of Mar- seilles, Lyons, and Toulon. Marseilles and Lyons were soon reduced to subjection. Toulon gave more trouble, for the garrison were aided by English and Spanish ships. The cannon of the Republic made but small impression on the town, until their fire was turned upon the forts commanding the harbour. When these gave way, Toulon was abandoned by the allied defenders. This success was mainly owing to the skill of Lieutenant-Colonel Bonaparte, a Corsican officer of artillery, who planned the attack, and directed the laying of the guns. We shall hear more of this olive-cheeked little soldier in succeeding years. Murders, rivalling in atrocity those of Paris, were perpe- trated in many parts of France, but especially at Nantes. Carrier, who was president there, shot men, women, and children by hundreds. Boats, crowded with poor sufferers, were rowed out into the deep Loire, there scuttled, and left to sink with all their shrieking freight. The death of Robespierre marks the crisis in the red fever of Revolution. Thenceforward France began to mend. Accused by Billaud-Varennes of seeking to establish his own power by the death of his colleagues, this sleek and smiling villain was condemned to die. He escaped, but was re- taken. Terror-stricken at the thought of the guillotine, long the slave of his frightful passion for blood, but now to be the instrument of his most righteous punishment, he tried to kill himself ; but he only broke his jaw. Groan- ing with the agony of this wound, and shivering J[ with deadly terror, the unpitied wretch was dragged * "' to the place of execution, and there slain, amid the jibes and yells of the crowd for whose brutal appetite be 292 THE DIRECTORY. had been chief caterer. With his death the Reign of Terror ended. In the summer of the next year (June 9th, 1795) little Louis XVII., who had been lingering in the Temple since the death of his parents, died, worn out by abuse and neglect. He was only ten years old. The Convention then gave place to the Directory. France received a new Constitution the third since 1789. The laws were to be made by two Councils the Ancients and the Five Hundred. The power of proposing a new law lay with the latter ; while the former, numbering two 1795 hundred and fifty members, all above forty years A.D. of age, sat in judgment to pass or reject the pro- posals of the larger body. The execution of the laws was vested in five Directors, who were chosen by the Ancients and the Five Hundred. Each Director was Pre- sident for three months, and then yielded to the next in turn. The Directory was not established without a struggle. It was short, sharp, but thoroughly decisive. The Sections of Paris protested against the change proposed by the Conven- tion, and the National Guard, to the number of 30,000, backed the citizens in their resistance. There were only 5000 troops in Paris to oppose this formidable mass. The command of these was given to Barras, who wisely intrusted the cannon to that same artillery officer we have seen direct- ing the bombardment of Toulon. Bonaparte pointed the guns, charged to the muzzle with grape-shot, down Oct. 4, all the streets by which the Tuileries could be ap- 1795 proached; and when, on the morning of the 13th A.D. Vendemiaire, the heads of the advancing columns began to appear along the quays and Rue St. HonorS, they were ordered to disperse in the name of the Convention. They moved on. The matches were applied. Gun after gun thundered in the faces of the wedged-up crowd, and the grape-shot tore its way in broad lanes through the mass. There was no standing this. After a few straggling shots and some feeble show of fighting, the National Guard fell back, and the new Constitution stood on firm ground. With this ended the French Revolution, and here opened the wonderful career of Napoleon Bonaparte, EABLY LIFE OF NAPOLEON L 293 CHAPTER IL NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. Central Point: THE BATTLE OP AUSTERLITZ, December 2, 1805, A.D, Early life of Napoleon. Treaty of Amiens. The Austrian marriage. Entry upon public life. The Code Napoleon. The Russian campaign. His marriage. Becomes Emperor. Battles of Leipsic. Italian campaign of Crowned King of Italy. The abdication. 1796. Battle of Austerlitz. Elba. Campo Foiinio. Battle of Jena. Louis and the Char- Invasion of Egypt. The Berlin Decrees. ter. Made First Consul The Peninsular War. The Hundred Days. Battle of Marengo. Battle of Wagram. St. Helena. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE was born at Ajaccio in Corsica on the 15th of August 1769. His father, Charles, was a lawyer, but saw some military service under Paoli against the French. His mother was Letizia Ramolini. Of these parents Napoleon was the second son. In April 1779 the little fellow, then not ten years old, left home for the Mili- tary School of Brienne. Here he spent five years and a half. His name appears in the report furnished yearly to the king by the Inspector of Schools, with these remarks : " Distin- guished in mathematical studies, tolerably versed in history and geography, much behind in Latin, belles-lettres, and other accomplishments ; of regular habits, studious, and well behaved, and enjoying excellent health." The story of the snow fortress, attacked and defended by the Brienne boys, when Napoleon led the stormers, is a well- known bit of his school life. In October 1784 the 1785 young mathematician left Brienne for the Military A.D. School at Paris ; and in less than a year he got his commission as sous-lieutenant of artillery. In the Revolution Napoleon took the popular side. We have already seen him cannonading the outworks of Toulon, and, a little later, tearing the National Guard to pieces with canister and grape. He little thought on that October day 294 THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF *96. that the shots of the cannon, which then boomed out the death-knell of Revolution, were pealing in a great era of French history, in which himself was for twenty years to be the central figure. His rise was rapid after the day of grape-shot. Barras being made one of the Directors, by his influence Bonaparte became, at the age of twenty-five, General of the Army of the Interior. His next great step in life was marriage. Josephine Beauharnois, a Creole of Martinique, and the widow of a general officer who had perished by the guillo- tine, became his wife in March 1796. She was older than he by some years, but a warm and strong affection united their hearts. Before the wedding-day he had received from Carnot, the Minister of War, his commission as General of the Army of Italy. The fair northern plains of the most beautiful land in Europe were swarming with Austrian soldiers. Old Beau- lieu commanded them. When Bonaparte arrived at Nice, he found the army, with which he was expected to beat these hordes of Austrians and their Sardinian allies, little better than a rabble badly clothed, badly fed, badly drilled, badly paid, and with scarcely a hundred serviceable horses among 42,000 men. The one point in favour of the French soldiers was that they were young. Their new general was young too, only twenty-six, and had yet to be tried as a leader of armies. It seemed a hazardous cast, on which to set the fame of the new French government. Yet that young general with his raw recruits conquered Italy within a twelvemonth. A succession of the most brilliant 1796 and decisive victories marked his steps through the A.D. land of art and song. At Montenotte and Millesimo he drove back the Austrians, and thus cut them off from the Piedmontese. Having then the latter at his mercy, he soon subdued them. The Sardinian king, Victor Amadeus III., was glad to conclude a peace upon the humiliating terms of giving up to France all his chief for- tresses and all the passes of the Alps. Crossing the Po below Pavia, Bonaparte then forced Beaulieu to fall back upon the Adda. Here was the Bridge of Lodi, ever since a name to stir the blood of Frenchmen. The Austrian cannon. TKEA.TY OF CAMPO FOKMIO. 296 commanding the passage, hurled death in iron torrents upon the advancing columns. But the grenadiers of France dashed gallantly on, carried the bridge, May 10. and were among the Austrian guns, bayonetting the artillerymen, before Beaulieu could bring his infantry tc the rescue. Milan fell at once before the conqueror. Mantua alone, through all the Lombard plain, held out for a time. Early in November the bloody battle of Arcola raged for three days, ending, like all the rest, in the triumph of the Corsican. The victory of Eivoli, and the capitulation of Mantua formed the brilliant opening of 1797. Italy lay at the feet of a young soldier in his twenty-sixth year ; and beaten Austria crouched among the pine- woods of the Tyrol. Crossing the Alps and driving the Archduke Charles before him, Bonaparte then advanced towards Vienna. But, when he had arrived within eight days' march of the Austrian capital, he was met with proposals for peace ; and he turned back to overthrow the ancient government of Venice. This " Bride of the Adriatic" was made a scape-goat for the sins of Austria. The galley Bucentaur was stripped of its golden decorations; the Venetian fleet was either sunk or sent to sea ; the bronze horses of St. Mark's were carried to the Tuileries, whither already the master-pieces of Italian painting and sculpture had gone. Manin, last of the Doges, fainted as he gave in his oath of allegiance to the Emperor of Austria. The Treaty of Campo Formio, concluded between France and Austria, was the seal of this iniquitous Oct. 17, bargain. By it France gained the Netherlands 1797 and the left bank of the Rhine, the Ionian Islands, A.D. and the Venetian territories in Albania. The Milanese and Mantuan States were erected into the Cisalpine Republic. After a time of quiet repose we find Bonaparte seeking new laurels on the sands of Egypt. Arriving there in the summer of 1 798, he defeated the Mamelukes in the battle of the Pyramids. His grand object was to tear India from the British crown. But a mighty foe was on the watch. Nelson had chased him down the Mediterranean, and now destroyed his fleet as it lay in the roads of Aboukir (August 1, 1798). His repulse at Acre ruined for ever his hopes ol 296 NAPOLEON FIRST CONSUL. crippling British power in the East. Leaving his soldiers- tired, sick, and starving under Kleber to attempt an im- possible conquest, he secretly returned to France with a few devoted officers. During his absence of seventeen months (May 9, 1798 October 8, 1799) the Directory had fallen into disgrace with the French people. Austria, with the aid of Suwarrow and his Russians, had recovered Italy. French soldiers had been defeated on the Rhine. And the money matters of the country were sadly behind. All eyes turned to Bonaparte, who resolved on a change. Abbe Si&yes, one of the Directors, had sketched out a new Constitution, and it remained for Bonaparte and his grena- diers to overthrow the old state of things \and lay the foundation of the new. The two Councils were removed to St. Cloud, lest they might be overawed by the mob of Paris. Bonaparte appeared one day among them, passed from the Hall of the Ancients to that of the Five Hundred, Nov. 10, and when in the latter the cry of " No Dictator " 1799 rose from the angry members, who crowded noisily A.D. round him, a file of soldiers rushed in to save him. His brother Lucien, who was president, left the chair, and proclaimed the Assembly dissolved. Murat then led through the hall a band of grenadiers, with drums beat- ing and bayonets at the charge, clearing out the members, some of whom tumbled with undignified haste out of the windows. Then the government of France was placed in the hands of three Consuls, appointed for ten years. Bona- parte was First Consul, and held all real power, Ms col- leagues, Sieyes and Ducos, being mere assistants and advisers. These two inferior Consuls soon gave place to Cambaceres and Lebrun. The law-making was done according to the new plan, by the Consuls, a Senate of 80, a Legislative Assembly of 300, and a Tribunate of 100 members. The First Consul then began to act the king. He wrote a letter to George III. of England proposing peace, but tho offer was rejected in a strongly- worded reply from Grenville. Already he had detached Russia from the coalition of nations against whom he had to contend. At home he bent all his energies to the raising of troops, and a quarter of million conscripts were soon marshalled beneath his banner. He BATTLE OF MARENGO. 297 gagged the press. He put down the civil war in La Vendee. He filled France with detectives, whose vigilance covered the land with an unseen network of espionage. And, well aware of the national taste for show, he gathered into the ball- rooms of the Tuileries crowds of handsome soldiers gay with scarlet and gold, and lovely women, whose toilettes rivalled in taste and splendour the fashions of the later Bourbon dames. Eesolved again to humiliate Austria on the plains of Lombardy, he signalized the last spring of the century by his famous passage of the Alps. With 36,000 men, and 40 cannon, he climbed the Great St. Bernard, May, his soldiers dragging the dismounted guns up the 1800 icy slopes in the hollow trunks of trees. Like an A.D. avalanche he poured his troops upon the green plain below. On the 2d of June he entered Milan in triumph, and met the wings of his army, which had crossed by the Simplon and the St. Gothard. A fortnight later, he met old Melas, the Austrian leader, on the plain of Marengo near Alessandria. The French army, outnumbered three to one, was driven back and all but beaten, June 14. until the gallant Desaix flung himself with the last reserve upon the Austrian column and broke it to pieces. The leader of the charge, to whom not long before Bonaparte had presented a sword engraven with the proud words, " ConquHe de la Haute Egypte" fell dead from his horse, shot through the breast in the moment of victory. The Austrians were soon driven beyond the Adige and the Brenta. In the same year (November 3) Moreau, who had been sent to the Khine, defeated the Austrians at Hohenlinden. These successes were followed by the Treaty of Luneville, concluded between Austria and France. Feb. 9, The leading terms of this peace were similar to 1801 those of Campo Formio. A.D. Ere this Christianity had been re-established in France; and the people gladly welcomed the old familiar chime of the church-bells, ringing in the seventh day's rest. Now a general amnesty was granted to all emigrants, who would take an oath of allegiance to the new government before a certain date, and about 100,000 exiles turned their weary feet towards home. Wherever it was possible, these return- 298 THE CODE NAPOLEON. ing wanderers got back their old estates. The " Legion of Honour" was instituted for both soldiers and civilians. England was the power most dreaded by Bonaparte ; and he well knew that her navy was her highest glory and greatest strength. He worked in the northern courts until he united Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and afterwards Prussia, in a formidable league against England and her ships. But Nelson, sailing into the harbour of Copenhagen in the face of 2000 cannon, crushed the naval power of Denmark in four hours (April 2, 1801). And, a few days earlier, the Emperor Paul of Russia was strangled by conspirators. So the giant league melted into nothing. At the same time British bayonets, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, scattered the last relics of the army which Bonaparte had abandoned in Egypt. These disappointments and reverses made March 27, the First Consul wish for peace. At Amiens this 1802 short-lived peace was signed. France retained A.D. Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine, and got back her West Indian Islands. Holland received once more the Cape of Good Hope. England kept Ceylon. But Napoleon never meant peace ; all he intended was a short breathing time, that he might take an important step at home, and gird himself for a more brilliant career of victory abroad. All France was wild with delight at the dazzling glory of the First Consul's victories, and the kindness of Aug. 2, his rule. When the enthusiasm had reached the 1802 boiling point, a decree of the Senate appeared, A.D. proclaiming Bonaparte First Consul for life. The votes of the people all over the land ratified the change One work he did at this time, which half redeems his memory, in France at least, from the red cloud that blurs its glory. He set a number of his best lawyers, with Camba- ceres at their head, to arrange the laws of his adopted land. Six distinct codes, published at various times, are loosely grouped together as the Code Napoleon. Of these the Civil Code is undoubtedly the best ; and France still enjoys the valued legacy. In the schools instruction took, as might be expected, an almost exclusively military turn. Latin, uiathe INTENDED INVASION OF ENGLAND. 