Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NIBLD
CRUSADERS SIGHTING JERUSALEM
The Book of History
H of all Bations
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
Volume X
WESTERN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Italy
The Spanish Peninsula
The Crusades
Trade of the Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The Reformation and After
ITALY
........
Florence and Venice in the Days of their Splendour
Sicilian Revolt and Spanish Supremacy
. . .
3953
3975
.......... 3979
The Rising
Waning
Christian Realms
of the .........
...........
Moorish Power
3985
3989
The Unification of Spain
Portugal and her Maritime ........
Triumphs
3995
4007
THE CRUSADES
Birth of the Crusading Spirit ..........
........... 4009
Story of the First Crusade
The Latin Kingdom .........
of Jerusalem
4015
4023
Saladin and the Crusades
The Passing
Why
of the Crusades
the Crusades failed
.
..........
............
. . . . . . . . .
4033
4042
4047
2073287
THE BOOK OF HISTORY
THE RENAISSANCE
Its Great Men and their Achievements ........ PACE
4121
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ...
.
. .
4193
.
4201
Power
.
.
.
.
.
. ...
. */ . .
.
. .
.
4211
4224
Spain and France in the Time of Charles V
England under Henry VIII .......... . . . . . . . 4226
4231
England under Edward and Mary
Place of Henry VIII in History
Spain and the Netherlands .
.........
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
4242
4250
4253
Place of Philip II of Spain in European History . . . , .
4263
The Spacious Days of Elizabeth . . . . . . . . 4265
,.
. . . . . ...
....
4 2 &5
4293
.
. . .
'
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
....
. . .
4301
4313
4323
.
Charles I on his Way to Execution, 1649 ... Coloured Plate facing 4340
Scotland from Flodden to the Restoration . . . . . .
4353
.
"
,
.
...
. . . . . . .
. .
. .
4369
.
4377
4385
<i
ITALY )
THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE AGES
THE END OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE
"THE relations established by Charlemagne which the Goths and Lombards were
* between the Frank dominion and obliged to build had never entirely lost
Italy reveal a complete change in certain the indelible stamp of Roman custom.
aspects of the social order in the peninsula. Early and recent Roman law, Lombard
The side of Italy facing eastward has edicts, Prankish tribal law, and German
surrendered its historical importance to imperial law these three or four influences
the westward side : Ravenna is dethroned, have co-operated to determine the later
and Rome appears in a new, though for constitutional developments of Upper and
the moment a borrowed, splendour the; Central Italy. -
Local diverg-
Influence -i j
Teutonic civilisation, which is now . .
i
ences are easily explained as
paramount, gradually pervades all public the result of special geograph-
Lombards . , .
,, V, ,
to
remembered that the foundation upon the smallest landholders and the farmer
3933
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
who worked with forty yokes were inferior During that time the islands on the
to the landowners who possessed at least coast line were more and more disturbed
seven hides of freehold, and of these the by the Arabs, or Saracens, whose raids
king did not necessarily hold the largest increased the traditional value attaching
extent of property, as his possessions were to fortified towns in effect they occupied
;
largely divided among adherents who the position that was formerly held by the
looked for some tangible reward. To these invading barbarians, who had advanced
classes was afterwards added the mer- upon the country from the north.
cantile
class, possessed of The picture which we gain of Italy under
Italy Under
personal prO p er ty. The wide the successors of Charles the Great is
ange an
divergences which separated generally unsatisfactory. The founder of
Development ,, , , i
these groups were inevitably the world-empire, upon the premature
accentuated by the processes of internal death of his son Pippin on July 8th. 810, had
consolidation and change, which in other personally placed Pippin's son Bernard in
cases was completed with comparative command of Italy in 812, and had made
rapidity. For that very reason the him king of the Lombards in the following
Carolingian social order was first able year Lewis, on the other hand, received
;
to extend its influences with comparative the imperial crown on September nth, 813.
uniformity over both portions and to Lewis, after his father's death, proceeded
produce a similarity, and for that reason to rearrange the imperial administration in
again this influence is by no means so July, 817, without consulting the interests
unimportant a matter as it would have of his nephew, who thereupon revolted.
been under other circumstances. Bernard's rapid submission in December
Thus the ninth century brought to could not mitigate the severity of his punish-
Italy a further expansion of the beneficiary ment, that of being blinded, on April I5th,
system. Investiture with Church property 818 ;
he died two days afterwards. His
was connected with the entirely Teutonic fate foreshadows that of many another
institution of vassalage, and here even Italian prince.