299 matics, and drill were the great aims of the teacher's work The First Consul laughed metaphysics and kindred studies to utter scorn. No better proof to him of time well spent at school than the ability to fence with skill, to point a gun, or sketch out the map of a position. Then, with studied insults, he drove England again into war. In May 1803 the British Government seized all French vessels in British harbours, an act which Napoleon retaliated by throwing into prison all Englishmen found tra- velling in France. French soldiers then rapidly overran Hanover, and prepared to invade Naples. At the same time the First Consul began to muster his legions and fleets for the invasion of England. This was his grandest design ; but he never was able to cross the narrow strait. With 160,000 blue-jackets standing by her guns at sea, and double that number of red-coats lining her southern shores, Britain stood on her guard. The whole scheme vanished into nothing. Eighteen hundred years before, a mad Emperor of Eome had set his legions to pick shells on that same low beach, where the " Army of England " lay encamped, and had then cele- brated his conquest of the white-cliffed island by a splendid triumph at Rome. Bonaparte could not stoop to folly like this. But he turned away in fear ; and leaving his flat-bot- tomed boats at Boulogne, he marched his soldiers towards the Danube. But before he won there his greatest victory, he had perpetrated his greatest crime, and reached his highest eminence. A plot against his life was detected by his sleep- less police. Two generals, Pichegru and Moreau, were involved in the affair. While Pichegru lay in prison, he was found strangled ; Moreau went into exile. But an innocent man fell a victim to a vague suspicion of the same kind. His true crime was only that he was a Bourbon. Seized in Baden, the young Duke d'Enghien was hurried to the castle of Vincennes. There, after a mock trial, he was shot by torch-light in the darkness of a wild March morning, and buried as he lay, in his bloody and bullet-turn clothes (March 21). Within two months the First Consul was declared, by the Senate and the Tribunate, Emperor of the French. The votes of the people being taken, only about 4000 names 800 NAPOLEON ELECTED EMPEKOfc. were registered against his elevation. He was too impa- tient to wait for the collection of the votes. On May 18, the 18th of May he assumed the imperial name at 1804 St. Cloud, and on the following day he created A.D. eighteen of his best generals Marshals of the Em- pire. The pope, Pius VII. , was invited to Paris to crown the newly elected emperor. At Notre Dame, on the 2d of December, the ceremony of coronation was performed. The pope blessed the crown, and Napoleon, taking it from the altar, placed it on his own head. Her husband's hand then crowned Josephine as empress. The republics of Italy were then all merged into a king- dom, of which Bonaparte was invited to become king. It pleased him well. Indeed, he must have foreseen and worked towards this ancient end of French ambition. In the cathe- dral of Milan (May 26, 1805), he assumed the iron crown of Lombardy, saying, as he placed the rusty rim upon his temples, " God has given it to me ; woe to him who shall attempt to lay hands on it !" He then named Eugene Beau- harnois, his step-son, as his viceroy in Italy. England, Kussia, Austria, and Sweden were now united against this little man, who threatened so seriously to disturb the balance of power in Europe. He had broken faith with all, and it was clear that he meditated new and mightier conquests. The first great blow was struck by the English Nelson, who shattered the navies of France and Spain in the great tight off Trafalgar (October 21, 1805), when he found a warrior's death on the quarter-deck of his ship, the Victory. But on land the French eagles were brilliantly triumphant Mack, the Austrian leader, was hemmed in at Ulm, and forced to surrender with nearly 30,000 men (October 17, 1805). In less than a month the victorious French marched into Vienna, from which Francis II. had fled to Olmutz. And then came the crowning triumph of the campaign. At Austerlitz, a Moravian village, the rival armies faced each other, 80,000 Russians and Austrians pitted against a nearly equal number of French veterans. A Dec. 2, frosty sun shone bright upon the yet unsullied 1805 battle-ground, as three emperors Alexander of A.D. Russia, Francis of Austria, and Napoleon of the BATTLE OF ATJSTERLITZ. 301 French rode up the heights to watch the great game played out, and direct the movements of the day. France and Russia were to cross bayonets for the first time at Aus- terlitz. Cannon thundered, steel glanced, whirlwinds of cavalry swept across the field; and all the terrors and fury of battle began to rage. The Russian lines were too long and thin. At once Napoleon saw the fault, and like lightning formed his plan. Pushing in the centre, and breaking up the wings, he attacked the fragments of the line separately, and swept them in flying crowds from the field. In vain the Russian Guard strove to turn the tide of battle. It was a total rout. Then began the horrors of pursuit. A crowd of poor wretches were fleeing over the ice which sheeted a neighbouring lake, when the guns of the victors opened fire upon them, and they sank through the ripped and splintered floes. The loss of the allies exceeded 30,000 that of the French amounted to fully 12,000. The Treaty of Presburg, between France and Austria, was signed on the 26th of December. One result of Napoleon's triumph was a great change in the constitution of Germany. The Electors of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were made Kings; and many of the smaller States were formed, by the victor at Austerlitz, into the Confederation of the Rhine. Already, in 1804, Austria had been declared an empire, and the Emperor Francis II. of Germany had begun to call himself Emperor of Austria. This severance of Austria from Germany was formally com- pleted in 1806. The Emperor of the French then began to give away king- doms. Seizing Naples early in 1806, he made his brother Joseph king. Turning the Batavian Republic into a Kingdom of Holland, he placed its crown on the head of his brother Louis. His brother-in-law, Murat, famed as the most dash- ing cavalry officer in Europe, became Grand Duke of Berg. But this year is most remarkable for the complete prostra- tion of Prussia. She had been playing a double part ; and never has man or nation done so without suffering just and heavy punishment. Although she professed to be the friend of England, she made no scruple about receiving Hanover from the emperor, who was England's bitterest foe. Napoleon nov? 302 BATTLES OF JENA AND EYLATJ. changed his tone, having no longer any need for keeping this truckling power in good humour. In two great battles, Oct. 14, Auerstadt and Jena, fought upon the same day, 1806 he utterly c-rushed the military power with which, but A.D. half a century ago, the Great Frederic had wrought such marvels. Prussia lay writhing at his feet. From the Prussian capital, which he entered in triumph a week after the bloody day of Jena, he launched the Berlin Decrees. Thunderbolts he meant them to be, scathing to the roots the oak of British commerce ; but the petty squibs fizzed harmlessly at the foot of the great unshaken tree. The British islands were declared to be in a state of blockade. The Continent of Europe was to hold no correspondence, to transact no business whatever with Britain. \British manu- factures and produce were declared contraband. British property was a lawful prize. Letters to and from the shores of Britain were to be kept and opened at the post-offices. The defeat of these tremendous decrees was complete and very amusing. " Artillery, horse, and infantry were always defeated when opposed to his battalions ; but printed ging- hams were irresistible. There were conspiracies beyond the reach of his spies in every parlour, where the daughters were dressed in coloured muslins; and cloths, cutlery, an dearth en- ware were smuggled wherever an English vessel could float."* We next find Russia facing the " Little Corporal," as his bronzed grenadiers loved to call him in their stories by the midnight watch-fire. It was in the depth of winter Feb. 8. that the armies met on the field of Eylau. It was 1807 a drawn battle ; but Napoleon, camping for eight A.D. days upon the reddened snow, claimed a great victory. But there was no doubt about the battle of Friedland, fought on the 14th of the following June. The Russians were driven across the Aller, with the loss of 60,000 men ; and the Czar Alexander sought a peace, which was concluded at Tilsit on the Niemen. Prussia, who had plucked up heart again to dare French bayonets, had got her share of the beating, and was a partner in the humiliation of the peace. * White's History of Franca BATTLE OF WAOftAM. 303 The re-action now began. Having driven the royal house of Braganza from Portugal to Brazil, and having flung the Bourbons from the throne of Spain, he set his brother Joseph up in place of the latter, as King of Spain. Murat was promoted to fill Joseph's vacant throne at Naples. The Spaniards drew their knives, called in British aid, and the Peninsular War began. The story of this war may be read in British history. Vimiera was its great opening field; and Vittoria (1813) the decisive 1808 triumph of its great hero, Wellington. The war in A.t>. the Peninsula was conducted by Napoleon's mar- shals, for greater interests occupied himself at the heart of Europe. He paid a short visit to Spain in the first year of the struggle, going, as he said, to rid the Peninsula of " the hideous presence of the English leopards." He beat the Spaniards at Tudela, entered Madrid in triumph (Dec. 4). and tried without success to cut off the retreating army of Moore. Then news of an Austrian war recalled him to France after an absence of scarcely three months. Austria now mustered half a million soldiers, bent upon washing out in French blood the stains which Marengo and Austeiiitz had left upon her banner. All around her fron- tiers and within her boundaries a spirit had begun to burn which boded no good to Napoleon. Maj or Schill (soon slain at Stralsund) drilled his corps of Prussian volunteers ; andHofer, the inn-keeper of Tyrol (afterwards shot at Mantua), roused the chamois-hunters to a patriotic war. There was no time to lose. Napoleon, dashing over the Rhine, beat the Arch- duke Charles at Eckmuhl, bombarded Vienna, and carried his eagles again into the splendid streets which had witnessed their triumphant march not four years before ; and all this in nine days (April 3-12). He then crossed the Danube to the left bank, and fought there the indecisive battle of As- pern. The Austrians broke down the bridge behind him, by throwing huge logs of timber into the swollen river. So he was obliged to shelter his army in the island of Lobau, where he lay for six weeks. From this retreat he issued to fight the great battle of Wagram. It was J^ly 5, a terrific day. The thunder of the sky almost 1809 drowned the peals of gunpowder, as the armies A.D. 304 THE AUSTRIAN MARRIAGE. rushed to the charge. All the roof-tops of Vienna were crowded with pale, excited men and women, gazing on a sight such as has seldom been seen. Four hundred thou- sand men were on the field. By mid-day the Austrian centre was driven in, and Francis, who had watched the battle from a hill, rode madly from the scene of slaughter and defeat. Peace followed as a matter of course. The Treaty of Schon- brunn, signed on the 14th of the following October, yielded to the conqueror territory containing more than two millions of people. Yet Napoleon did not despise Austria. Far from it. It was indeed great glory for the parvenu to humble to the dust an ancient house like that of Hapsburg. But he had still that hankering after ancient name and lineage which often disfigures the character of a self-made man. Divorc- ing the faithful and loving Josephine, whose only faults were that she was a plebeian and had no children, he March 11, married the Archduchess Maria Louisa of Aus- 1810 tria, in the hope that this daughter of the Haps- A.D. burgs would bear him a son. A year afterwards his hope was realized. On the 20th of March 1811 a son was born to him, whom he created at once King of Rome. But this King of Rome, better known as the Due de Reichstadt, was not destined to hold the sceptre of France. Upon the fall of his father in 1814 he retired to the Austrian court, and died at Schonbrunn in ] 832. The year which preceded the Austrian marriage had wit- nessed strange things in Rome. When Napoleon annexed to his far-spreading empire the Papal States, the poor pope issued a bull of excommunication against the sacrilegious usurper. Napoleon, minding this once terrible instrument no more than the bite of a gnat, took a still more daring step. Send- ing his gendarmes one summer night to scale the walls of the palace on the Quirinal, he carried the pope a captive to Sa- vona, whence he removed him in 1812 to Fontainebleau. The position of Napoleon at this height of his power (1811) is well worth marking. The French empire, over which he ruled, extended from the borders of Denmark to those of Naples. Holland, Naples, and Westphalia were ruled by his kinsmen. His brother Joseph held an insecure THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN. 305 throne at Madrid. Bernadotte, one of his generals, had been chosen Crown Prince of Sweden. As Protector of the Con- federation of the Rhine, he held the German States in sul> jection, and he did the same kind office for the Helvetic Confederation, into which he had formed the cantons of Switzerland. Prussia and Austria crouched at his feet, and Russia seemed his firm ally. In four years all was changed. The magician's wand was broken, and his magnificent theatre of action had shrunk into a little house and garden on a barren rock far out in the tropic seas. The miserable Russian campaign of 1812 was but the be- ginning of disasters. In defiance of the advice of old and wise counsellors" he declared war against the Czar, who had opened his ports to British goods. Assembling a magnificent army of more than half a million be- 1812 tween the Vistula and the Niemen, he crossed the A.D. latter stream in the middle of June. The Russians had mustered to the number of about 300,000 men. But they wisely trusted more to their climate than to their bayonets or their cannon. Falling back before the in- vading army, they lured Napoleon into the heart of a bleak and barren land, where his horses died for want of forage, and his soldiers sickened with ague and rheuma- tism. Still his heart never failed him, for he believed that he was destined to march triumphant into St. Peters- burg, as he had marched into Vienna and Madrid. On he pressed through Wilna, and up to the walls of Smolensk, against which he turned all his force. A heavy cannonade made little impression on the solid Aug. 16. walls ; but the city was set on fire by his shells ; and in the night the Russians fled from its burning streets. The march of Napoleon to Moscow, where he meant to take up his winter quarters, was checked for a little at Borodino. There Kutusoff faced the French. The armies numbered about 130,000 men each, and had be- Sept. 7. tween them over 1000 cannon. From early morn- ing till nightfall the battle raged, and then the Russians fell back in unbroken order towards Moscow. Ninety thousand men were slain or wounded on that terrible day. A week later, the army of Napoleon saw the longed-for r47) 20 306 THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. haven. The towers of the Kremlin, and the fantastic spires of Moscow, linked together with gilt chains, lay below them to the east. But when they entered the city, it was Sept. 14. silent and empty. Next night a fire broke out, then another and another, until the city was a sea of flame. Napoleon and his troops could not stay. He in- deed returned for a while to the Kremlin ; but when peace was refused by the enraged Czar, there was nothing left for the baffled Emperor but to hurry back to France. The retreat began on the 19th of October. The Russians followed fast, harassing the fugitives at every step. But worse than Cossacks were the snow and the wind. The land spread before them one vast winding-sheet of drifted snow. The blinding flakes fell thick around them as they stumbled on. They often marched between files of their comrades who had been frozen to death. Harassed by repeated at- tacks, they struggled with constantly thinning ranks through Smolensk, where they found a little food, on to the banks of the Beresina. There they were frightfully cut up as they made the passage of the wintry stream. Twenty-four thousand were either drowned in the icy water or smashed with Rus- sian shot. At Smorgoni (December 5) Napoleon abandoned the wretched phantom of the grand army, and set out in a sledge for Paris. Only a few thousand gaunt and frost- bitten men, more like famished wolves than human beings, mustered on the Vistula after this tragic campaign. It is calculated that 125,000 perished in battle ; that 132,000 died of fatigue, hunger, and cold ; and that 193,000 were made pri- soners. Seldom has so fearful a blow fallen upon human pride. The beaten conqueror reached the Tuileries about mid- night on the 18th of December. He knew that the struggle was now to be for life or death. It gives some idea of the amazing hold which he had upon the heart of France, to read that in four months he was at the head of 350,000 men. And he needed every bayonet there, for all Europe was arrayed against him. The banks of the Elbe became the scene of war. The victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, both won in May, were of little use to stem the great tide of enemies which had set in towards Paris. A conference at Prague decided nothing, but threw the weight of Austria RESTORATION OF THE BOURBONS. 307 into the coalition against Napoleon. Battle after battle was fought, until he made his final stand at Leipsic. There two bloody battles took place, in the latter 16th and of which a body of 10,000 Saxons deserted the 18th Oct. French lines, and so weakened Napoleon, that next 1813 day he began to fall back upon the Rhine with A.D. a broken and disordered force. In the same year the great battle of Vittoria (June 21, 1813) had driven the French armies out of the Peninsula. The dawn of the following year saw a great allied host on the march for the French frontiers. Wellington was in the south of France ; and the Emperor found even old friends and fellow-soldiers Murat and Bernadotte arrayed against him. He summoned all his energies to meet the crisis. For more than two months, with a greatly inferior force, he faced his foes, winning many victories and enduring with unbroken courage many checks. At last he made a false move. He dashed to the rear of the allies in the hope that they would retreat in terror. Instead of this, however, they marched at once upon Paris, which was surrendered without a struggle by Marmont. On the following day Mar. 3H, the allied sovereigns led their troops in triumph 1814 along the crowded Boulevards. Napoleon, who A.D. came up too late to save his capital, rode away to Fontainebleau. In two days he was deposed by a decree of the Senate ; on the 4th of April he signed the deed of abdi- cation, which stripped him of the French and Italian crowns ; and on the 20th of the same month, having spoken a few sad words of farewell to the Old Guard in the court-yard of Fon- tainebleau, he set out for the little island of Elba, where he was henceforth, as all the world thought, to enjoy the name of Emperor and a revenue of six million francs. The British frigate Undaunted carried him from Frejus to his new home. A few days after Napoleon reached Elba, his faithful Josephine died. The Bourbon dynasty was now restored in the person of Louis XVIII., the brother of the guillotined king. But the Bourbons knew as little how to rule as they had known before the terrible days of the Revolution. The remnant of the exiled noblesse came back to France, clamouring loudly 306 CORPORAL TTOLET. for their lost estates, upon which new owners had long been peaceably settled. Louis carried out the same line of action on a greater scale. He reclaimed everything that had ever belonged to the crown ; and although he gave the people a Charter, which guaranteed eight great privileges,* it was given with immensely patronizing airs, and its provisions were soon found to be empty forms in the eyes of the king and his court. The disbanded troops of Napoleon filled every village in France, sneering at the host of foreign troops, who were fed on the fat of the land, that the Bourbon might sit safely on his throne. Men began to talk through all France of the violets of next spring ; and the innocent little blossom hid treason under its sweet leaves. A certain Corporal Violet would come, perhaps, in spring. Ladies who longed for his coming wore violets in their bonnets ; and little pictures of the flower were sold, which revealed beneath their lifted leaves the face of the banished Emperor. All this foretold a change, which speedily came. Napoleon spent in all about ten months in Elba (May 3, 1814, to February 26, 1815). He had around him there some of his old