* The emperor
Lot hair j r v- ,
upon Italian soil we undoubtedly find the repented of his severity, and
seeds of the feudal system. The protection Bernard's son Pippin repaid
demanded by the papacy against domestic evil with good by liberating the
and foreign enemies undoubtedly fostered Empress Judith with a few faithful fol-
and disseminated the Central European lowers who had been banished to Italy in
theory that possession of the fief obliged July, 833 in April, 834, Pippin restored
;
the holder to render faithful service in war. her to her husband, whose descendants
By its very nature the feudal nobility became counts of Vermandois.
aimed at separatism and independence, and From the year 822 the co-emperor
its strength implied a gradual
weakening Lothair ruled over Italy upon the basis of
" "
of the central power, which suffered a the Divisio imperii of 817 the country ;
corresponding loss of territorial and mili- was involved in the struggles which
tary power this process continued in
; broke out in 830 between Louis the Pious
Italy, and an obvious example of a feudal and his sons. From February 2nd, 831,
state in process of disruption is Benevento, to June 30th, 833, Lothair was king only of
which broke up into Benevento, Salerno, Italy, though by a rapid change of fortune
and Capua. A number of petty subordinate he then became sole emperor, until his
vassals were often held in subjection by subjugation in the autumn of 834. After
the more powerful vassals. These various that date his possessions were again
grades of separate power which
1
confined to Italy, and he rewarded his
Prosperous ? , .
,,,
.. .
otate ol
. had interposed
*
themselves be-
,
faithful servants with estates at the
,1 e .1
tween t*16 wg arer of the crown expense both of the Church and of his
the Cities
and the general mass of his secular adherents, with the result that
subjects were inspired by an invincible from the autumn of 836 serious discontent
longing to make their property hereditary was felt with his action.
Eventually, at
and their position independent in Italy
; the end of May, 839, took place the final
their attainment of this object was reconciliation with his weak father, which
hindered for the moment by the prosperity ended in a fresh partition of the empire.
of the cities, which, though
surprising for its By these arrangements Lothair chose
early maturity, can be explained by refer- the half to the east of the Maas, without
ence to the conditions of past centuries. Bavaria, and this portion naturally
3934
ITALY: END OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE
included Italy, with which he was already the other hand, the aggressions of the
connected. We can therefore understand Saracens were checked, though only for
that after the settlement with his brothers the moment, in 847 and 852, by com-
that is to say, after the battle of Fontenoy- campaigns which
paratively successful
en-Puisaye on June 25th, 841, after the Lewis conducted in the south in the ;
flight of Lothair in March, 842, and the course of these movements Salerno was
Treaty of Verdun in August, 843 he definitely separated from Benevento in
preferred the central portion of the three 847 for the purpose of securing an effective
parts, the rights and revenues of which were .. frontier defence. Lewis was
practically identical this portion extended
;
.' now
Crowned as T , indisputably master of
,
vf , .
from Frisia along the Rhine and Moselle, Italy, and his position received
..
.,
Emperor , ", i_ >
been maintained, this long and narrow Bari with Greek help on February 2nd, 871,
central empire, known from 851 as the after a four years' siege, and relieved
" "
Regnum Hlotharii Lotharingia in the Salerno in August, 872. It would hardly
wider sense of the term would have been possible, however, even for a
H ow o air
h ave h acj an advantageous pro - more powerful ruler to have checked the
Helped j i
_ of economic development
spect .,, progress of anarchy, a symptom of which
Commerce ,
j. f., . , ,. ,
ished, in so far as the imperial rights of north was definitely interrupted. The
supremacy which Lothair had retained by helplessness of the imperial power is shown
his treaty with Pope Eugenius II. in with appalling clearness after the death of
November, 824 providing that corona- Lothair II., on August 8th, 869. The
tion should take place before the arrival justifiable claims of Lewis II. were unable
of the imperial ambassador were dis- to secure a hearing, and his uncles, Lewis
regarded for the second time in 847. On the German and Charles the Bald, divided
3935
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the inheritance which they were glad to joyful welcome to the new king, who entered
grasp. The other side of the picture con- Lombardy at the end of October. The
sists of the inevitable and successful desired support was, however, denied
action of the Popes Nicholas I. and for the moment, for in the spring of 880
Hadrian II. against Lothair III. upon the Charles turned his back upon Upper Italy
in order to crush Boso of Vienne.
question of his unlawful marriages with
Theutberga and Waldrada, in the years In November he re-entered Italy, and
865, 867, and 869, and the result displays was actually crowned Emperor of Rome ;
a faithful reflection of the the campaign which the Pope desired was,
rc
Y t general superiority of the however, again deferred. It was not until
the Emperor the Carolingian
to the murder of John VIII., on December
papacy
partition princes. Inglorious I5th, 882, that a new Italian expedition
also for the Kmperoi Lewis was his surprise was undertaken. The deposition of Duke
by Adelchis Benevento and a band of
of Wido II. of Spoleto and Camerino, in
conspirators on August I3th, 871 equally ; June 883, was an inadequate measure,
inglorious was the humiliation by which as Charles afterwards returned to Ger-
he secured his liberty on September I7th, many in November, while the sentence of
though his self-respect may have been deposition was graciously removed on
healed by Pope Hadrian, who released January 7th, 885. The same year brought
him from his extorted oath and performed Charles the homage of the West Franks.
his coronation on May i8th, 872. The In consequence of this event he was over-
friendly attitude of the Curia hardly whelmed with tasks demanding completion,
blinded the emperor's eyes to the fact and the short Italian visit of the spring of
that he was further from the complete 886 brought no help to the papacy, which
mastery of Italy at the end of his life was hard pressed by the Arabs. Towards
than he had been at the beginning of his the end of the autumn of 887 the patience
reign. of the nations, who were irritated by the
However, after the death of Lewis II., emperor's incapacity, gave
on August I2th, 875, even the cowardly _ . way.
-
. Charles retired in
Disunited and , ir u j
Charles the Bald was tempted to claim favour ofr Arnulf,
A
who i.
had
Broken
the imperial crown, which he actually been chosen king, and died
secured upon the Christmas Day of that at Neidingen on the Danube. Thus,
year. Carloman, the eldest son of Lewis within the sport space of barely ninety
the German, to whom the crown had actu- years the great creation of Charles the
ally been bequeathed, was for the moment Great had disappeared. The want of
cheated of his hopes. At the rumour of his some dominant centre once more became
approach with an army, Charles fled in obvious the separate political organisa-
;
September, 877. and died on October 6th, tions could not be easily combined, owing
when Pavia did homage to his nephew. to the extended configuration of the
Carloman, however, who had been ill at peninsula, and were connected only by the
the end of November, succumbed to his feeble ties of locality. Thus, disunited
malady in a short time, and died on March and broken into many fragments, Italy
22nd, 880. Previously, in 878, Pope John was unable to defend herself against the
VIII., hard pressed by the Saracens, and Arabs, whose raids became speedily bolder,
turning the inactivity of the East Franks or to check the disastrous insecurity of
to his own advantage, had attempted, with lifeand property which prevailed through-
a remarkable display of independence, to out the country.
cnoose a more suitable em- Notwithstanding her insular position,
a * Ceded
Hal
in the person of Boso and her protected situation, Venice was
to Charles peror
r T T>
the Fat
Lower Burgundy, who had then an Italian community, like so many
become the son-in-law of others, with a basis of Roman law modified
Lewis II. by his abduction of Irmengard. by Greek, Lombard and Prankish edicts
Boso, however, declined the honour, and and customs from the year 840 she had
;
Carloman in the middle of August, 878, gradually withdrawn from the Byzantine
averted a threatening loss by the cession
" " protectorate, though some remnants of
of Italy to his little brother, Charles the this supremacy survived in titles, etc.,
Fat. The country was naturally suffering until the thirteenth century. The official
considerably under an uncertainty which representative of the emperor of East Rome
accelerated its disruption, and offered a had long ago been forced to make room
3936
ITALY : END OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE
for the native Dux, Duke, or Doge, though He, however, was severely defeated in
he had not upon that account become 889 on the Trebbia by Wido II. of Spoleto,
dependent upon the Franks. Between 811 who was not related to the Carolingians ;
and 942 the dignity of Doge belonged to further defeats were suffered at the hands
seven Parteciaci. Since the Peace of Aix- _ . of the Magyars, on the Brenta,
la-Chapelle, in thesummer of 812, the . and of Rudolf II. of Upper
Prankish emperor, who wished to be
Wido II Burgundy at Fiorenzuola on
recognised as such by the east, had re- July I7th, 923 ; during his
nounced his claims to Venice, which he lifetime it was only in the north-east that
had hardly secured. his position was fully recognised. With
In the centre of the peninsula the Pope the exception of those months when
held sway, restricted in many respects, Arnulf was staying in Italy the central
but none the less holding the balance of part of the country was ruled by the above-
equality and capable of guiding his mentioned Wido, the only Italian king
neighbours. The north and north-west without the most shadowy hereditary
formed in general the Italian kingdom claim,who was elected by the nobles.
with Pavia as the capital. From this centre After his death, in December, 894, he was
the Frankish feudal system followed a succeeded by his son Lambert, who was
course of domestic development which laid prudent enough to open friendly relations
stress practical rights and their
upon with the Curia after the final retreat of
hereditary transmission, and triumphantly the East Franks. When he died, on
extended into the non-Frankish districts. October I5th, 898, Berengar might have
This was, however, the only case in been able to rule the entire kingdom of
which the Frankish nationality made any Italy in peace had not a second rival
progress elsewhere retrogression was
; appeared this was Louis III., king of
;
but too clearly perceptible. The Margrave Provence, then twenty years of age, a
of Ivrea and the Duke of Friuli, the Mar- true Carolingian through his mother, and
lVe
grave of Tuscany and the Duke descended, moreover, from the Italian
\f\ '
^ Spoleto, at times proved very line. His efforts to secure the crown were
* y s
restless under the Carolingian at first successful, and Benedict IV.