soldiers, who were ready to dare anything in his cause. Letters from France told him of the Bourbon mis- rule, and of the unquenched love for his magic name which was alive throughout the land. He was seen to grow more thoughtful as the days went by. The works of engineering, in which he had at first taken some interest, had lost their charm. A great plan was ceaselessly shaping itself out in his brain. The winter of 1814-15 was spent by a Congress of the Allied Powers at Vienna, in trying to restore order among the states of Europe. We are told that "they consulted wisely all day, and danced indefatigably all night." This agreeable round of business sweetened with pleasure was rudely disturbed. Like the bursting of a shell on their council-table came the news that Napoleon was in France. Slipping away from Elba in a brig called the Inconstant, * These were 1. Equality before the law ; 2. Admission to all employments; 3. Unity of administration ; 4. Representative government ; 5. Taxation only by the votes of the representatives ; 6. Individual liberty ; 7. Liberty of worship ; 8. Liberty of the press. THE HUNDRED DAYb. 309 he had landed after three days' sailing in the Gulf of San Juan near Cannes. He had with him 1000 men 600 of the Old Guard, and 400 Poles and Corsicans. At Grenoble 700 men deserted the Bourbon banner for the tricolor. Marshal Ney, who had promised on leaving Paris that he would bring the daring little Emperor back with him in an iron cage, could not resist the old memories which the sight of the well-known face and the sound of the old cry, " Vive VEmpereur" called up within his breast. Onward to Paris Napoleon pressed. Louis XVIII. set out for Ghent ; and on the same evening, with the clatter of horse hoofs and the flash of drawn sabres, a carriage dashed up Mar. 20, to the Tuileries, and the Emperor Napoleon once 1815 more sat down to work in his little study. And A.D. there he worked night arid day with most tremen- dous energy. He looked narrowly into every department of the government. He agreed to all the provisions of the Charter, for he saw clearly it was no time to breathe a word of despotic rule. And, most important of all to a man in his perilous situation, he strained every nerve to raise a great army. By the middle of June he had mustered 125,000 men, and with these he opened the campaign, which was destined to come so speedily to an end. Nearly a million of troops had gathered at the summons of the Vienna Congress. But of these only the British and the Prussians, both of whom lay in Belgium, ready to unite and march upon Paris, gave Napoleon immediate concern. If he could only beat these closer foes, he would have time to meet the more distant armies upon the Rhine. He there- fore moved towards Charleroi on the 15th of June. Ney, Soult, and Grouchy were his marshals. On the following day (the 16th) he gave battle in two places himself driving Bliicher from Ligny, while Ney made an unsuccessful attack upon a body of English troops at Quatre Bras. On the 17th Wellington, in consequence of Bliicher's retreat, fell back to Waterloo. And there was fought the greatest battle of the nineteenth century, resulting, after the * strife had lasted through all the length of a mid- lolO summer day, in the utter defeat of Napoleon. His ' ' Last hope on that day \vas in the invincible Old Guard, whom 310 FALL AND DEATH OF NAPOLEON. he held in reserve, until he heard that the Prussians were advancing to the aid of Wellington. But when he saw these favourite veterans broken by the withering fire of the British, he turned pale, and crying out, u They are mixed together," he rode fast from the field. When he got to Paris and saw the temper of the nation, he knew that his day of rule was past. On the 22d of June he signed his second abdication, which was in favour of his son. But the Allies, who entered Paris on the 7th of July, annulled this deed, and reinstated Louis XVIII. as King of France. Napoleon then went to Kochefort with the view of escaping to America ; but this he could not do, because the British cruisers watched all the coast. On the 15th of July he went on board the British ship Bellerophon (Captain Maitland), having previously written to the Prince Regent to say that " he came, like Themistocles, to claim the hospitality of the British people, and the protection of their laws." The ship sailed to Torbay, where Napoleon received word that the British G-overnment had resolved to send him to St. Helena. The Northumberland carried him out to that lonely rock, which he reached on the 15th of October 1815. And there he lived, first at Briars and then at Longwood, for nearly six years, quarrelling with the governor and dreaming of the glorious past. In 1818 his health began to fail, and on the 5th of May 1821 he died of an ulcer in the stomach. His body, laid at first in Slane's Valley, near a clump of weeping willows, was borne to France in the winter of 1840, and placed with brilliant ceremony in the Hotel des Invalides. The character of Napoleon Bonaparte is a threadbare theme. Never has the world seen ambition so brilliantly successful, so frightfully reckless of human life, or so miser- able in its tragic fall LATEST SOVEREIGNS OF FRANCE. A.D. NAPOLEON I, (Emperor of the French) 1804 LOUIS XVIII. (Comte de Pro- vence) 1814 CHARLES X. (Comte d'Ar- tois) 1834 LOUIS PHILIPPE (Due d'Orleans) 1830 REPUBLIC 1848 NAPOLEON III. (Em- peror; 1852 GENEALOGICAL 311 ^ fl 1 ^ Is 3 o o O 8 LUCIEN 1775, d. ince of G Si ~ig -j3. 312 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER TIL CONTINENTAL EUROPE SINCE 1815. Second Peace of Paris. State of Spain. Of Portugal. Second French Revolu- tion. Louis Napoleou. His attempts on France. Third French Revolu- tion. Louis Napoleon Empe- ror The Netherlands. Austrians in Italy. Pio Nono. Greek War of Inde- pendence. Hungarian Struggle. Poland. THE Second Peace of Paris was signed by France and the Allies on the 20th of November 1815. Its terms were on the whole unfavourable to France, for her frontier was con- tracted to the old line of 1790. She had to pay .28,000,000 sterling to meet the cost of the war, and a still larger sum for the mischief she had done to her neighbours in the days of the Revolution ; while all the bronzes and pictures and marbles, which Napoleon had gathered into the Louvre, were to be sent back to the cities whence they had been stolen. At the same time two other treaties were concluded ; one by Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England, shutting out the Bonaparte family for ever from the throne of France ; the other, called the Holy Alliance, binding Russia, Austria, and Prussia, " to aid one another, in conformity with Holy Scripture, on every occasion." SPAIN. After the expulsion of Joseph Bonaparte in 1814, Ferdinand VII. was restored to the throne of Spain. But it seemed impossible for Bourbons to reign except as despots. Against this the Spanish spirit rebelled ; and in 1820 a rising of the soldiers forced Ferdinand to restore to the people the Constitution of 1812, which was almost republican. This was the opposite extreme, and did not mend the matter ; for the republican party, when they felt the power in their hands, used it anything but well. It was resolved, there- fore, at a Congress of European powers held at Verona, to re-establish the authority of the Spanish King. In 1823 a French force of 100,000 men, under the Duke dAngouleme, entered Spain, and with little trouble overthrew the Con- stitutionalists. The king then renewed all the machinery SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. 3J:3 of despotism ; and so lie continued to rule, until in 1833 he died. His daughter, Isabella II., being then only three years old, the queen-mother, Christina, was appointed regent. But Don Carlos, the brother of the dead king, claimed the throne, and a desolating civil war began to rage. Some aid from Britain was given to the queen, whose cause triumphed in 1840. Almost ever since, Spain has been in a troubled state. In 1854 a revolution broke out, of which the chief centres were Barcelona and Madrid. Then a National Junta was established ; and the queen-mother, who, driven from Spain in 1840, had returned in 1844, was again obliged to leave the land. Matters grew steadily worse during the next few years. In 1868, Queen Isabella was formally deposed. Two years later, she tried to secure the crown for her son Alfonso, Prince of the Asturias, by abdicating in his favour. But the device failed. The Spanish people elected as king Amadeo, second son of Victor Emanuel of Italy, and he entered Madrid in January 1871. For two years he strove to reconcile the factions by which the country was torn. His difficulties were increased by a Carlist war, which broke out in 1872. Disheartened by the hopelessness of his task, Amadeo abdicated in 1873, and returned to Italy. A republic was then proclaimed ; but the failure of its generals against the Carlists brought it into disrepute. Monarchy was again resolved on. Alfonso, Isabella's son, was chosen to be king, and he entered Madrid early in 1875. PORTUGAL. When in 1807 Napoleon issued one of his haughty edicts, declaring that the House of Braganza had ceased to reign over Portugal, the royal family of that land crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, where the Eegent John con- tinued to live even after he became king in 1816. This absenteeism greatly displeased the people of Portugal, who, catching fire from their Spanish neighbours, rose and estab- lished a new Constitution. In 1821 the court returned from Brazil, which was soon finally severed from the crown of Portugal, Don Pedro, the son of John, becoming Emperor of Brazil in 1826. By thus choosing the crown of Brazil, Pedro left that of Portugal to his little daughter, Maria II. But her uncle Miguel usurped the tlmnu\ and a civil war ensued, in which the British helped Pedro and his daughter. 314 SECOND FRENCH REVOLUTION. The defeat of Miguel's navy in 1833, off Cape St. Viiicent, by Admiral Napier, brought the war to a close, throwing Lisbon into the hands of Pedro. Donna Maria reigned from 1834, when she was declared of age by the Cortes, until her death, which happened in 1854. Her son Pedro V. then became king; He was succeeded by his brother, Luis I., in 1861. FRANCE. The history of France since 1815 is full of change. When Louis XVIII. died in 1824, his brother be- came king with the title of Charles X. This king, like all his Bourbon kindred and our own unhappy Stuarts, had a mania for despotic rule. He could not poor blind king read the lessons written in French blood upon those pages of the national story which had not long been closed. In 1827 he disbanded the Civic Guard. In 1830, aided by a minister, Polignac, as blind and foolish as himself, he issued three ordinances, which kindled the Second French Revolution. These were : 1. That the liberty of the press was suspended ; 2. That the Chamber of Deputies was dissolved before it had met ; 3. That the elections were to be made by the pre- fects, who were all creatures of the government. On the morning of the 26th of July, Charles went out to hunt rabbits at St. Cloud, little dreaming of a brooding storm. Next day many of the morning newspapers were pub- lished in defiance of the royal edict ; upon which the police broke into the offices and smashed the presses. Throughout that day the streets were crowded with men and women, so angry and excited that Marmont thought it best about four o'clock to put the troops under arms. There was some skirmishing ; but at night all seemed so quiet that Marmont, thrown off his guard, sent word to the king that the riot was subdued. That night the street lamps were broken, and the paving-stones torn up to form barricades. 1830 The 28th dawned upon a more stirring scene. Men, A.D. wearing the uniform of the disbanded Guards, hurried along with the tricolor cockade in their hats. A sharp fire of musketry from the barricades and the windows of the houses drove back the soldiers everywhere, while paving-stones rained on them from the roofs. Point after point was won by the people, until the night set in. EARLY LIFE OF LOUIS NAPOLEON. 315 Next day (29th), the desertion of some regiments to the in- surgents strengthened the cause of Revolution so much that before four o'clock in the afternoon Paris was in the hands of the people. A provisional government was appointed ; and in a few days Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the son of Egalite, was elected King of the French. Charles took refuge at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, where he lived for some time. He died at Gra'tz in Austria in 1836. The reign of Louis Philippe lasted from 1830 to 1848. The man whom he would have dreaded most, if he could have foreseen the future, was Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor. He was the son of Louis Bonaparte, once King of Holland, and was born at Paris in 1808. His mother, Hortense, went, after the fall of Napoleon, to Switzerland ; and while her boys were growing up, she used to spend the summers there, and the winters at Rome. After the Revo- lution of 1830, Louis Napoleon wrote to Louis Philippe for leave to return to France, offering to carry a musket in the ranks as a common private. This being refused, he joined the revolutionary party in Italy, and saw some service against the Papal troops ; but he was soon obliged to settle down to a quiet literary life in Switzerland. The death of the Due de Reichstadt gave a new hope to his life. Thence- forward he devoted himself to the restoration of the Napo- leon dynasty in France. His works, some of which were written in his Swiss seclusion, all bear the stamp of this great purpose. When the time seemed ripe for the execution of his plans, Louis Napoleon came to Baden, and there met with Colonel Vaudry, who commanded the artillery in Strasbourg. On the 30th of October 1836, Vaudry assembled his men in the square of the artillery barracks at Strasbourg, and presented to them Louis as the nephew of the late emperor. A cheer was raised, and all seemed well ; but the other colonels of the garrison were not so enthusiastic. Then came hesitation among the soldiers, fatal to the design. Louis was arrested, and all hope was gone. It did not seem a very formidable affair to the French government, and the only sentence passed was banishment from France. Louis went to Amerii-i , where he travelled much both in the Northern and Southern 316 THIRD FRENCH REVOLUTION. Continents. The illness of his mother, who died in 1837, called him back to Europe. He stayed a while in Switzer- land ; but, when he found Louis Philippe demanding from the Swiss that he should be banished from their cantons, he went to England. There he lived for about two years, until, growing tired of inaction, he resolved again to try his fortune on French soil. "With Count Montholon, fifty other friends, and a tame eagle, he sailed from Margate in a hired steam- boat, and landed on the 6th of August 1840 at Boulogne. His first move was to the barracks. But the soldiers would not surrender ; and the crest-fallen invaders, after a few shots, made for their steamer again. Before they could get on board, however, most of them were arrested, Louis Napoleon among the rest. He was tried before the Peers, defended by Berryer with great eloquence, but sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. Ham was the fortress chosen as his prison ; and there he lay until 1846, when, aided by Dr. Conneau, he managed to escape in the dress of a workman. England became again his home, until the great change of 1848 opened for him a new theatre of action. Louis Philippe was no favourite with the French people, especially after the death of his son the Duke of Orleans, who was thrown from his carriage in 1842. Murmurs grew loud and deep against the corruptions of the government. The crisis came in 1848, when a reform banquet, appointed to take place on the 22nd of February, which was the birth- day of the great American Washington, was forbidden by the government. That evening there was a riot round the tavern where the banquet was to have taken place. The next day (23rd) barricades were thrown up, and some firing was heard. Louis, alarmed, dismissed the Guizot ministry, and on the 24th issued a proclamation that Thiers and Odil- lon Barrot were to take the direction of affairs. It was too late. The troops gave up their muskets to the mob, the Tuileries were broken into, and a great bonfire was made of the throne and the royal carriages. Louis Philippe hurried through the private garden away to St. Cloud, to Versailles, and soon over to England. There he died at Claremont (August 26, 1850). France was now a Republic once more ; but the tumults COUP D ETAT OF DECEMBER '51. 317 of the change were not yet over. The Eed Eepublicans or violent democratic party made several efforts to gain the upper hand, and renew the horrors of the guillotine. Espe- cially in June there was a fierce struggle, lasting five days, during which many thousands were slain in the streets of Paris. The firmness of General Cavaignac restored order and saved Trance. A new Constitution, vesting the execu- tive power in a President of the Eepublic, who should be chosen by all the people, and should hold office for four years, was adopted on the 4th of November ; and in Decem- ber Louis Napoleon, who had been in June elected deputy for the department of Seine, and had taken his seat in Sep- tember on the benches of the National Assembly, was, by the votes of five millions and a half of the French people, elected President of the Republic. He never agreed well with the Assembly, and it was soon manifest that one or other must be crushed. One night the President was in remarkably gay spirits in the brilliant ball- room of the Tuileries, chatting and laughing with all his guests. The carriages had scarcely ceased to roll away, when bands of soldiers began to move silently through the streets. Next morning Paris was in the Presi- Dec. 2, dent's hands ; and the leaders of the Opposition, 1851 who had been seized in their beds, were fast locked A - D - within the walls of Vincennes. On all the walls of Paris a decree of Napoleon was posted, proclaiming that the Assembly was dissolved, that universal suffrage was restored, and that Paris was under martial law. This was the coup d'etat of December. On the 4th, some eight hundred of those who rose to resist the blow fell by the bullets of the soldiers. A.nd on the 14th of the following January a new Constitution placed in the hands of Louis Napoleon the government of France for ten years. The cry " Vive VEmpereur!" now began, after a silence of nearly forty years, to be heard again in France ; and, after wisely allow- ing the idea to leaven the public mind for nearly a year, the nephew of the little Corsican ascended the steps of an imperial throne as Napoleon III., Emperor of the French (December 1852). The maintenance of a close alliance with Britain, com- 318 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. mercial and political, was a chief object of the new emperor's policy. When Turkey asked for help to resist the encroach- ments of Russia, France and Britain formed an alliance in her aid ; and French and British soldiers shared the honours of the Alma and of Inkermann. In 1859 Napoleon helped Italy to recover most of her northern provinces from Austria, receiving Savoy and Nice as the reward of his services. The emperor regarded with jealousy the increasing power of Prussia. The manner in which that power prevented his purchase of Luxemburg from Holland in 1867, imbittered his feelings toward her. The conduct of Prussia in connec- tion with the vacant Spanish throne in 1870 displeased France. The explanations offered were deemed unsatisfac- tory, and France declared war. Napoleon had both miscal- culated his own resources and under-estimated those of his enemy. Before the war had lasted many weeks his armies were crushed, and he himself was forced to surrender at Sedan (September 1, 1870). The Parisians then abolished the empire and proclaimed a republic. The Prussian armies gradually closed around Paris, which surrendered after a brave defence of four months (January 28, 1871). The war was terminated by the Peace of Frankfort, by which most of Alsace and Lorraine were transferred to Prussia. Paris was then seized by insurgent Communists, and was besieged by the forces of the National Assembly meeting at Versailles. Not till they had tried the power and the patience of the Assembly for three months did the insur- gents surrender. M. Theirs was elected first president of the new republic. He resigned in 1873, and was succeeded by Marshal M'Mahon. The ex-emperor died in England in 1873. HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. After the abdication of Louis Napoleon in 1810, the Netherlands were annexed to the French empire ; and so continued until 1813, when the people rose, shook off the French yoke, and recalled the House of Orange to be their rulers. In 1815 the seven northern and the ten southern provinces were united under William I. into the kingdom of the Netherlands. But the Belgians were kept down with too strict a hand, and when the French Revolution of 1830 took place, the men of Brussels, fired by ITALIAN AFFAIRS. 