Throne ,~,
yoke. Ihe crown seemed an crowned him emperor in February, 901.
object worthy of effort as much for the He was surprised, however, at Verona, in
actual power which its possession implied July, 905, by Berengar and his Bavarian
as for the fictitious splendour of the sympathisers, was blinded, and died
imperial title. twenty-three years afterwards in Aries.
It cannot, however, be asserted that Upon the removal of Louis, Berengar I.
this rivalry for the imperial crown at found a third opponent in 921 in the person
Rome conferred any benefit upon the of Rudolf II. of Upper Burgundy. Rudolf
peninsiila. Arnulf found much difficulty secured the supremacy in 923, but was
in maintaining the Carolingian claim. At obliged to share the favour of the nobles
the end of 888 and in the early winter after 926 with Hugo of Provence, who was
of 805 he subjugated Berengar of Friuli ;
a Carolingian. The treaty of 933 left
at the end of January, 894, he stormed Hugo in possession of Italy, while he also
Bergamo, which had been defended by succeeded in securing the inheritance of
Ambrosius, the Count of Spoleto he ; Lewis II. after his death Rudolf received
;
Upper
ruary, and was finally crowned Emperor of Burgundy.
Rome in February, 896, after taking the The power of Hugo came to an end
capitalby storm. Even at that moment before Rome, and was soon to be limited
the actual supremacy of the north and , from the north. The path was
*
part of Central Italy was in other hands tnUS C ^ eaf f r Berengar II., Who
Power a
cr at
whose power was not disputed. For more ^L had been crowned with his son
,
3937
THE BEAUTIFUL GOTHIC CATHEDRAL OF PALERMO Photochrome
Chief of the beauties of Palermo is its cathedral, a magnificent Gothic structure, the building of which began in
1180. Within its walls are the porphyrys and marble tombs of Henry VI., Frederic II., and their queens, these
indicating- the connection of Italv with the German Empire a period treated in the chapter which follows.
3938
WESTERN DEVELOP-
EUROPE IN MENT OF THE
THE MIDDLE NATIONS:
AGES ITALY II
who
died in 957, was obliged to upon the history of Germany from the
advance against Berengar, who, in August, close of the tenth century.
952, had been invested with Italy, not The extent to which the south was con-
including Istria, Aquileia, Trient, and nected with German history, not only then
Verona. For the moment the powerful but for a long period afterwards, is a matter
Alberic II. opposed his entry into Rome. with which we have already dealt. Here
After Alberic's death, in 954, when we can merely develop and extend our
Germany had been and its eastern
pacified consideration of those movements which
frontier secured, Otto was able to pay were temporarily or entirely Italian, and
closer attention to those Italian problems which lie outside the limits of the account
awaiting his solution. This process began of the East Frankish Empire provided by
with his second journey to Italy in the the earlier section. The fact
winter of 961-962, which gave to Central is in any case worthy of remark
a
Europe a second Charles the Great on that King Otto III., when he
J?"
February 2nd. In 936 John XII. the ,
made his youthful relation,
son of Alberic, was deposed by the new Bruno, Pope, with the title of Gregory,
emperor, as also was Benedict V. in 964, placed the first German upon the papal
while in 963 and 964 Leo VIII. was throne. This was done from the point of
raised to the papacy, and John XIII. in view of Carolingian and Ottonian imperial
965 and 967. Compelled to surrender in theory, which regarded the Pope as
the mountain fortress of St. Leo, or nothing more than the first officer of the
Montefeltro, in 964, Berengar II. died in Church. The Crescentius who opposed
Bamberg in 966 Queen Willa took the veil ;
;
the emperor in the person of his protg6
3939
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
paid for his attempt by a dishonourable remained the Pandulfs of Capua and
;
3940
THE GERMAN SUPREMACY IN ITALY
Arduin was forced to yield in the summer tested in Sardinia in 1016. In April, 1027,
of 1014, and died in the monastery of his successor, Conrad II., who had been
San Benigno at Fruttuaria on December crowned in Milan at the end of March,
I4th, 1015 he was the last native king
;
1026, easily reasserted the rights of the
of Italy for a long time to come. On the western empire over Lower Italy. Even
other hand, the power which a mutinous at thatday those germs existed which,
ecclesiastical vassal could acquire under though invisible for the moment, were
3941
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
speedily to prove a devouring plague. The kingdom in Lower Italy which had survived
,
Lombard Prince Pandulf IV. of Capua, the fall of northern counterpart for
its
who had formerly been taken to Germany fully three centuries, came to an end. The
in captivity by Henry II., had been sent complete victory gained by the closely
home by Conrad II., and had recovered his consolidated Norman state was crowned
supremacy over Lower Italy within a short by the agreement which Pope Gregory VII.
period. About 1035 this ruler advised the was forced to conclude on June 29th,
widowed Duchess Maria of Amalfi to marry 1080, with Robert Guiscard at Ceperano.