319 the example of their neighbours, turned on the Dutch soldiers, and after four days' fighting drove them from the city (August 1830). Belgium was then declared free, and the people looked round them for a king. The Due de Nemours, second son of Louis Philippe, had the first offer of the newly-erected throne ; but the old French king refused it for his son. The crown was then accepted by Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was succeeded by his son in 1865. Antwerp was the only place still held by the Dutch. But a French army of 65,000 men entered Belgium, to enforce the will of the five great European powers that had acknowledged the independence of Belgium, and Ant- werp fell after a month's siege. Belgium has thriven rapidly since this great change. ITALY. Austria, after the Congress of Vienna, hung like a millstone round the neck of Italy. The deadly weight was felt from the Alps to Spartivento. Austrians swarmed in the basin of the Po, and creatures of Austria wore the coronets of Tuscany, Modena, and Parma. When Pio Nono became Pope in 1846, he began to make some useful changes among the people of the Papal States. The Austrians, alarmed at any signs of growing freedom, entered Ferrara in 1847, and all Central Italy rose in arms against the tyrants. The following year saw the flame of revolution kindled in Lombardy. Radetsky and his Austrian soldiers were driven from Milan ; and Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, took the field against them. But the hou? of triumph was short. Radetsky soon reconquered Lombardy and invaded Sardinia. Venice, too, had revolted, and had proclaimed the Republic of St. Mark, but was retaken by the Austrians. There was war also in Sicily. In 1848 the well-meaning but feeble Pope had to flee to Gaeta, and his people proclaimed a Roman Republic. This, however, was overthrown by a French army under Oudinot, by whom Rome was besieged and taken in the summer of 1849. The Pope was then restored to his chair, but not to the hearts of the Romans. The recovery of Lombardy and Tuscany from Austria with the help of France in 1859 has already been referred to. In 1861 the new kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, with Victor Emanuel as king. When Prussia declared war against 320 THE GREEK REVOLUTION. Austria in 1866, Italy joined Prussia, hoping to recover Venetia. Italy was defeated both by land and by sea, but she nevertheless gained Yenetia, which had been handed over to France at the beginning of the struggle. In 1870, owing chiefly to the efforts of Garibaldi, Rome was incor- porated with Italy ; and in the following year Victor Emanuel made it his capital. The temporal power of the Popes, begun in 754, then came to an end. GREECE. For more than three centuries the Turks had ground Greece in an unhappy bondage. The crushed worm turned at last. In March 1821, Major Ypsilanti, a Greek holding the commission of the Russian Czar, roused his countrymen to arms in Moldavia. He was met by whole- sale butchery ; his army was cut to pieces ; he fled to Trieste, where he was seized by the Austrians. The rage of the Turks was specially directed against the Greek clergy, who were murdered by dozens. But the fire of revolution was kindled, and it spread fast. A ten years' war began. In 1822 the Greeks met at Epidaurus to proclaim a provisional government under Alexander Mavrocordato. Vainly the Turks strove to quench the flames in blood. The fair island of Scio was wasted with fire and sword; but this only roused the Greeks to greater fury. With fire-ships they greatly crippled the navy of the Turks, and on land they won the strong fortress of Napoli di Romania. Foremost among the patriot-Greeks were the brave Suliotes, a moun- tain tribe, whose leader, Marco Botzaris, met a soldier's death while repelling a Turkish attempt to break through the Isthmus of Corinth into the Morea. Byron flung his wasted energies into the Greek cause ; and many of his songs, written under this inspiration, stir the heart like the blast of a trumpet. But his early death at Missolonghi, in 1824, de- prived Greece of a devoted friend. Up to this time .the government of Greece had been conducted with much dis- order and irregularity. But now order began to develop itself. Taxes were justly levied; the public credit was firmly established ; justice was administered ; the liberty of the press was allowed; and education was promoted. To these good things there was, however, much opposition. A civil war arose, which greatly hampered the movements of GREECE MADE A KINGDOM. 321 the patriots. Torn by dissensions, the Greek councils and armies lost power. An addition to the Turkish force came from Egypt, under Ibrahim Pacha, who landed in the Morea, and began at once a career of victory. The fall of Misso- loiighi in April 1826 seemed to lay the hopes of Greece in the dust for ever. Yet this very hour of black darkness heralded the dawn of a new and brighter day. Christian Europe was roused from her neutrality. In the year 1827, three leading powers Britain, France, and Russia signed at London a treaty for the pacification of Greece. It was submitted to the Divan at Constantinople, but was haughtily rejected. Matters, indeed, looked bad for Greece. The Turks held all Eastern and Western Hellas ; there was dis- union in the Morea ; the National Government had fled to Egina, and had chosen Count Capo d'Istria to be their presi- dent. At this crisis a British fleet appeared in the Greek waters, and was soon joined by French and Russian ships. The admirals demanded peace ; and, when it was refused, they sailed into the harbour of Navarino, where, in a battle of four hours 7 duration, they utterly destroyed the Turkish- Egyptian fleet (October 20, 1827). In the following year a great Russian army crossed the Pruth ; and on the 20th of August 1829, Adrian ople, which lies only 130 miles from Constantinople, fell before their victorious march. Blows like these forced the Sultan to conclude the Peace of Ad- rianople, by which he acknowledged the independence of Greece. It then remained to settle the government of the newly freed land. Greece was raised into a kingdom, and the crown was conferred on Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. He held it only three months, resigning on the ground that the Greeks were dissatisfied with his rule. Otho, a Bavarian prince, then (1832) received the vacant throne, but was driven from it in 1863. Prince George of Denmark then accepted the crown, with the title, King of the Hellenes or Greeks. The Ionian Isles, which had been under the protection of Great Britain since 1815, were annexed to Greece in 1864. HUNGARY. The Magyars, whose settlement in the basin of the Danube has been already noticed, form the flower of the Hungarian nation. They number about 6,000,000, 322 DEFEAT OF THE HUNGARIANS. forming two-fifths of the population ; the remainder of which is made up chiefly of Croats, Servians, and other Sclavonic tribes. Much discontent was alive among the Magyars, ow- ing to the attempts of Austria to destroy the nationality of Hungary ; and when the Servians and Croats showed a dis- position to side with Austria in this design, war broke out between the Magyars and these Sclavonic tribes. Jellachich, ban or governor of Croatia, invading Hungary, moved upon the capital, Pesth, but was soon obliged to retreat. Fore- most among the Hungarian patriots, whose eloquence roused the land to arms, was Lajos or Louis Kossuth, a man of noble parentage, who followed the profession of the law, and had already wielded a powerful influence over the nation as editor of the Pesti-Hirlap or Pesth Journal. Then an im- portant change took place at Vienna. The Emperor Fer- dinand abdicated in favour of his nephew Francis Joseph, whom the Hungarians refused to receive as their king. This kindled the war in earnest. In December 1848 the Austrian armies began to move by nine converging lines towards the capital of Hungary. Almost without a shot Pesth yielded to the Austrians, while Kossuth and the Par- liament retired to Debreczin. The Hungarian armies were placed first under Dembinski, and then under Gorgei, whose fidelity to his country was more than suspected. In April 1849 he won a brilliant series of victories, which all but ex- pelled the Austrians from Hungary. But instead of follow- ing up these blows by marching on Vienna, he delayed to besiege Buda. Thus Vienna was saved. The Hungarian Diet then declared the land free (April 14, 1849), and appointed Kossuth governor of Hungary. Roused again by this daring step, Austria applied for aid to Russia. Early in June 400,000 Austrians and Russians entered Hungary at Presburg. They were led by Marshal Haynau, whose name has become infamous on account of his cruelties. He was the man who narrowly escaped with his life from the furious draymen of Barclay and Perkins, when he went to visit the brewery in London. On the 19th of July Haynau reached Pesth, where he wreaked his mean and brutal re- venge on some of the high-spirited ladies of Hungary, whom he publicly flogged. Day after day the hopes of Hungary GERMANY. 323 grew dim and dimmer, until the decisive battle of Temeswar, where the ammunition of the Hungarians ran short, com- pletely broke up the southern army of the patriots (August 9, 1849). Kossuth laid down his office, and Gorge! became supreme ; but this traitor made use of his power to betray his country. On the 13th of September he surrendered with his whole army and all his cannon to the Eussian general. It was a fearful day for Hungary ; and all through the ranks of the patriot army bitter curses were heard. One officer, snapping his sword in pieces, threw it at Gorgei's feet. Hussars shot their horses, and many regiments burned their banners rather than give them up to the foe. Kossuth gave himself up to the Turks at Widdin, and lay in various prisons till August 1851, when he was set free by the inter- vention of England and America. Thereafter he lived in the United States, in London, and in Italy. In the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866, several Hungarian legions joined the Prussian army. After the Peace of Prague, the government of Hungary was reformed on moderate-liberal principles. Austria and Hungary were made coordinate kingdoms under the same sovereign. The Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria was crowned King of Hungary at Buda in 1867. Poland has not been behind in her valiant struggles for liberty during this century. In 1830 the army of Warsaw declared in favour of the people, and the Diet soon declared the throne of Poland vacant. The Bussians were beaten in the battle of Growchow, near Praga, with the loss of 7000 men. They were yet more signally defeated at Ostrolenka (May 1831) ; but the recapture of Warsaw by the soldiers of the Czar, in September, blasted the budding promise of Poland's freedom. The Poles made another serious struggle against their oppressors in 1846; and, during the Eussian war in the Crimea, their hopes were high that Britain and France would stretch out powerful hands to raise Poland once more to her ancient place among the thrones of Europe ; but the dream was not realized, and Poland still lies beneath the heel of Eussia. GERMANY. Prussia has made more rapid strides than any other European power during late years. Her position and 324 GREAT NAMES OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. extent long ago marked her as the rival of Austria for supremacy in Germany. The actual contest declared itself in 1848, when Schleswig and Holstein tried to secure their independence. They were encouraged by Prussia, but opposed by Austria. In the following year the Diet voted Austria out of the empire, and the King of Prussia heredi- tary Emperor ; but the decision was held to be informal, as only half of the states had voted. In 1864 the rivals appeared as allies in a short but successful raid on Denmark, from whom they wrested Schleswig and Holstein. Two years later the rivals quarrelled over the spoil, Prussia claiming both principalities for herself. The Seven Weeks' War followed, in which Austria was humiliated. The old Germanic Confederation was dissolved. A new North German Confederation (including states north of the Main) was formed, with Prussia at its head, the states south of the Main forming a South German Confederation. When France declared war against Prussia in 1870, Napoleon anticipated that he would secure the aid both of Austria and of the South German States. He was dis- appointed in both particulars. Austria held aloof from the contest. The Southern States joined Prussia. From that moment German unity became a certainty. The success of the combined armies hastened its realization. While they were still encircling Paris, the confederations of 1860 were abolished, and all the German states except Austria were combined in a new German Empire, under the hereditary supremacy of Prussia. King William of Prussia was pro- claimed Emperor of Germany at Versailles. GREAT NAMES OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. MOZART (J. C. W. A.). Born at Salzburg, January 27, 1756 a great musician lived much at Vienna chief works, ' Don Giovanni,' and the celebrated ' Requiem,' the latter written on his death- beddied of fever, December 5, 1792, aged 36. MARMONTEL (JEAN FRANCOIS). Born at Bort in Limousin in 1723 a writer of dramas and romances chief works, ' Contes Moraux,' and ' Belisaire ' died at Abbeville in 1799, aged 76. SCHILLER (FRIEDRICH). Born at Marbach on the Neckar, Novem- ber 10, 1759 made Professor of History at Jena in 1789 the great dramatist of Germany chief works, 'William Tel)/ and GREAT NAMES OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. 325 ' Wallenstein 'wrote also a ' History of the Thirty Years' Wai* died in May 1805, aged 46, HAYDN (JOSEPH). Born at Rohrau, near Vienna, M^rch 31, 1732 a great musical genius father of modern orchestral music greatest work, * The Creation/ an oratorio died 29th May 1809, aged 77. WIELAND (CHRISTOPHER). Born at Oberholzheim in Suabia, Septembers, 1733 a leading German writer chief poem, the epic romance of ' Oberon,' published in 1780 best novel, ' Agathon' died January 30, 1813, aged 80. HEYNE (CHR.). Born at Chemnitz in Saxony, in 1729 a great classical scholar Professor at Gottingen published editions of Homer, Virgil, Pindar, &c., &c. died July 1814, aged 85. CANOVA (ANTONIO). Born at Possagno in the Venetian territory, November 1, 1757 a great sculptor famous for his portraits of Popes, his groups, * Cupid and Psyche,' ' Hercules and Lycas/ the ' Graces,' &c. died in October 1822, aged 65. HERSCHEL (WILLIAM). Born at Hanover, November 15, 1738 a great astronomer came to England as a bandman in the Hano- verian Guards improved the reflecting telescope discovered Uranus in 1781 lived much at Slough, where he died August 23, 1822, aged 84. BYRON (GEORGE GORDON, LORD). Born in London, January 22, 1788 one of the leading British poets his chief work is ' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,' written in the stanza of Spenser died at Missolonghi of fever, April 19, 1824, aged 36. WEBER (CARL-MARIA VON). Born at Eutin in Holstein, Decem- ber 1786 a distinguished musician of the German school his greatest work, 'Der Freischiitz,' was brought out in 1822 at Berlin died in London, June 5, 1826, aged 40. BEETHOVEN (LUDWIG VON). Born at Bonn, December 17, 1770 a great musician among his many works may be named the 'Mount of Olives/ an oratorio; and ' Fidelio/ an opera died March 26, 1827, aged 57. SCOTT (SIR WALTER). Born in Edinburgh, August 15, 1771 famed as a poet, and still more so as a novelist began with a translation of Burger's ' Leonora' and the ' Wild Huntsman ' chief poems, ' Lady of the Lake/ and ' Lay of the Last Minstrel ' died September 12, 1832, aged 61. GOTHE (JOHANN WOLFGANG VON). Born at Frankfort on the Main, August 28, 1749 one of the most glorious names of Germany chief works, ' Werther/ ' Wilhelm Meister/ and ' Faust' died in 1832, aged 83. NIEBUHR (BARTHOLD GEORGE). Born at Copenhagen, August 27, 1776 a great historian lectured at Berlin and Bonn chief work, his ' History of Rome' died January 2, 1831, aged 55. CUVIER (GEORGE, BARON). Born at Montbeliard in Doubs, 326 CHRONOLOGY OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. August 23, 1769 remarkable as a naturalist chief works, his ' Fossil Bones/ and the * Animal Kingdom' died May 13, 1832, aged 63. NODIER (CHARLES). Born at Besanc.on in France, April 29, 1780 a poet and general writer his ' Napoleone/ ' Jean Sbogar/ and ' Therese Hubert/ are well known died January 27, 1844, a^ed 64. MENDELSSOHN (FELIX). Born at Hamburg, February 3, 1809 a musician of the highest genius chief works, his music for the ' Midsummer Night's Dream/ and his sublime oratorios, 'St. Paul' and ' Elijah' died November 4, 1847, aged 38. NEANDER (JOHANN).