her daughter to the Norman It was only upon the far side of the
Circumstances
Rainulf, and to invest this Adriatic that the ambitious king was
that Favoured "
chieftain with the Terra di unable to secure his objects; his designs
the Normans "
Lavoro here he was settled ; upon Albania, which even at the present
in 1029 by the Byzantine Duke Sergius IV. day is in a certain connection v.ith
of Naples, and in 1030 founded the fortress Southern Italy, were shattered by the
town of Aversa. By this means the con- defeat of Alexios at Durazzo in 1081. On
nection of this new neighbour with Byzan- January I7th, 1085, this crafty leader
tiu?n was intentionally weakened on the ;
died at Porto Phiscardo, in Cephallenia,
other hand, the position prepared for the without securing any tangible result.
Normans by the Lombards proved too In another direction, however, a highly
advantageous to admit any possibility of desirable extension of the frontier had
voluntary retirement. been secured. Robert's youngest brother,
Other circumstances also favoured the Roger, was dissatisfied with the position
Normans, who had thus established them- assigned to him in the southernmost part
selves at this point in the south. At that of Calabria in 1061 he was invited to
;
moment the Lombards were weakened by help the Arab ibn Timnah, who was unable
mutual quarrels in 1038 the Emperor ;
to make head against the Normans at
Conrad replaced Pandulf of Capua by Castrogiovanni, and proceeded to begin the
Waimar IV. of Salerno, who also conferred conquest of Sicily. In this
e r
Aversa as a fief upon Count Rainulf with _ island there were no inhabi-
the emperor's permission. After the mur- tants likely to oppose his
in Sicily ,. -,
der of Waimar, on June 2nd or 3rd, 1052, action, and practically no
the Normans strengthened their position feudal lords to interfere with his claims ;
by giving help to his son Gisulf II., who was the subjugation of the Mohammedans
aiming at the succession. This ruler was would secure the favour of heaven, and
speedily hard pressed by Richard of when completed by a system of religious
Aversa, and was eventually forced to and legal toleration, almost modern in its
conclude peace with Amalfi in 1057, and generosity and extraordinarily far-sighted
to recognise the independence of that state for that time, would make it possible to
merely in order to keep the Normans in extend a strong and uniform government
check on June i8th, 1053, they had
; over the subjugated population, which
already defeated and captured Pope Leo included numerous Jews, and to make
IX. at Civitate in Northern Apulia. them loyal subjects [see page 3547]. The
The impolitic aggression of Gisulf drove theory is clearly obvious in the exceptional
Amalfi at the end of 1073 into the arms of position which Count Roger I. was able
the Norman leader, Robert Guiscard, the to secure, without any quarrel about
most capable of the twelve sons of Tancred investitures, on July 5th, 1098, from Pope
of Hauteville he conquered Calabria, be-
; Urban II., who also granted him the
_. _ came Count of Apulia in 1057, highly important ecclesiastical dignity of
The Great t
and assumed
, ,, \.., , ,
the title of duke
v '
Robert .
A, . apostolic legate for Sicily.
~ .
Uuiscard
.
1059 with the consent of
in The monarchy of Sicily thus promised
ry: TT _
,-. __ , .
Pope Nicholas II. In 1071 Ban well for the future, and after the death
was wrested from the Byzantines, who of its founder, on June 22nd, iioi, his v
lowed the Norman subjugation of Calabria, this was Roger II., born so late as 1095,
and on December I3th, 1076, Gisulf of the second son of Roger I. by his third wife,
Salerno surrendered in person to his ruth- Adelasia, a niece of Count Boniface I. of
less brother-in-law. When Landolf IV. of Vasto, who belonged to the north-western
Benev-ento was gathered to his fathers, Italian family of the Aledramids. His
on November 27th, 1077, the Lombard was a long reign. Though he died on
3942
THE GERMAN SUPREMACY IN ITALY
February 26th, 1154, he ruled indepen- Roger, however, was too far in advance
dently from 1 1 12, and from September
"
of his age for the creation of his genius
27th, 1130, as King of Sicily, Calabria, to outlast his death. Before the modifica-
and Apulia, Prince of Capua, Lord tion of social customs and of religious
of Naples and Benevento." To be strictly faiths was able to produce an amalga-
accurate, Malta should be added to this mation of the Sicilian peoples, racial
list, for from 1090 it formed part of the antagonism overthrew the whole edifice.