-Born at Gottingen, January 15, 1789 Professor of Theology at Berlin chief works, his ' History of the Christian Church/ and ' Life of Christ' died 1850. BERANGER (PIERRE JEAN DE). Born at Paris, August 19, 1780 a noted lyric poet of France he published five collections of songs died 1857. HUMBOLDT (ALEXANDER, BARON VON). Born at Berlin, Sep- tember 14, 1769 the greatest descriptive naturalist of our day chief work, his ' Kosmos/ an account of the physical pheno- mena of the universe died in 1859. RANKE (LEOPOLD). Born at Wiehe in Prussian Saxony, Decem- ber 21, 1795 a great historian professor at Berlin chief work, ' History of the Popes.' LIEBIG (JUSTUS, BARON VON). Born at Darmstadt, May 8, 1803 a great living chemist professor at Munich has written much on the chemistry of agriculture and physiology. EHRENBERG (CHRISTIAN GODFREY). Born at Delitsch in Prussian Saxony, April 19, 1795 a famous naturalist and rnicroscopist chief work on *' Infusorial Animalcules." CHRONOLOGY OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY Continued. A.D. The Assembly of the French Notables ..1787 Meeting of the States-General 1789 Opening of the first French Revolution The National or Constituent Assembly begins to sit... June 20, - Storming of the Bastile July 14, - The March of Women to Versailles October 5, - Death of Mirabeau 1791 The Legislative Assembly begins to sit October 1, - Attack on the Tuileries August 10, 1792 Battle of Jemappes - The National Convention begins to sit September 21, - Louis XVI, of France guillotined January 21, 1793 CHRONOLOGY OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. 327 A.D. The Reign of Terror 1793 Execution of Robespierre July 28, 1794 The Directory established 1795 Bonaparte scatters the National Guard October 4, 1795 His splendid Campaign in Italy 1796 Battles of Lodi and Arcola Treaty of Campo Formic 1797 The Battle of the Nile 1798 Directory overturned Bonaparte First Consul 1799 Passage of the Alps May 1800 Battle of Marengo June 14, NINETEENTH CENTUKY. Union of Great Britain and Ireland 1801 Treaty of Luneville Treaty of Amiens 1802 Napoleon made First Consul for life - Renewal of war 1803 Napoleon I. elected Emperor of the French May 1804 Battles of Trafalgar and Austerlitz 1805 Treaty of Presburg - Battle of Jena 1806 Battles of Eylau and Friedland 1807 Opening of the Peninsular War 1808 Battle of Wagram 1809 Treaty of Schonbrunn Napoleon, being excommunicated, imprisons the Pope Napoleon marries Maria Louisa of Austria 1810 Birth of Napoleon II. (Due de Reichstadt) 1811 The terrible Russian Campaign 1812 Battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Vittoria, and Leipsic 1813 The Allies enter Paris 1814 Abdication of Napoleon Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815 Second Peace of Paris Revolution in Spain 1820 Rising of Ypsilanti in Moldavia 1821 Greek Congress at Epidaurus 1822 Brazil severed from Portugal - Accession of Charles X. of France 1824 Death of Lord Byron Fall of Missolonghi 1826 Battle of Navarino 1827 Second French Revolution 1830 Revolution in Brussels Otho made King of Greece 1832 328 CHRONOLOGY OF THE EIGHTH PERIOD. Reform Bill passed in England 1832 Attempt of Louis Napoleon on Strasbourg 1836 Accession of Queen Victoria 1837 Attempt of Louis Napoleon on Boulogne 1840 Repeal of the British Corn Laws 1846 Pio Nono elected Pope Third French Revolution 1848 Revolution in Milan Louis Napoleon made President December War between Hungary and Servia Francis Joseph becomes Emperor of Austria Hungary and Austria at war December 1848 Rome besieged and taken by the French 1849 Hungarian Independence declared July 14, Battle of Temeswar Utter defeat of the Hungarians bjf Haynau Death of Louis Philippe 1850 Great Exhibition in London 1851 Louis Napoleon's Coup d'Etat December 2, Elected Emperor Napoleon III December 1852 Opening of the Russian War 1854 Battles of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkermann Capture of Sebastopol 1855 Battles of Magenta and Solferino 1859 Abolition of Russian Serfage Civil War in America The Ionian Islands annexed to Greece 1864 Seven Weeks' War (Prussia and Austria) 1866 Abyssinian War 1868 Queen Isabella of Spain dethroned Suez Canal opened for traffic 1869 A French Atlantic Cable laid between Brest and St. Pierre France declared War against Prussia July 1870 Surrender of Napoleon III. at Sedan September French Republic proclaimed Prince Amadeo of Italy elected King of Spain 1871 Surrender of Paris to the Prussians January Peace of Frankfort: Prussia gains Alsace and part of Lorraine... - King William of Prussia proclaimed Emperor of Germany Communist Insurrection in Paris March to May The Mont Cenis Tunnel opened for traffic Rome made the Capital of the Kingdom of Italy - Carlist War in Spain 1872 Geneva award on the Alabama Claims - Death of Napoleon III. in England 1873 Abdication of King Amadeo of Spain: a Republic proclaimed.. - Alfonso, Prince of the Asturias, King of Spain 1875 GEOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY. AUSTRIA, meaning simply East Dominion, got its name about 1040. The Hapsburgs became Archdukes of Austria in 1273, and having gained the imperial crown of Germany, they never let it leave their family. In 1804 the Emperor of Germany exchanged that title for the present one, Emperor of Austria. When, in the time of the Crusades, Austria was a little dukedom, Hungary was a great kingdom, stretching from the Carpathians to the Adriatic. Now Austria is a great empire, extending its despotic rule over wider limits than those of Old Hungary. Austerlitz, a village in Moravia, 13 miles south-west of Brunn. Here Napoleon utterly routed the Austri- aiis and Russians in December 1805. Buda, forming, with Pesth, the capi- tal of Hungary. The towns face each other on opposite banks of the Danube, Buda being on the west side. It is 135 miles south-east of Vienna. Dalmatia, a strip along the east shore of the Adriatic; a part of old Illyricum, now belonging to Aus- tria. Debreczin, on a sandy plain, 114 miles east of Pesth. It is a great centre of commerce foi Northern and Eastern Hungary. Eger, a town in the north-west of Bo- hemia, on the Eger, a tributary of the Elbe. Here Wallenstein was murdered in 1634. Innspruck, the capital of Tyrol, on the Inn, 240 miles south-west of Viunna. Here Charles V. was nearly surprised by Maurice of Sax- ocy in 1662. Istria, a peninsula Jutting into the Adriatic, between the Gulf of Trieste and that of Quarnero. Venice held it till 1797. It was ceded to Napoleon by the treaty of Presburg in 1805. Kolin, a Bohemian town, 37 miles from Prague. Here Frederic the Great was defeated in 1757 by Daun. Olmiltz, the old capital of Moravia, on the March, 105 miles north-east of Vienna. Frederic besieged it without success in 1758. Pesth. See Buda. Prague, the capital of Bohemia, on the Moldau, a branch of the Elbe. The scene of a battle during the Thirty .Years' War, in 1620, and of another more celebrated fight in 1757. Presburg, a Hungarian town on the Danube, 33 miles east of Vienna. Here, in 1741, the Hungarians ral- lied bravely round Maria Theresa, and here a treaty was signed be- tween France and Austria after the battle of Austerlitz. 330 FRANCE. Schbnbmnn, a palace, 2 miles from Vienna. It gives its name to the treaty of 1809. Here Napoleon's son, Due de Reichstadt, died in 1832. Temeswar, a town of Southern Hun- gary, capital of the Banat, on the Bega CanaL Here Haynau utterly defeated the Magyars in 1849. Theiss (once Tibiscus), a north- ern tributary of the Danube, flowing through the plain of Hungary. Trent, a town in Tyrol, on the Adige. Here the Council of Trent sat from 1545 to 1562. Vienna (Roman name, Vindobona), the capital of Austria, on the Danube. It was occupied twice by the victorious Napoleon. From its central position it may be called " the diplomatic capital of Europe." Wagram, a village a few miles from Vienna, where Napoleon won a great victory over the Austrians in 1809. FRANCE. France means the land of the Franks. After the time oi[ Charlemagne, a number of independent duchies grew up round the kingdom of France, which were gradually absorbed by the central power. Chief of these were Aquitaine, Burgundy, and Bretague. The English, too, held a large part of France for four centuries (1066-1450). But under the houses of Valois and Bourbon France grew strong. Napoleon I. spread her frontiers for a time far past their natural limits. But now they have returned to more reasonable bounds. Savoy and Nice are the latest acquisitions of territory. Ajaccio, a seaport in the west of Cor- sica, which was the biith-place of Napoleon L Corsica was sold by the Genoese to Louis X V.of France. Albi, a town of Languedoc, on the Tarn, from which the Protestants of Southern France were called Albi- genses. Alsace, a province in the east of France. It was ceded to France by the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, but was restored to Germany by the treaty of Frankfort in 1871. Amiens, a town of Northern France, on the Somme, which gave its name to the hollow peace of 1802. Aquitaine, a duchy of old France, filling the south and west. Its northern boundary was the Loire. Distinct from this territory was Sep- timania, the strip of Mediterranean shore between the Rhone and the Pyrenees. Aries, on a hill above the Rhone, 35 miles north-west of Marseilles. It is noted for its Roman antiquities. Arqiies, a town of Northern France, 4 miles south-east of Dieppe. Here Henri IV. defeated Mayenne in 1589. Autun (once Augustodunum), a town near Lyons, which was a scene of the sixth Christian persecution. It was then noted for armour and arrows. Avignon, a town of Southern France, on the Rhone, near its mouth. Here the popes held their court for seventy- two years (1305-1377). Bayonne, a town in Low Pyrenees, situated where the Nive and the Adour meet. It was fortified by Vauban, and there the bayonet waa invented. Alva and Catherine di Me- dici had a meeting at Bayonne in 1565. Beziers, a town of Languedoc, 8 miles from the Mediterranean. It was the scene of a massacre during the Albi- gensian war in 1209. Bidassoa, a river flowing from the Pyrenees into the Bay of Biscay, and forming part of the line between France and Spain. Boulogne, a port of Northern France, on the Sienne. Here Napoleon FRANCE. 331 gathered a flotilla for the invasion of England in 1804. Brest, a town and harbour in the ex- treme west of Bretagne. It is one of the chief naval stations of France. Brienne, a town of Champagne, near the Aube, noted for its military school, where Napoleon I. was edu- cated. Caen, the capital of Lower Normandy, on the Orne, 125 miles west of Paris. Here William the Conqueror was buried. Cambray, a strongly fortified town of Northern France, on the Scheldt. Here the treaty of Cambray, between Charles V. and Francis I.,was framed. Cannes, a port on the Mediterranean, near which Napoleon landed from Elba in 1815. Carcassonne, a city of Languedoc, on the Aude, noted for its brave defence by the Albigenses in 1209. Chalons, a town of Northern France, on the Marne. The scene of Attila's defeat by a Roman and Gothic army in45L Clermont, a town of Central France, in Auvergne. Here a council met in 1095, to stir up the First Crusade. Crespy, a town in the department of Oise, 12 miles south of Compeigne. It gave its name to a treaty in 1544, between Charles V. and Francis I. Cressy, a village of Picardy, 95 miles north-west of Paris. The scene of a famous English victory in 1346. Dreux, a town 45 miles south-west of Paris, where the first battle in the Huguenot, war was fought in 1562. Dunkirk, a seaport in the extreme north of France. When taken from Spain in 1658, it was given up to Cromwell, but was sold to France by Charles II. in 1662. FontainebleaU, a town 37 miles south- east of Paris, celebrated for its palace and forest Here, in 1814, Napoleon signed his first abdication. Fontenaille, near Auxerre, in Bur- gundy, where, in 841, was fought a battle between Lothaire and his bro- thers Charles and Louis. Ham, a fortress of Picardy, 70 miles north-east of Paris, where Louis Napoleon lay in prison, 1840-4(5, Havre de Grace, a port at the mouth of the Seine, 109 miles north-west of Paris. It was given up to Elizabeth of England by the Huguenots, but held by her a very short time. Ivry, a village east of St. Andre^ near the Eure, where the army of the League was beaten by Henri IV. in 1590. Jarnac, a town in the west of France, on the Charente, where the Hugue- nots were defeated in 1569. La Hogue, a Norman headland near Cherbourg, off which the fleet of Louis XIV. was defeated in 1692 by Russell. Languedoc, a province of Southern France, consisting chiefly of the basin of the Garonne. It took its name from the use of oc (yes) by the people, when the northerns said oui. The scene of the Albigensian war. La Vendee, a department of Western France, on the Bay of Biscay, re- markable for its royalist spirit during the great French Revolution. Lisle, a fortress-town of Northern France, on the Deule, 130 miles north of Paris. It Avas taken by Marlborough after his victory at Oudenarde ; and vainly besieged by the Austrians in 1792. Lorraine, or Middle France, de- rived its name from Lothaire (Lo- tharingia), to whom it was ceded by the treaty of Verdun (843). The greater part of it was restored to Germany by the treaty of Frank- fort in 1871. Luneville, a town on the Vezouze, a feeder of the Meurthe, 180 miles east of Paris. Here was concluded, in 1801, a treaty between France and Austria. Lyons (once Lugdunum), a great city of France, where the Saone meets the Rhone, It was a scene of the sixth persecution of Chris- tians; now famous for its silks. Malplaquet, a town of Nord, in France, close to Belgium, noted for a victory gained there by Marlborough in 1709. Mardyk, a seaport 4 miles west of Dunkirk. 332 FRANCE. Marseilles (once Massilia), a great port on the Mediterranean, 410 miles from Paris. The army of Richard I. embarked here for the Third Cru- sade. The French Boy Crusade also took ship here; and from this city came some of the wildest spirits of the French Revolution. Metz, a French garrison town at the junction of the Moselle and Seille. It was ceded to France in 1648. Montmartre, a hill near Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, which is said to have taken its name from the martyrdom of St. Denis, first bishop of Paris, in 272. Mulhausen, a French manufacturing town in Haut Rhin, on the 111, a tributary of the Rhine, 18 miles from Basle. It was a Swiss town till 1793. Muret, a battle-field, 9 miles from Toulouse, where Montfort beat the Albigenses and their Spanish allies in 1213. Nantes, a city on the Loire, near its mouth, which gave its name to the edict of Henri IV. in favour of the Huguenots (1598). There was ter- rible butchery at Nantes by Carrier, during the French Revolution. Narbonne, a city of Southern France, 5 miles from the Mediterranean, much connected with the story of the Albigenses. Neustria, a division of old Frankland, embracing Belgium, the basin of the Seine, and all Western France north of the Loire. Noyon, in the department of Oise, on the Vorse, a feeder of the Oise. Here Calvin was born. Orleans (once Aurelianis), a city on the right bank of the Loire, at its most northerly bend. It was be- sieged by Attila; was a great school in Charlemagne's reign; and was succoured in 1428 by Joan of Arc, who was hence called the "Maid of Orleans." Paris (once Lutetia), on the Seine, 110 miles from its mouth. It is per- haps the gayest and most beautiful city in the world, and yet some of the darkest human tragedies have been enacted in its streets. The fate of Paria decides the fate of France. Poictiers, a town in the department of Vienne, on the Clain. It- was the scene of a famous victory won by the Black Prince over the French in 1356. Rennes, a city of Western France, on the Vilaine. Rochelle, a port of Aunis, in Western France. It was taken from the En- glish by Bertrand du Guesclin in 1372 ; and was held by the Hugue- nots from 1557 to 1628, when it fell before Richelieu. Rochefort, the third naval station in France, 9 miles from the mouth of the Charente. Close by are the Roads of Aix, where Napoleon went on board the English ship Better- ophon in 1815. Rocroi, a town in Ardennes, near the Meuse, which was the scene of Condi's victory over the Spaniards in 1643. Rouen, a city on the Seine, capital of Normandy. It was taken by the Norsemen early in the tenth cen- tury. Here Joan of Arc was burned. St. Clair, a town on the Epte, where, in 911, a treaty was concluded ceding Normandy to Rollo, the Norseman. St. Cloud, a small town on the Seine, 5 miles west of Paris. It is corrupted from St. Chlodoald, which was the name of a Frankish prince. Noted for its park and palace. Here, in 1799, Napoleon dissolved the Council of Five Hundred. St. Denis, a small town, 5 miles from Paris. It was the burial-place of the French kings, whose monuments were destroyed during the Revolu- tion, but afterwards restored. St. Germain en Laye, a town and palace near the Seine, 9 miles north- west of Paris, where a treaty favour- ing the Huguenots was framed in 1570. Here the deposed James IL of England died. Toul, a fortress on the Moselle, 167 miles east of Paris. It was ceded to France in 1648, with Metz and Verdun. Toulon, a strong seaport on the Medi- terranean. It suffered much from the Saracen pirates. At its siege by the army of the Republic in 179iJ GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. Napoleon Bonaparte first came into public notice. Toulouse, a city on the Garonne. Here Simon Montfort, terror of the Albigenses, was killed in 1218 ; and here the last battle of the Peninsular war was fought in 1814. Tours, a city on the Loire. On an adjacent plain Charles the Ham- mer defeated the Moslems in 732. Valenciennes, a town in the north of France, fortified by Vauban. It is famous for lace. Varennes, a town on the Aire, 15 miles west of Verdun, where Louis XVI. was seized in his flight in 1791. Vassy, a town in Upper Marne, 115 miles east of Paris, where a terrible massacre of Huguenots took place. Vendome, a town on the Loir, which falls into the Sarthe about 6 miles above the junction of the latter with the Loire. It was taken and dis- mantled by Henri IV. during the War of the League. Verdun, a town on the Meuse, fortified by Vauban. Here, in 843, was con- cluded a treaty by which Germany and France were declared separate states. Versailles, a town 10 miles south-west of Paris, famous for the palace of Louis XIV. In October 1789 a Paris mob, consisting largely of women, broke into the palace. Vervins, a town in Aisne, on the Serre, 110 miles from Paris. Here, in 1598, peace was made between France and Spain. Vezelai, a town and hill in Nievre, 117 miles south-east of Paris, where, in 1146, St. Bernard preached the Second Crusade. Vienne, a town on the Rhone, south of Lyons. A scene of the sixth Chris- tian persecution. Vincennes, a strong castle, 2 miles east of Paris. Here, in the castle ditch, Due d'Enghien was shot by order of Napoleon in 1804. GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. One half of Charlemagne's empire has grown into modern France, the other half into Germany. The greatest event of modern history, the Reformation, began to unfold itself in Germany ; and in this land also, a few years