Sicilian Empire until its occupation by the In this many-coloured fabric the warp of
Knights of Saint John in 1530. The work Wh tx e
nationalism was too weak, and
which his father had begun, the stern ... that degree of settlement which
Normans
repression of the barons and the organisa- Perished uarantees progress was never
g
tion of a uniform bureaucratic government, secured, notwithstanding the
was completed by Roger II. initial promise of prosperity. Thus the
Thus in the island of Sicily, and extend- Normans of Southern Italy add yet one
ing thence to Lower Italy, we find the more to the number of these Teutonic
beginning of a policy which overpowered hordes which have perished in the land
the feudal system at a time when feudalism of the olives.
gave no rest to continental Italy notwith- Lower Italy and Sicily had been united
"
standing Conrad's Edictum de beneficiis." from 1061 to 1072 under conquerors of
In this respect also the Norman supremacy the same race and under the government
marks the entrance of a new element into of one sole ruler from 1127, and had
Italian history. Cold and hard, cunning, developed with surprising rapidity into
prudent and experienced, such was the the most powerful state which had been
character of this Norman who appears to seen in Italy during those centuries ;
us as a romance product, or southern modi- meanwhile the centre and north of the
fication of that Teutonic spirit which country had been advancing in wholly
was coming to the front elsewhere he is, ;
different directions. Under Pope Bene-
as it were, the prototype of a dict IX. it seemed as if the Curia would
Rev,val of
Maurice of Saxony or of a never rise from the depth to which it had
Wallenstein. In his predilec- fallen it owed its salvation solely to the
;
Arabic Art
tion for intellectual Moham- German Henry II I and was able a genera-
, .,
medans, his liking for the great geo- tion later to triumph over his son. It
grapher Edrisi, his central position between was the complete subordination of the
the west and east, his extensive revival of papal to the imperial power in the middle
old Byzantine and Arab art and science., of the eleventh century which broke the
Roger II. be compared with the great
may tyranny of the degenerate Roman nobles
Hohenstauffen, Frederic II. A splendid and fostered or facilitated the revival of
example of the hybrid civilisation which temporal power of the papacy.
he promoted may still be admired in the At the same time was revived the papal
Cappella Palatina in the castle of Palermo, claim to complete independence of all secu-
which was consecrated on June Qth, 1140, lar power, a claim now advanced with new
and in point of time and construction is a meaning. The capacity and farsighted-
worthy counterpart to the brilliant mosaic ness of Popes Leo IX., Nicholas II., Alex-
of the cathedral of Monreale. ander II. and Gregory VII. secured the
"
This king was not merely primus abolition of simony and other abuses,
"
inter pares he was no mere prince who
; brought about the breach with Byzantium,
might be submerged by the baronial class which could only increase the prestige of
which separated the crown and the nation, the Roman Bishop as sole head of the
leaving no trace behind, but a supreme Western Church, passed the
e
monarch, who did for Sicily and Southern *
decree concerning the papal
Italy what Louis XI. did for France. The , election in 1059, which replaced
,
bold adventurer of former times was now the changing influence of the
replaced by the clever diplomatist, the Roman people, nobles, and emperor by
restless but systematic statesman. The that of the more reliable body of cardinals,
Norman intruder, who had struggled to and eventually secured a complete theo-
secure a footing, and with difficulty had cracy. These doctrinal developments
retained some few stations on the coast, represented the apostle of God upon earth
had become a rich and powerful lord for as a supreme feudal lord to whom all
whose favour Popes and kings were rivals. believers in possession of ecclesiastical
251 3943
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
or secular property owed obedience it is ;
must be noticed that in strict nationalist
a precise reversal of the theory and of circles the imperial power of the Germans
the practical situation which existed produced the bad impression of a foreign
under Charles the Great and the Ottos. supremacy : moreover, since Popes of
The clergy were brought into closer Germanic nationality had no longer been
dependence on the Pope by the oath of chosen, the chair of St. Peter had been
fidelity and the obligation of celibacy, occupied for the most part by Italians
which loosened their connection with the or Romans, and in consequence the papacy
family and the secular state ;
was regarded by the natives as the natural
1
in the universal state of the
"
representative of their interests, inso-
and PoT Chui Ch the y W6re t0 be What
"
much that even in the middle of the
the Rogers were then making the nineteenth century the idea of an Italian
Sicilians namely, a bureaucracy. Obvi- federation, with the Pope at its head,
ously if this goal were ever to be attained showed some prospect of realisation. The
it was necessary to abolish the conflicting place of a shattered and disorganised
right of the emperor and of his greater state was taken by the free communes
vassals to institute bishops and abbots about noo.
and to invest them with the ring and staff. Especially in the department of judicial
The struggle upon this point forms the administration we find at an early period
content of the investiture quarrel. This those members of the community who were
spiritual war was not ended by the prominent by birth, position, or wealth
" "
conventions of February and April, uu, distinguished
" by
"
the title of
"
nobiles
"
or
and of October, 1119, or by the concordat tribuni," or
" majores," " " primates
"
of Worms in 1122, which was in close judices," fideles or sapientes."
"
documentary and connection with
legal boni homines" or "homines idonei."
those conventions none the less the
; They secured an increasing importance in
concordat was recognised as a binding course of time from noo onwards, and
;
existence which the course of events imperial investiture of the consuls be-
rendered probable. Hence Pope Innocent trayed the continuance of the old imperial
III. turned the favourable situation to the supremacy.
best advantage, and on July I3th, 1213, In the second half of the twelfth century
obliged the young Frederic II. to in 1151 in Bologna, Ferrara and Siena, in
renounce his right of interference in 1176 in Parma, and in 1190 in Genoa the
episcopal elections a right which the Curia position of the consuls was taken by the
considered had been misused since 1139. Podesta, the supreme official of the com-
This great revival of the papal power mune, who was summoned in every case
was further strengthened about 1078, and from without upon his entry into office he
;
Revival
November I 7 th, 1102 by swore to observe the municipal statutes
* he the first printed copies of which are some
le
"J^g^. Z f the
Countess Matilda gf
of the Papal
Power of Tuscany, of the finest extant incunabula concen-
which provided a desirable, trated in his own power various functions
though soon disputed, secular support ;
which had previously been in different
as might be expected, the new power hands, and became in particular supreme
exercised an indisputable influence upon judge and leader in war.
the relations of the German emperor Prosperity was by no means impossibly
with that part of Upper Italy which was under papal government, as is, for
not under the Pope, or, more instance, shown by the rapid rise ot
exactly,
was outside the states of the Church. Benevento to the position of a city state
Apart from all other considerations, it after the time when it came under the Pope's
3944
supremacy upon the extinction of its transitory successes, such as the subjuga-
Lombard ducal In the north, also,
family. tion of Chieri, Asti, and Tortona in 1155,
the position of those towns which were but the destruction of the defiant Spoleto in
loosely dependent upon the states of the 1155, and the overthrow of Crema in
Church, or had shaken off the burdensome 1160, Milan, Brescia and Piacenza in
rule of their episcopal counts, developed 1162 by Frederic Barbarossa this was
;
to no less advantage. Freedom, indeed, due chiefly to the fact that the empire
in this quarter eventually reached a far was unable to amalgamate the rising power
more brilliant development than in the of the German towns with that of the
south, which from 1130 onwards was state.
systematically subjugated by the Norman This special grouping and attitude of
monarchs, and commercially outstripped the great powers enabled Italy to
by Venice, Pisa, and Genoa. survive some centuries, but could not
The impulse to town independence was prevent her eventual disruption, and the
never so violently opposed by the Curia as inevitable weakness which resulted. Those
by the more powerful German emperors to neighbours, indeed, who might have
the time of Henry VI. Consequently the turned this weakness to their own account
good relations subsisting between the Pope were occupied too entirely with their
and the towns speedily proved to the own affairs. Moreover, the participation
advantage of both parties the Pope had
;
of their ruling classes in the Crusades
a strong protecting force at his service, forbade any interference or expansion at
and the towns could develop as they home the interests of the Christian
;
pleased. Hence arose the heroic period nations of the West were for many centuries
of the Verona federation of 1164 and the attracted to the East. Thus upon this
Lombard federation of 1167, which, side no danger was to be feared for a long
among other points, was so important for time ;
on the contrary, the task of
the military training of the infantry transporting the mimerous forces of the
gathered about its Carroccio. The party Crusades proved a profitable commercial
which suffered under that arrangement enterprise, and largely increased the
was the empire, notwithstanding some prosperity of the more important coast
3945
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
towns affected by the movement. During the sea at a different point from that of
the centuries in which the greater part of modern times, ships of considerable size
the Mediterranean trade belonging to could sail up stream as far as Pisa. The
such harbours in Lower Italy as Bari and pennon of Pisa pointed to bold seafarers
Amain was transferred to the north for the road to victory over the Saracens, as
general or local reasons, Venice, Pisa, and far as Corsica and Sardinia, the Balearic
Genoa became predominant over the other Isles and North Africa. In 1063 rich booty
towns. Venice had been ruled by a Doge, had been secured by a raid upon Palermo,
an office which had become and the produce was employed in ex-
almost hereditary until the tending with magnificent splendour the
^na ovei"throw of the Orseoli
^ cathedral, which had been begun in 1006.
in 1032 gradually introduced This became the model of many cupola-
an oligarchical government ; eventually basilicas, which are evidence of an ancient
the oligarchy of the Comune Venetiarum art once more revived. During the years
was definitely founded by the constitu- 1153-1154 the foundations of the outer
tional oath of the Doge Domenico and inner circuit of the noble baptistery
Morosini of 1148, and was finally completed were laid, and twenty years later the build-
by the undertaking given by Giacomo ing of the tower was begun it gradually ;
Tiepolo upon his accession to office in 1229. sank towards the south, but by a clever
So early as the close of the device of compensation was
eleventh century Venice dis- raised to a height of fifty-five
played a principle of division, metres. Lastly, the construc-
remarkable at that period, tion of the Campo Santo,
between Church and i'tate, begun in the famous north-
which was expressed in the west corner of Pisa between
"
phrase religion is a private 1278 and 1282, betokens both
matter, but one of serious time and fact the
in point of
"
import five hundred years
; memorable conclusion of the
later this separation was to heroic period of this highly
find its proudest expression religious commercial republic.