earlier, the sound of the first printing-press was heard. But if Germany has been highly favoured, she has suffered much, espe- cially during the Thirty Years' War. The kingdom of Prussia has grown out of the little duchy of Bran- denburg. The military genius of Frederic the Great raised it high among the powers of Europe. Aix-la-Chapelle (once Aquis Gra- num), in German, Aa>:hen, a city in Prussian Germany, 39 miles west by south of Cologne. It was the capital of Charlemagne. Two treaties, one in 1668, another in 1748, bear its name. Alemannia, an ancient duchy, south- east of Alsace, comprising the mod- ern Baden, Wurtemberg, and part of Switzerland. Auerstadt, a town of Prussian Sax- ony, 20 miles north of Jena. Here the Prussians were defeated in 1806. Augsburg, a Bavarian town, lying between the Wertach and the Lech, 34 miles west of Munich. Here, in 1530, Melancthon read the Protestanl Confession of Faith Austrasia, or East Frankland, in- cluding chiefly the basin of the Rhine. Its capital under Charle- magne was Aix-la-Chapelle. Bautzen, the capital of Upper Ln- satia, near the Spree, 30 miles from Dresden. Here Napoleon de- flated the Russians and the Prus- sians in 18l:i. 334 GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. Berg 1 , a duchy in Western Ger- many, along the east bank of the Rhine, south of Cleves. This with other territories was given as a grand-duchy to Murat in 1806. Berlin, the capital of Prussia, on the Spree. It was entered by the Russians and Austrians in 1760, and by Napoleon in 1806. From it he issued his decrees against trade with Britain. Black Forest, in German, Schwartz Wald, a range of mountains east of the Rhine, between Baden and Wiir- temberg. Blenheim, a village of West Bavaria, on the Danube, 33 miles north-east of Ulm. Here Marlborough won a brilliant victory over the French in 1704. Brandenburg, a town on the Havel, 38 miles south-west of Berlin. The electorate of Brandenburg has ex- panded into the kingdom of Prus- sia. Breisach, a town of Baden, on the Rhine, between Strasbourg and Basle. It was ceded to France in 1648, but was afterwards restored to Baden. Bremen, a free town of Germany, on the Weser, 50 miles from its mouth. It was a leading city of the Hanse- atic League. Breslau, the capital of Silesia, at the junction of the Ohlau with the Oder, 220 miles south-east of Berlin. It was besieged twice during the Seven Years' War. Cologne (once Colonia), a city of Rhenish Prussia, 112 miles east of Brussels. Culm, a strong town of Polish Prussia, on the Vistula. Czaslau, a town of Bohemia, 42 miles from Prague. Here the great Prus- sian Frederic defeated the troops of Maria Theresa in 1742. Dantzic (once Gdansk), a port at the mouth of the Vistula. One of the early leaders of the Hanseatic League. Dethmold, the capital of Lippe-Deth- mold, which lies between Westphalia on the one side, and Hanover and Hesse Cassel on the other. Dettingen, a village of Bavaria, on the Maine, 16 miles south-east of Frankfort. Here George II. of Eng- land, leading his troops in person, defeated the French in 1743. Dresden, the capital of Saxony, on the Elbe, 100 miles south-east of Berlin. In August 1813, Napoleon won a great victory under its walls. It is a great centre of literature and edu- cation. Diittlingen, a town of Suabia, on the Danube, 25 miles north-west of Con- stance. A battle-field of the Thirty Years' War. Eckmuhl, a Bavarian village, 52 miles north-east of Munich, where in 1809 the Archduke Charles was defeated by Napoleon. Eisenach, a town in Ijpper Saxony, on the Nesse, Here Luther went to school Eisleben, a Saxon town on a hill above the Bb'se, 16 miles north- west of Halle. The birth-place of Luther. Eresburg, a fortress of Saxony, taken by Charlemagne. Eylau, a town of East Prussia, 28 miles south of Konigsberg. Here Napo- leon defeated the Russians in 1807. Franconia, a district drained by the Maine and the Rezat It is now divided into three circles, which form a part of Bavaria. Frankfort on the Maine, the seat of the German Diet. It was made a free city in 1154. There is another Frankfort on the Oder. Friburg, a town of Baden, on the Treisam. There are two other towns of the same name, one in Saxony and one in Switzerland. Friedland, a town of East Prussia on the Alle, 28 miles south-east of Konigsberg. Noted for a defeat ol the Russians by Napoleon in 1807. Glatz, a fortified town in Silesia, on the Neisse. Part of the Sudetic range is called the Glatz Moun- tains. Halberstadt, a Prussian town in the government of Magdeburg, on a tributary of the Saale. It was united to Prussia by the treaty of West- phalia. Hamburg, a free city of Germany, on GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. the Elbe, near Its mouth. Originally a castle (Hammaburg), built by Charlemagne for defence against the Norsemen. It is now a great centre of commerce. Heidelberg, a town of Baden, on the Neckar, amid vine-clad hills. It suffered much in the Thirty Years' War and the time of Louis XIV. Here is a celebrated tun, holding 600 hogsheads. Heilbronn, a town of Suabia, on the Neckar, 20 miles north of Stutt- gart HochMrchen, a small Saxon village, 37 miles east of Dresden, where Daun routed the Prussians in 1758. Hohenlinden, a Bavarian village, near the Isar, 19 miles east of Munich. It was the scene of a battle in 1800, between the French under Moreau and the Austrians. Hubertsburg, a town of Upper Sax- ony, 22 miles east of Leipsic. Here in 1763 a peace was signed between Austria and Prussia, closing the Seven Years' War. Jena, a town of Saxe- Weimar, on the Salle, where Napoleon defeated the Prussians in 1806. Konigsberg, a town on the Pregel, near the Baltic, which is a great centre of trade. Kunersdorf, a village of Brandenburg, on the Oder near Frankfort, 55 miles south-east of Berlin. Here in 1759 Frederic the Great was defeated by the Russians and Austrians. Lech, a Bavarian river flowing into the Danube on the right bank. Here Tilly received his mortal wound in 1632. Leipsic, the second city of Saxony, in a plain watered by the Pleisse, 72 miles north-west of Dresden. It is famous for Luther's Disputation in 1519, the victory of Gustavus Adol- phus in 1631, and the defeat of Na- poleon in 1813. It is the great book-town of Germany. Leuthen, or Lissa, a Silesian town, 14 miles west of Breslau, noted for the victory of Frederic the Great over the Austrians in 1757. Liegnitz, a Silesian town on the Kats- bach, 46 miles west of Breslau, where in 1760 Frederic beat the Austrian Laudohji. Lowositz, a Bohemian town, noted for a battle between the Austrians and Prussians in 1756. Lubeck, a free German town near the Baltic, between the Trave and the Wakenitz, which was for four cen- turies a leader of the Hanseatic League. Llltter, a castle and town of Hanover, south-west of Brunswick, where in 1626 the King of Denmark was de- feated by Tilly. Lutzen, a town of Prussian Saxony, 12 miles south-west of Leipsic. Here Gustavus Adolphus fell in battle in 1632, and Napoleon defeated the Russians and Prussians in 1813. Magdeburg, the capital of Prussian Saxony, on the Elbe, 74 miles south- west of Berlin ; remarkable for its terrific sack by Tilly in 1631. Marburg, the capital of Upper Hesse, on the Lahn, in Hesse Cassel. Here in 1529 Luther and Zwingle met. Marienburg, a city on the Nogat, a branch of the Vistula. It was the capital of the Teutonic Order from 1309 to 1466. Mayence, also called Mainz or Mentz, a town of Hesse Darmstadt, on the left bank of the Rhine, where the Maine joius it. This, one of the strongest towns in Europe, has long stood as the chief bulwark of Ger- many against France. Minden, a town of Westphalia, on the Weser, 35 miles south-west of Han- over; noted for the defeat of the French in 1759 by Ferdinand of Brunswick. MollwitZ, a Silesian town, 4 miles west of Brieg, where the Prussians won a victory over Maria Theresa's troops in 1741. Munich, the capital of Bavaria, on tho Isar ; now a great centre of art. Munster, the capital of Westphalia, on the Ahe, celebrated for its con- nection with the Anabaptist War, and for the peace signed there in 1648, by which the Thirty Years' War was closed. Nordlingen, a town of Suabia, on the Eger, 38 miles from Augsburg. 336 GERMANY AND PRUSSIA. Nuremberg, a Bavarian city, 93 miles north-west of Munich. It was pro- minent in the struggle of the Refor- mation. Palatinate, for a long time an inde- pendent electorate, now a part of Bavaria, lying along the Rhine. It suffered much in the Thirty Years' War, and was terribly ravaged by Louis XIV. in!689. PMlippsburg, a German fortress in the bishopric of Spires, 40 miles north-east of Strasbourg. It was ceded to France in 1648. Potsdam, a town of Brandenburg, on an island formed by the Spree and the Havel, 13 miles from Berlin. Rastadt, a town of Baden, on the Murg, 26 miles north-east of Stras- bourg, where Prince Eugene and Marshal Villars concluded a treaty in 1714. Rems, a river of Suabia, beside which was the mountain Hohenstaufen, where the Ghibellines built a castle, from which they got their name. Rossbach, a town of Prussian Saxony, near the Saale, 20 miles south-west of Leipsic. Here in 1757 the French were defeated by Frederic the Great. Rugen. an island in the Baltic off the Prussian shore, where GustavusAdol- phus landed in 1630. Sigisburg. a Saxon fortress, taken by Charlemagne. Silesia, a Prussian province, divided by the Oder. Its capital is Breslau. It was seized by Frederic the Great in 1740, having formerly belonged to Austria. Smalcald, a town of Upper Saxony, south-west of Erfurt, famous for the Protestant League which was formed in 1531. Spires, a city of Bavaria, on the west bank of the Rhine, 22 miles south of Worms. Forty-nine Diets have met within its old palace. Of these the most famous was that of 1529, at which the Reformers took the name of Protestants. Stettin, a port at the mouth of the Oder, which was taken in 1630 by Gustavus Adolphus. Stralsund,a port on the strait between Rugen and Pomerania. It was be- sieged without success by Wallen- stein during the Thirty Years' War. Suabia, a district round Augsburg, on the Upper Danube, now one of the circles of Bavaria. Tannenberg, a battle-field in Southern Prussia, where the power of the Teu- tonic Order was broken in 1410. Teschen, a town of Upper Silesia, near the source of the Vistula, where in 1778 a treaty was concluded between the Emperor and Frederic the Great. Thorn, a town on the Vistula, 76 miles south of Dantzic. It was taken by the Swedes in 1703, and retaken by Prussia in 1793. Thuringia, a district between the Weserand the Saale, which formed a part of Charlemagne's dominion. Torgau, a strong town on the Elbe, lying in marshy ground, 66 miles south-west of Berlin. Here in 1760 was fought a battle, in which Fre- deric the Great was victor. Weimar, the capital of Saxe-Weimar- Eisenach on the Ilm. Here Gothe and Schiller lived. Wismar, a town of Mecklenburg, on the Baltic, 36 miles east of Lubeck. It was ceded to Sweden in 1648. Wittenberg, a strong town of Sax- ony, on the Elbe. Luther was a professor in the university here. The university was incorporated with that of Halle in 1817. Worms, a German city on the Rhine, 28 miles south of Mayence, famous for Luther's appearance before Charles V. in 1521. Zorndorf, a village of Brandenburg, 20 miles north-east of Frankfort, Here Frederic the Great defeated the Russians in 1758. ITALY, 337 ITALY. Overrun by Ostrogoths and then by Lombards, annexed to the empire of Charlemagne, and then to that Romano- Germanic State which rose on its ruins, made the seat of the Papacy, once the greatest, power in Europe, raised by her brilliant Republic cities to a wealth and a fame rivalling those of pagan Rome, Mediaeval Italy fulfilled a strange and changeful destiny. In modern times her soil has been a battle-field for deciding the quarrels of France and Austria. Her whole story has been one of brilliant misery. Adda, a river of Lombardy, flowing through Lake Como into the Po. On it is the Bridge of Lodi, famous for Napoleon's victory in 1796. Amalfi , a seaport of the Two Sicilies, on the Gulf of Salerno. A thriving centre of trade in the Middle Ages. Here the Pandects of Justinian were discovered. Ancona, a city on the bend of the Italian coast, opposite Dalmatia. Now the first seaport in the Papal States. Aquileia, originally a Roman colony in Venetia, near the head of the Adriatic. It was ruined by Attila in 452. The see of Aquileia was one of the oldest in Italy. Arcola, a Venetian village on the Alpone, a tributary of the Adige, 15 miles from Verona, Here Na- poleon defeated the Austrians in 1796. Arezzo (once Arretium), a Tuscan town, 3 miles from the Arno, famed as the birth-place of Guide the mu- sician, and Petrarch the poet, Bologna (once Bononia), capital of the Romagna, on the Reno, south of the Po. During the Middle Ages one of the strongest of the Italian Re- publics, and a great supporter of the Lombard League. It was the seat of a famous law school and university. Campo Formic, a small town of Northern Italy, at the head of the Adriatic. It gives its name to the treaty between France and Austria concluded in 1797. Canossa, a strong castle belonging to Matilda of Tuscany, on the Apen- nines near Reggio, where Pope Gregory VII. forced the Emperor Henry IV. to lie in the court-yard for three days, bare-foot and in hair- cloth. Cascioli, a Tuscan mountain, near which in 1113 the Florentines de- feated the Imperial Vicar and his knights. Elba (once Ilva), a small island of Tuscany off Piombino, famous as the prison of Napoleon I., from May 1814 to February 1815. Ferrara, a city 4 miles south of the Po, only seven feet above the level of the sea. Florence, capital of Tuscany, on the Arno. It was a Roman colony founded by Sylla, and became one of the most famous Italian Republics ; destroyed in 541 by the Goths under Totila. Its most brilliant days were under the Medici. The Tuscans call it Firenze. Gaeta, a port of Italy, 41 miles from Naples and 72 from Rome, where Pio Nono took refuge some years ago. Genoa, a seaport of Northern Italy, on the Mediterranean, 75 miles south- east of Turin. It became a republic after the time of Charlemagne, and was a great rival of Venice, with which it had many wars. In 1174 it owned a great part of Northern Italy, part of Provence, and the Island of Corsica. Legnano, a town north-west of Milan, where the citizens of that city de- feated Frederic Barbarossa in 1176. Lodi. See Adda, Lombardy, the fruitful plain of Northern Italy, deriving its name from the Longobardi, who settled there in 568. Its capital is Milan. 388 ITALY. The present district of Lombardy (I860), between the Ticino and the Mincio, is a part of the new Italian kingdom. LorettO, a town in the Papal States, near Ancona, famous for the Santa Casa, which is said to be the house of the Virgin, brought by a miracle from Nazareth to Loretto. MarengO, a village a little way south- east of Alessandria, in Piedmont, famous for the victory of Napoleon over the Austrians in 1800. Milan (once Mediolanum), the capital of Lombardy, 80 miles from Turin, in a plain between the Olona and the Lambro. It was an old Gallic town ; made a Republic in 1221 ; taken by Louis XII. of France in 1505 ; by Charles V. of Germany in 1525; taken and retaken many times by French and Austrians; made by Napoleon I. the capital of his king- dom of Italy. Millesimo, a village 28 miles west of Genoa, where Napoleon won a battle in 1796. Montenotte, a mountain ridge west of Genoa, near the sea, where Napoleon won a battle in 1796. Naples (Neapolis), on the beautiful Bay of Naples, the largest city of modern Italy. Long under rule of the Spaniards. Their tyranny kindled a rebellion, headed by Masaniello, a fisherman, in 1647. Joseph Bona- parte was made King of Naples in 1806, followed by Murat in 1808. Ostia, a most unhealthy town, once the port of Rome, at the mouth of the Tiber. Its chief trade is in salt. OtrantO, a city on the south-east pro- jection of Italy. It was taken by the Turks in 1480; but they were ex- pelled in the following year by the Dukes of Calabria, Padua (once Patavium), a town near the Bacchiglione, 21 miles from Venice, by which city it was con- quered in 1406. Called by the Italians Padova. Pavia, a city on the Ticino, 20 miles south of Milan, noted as the scene of Charles V.'s victory over Francis I. of France in 1525. Pentapolis, a maritime district of mediaeval Italy, so called because 1t contained the five cities, Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Sinigaglia, Ancona. It was part of the gift which Pepin le Bref bestowed on Pope Stephen in 753. Pisa, a Tuscan city on the Arno, a famous republic of the Middle Ages. It was ruined in a struggle with Genoa, and was united to Florence in 1406. Now famous for its leaning bell-tower. Pistoia, a republic city of Tuscany, subdued in 1254 by Florence. Placentia, or Piacenza, a city of Northern Italy, near the junction of the Trebia with the Po, 37 miles south-east of Milan. Pollentia, an ancient town, of which the ruins are 25 miles south-east of Turin. Ravenna, a city south of the mouth of the Po. A great marsh grew round it, formed of river mud, and stretching out into the sea. The only way of approach was a narrow causeway miles long. To this city Honorius retired from Rome; and here Odoacer and Theodoric held the Gothic Court. The Exarchs of Ravenna held power, as Viceroys of the Byzantine Emperor, for two cen- turies after the time of Narses. Bivoli, a town on the Adige, where in 1797 Napoleon defeated the Aus- trians. There is another Rivoli in Piedmont, 10 miles from Turin. Rome, the capital of Italy, on the Tiber. It was sacked by Alaric the Goth in 410 ; pillaged by the Vandals in 455; ruled by Rienzi as tribune in 1347 ; sacked by the troops of Bour- bon in 1527 ; besieged and taken by the French under Oudinot in 1849. It is now famous for its ruins and its galleries of art. Its chief modern buildings are St. Peter's and the Vatican. Salerno, a small state on the Gulf of Salerno, in Naples, which was a frag- ment of the Lombard Duchy of Benevento. A prince of Salerno first invited the Normans to Southern Italy. Savona, a walled seaport of Sardinia, 30 miles south-west of Genoa. THE NETHERLANDS. 339 Simploil, the most easterly col or pass of the Pennine Alps. SpoletO, a city and duchy on the west slope of the Apennines, correspond- ing to part of ancient Umbria. St. Bernard, a peak and a pass of the Pennine Alps, by which in 1800 Napoleon crossed with his army into Italy. The pass runs from Martigny in Switzerland to Aosta in Piedmont. St, Gothard, the chief pass of the Helvetic or Lepontian Alps, from Altorf in Uri to Bellinzona. , Turin (called in Roman days Augusta Taurinorum), the capital of Pied- mont, on the upper course of the Po. Urbino, a town in the Papal States, 20 miles from the Adriatic, Here in 1483 Raphael was bora. Venice, on eighty islands at the mouth of the Brenta, founded in 452. It grew in the Middle Ages to be a great centre of trade. Became in- dependent of the Eastern Empire in 997; subdued by the League of Cambray in 1508; deprived by the Turks of Cyprus and Candia 1571- 1669; seized by Bonaparte and handed over to Austria in 1797 ; an- nexed to the Italian kingdom in 1805 ; transferred to Austria in 1814. Insurrection against Austria in 1848. Verona, the military capital of Vene- tia, pleasantly situated on the Adige, It was taken by the Venetians in 1409. Volterra, a republic city of Tuscany, subdued by Florence in 1254. THE NETHERLAOTS. At the end of the fourteenth century, the county of Flanders and the duchy of Brabant occupied the land we now call Belgium. Holland was little more than a name on the map of Europe. The land then fell under the Dukes of Burgundy, and so under the house of Austria. Charles V. ruled the Netherlands ; but the northern provinces, revolt- ing from his son, formed the Dutch Republic. The Netherlands in 1795 were joined to the French Republic. A king of the Netherlands was proclaimed in 1815 ; but in 1830 the Belgians revolted, and have since had a king of their own. Amsterdam, the capital of Holland, on the Y, an arm of the Zuyder Zee. It is still a great centre of money traffic. Antwerp, the first seaport of Belgium, on the Scheldt, 45 miles from its mouth ; noted for its capture in 1585 by the Duke of Parma ; bombarded in 1832 by the French. Brabant, a district of the central Netherlands, of which part North Brabant belongs to Holland, and part South Brabant to Belgium. It was long a duchy, under the suc- cessors of Charlemagne. Brille, or Briel, on the Island of Voorn, near the mouth of the Maas. It was seized by the Water Beggars in 1572 ; is remarkable as the birth- place of Van Tromp and De Witt, the admirals. Bruges, a city of Belgium, the capital of West Flanders, on the Rege. It was once a great centre of the wool trade ; and here the Order of the Golden Fleece was instituted in 1430. Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on the Senne, a feeder of the Dyle. A revolution took place here in 1830, ending in the separation of Belgium from Holland. Courtrai (in Flemish, Kortryk), a town of West Flanders, on the Lys. Here the Flemings, under John Count of Namur, defeated the French in 1302. Delft, a town in South Holland, on the Schie, 10 miles north-west of Rotter- dam. Here William the Silent was murdered in 1.184. fontenoy, a village, 4 miles south- 340 RUSSIA AND POLAND. east of Tournay, where the French under Saxe beat the British and Austrians under Cumberland in 1745. Ghent, the capital of East Flanders, where the Scheldt and the Lys meet ; noted as the birth-place of Charles V. in 1500. Here the Pacification of Ghent was signed in 1576. Haerlem, in North Holland, on the Spaaren, which falls into the Y, 12 miles from Amsterdam; noted for its brave defence against the Span- iards in 1573. Jemappes, a village near Mons, where Dumouriez won a victory over the Austrians in 1792. Leyden, a town on a branch of the Rhine, 10 miles from the Hague; noted for its siege by the Spaniards and its relief in 1574. Its university is much renowned. Ligny, a Belgian village, 18 miles south-east of Waterloo. Here on June 16, 1815, Blucher was driven back by Napoleon. Louvain, a Belgian town on the Dyle. Its university was the cradle of Jansenism. Mechlin, or Malines, on the Dyle. It was sacked by the Spaniards in 1572. Once famous for lace. Mons, a fortress, 32 miles south-west of Brussels. It fell into the hands of Marlborough in 1709, after his vic- tory at Malplaquet, which is only a league distant. Namur, a strong fort at the junction of the Sambre and the Meuse, 67 miles south-east of Brussels. It was taken by William III. of England, before the treaty of Ryswick was signed. Neerwinden, a Belgian village, where the French under Dumouriez were defeated by the Austrians in 1793. Nimeguen, a Dutch town on the Waal, where the treaty of 1678 was concluded. Ondenarde, a Belgian village on the Scheldt, 33 miles west of Brussels, famed as the scene of Marlborough's victoiy over the French in 1708. Quatre Bras (four arms, that is, cross roads), a village, 10 miles south of Waterloo. Here Ney strove without success to dislodge the British, June 16, 1815. Ramillies, a Belgian village, 28 miles south-east of Brussels; noted for Marlborough's victory over Villeroi in 1706. Ryswick, a town of West Holland, 2 miles south-east of the Hague, where the treaty of 1697 was signed. Scheldt, the chief river of West Bel- gium, rising in Aisne in France, and flowing into the North Sea. Steinkirk, a Belgian town, 16 miles west of Brussels , noted for the de- feat of William III. by Luxemburg in 1692. Utrecht, a Dutch city, where the Vecht meets the old Rhine, 22 miles south-east of Amsterdam. The Union of Utrecht in 1579 laid the foundation of the Dutch Republic ; and here the treaty of 1713 was con- cluded, ending the War of the Span- ish Succession. Waterloo, a Belgian village, 9 miles south of Brussels, near the forest of Soignies. The scene of Napoleon's utter defeat by Wellington, June 18, 1815. RUSSIA AND POLAND. In the tenth century there was a Duchy of Polonia, which at the time of the Crusades had become the Kingdom of Poland. Gradually the bounds of the kingdom widened, until, in 1385, it absorbed Lith- uania, and soon stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Russia, then filled with broken principalities, of which the largest was Novgorod, was in the hands of Tartar conquerors. Ivan III. drove out these Tartars ; and at once Russia began to rise, Meanwhile RUSSIA AND POLAND. 341 Poland grew weak with discord. The reign of Peter the Great over Russia made her one of the chief states in Europe; and the old king- dom of Poland soon felt the evil of having great and unscrupulous neighbours, was torn to pieces, and blotted from the map of Europe. Alma, a river in the west of the Crimea, north of Sebastopol ; noted for the victory of the French and British over the Russians in 1854. Archangel, a port on the Dwina, in Northern Russia, 400 miles north-east of St. Petersburg. It was founded in 1584. Balaklava, a port in the south-west of the Crimea, about 10 miles from SebastopoL Near it a battle was fought in 1854, when the famous charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade took place. Beresina, a western tributary of the Dnieper, where Napoleon's army suffered terribly in their retreat from Moscow. Borodino, a village on a tributary of the Moskwa, 70 miles south-west of Moscow, where Kutusoff and Napo- leon fought in 1812, while the latter was on his way to Moscow. Conrland, a Baltic province of Russia, south of Livonia. Its capital is Mitau. It belonged to Poland until 1795. Cronstadt, a fortress and island in the Gulf of Finland, 16 miles from the mouth of the Neva, 21 miles west of St. Petersburg. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1710, and is the great naval station of the Baltic. Ingria, a province south of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland; belonging to Sweden from 1617 until 1700, when it was taken by Russia. Inkermann, a little east of Sebasto- pol. The scene of a Russian defeat in the late war, November 5, 1854. There are close by chapels cut out of the freestone rock. Kiev, a Russian city on the Dnieper, 660 miles south of St. Petersburg. It was the capital of Southern Russia under Ruric capital of all Russia from 1037 to 1167. Ladoga, a large lake in North-west Russia, out of which the Neva, 40 miles long, flows to the sea. Lithuania, a district of Russia round the Niemen. It waslongmdependent; but was united to Poland in 1385, by the marriage of the Queen of Poland with the Prince of Lithuania. Livonia, a Baltic province of Russia, between Lake Peipus and the Gulf of Riga, which was taken from Sweden by Peter the Great. MOSCOW, the old capital and holy city of Russia, on the Moskwa, a tribu- tary of the Volga, 400 miles south- east of St. Petersburg. Here in 1812 a great fire drove Napoleon to his terrible winter retreat Narva, a small Russian town on the Narova, 81 miles south-west of St. Petersburg, famous for a battle in which Charles XII. of Sweden de- feated the Czar Peter in 1700. Niemen, a river, which forms part of the boundary between Russia and Poland. Its mouth is in Prussia. It is noted for its destructive floods. Novgorod, a city of Russia on the Wolchow, where it leaves Lake Ilmen, 120 miles south-south-east of St. Petersburg. The seat of Rnric's government in the ninth century. Ostrolenka, a Polish town, 68 miles north-east of Warsaw, where in 1831 the Poles were victorious over the Russians. Peipus, a lake of Livonia, deep enough for small frigates. Pultowa, a fortified town on the Worskla, an eastern tributary of the Dnieper, where Charles XII. was de- feated by Peter the Great in 1709. Riga, the capital of Livonia, on the Dttna, 5 miles from its mouth. It was taken by Gustavus Adolphus in 1621 ; but was taken from Sweden by Peter the Great in 1710. Sebastopol, a great fortress in the south-west of the Crimea ; famous for its siege during the late war, 1854-55. Smolensk, a city on the Dnieper, 230 miles from Moscow ; bombarded and set on fire by Napoleon in 1812. St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, on the Neva, founded by Peter the Great. 342 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. Ukraine, the district of Little Russia, along the Dnieper, comprising four governments, Kiev, Podolia, Pul- towa, and Charkov. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on the Vistula, 650 miles south-west of St. Petersburg. It was assigned to Prussia in 1795; but in 1815 was made the capital of the kingdom of Poland, which was united to Russia In 1831 it was the scene of a revolu- tion, which, however, failed. Wilna, the old capital of Lithuania, where the Wilna and the Wilenka, tributaries of the Niemen, meet In 1812 Napoleon took it, on his way to Moscow. SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. The Roman province Hispania was divided between the great king- dom of the Visigoths and the smaller one of the Suevi in the north- west. The Saracens invaded the land in 710; and the Visigothic kingdom shrank into Asturias, while the great Emirate of Cordova filled nearly all the peninsula. Then about 1107 Count Henry, a JBur- gundian prince, founded the monarchy of Portugal, while three king- doms Leon, Castile, and Aragon grew up in Northern and Central Spain. Castile and Leon united. Ferdinand of Aragon married in 1469 Isabella, who soon wore the double crown. Thus arose the mon- archy of Spain, which reached its height of glory under Charles I. (Em- peror Charles V.), but received a shock under his son, Philip II., from which it has never recovered. Alhama, a town of Granada, on the Frio, 25 miles south- west of Granada. It was taken from the Moors in 1482. Alcantara, a city of Estremadura on the Tagus, nearly 200 miles from Madrid. It means in Moorish "the bridge." It gave its name to an order of knighthood. Almaiiza, a town of Murcia, on the borders of Valencia. Here in 1707 the troops of Louis XI V.defeated the Spaniards and their allies, win- ning the crown of Spain for Philip V. Asturias, wooded mountains along the north of Spain, a continuation westward of the Pyrenees. Their northern slope forms the province of Asturias. Here the Visigoths took refuge when driven northward by the Saracens. Barcelona, a seaport of Catalonia in North-east Spain. Here Columbus visited Ferdinand and Isabella on his return from discovering America. It wgs taken in 1705 by the Earl of Peterborough, Baza (once Basti), a town of Granada, taken from the Moors by Ferdinand. BurgOS, the capital of Old Castile, on the Arlan^on, 117 miles north of Madrid. Calatrava, a fortress on the Guadiana, which gave its name to one of the three military orders of Spain. Castile, Old and New, two provinces of Central Spain, which formed a kingdom in the Middle Ages. Cordova (once Corduba), on the Guad- alquivir. The centre of the Saracen dominion after 755, when its uni- versity, famous In Roman days, re- vived. It was taken by the Span- iards in 1234. Gibraltar, the promontory of Calpe, called Djebel Tarik (the mountain of Tarik), after the Saracen leader who landed there in 710. It was taken from Spain bythe British in 1704. Granada, a city on the Darro, a tri- butary of the Xenil, at the foot of * the Sierra Nevada. Here the Moor* made their lust stand iu JL491-U& SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND DENMARK. 343 The Alhambra still stands on a hill by the city. Loxa, a town of Granada, on the Xenil, which is a tributary of the Guadal- quivir. Madrid, the capital of Spain, on the Manzaiiares, a tributary of the Tagus. Napoleon entered this city in triumph in 1808. Malaga, the seaport of Granada, on the Mediterranean. It was taken by Ferdinand in 1487. Navas de Tolosa, a plain north of Tolosa, on the southern slope of the Sierra Moreria, where, in 1212, the Moors were defeated by the kings of Castile and Aragon. Palos, a small port of Andalusia, from which Columbus set out, August 3, 1492. Roncevalles, a valley on the Upper Irati, in the Pyrenees, where, in 778, the mountaineers defeated Charle- magne and slew Roland. Santa Fe, a town built by Ferdinand on the site of his camp during the siege of Granada (1491-92). Seville, the capital of Andalusia, on the Guadalquivir, 45 miles from the sea ; once a great centre of Moorish power. Trafalgar, a cape in Andalusia, 30 miles from Cadiz. Here Nelson fell In 1805. Tudela, a city on the Ebro, 110 miles east of Burgos. Valencia, a city and province in Eastern Spain. Here, till 1099, the Cid held his court. Valladolid, a city of Old Castile, near the Douro, 95 miles north-west o.' Madrid. Here Columbus died in 1506. Vigo, a seaport of Galicia, in the north-west of Spain, where Sir George Rooke, with English and Dutch ships, destroyed a French fleet in 1702. Vimiera, a small town in Portugese Estremadura, 30 miles north-west of Lisbon, where Junot was defeated in 1808 by Wellesley. Vittoria, a town in Alava, on the road from Burgos to Bayonne, where iu 1813 the decisive battle of the Penin- sular War was fought. Xeres de la Frontera, a town on the Guadalete, in South Spain, where in 711 the Saracens overthrew the Visigoths and killed Roderick the king of that nation. Yuste, a monastery in Estremadura, near Plasencia, to which Charles \'. retired in 1556. Zahara, a town of Andalusia, built on a rock, 47 miles south-east of Seville. Zamora, on the Douro, in Leon, 150 miles north-west of Madrid. SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND DENMARK. Sweden, or Svea Kike, was at first the home of a Gothic tribe, Svenskar. Denmark was occupied by another Gothic tribe, Dansker. Norway means North Realm. At first Norway held the greater part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and the Swedes were forced to spread into Finland. Then came the Union of Calmar in 1397, joining the three crowns. Gustavus Vasa, in 1521, freed Sweden from the Danish yoke. The Czar Peter stripped Sweden of most of her possessions in the east of the Baltic. In 1814 Norway was ceded to Sweden by the treaty of Kiel. Braavalla, a heath in East Gothland, the scene of a battle, in 740 between the Danish king, Harold Goldtooth, and his nephew Sigurd Ring, king of Sweden. Calmar, a town on the west of Smaa- land, opposite the Island of (Eland. Here was held a congress of tho three northern nations in 1397, wben the famous Union of Calmar was signed. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, at the south end of the Sound, on two isljiuds, Zealand and Auiager. 344 SWITZERLAND TURKEY AND GREECE. Here Nelson crippled the Danish fleet in 1801; and Cathcart bom- barded the town in 1807. Before 1443 Roeskilde was the capital of Den- mark. Fredericshall, a port of Norway, at the bend of the Skager Rack, 57 miles south-east of Christiania. Here, in 1718, Charles XII. of Sweden was killed. Gotaland, all the southern part of Sweden, including also the Island ot Gothland. Mselarn, a lake of eastern Sweden, filled with small islands. It is united to the Baltic by a channel. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on the channel from Mselarn to the sea. Counting the windings, it is 36 miles from the Baltic. Upsala was the capital of Sweden until the seven- teenth century. SWITZERLAND. The central parts of Switzerland formed, about the time of the Cru- sades, the Duchy of Burgundy the Less. In the fourteenth century the Forest Cantons arose, shook off the yoke of the Austrian Dukes, and formed the Swiss nation. In the time of Napoleon there were many changes in her Constitution; but in 1815 the number of Cantons was raised to twenty- two, and the independence of the Swiss was secured by treaty. Aar, a tributary of the Rhine on its left bank, draining Northern and Central Switzerland. Altorf, a town at the southern end of Lake Lucerne, on the Reuss. It is the capital of Uri, and is noted as the scene of Tell's famous shot. Basle, a Swiss town at the point where the Rhine turns north. It was the seat of a great council from 1431 to 1448. Cappel, a Swiss battle-field of the Reformation time, where Zwingle was killed in 1531. Constance, a town on the southern shore of Lake Constance or Boden See. Here (1414-18) sat the famous Council by whose sentence John Huss and Jerom-e of Prague were burned. Einsiedlen, a town in the Canton of Schweitz, 15 miles east of Zug. Here Zwingle lived for some time. Geneva, a city on the Rhone, where it leaves Lake Leman. The residence of Calvin, and the birth-place of Rousseau. Glarus, a Swiss town on the Linthi the capital of the Canton of Glarus. Lucerne, a lake, canton, and town in Central Switzerland, famous for their associations with William TelL Morgarten, a pass between Schweitz and Zug. The road ran between Mount Sattel and Lake ^EgerL Here the Swiss defeated the Aus- trians in 1315. Nefels, a small town of Glarus, where the Austrians were defeated in 1388. Schweitz, one of the three Forest Cantons (the others are Uri and Underwalden) which has given its name to the whole land. It lies north-east of Lake Lucerne. Sempach, a village of Lucerne, famous for the battle of 1386, in which Arnold von Winkelried devoted him- self for his country. Underwalden, a Forest Canton, south- west of Lake Lucerne. Uri, a Forest Canton, south of Lake Lucerne. TURKEY AND GREECE. The footing which the Arabs tried in vain to get upon the European shores of the Bosphorus, was won by the Turks in the fifteenth cen- tury. They soon overran the whole peninsula ; but the Danube, TURKEY AND GBEECE. 