in the invincible defiance of In the meantime, notwith-
the Servite Paoli Sarpi to standing an obstinate resist-
Pope Paul V. ance, Pisa had been out-
Venice was recognised as -LAST OF THE TRIBUNES stripped by Genoa. The rise
mistress of the Adriatic even The Roman patriot, Cola di Rienzi, of this town is certainly to be
wa s violently opposed to the
by the Normans in 1154 and
, j -i -L ir r
.
nobles,
.
and incited the citizens to
d
.
td from the vigorous
3 .
possible only by extending the limits within during the years between 1070 and 1080
which his mercantile activity could operate. nor during the period from to 1120 mo
Throughout the habitable globe no one was The Lost
was Genoa able
entirely to
able to develop his activities and increase shake the
Dominions
off yoke of
Pisa.
his prosperity with greater freedom than However, in 1133, the latter
of Pisa
the commercial Venetian. town lost half of her influence
For a considerable period Pisa had upon Corsica, which was really papal
shared the fate of Adria, Amalfi, Aquileia, and
territory, in 1175 a quarter of her
Metapontam, Ravenna, and many other dominions in Sardinia. Finally, upon
towns upon the coast. This was due to August 6th, 1284, the battle of the island
unfavourable political conditions, and to of Meloria decided the preponderance of
a shifting of the coast line, which greatly Genoa, which, from 1270 to 1291, was
reduced the value of the harbours. When under the uniform leadership of two
the Arno ran a shorter course and entered "
Ghibelline capitani," over Pisa, which
3946
THE GERMAN SUPREMACY IN ITALY
was also for the most part a Ghibelline civilisation were simultaneously formed,
town, but was too deeply entangled in the and almost every one of them proved
faction quarrels of Tuscany, and was surprisingly successful. If to these in-
therefore losing her maritime power. fluences be added the Italian climate and
After the year 1261 Genoa was able to the atmospheric conditions of the south,
expand successfully in the Greek east, a there can be no surprise at the fact that
possibility provided and secured by the during those centuries, so barren of
victory of Meloria, and thus came into political result, art was able to develop
conflict with Venice, which had been firmly and to produce achievements which could
established in that region after the advan- stimulate and delight the fourteenth and
tageous Golden Bull of 1082 and the Fourth fifteenth centuries. Apart from Petrarch,
Crusade this conflict of interests caused
;
how many celebrities have been produced
continual friction, and did not come to an by the bright and cheerful Apennine town
end until the year 1381. of Arezzo, notwithstand-
The risingprosperity ing, or perhaps on
of the three great com- account of, its thin,
mercial towns during the pure air! How entirely
eleventh century natur- harmonious is the intel*
ally exercised a stimulat- lectual clarity visible in
ing influence upon the the masterpieces in the
aspirations of other city Umbrian school of
states. We find, indeed, painters with the bene-
the inland town now ficial seclusion of the
assuming that prepon- town of Perugia! In
derance which the mari- colder latitudes the com-
time town had previously forts and luxuries of
claimed. Though her civilisation are in-
extensive seaboard variably connected with
appears to offer every an impetus to artistic
advantage to maritime performance, and much
communication, Italy at more was this the case
that period does not in those favoured spots.
seem to have produced The fact that the
an essentially maritime Teutonic peoples began
nation, Of her general their renaissance one
area, seventeen and five- hundred and fifty years
tenths per cent, is island later than Italy is due
territory but
;
even not merely to the less
though the importance favourable climate, but
of Sicily be very highly also to the later rise of
estimated, the influence commercial prosperity.
of the sea upon Italian Notwithstanding the
history is by no means favours of fortune, the
so obvious as the condi- Italian towns from the
tions would lead us to eleventh to the thir-
RIENZI'S MONUMENT AT ROME
expect. In the case of teenth centuries secured,
Denmark or England, the surrounding as a general rule, no permanent political
water is the striking feature, but in Italy power this fact is due not merely to the
;
"
uniform ;
such catchwords as Ghibel- formed against any ruler." The Mon-
"
line tendencies
"
or "a citadel of the tecchi and the Cappelletti Montagues
Guelfs may easily give rise to these and Capulets are not to be regarded as
erroneous views. On the contrary, in two families opposed to one
bitterly
those districts of Upper and Central Italy another in the same town (Verona), since
which were generally under the power of the Cappelletti belonged to Cremona but ;
the emperor loyalty and fear of imperial this fact does not impair the correctness
interference gave an extraordinary impetus of the other view, that the development
to the formation of domestic factions. of such communities, which might have
L'un Paltro si rode achieved great results under a system of
Di quei ch'un muro ed una fossa serra stern self-discipline, was more of ten checked