345 lined by the brave Hungarians, was a barrier they couJd never pass. Their power has gradually decayed, and is now very slight. Greece, separated from Turkey by a line running from the Gulf of Volo to that of Arta, arose from her bondage in 1821, and bravely won her freedom. Adrianople, a city of old Thrace, on the Hebrus, now the Maritza, 134 miles north-west from Constan- tinople, now the second town in Turkey. Here the Goth Fritigern beat the Romans, and Valens was slain, in 378. Belgrade, capital of Servia, at the junction of the Save with the Danube. A great barrier of eastern Europe against the Turks. Here in 1456 HuHyades of Transylvania drove the Turks back witli great loss. Bender, now a Russian town on the Dniester, in Bessarabia, 58 miles from the Black Sea. Here Charles XII. took refuge after the battle of Pultowa. It was laid in ashes by the Russians in 1770, and taken by them in 1809. Byzantium, or Constantinople, on the European side of the Bosphorus. It took its name from Byzas, a Thracian chief of the seventh cen- tury B.C. It was destroyed by Darius. Here Constantine fixed the capital of the Eastern Empire in 328. The Moslems vainly besieged it It was taken by the Crusaders in 1204. Famous for its great siege in 1453, when it fell into the hands of the Turks. Called by them Stamboul or Istambol. Durazzo (formerly Dyrrachium, capi- tal of Epirus), a town of Upper Albania, on a small bay of the Ionian Sea. Scene of a famous battle between the Norsemen and the Byzantine troops, 1081. Epidaurus, once a celebrated city of the Peloponnesus, on the shore of the Saronic Gulf in Argolis; now a miserable village of scarce one hun- dred people. Here the Greeks held a congress in 1822. LepautO (formerly Naupactus). in ^Etolia, on the north side of the Gulf of Lepanto. Here Don John of Austria destroyed the Turkish fleet in 1571. Missolonghi, a small town of ^Etolia, on the north side of the Gulf of Patras. Here Byron died. It is also famous for its terrible siege in 1826. Moldavia, a province of Turkey west of the Pruth. It was a part of ancient Dacia, and with Wallachia was a source of the Russian war. Napoli di Romania, the ancient city of Nauplia (Neapolis), lies on a point of land in the east of the Morea, at the head of the Gulf of Argos. Navarino, on the south-west coast oi the Morea, near the old Pylos. Ita bay is guarded by the island Sphagia (once Sphacteria). The scene of a great naval battle in 1827. Nicopolis, a city of Bulgaria, on the Danube. Here, in 1396, Bajazet and his janissaries defeated the Hun- garians. Proconnesus, a little island in the Sea of Marmara, from which the marble was got to build Constan- tinople. Sardica, the capital of Dacia Interior. It is still called Triaditza, and was the scene of an ecclesiastical council in the days of Constantine. Scio (once Chios), an island off tt>e west coast of Asia Minor. Remark- able for the beauty of its scenery. Terribly ravaged by the Turks in 1822. Thessalonica (now SaloniM), at tb. 70; sur- rendered to the Caliph Omar, 637; taken by the Crusaders, 1099; taken by the Turks, 1239. Its present population is about 10,000, of whom two-thirds are Mahometans. Kadesia, a battle-field some distance west of the Euphrates, where, dur- ing the caliphate of Omar, the Mos- lems and the Persians fought for three days. The Persians were beaten. Madayn, consisting of two towris, Ctesiphon and Seleucia, opposite each other, on the Tigris. This capital of the Persian kingdom fell before the troops of Omar, arid Bagdad was afterwards built from its ruins. Mecca, the capital of Arabia, in a sandy valley 55 miles from the east shore of the Red Sea. Here Mahomet was born in 571. It was re-entered by the banished prophet in 629. Medina, a city of Western Arabia, 270 miles north of Mecca. Hither Ma- homet fled in 622, and here he was buried. Muta, a battle-field a little east of the Dead Sea, where the Moslems and the troops of the Eastern Empire met in conflict for the first time. Nehavend, a town half way between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. It was the scene of the last great defeat of the Persians by the Moslem troops. Nice, or Nicsea (now Isnik), a great city of Bithynia, where the First General Council met in 325. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1097. Nicomedia (now Nikmid), a city of Bithynia, on the Gulf of Astacus. It was the capital of the East under Diocletian, and the scene of the last #reat Christian persecution in 303. There Cor.stantine died. It was noted in the story of the Crusades. Palmyra, or Tadmor, a city built in an oasis of the Syrian desert, half way between the Orontes and the Euphrates. It was taken by Au- relian in 273, and its queen, Zenobia, was led in triumph through Rome. Rhodes, an island off the south-west coast of Asia Minor, which was attacked without success by Maho- met II. Samarcand, a city of Turkestan. It M*as conquered by the Moslems and then by the Mongols, when it be- came the capital of Tamerlane. Smyrna, a large commercial city on the west shore of Asia Minor. It was the scene of the fifth Christian persecution, during which the bishop, Polycarp, suffered martyrdom. Tabuk, a palm grove half way between Medina and Damascus, at which Mahomet fell sitk and turned back to die. AFRICA. The spread of the Moslems along the shores of Barbary, and the events of the later Crusades, are the chief points of interest in the his- tory of Africa during the Middle Ages. In modern times the name of this continent has become sadly associated with the unnatural horrors of negro slavery. 348 AMERICA. AbouMr, a bay at the western mouth of the Nile. It was the scene of Nel- son's victory over the French fleet in August 1798. Alexandria, a city 14 miles from the most westerly mouth of the Nile, built partly on the promontory of Pharos. It was, in Vespasian's time, the second Roman city, and is now the great port of Egypt. Algiers, a country of North Africa, corresponding to the old Numidia. It was taken by the Vandals, who were expelled by Belisarius in 534. The city was unsuccessfully attack- ed by Charles V. in 1541; bom- barded by the English in 1816; and conquered by the French in 1830. Cairouan, a city of Northern Africa, founded by the Moslems in 674. It became a great centre of commerce during the Middle Ages. Damietta, a seaport at the eastern mouth of the Nile, taken by St. Louis during the Seventh Crusade. Hippo Regius (Bona), a strong city of the Numidian coast, where St. Augustine lived and died. It was besieged by the Vandals in 430. Mekines, a Moslem kingdom in Northern Africa, corresponding to the old Mauretania, and to part of the modern Morocco and Algiers. St. Helena, a rocky island in the South Atlantic, belonging to Great Britain. It is famous as the prison of Napoleon from 1815 until his death in 1821. Tangier (formerly Tingis), the capital of Mauretania Tingitana,on the south- ern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. Tunis, a city 3 miles south-west from the ruins of Carthage. It was taken in 1535 by Charles V., when 10,000 Christian slaves were set free. Goletta was its great port AMERICA. America is said to have been known to the Icelanders about 1000 A.D., but it was only after 1492 that the New World began to figure in history. Spain became the possessor of nearly all South America and a large part of the Northern Continent; but the various States have since risen and won their independence. The greatest event in American history is the acknowledgment of the independence of the United States by Britain in 1783. The Republic then founded has grown to be one of the greatest Powers in the world. Caxamarca, a city of old Peru, where Pizarro massacred the guards of the Inca. Cuzco, a plateau and town in Southern Peru, more than 11,000 feet above the sea. It was taken by Pizarro. Hispaniola, also called St. Domingo or Hayti, one of the larger Antilles, discovered and colonized by Columbus in 1493. He ruled it for Spain until ^superseded by Bobadilla. It is now independent, under a negro emperor. Lima, the capital of Peru, 6 miles from the Pacific. Callao is its port. It was founded by Pizarro in 1535. Jttexico, a great city on the plateau of Anahuac. It was taken for Spain by Cortes in 1521, but it declared its independence in 1821. Otumba, a valley near Mexico, where the natives were defeated by Cortez in 1520. Panama, a town on the Pacific shore of the Isthmus of Darien or Panama. Pizarro sailed from it in 1531, bound for Peru. The traffic to California now passes through it. San Salvador, or Guanahani, one of the Bahama Islands. The first American land seen by Columbus, who landed there October 12, 1492. Vera Cruz, a port on the south-west shore of Gulf of Mexico, founded by Cortez, who there broke up his ships INDEX. Abbaside Caliphate, 86. Azof, 258. Catherine deMedici,207. Abdallah, 87, 164. Catholic league, 208. Abdel Rahman, 85, 160. Bagdad, 86. Celts and Cimbri, 69. Aboukir, Battle of, 295. Bajazet, Sultan, 155. Chaibar, Capture of, 61. Abu Beker. Caliph, 63. Baldwin, 116. Chalons, 37. Acre, 111, 119. Barbarossa, 193. Charlemagne, 77-83. Adelaide, Queen, 90. Barmecides, 87. Charlemagne's court, Adrian's edict, 20. Bartholomew, Massacre 100. Aix-la-Chapelle, 82, 101, of St., 207. Charles the Hammer 267. Beggars, Water. 200. (France), 67. Akbah, 65. Belgium, 247. Charles the Simple Alaric the Goth, 34. Belgrade, 158. (France), 97. Albert, Duke, 128. Belisarius, 50. Charles IX. (France), Albigenses, 120. Berengar, 90. 208. Alboin the Lombard, 54. Berlin Decrees, 302. Charles X. (France), 314. Alexius, 116. Bernadotte, 307. Charles V. (Spain), 189, Alfred the Great, 96. Bernard, St., 110. 196. Al-Hakem, 160. Berytus (Beirout), 114. Charles XII. (Sweden), Alhama, 163. Blenheim, 253. 259, 262. Alhambra, 162. Bonaparte, 291, 293, Chivalry, 133. Ali, Caliph, 64. 296, 299, 307, 310. Christian IV. defeated, Alva, 199. Boniface, 35. 221. Amalric, Arnold, 122. Bourbon, House of, 204, Cid, The, 161. Ambrose, 57. 212, 307. Clairvaux, Abbot of, 110. Amiens, Treaty of, 298. Braavalla, Battle of, 95. Clermont, Council of, Amurath II., 356. Brederode, 199. 107. Anabaptist War, 192. Brienne, Gualtier de, Cloris, 50. Angora, 155. 149. Colbert, 246. Antioch, 108. Brille, 199. Coligny, Admiral, 205, Antoine, St., 244. Burgundians, 71. 207. Antonia, Tower of, 15. Byzantine court, 94. Columbus, 166. Antwerp, 200. Communes, of France, Aquitaine, 78. Cadi j ah, 59. 143. Arabs, 59. Calonne, 284. Concini, 213. Aragon, Kings of, 171. Calvin, John, 187. Conde, Prince of, 205. Arnold of Brescia, 151. Cam bray, 192. Condottieri, The, 173. Ascalon, 109. Campo Formio, 295. Conrad, Duke, 83. Attila the Hun, 36. Capet, Hugh, 88. Conrad III. the Great, Augsburg, 90, 186, 251. Capuchins, 229. 110. Augustine, 57. Carcassone, Capture of, Constantine, 25, 29, 30. Aurelius, Marcus, 21. 122. Constantine Palaeologus, Austerlitz, 300. Carlovingian kings, 84. 158. Auto da Fe, 176. Carlstadt, 185. Constantinople, 29, 116, Avars, The, 81. Carthage destroyed, 65. 156. Avignon, 151. Cathedrals, Rise of, 172. Cordova, Emirate of, 85. 350 INDEX. Cortez, Ferdinand, 169. Crescentius, 151. Crespy, Peace of, 194. Crimea, Mahomet II., 158. Crucifixion, 9. Crusade, The Boy, 116. Dagobertl., 66. Damascus, Siege of, 110 Damietta, 118. Dandolo, 115. Decian persecution, 22. Dethmold, Battle of, 80. Dettingen, Battle of, 266. Diocletian persecution, 23. Dominicans, 173. Domitian's persecution, 19. Don John of Austria, 200 Doria, Andrew, 192. Dorylaeum, 108. Dresden, 266. Dreux, 206. Dunkirk, 245. Durazzo, Battle of, 99. Dutch Republic, 198. Eck, Dr., 183. Egypt, Napoleon in, 295. Eikonodouloi, 92. Eikonoklastai, 92. Eleazar, 12. Emir al Omra, 87. Faliero, Marino, 147. Feodor, 98. Ferdinand of Bohemia, 219, 227. Ferdinand and Isabella, 163. Ferdinand VII., 312. Finns, The, 73. Florence, 148, 319. Fontenaille, Battle of, 83. Fontenoy, Battle of, 266. Foscari, Francesco, 147. Foulque, 115. France, Life in, 274 ; Revolution in, 283, 314; Geography of 330. Francis I., 190, 191. Francis II., 205. Franciscans, 173. Franks, Rise of, 70. Frederic Barbarossa,lll, 145. Frederic II, 117. Frederic the Great, 264, 272. Friedland, Battle of, 302. Fronde, War of the, 243. Fttrst, Walter, 129. Galerius, 24. Geneva, Council of, 187. Genseric, 37. Gerard, Balthasar, 201. Germany and Prussia, 323; Geography of, 333. Gertruydenburg, 254. Gessler, 129. Ghent, Peace of, 200. Gibraltar, 254. Godfrey of Bouillon, 108. Goths in Scandinavia, 69 ; and Sarmatians, 27 ; in Thrace, 33. Granada, 162, 165. Greek revolution, 321. Gregory the Great, 58. Gregory VII., 144. Gregory IX. , 117. Guelphs and Ghibel- lines, 144. Gueux, Les, 198. Guiscard, 99. Gunpowder, 138. Gustavus Adolphus, 223. Guzman, Dominic, 121. Haerlem, 199. Hanseatic League, 232. Harold Haarfager, 96. Haroun al Raschid, 82. Hegira, 60. Helvetia, Old, 128. Henry II. (France), 204. Henry IV., 210, 211. Henry (Germany) the Fowler, 88. Henry of Navarre, 208. Henrys, War of the Three, 208. Hippicus, Tower of, 13. Hohenlinden, 297. Holland, 198. Holland, War in, 247. Honorius, 34. Hospitallers, 109. Hubertsburg, Peace of, 271. Huguenots, The, 204. Hungary, 74, 321. Ibrahim, 62. Innocent I., 56. Innocent III., 115, 120. Innspruck, 195. Inquisition, 176. Interim, The, 195. Investitures, War of, 144. Irene, The Empress, 86. Isaac, Emperor, 115. Isabella of Spain, 167. Islam, 60. Italy conquered by Bel- isarius, | 51 ; Repub- lics, 143; Life in, 172; Bonaparte in, 294 ; Geography of, 337. Ivry, Battle of, 209. Jansen, 229. Jemappes, 289. Jena, Battle of, 302. Jerome, 57. Jerusalem, Siege of, 13, 106, 109 ; Christian kings of, 119. Jesuits, 194. John, Duke of Suabia, 130. John of Gischala, 12. John, Pope, 90. Joppa, Fall of, 114 Josephine, 294. Josephus, 14. Julian, the apostate, 32. Justinian, 50. Kadesia, Battle of, 64. Kiev founded, 98. Knighthood, 135. Koran, The, 62. Koreish, The, 61. Kosciusko, 272. Kossuth, Louis, 322. Kussnacht, 130. La Hogue, Battle of, 251. La Vaur, Siege of, 123. League, Henry IV. and the, 209. Legnano, Battle of, 145. Leipsic, Disputation of, INDEX. 351 183; Battle of, 223, Marmont, 314. Norsemen, 95. 307. Mary de Medici, Re- Novgorod founded, 98. Leo I., 57. gency of, 213. Noyon, 187. Leo III., 81. Maurice of Saxony, 194. Nuremberg, 225. Leo VI., 93. Maximilian, 220. Leo VIII. , 90 Maximin, 22, 23. Omar, Caliph, 63. Leo X., 182. Mayors of the Palace, 66. Ommiyad dynasty, 86. Leopold, Duke, 131. Mazarin, 217, 243, 246. Orchan, 154. Leopold, King of Hun- Mazeppa, 261. Orleans, Regency of, 255. gary, 245. Mecca, Occupation of, 62. Ostrogoths, 52. Leopold of Belgium, 319. Medici, Giovannidi,149. Ostrolenka, 323. Leuthen, Battle of, 269. Medici, Lorenzo di, 149. Othman, 64. Leyden, Relief of, 200. Melancthon, 186. Othman, Emir, 154, Licinius, War with, 27. Mentz, Surrender of, Otho the Great, 89. Liegnitz, Battle of, 270. 224. Otho II., 91. Lodi, Bridge of, 294. Menzikoff, 261. Otho III, 91. Lombard invasion, 54. Meroveg, 66. Otranto, 159. Lombardy, 72, 80. Mexico, Siege of, 170. Oudenarde, 253. Lorenzo, the Magnifi- Milan, 34. Oxenstiern, 226. cent, 150. Minden, Battle of, 269. Lorraine subdued, 89. Mirabeau, Death of, 287. Pappenheim, 224. Lothaire, 83. Montezuma seized, 169. Paris besieged by Norse- Louis VII., 110. Montfort, Simon de, 122. men, 97. Louis IX., 118. Montmorency assassin- Paris, Peace of, 124, 312. Louis XIII., 216. ated, 206. Passau, Peace of, 195. Louis XIV., 242,255,276. Morgarten, Battle of, Pavia, 190. Louis XV, 283. 130. Pelagius, 56. Louis XVI., 284, 289. Moscow, The retreat Pentapolis, 68. Louis XVIII., 307. from, 306. Pepin le Bref, 68. Louis Napoleon, 315, Moslem creed, 63. Pepin of Heristal, 66. 318. Murat, 307. Perpetua, Story of, 22 Louis Philippe, 315. Muret, Battle of, 123. Peruvians, Massacre of, Louis, Prince, 123. 171. Lubeck, Peace of, 222. Nantes, Edict of, 210, Pesth, 322. Luther, 180. 250. Peter the Great, 257. Lutzen, Battle of, 225. Napoleon I., 300; Na- Peter the Hermit, 106. poleon III., 317. Philip Augustus, 111. Macedonian dynasty, N arses and the Ostro- Philip II. of Spain, 198. 93, 94. goths, 52. Pio Nono, 319. Magdeburg, Siege of, Narva, 259. Pius VII. , 300. 223. Narvaez, 170. Pizarro, Francisco, 170. Mahomet, 59, 62. Navarino, 321. Placentia, Council of, Mahomet II., 156. Nazareth, Massacre at, 107. Malaga, Fall of, 164. 119. Pliny, 19. Malek Kamil, 117. Neerwinden, Battle of, Podestas, 145. Mallum, of the Franks, 291. Poland, 74, 272, 323. 71. Nero's persecution, 18. Polycarp, Martyrdom Malplaquet, 254. Netherlands, 318, 339. of, 21. Mansfeldt, Count, 220. Nice, 193. Popery, Rise of, 56. Marengo, 297. Nicephorus, Letter of, Portugal, 313. Margaret of Parma, 198. 86. Pragmatic Sanction,265. Maria Theresa, 265. Nimeguen, Treaty of, Prague, Siege of, 268. Marie Antoinette, 284. 249. Proconnesus, 28. Marienburg, 124. Nordlingen, 226. Protestants, ISO, 186. Marlborough, Victories Normandy, Invasion of, Prussia, 125, i>r,4.-J73.:n 8. of, 253. 97. Pruth, War on the, 262. 352 INDEX. Pultowa, Battle of, 261. Pyrenees, Treaty of, 245. Radetsky, 319. Ramillies, 253. Rastadt, Treaty of, 254. Ravenna, 52. Red Rocks, Battle of, 26. Requesens, 199. Revolution, French, 283, 314, 316. Rhe, Siege of, 215. Richard I., 111. Richelieu, Cardinal, 214, 217. Ricimer, 37. Rienzi, Nicola di, 151. Robespierre, 290. Rochelle, Siege of, 216. Rodolph, Count, 128 Rolf Ganger, The, 97. Roman empire divided, 26. Rome, Life in, 38, 39 ; sacked, 35, 37, 191; restored, 320. Roncevalles, 81. Rossbach, Battle of, 268. Ruric the Jute, 98. Russia, 98, 257, 263, 305, 340. Rutli, 129. Ryswick, Treaty of, 252. Sabinus, 15. Saladin, 111, 113. San Salvador, 168. Saragossa, Victory of, 81. Sardica, Council of, 56. Sarmatian and Sclavonic tribes, 69. Savonarola, 150. Saxon emperors, 88. Saxons, The, 72. Schonbrunn, Treaty of, 304. Sedan, Surrender at, 318. Sempach, 131, 132. Seven Years' War, 267. Severus, Persecution by, 21. Sicily, Conquest of, 99. Signoria, The, 148. Silesia, 265. Simon of Gerasa, 12. Sinthal, 79. Smolensk, 305. Snow king, The, 223. Soliman, Sultan, 108. Solyman's invasion, 155 Sonna, The, 63. Spain, 175, 312, 342. Spanish Succession, "War of, 253. Spires, Diet of, 185. Stauffacher, Werner, 129. Stephen II., Pope, 58. Stephen of Vendome, 116. St. Germain, Peace of, 206. St. Petersburg built, 260. Stralsund, Siege of, 221. Sully, 211. Swatoslaus, 93. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Geography of, 343. Switzerland, 344. Symphorian, Martyr- dom of, 21. Tannenberg, Battle of, 127. Tarik, Lieutenant, 85. Tell, William, 129. Templars, The, 169. Temple, Burning of the, 17. Ten of Venice, The, 147. Terror, Reign of, 290. Tetzel, John, 182. Theodoric the Ostro- goth, 49. Theodosius, 33. Theses of Luther, 182. Thessalonians, Massacre of, 34. Thirty Years' War, 219. Thoron, Siege of, 114. Tilly, Death of, 224. Timour the Lame, 155. Titus at Jerusalem, 12. Torgau, Battle of, 270. Tournament, The, 137. Tours, Battle of, 67. Trajan's edict, 19. Trent, Council of, 194. Triple Alliance, 247. Tuileries, Sack of the, 288 Tunis, 118, 193. Turkey, 154, 157, 344. Ulric, 127. Urban II., 107. Utrecht, Union of, 201 ; Treaty of, 254. Valens, Death of, 33. Valerian's edict, 23. Vandals, 71. Vassy, 206. Vaudry, Colonel, 315. Venice, 146, 148. Verangians, 98. Verdun, Treaty of, 88. Verona, Congress of,312. Versailles, 277, 286. Vespasian, 12. Vienna, '251, 303; con- gress, 308. Vikings, 95. Vimiera, 303. Violet, Corporal, 308. Vittoria, Battle of, 303. Vladimir I., 98. Wagram, Battle of, 303. Wallenstein, Count, 221, 224. Walter the Penniless, 107. Wartburg Castle, 184. Waterloo, 310. Westphalia,Peace of,227 William of Orange, 247. William the Silent, 199; Murder of, 201. Winifred, 68. Winkelried, Arnold von, 132. Wittikind, 79. Worms, Peace of, 144 ; Diet of, 184. Xenil, 163. Xeres, Battle of, 67, 85. Ximenes, Cardinal, 189. Ypsilanti, Major, 319. Zahara, Fall of, 163. Zealots, 12. Zenghi, 110. Zimisces, John, 93. Zurich, 132, 185. Zwingle, Ulric, 185. 040C3 961636 D 2- Ol THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY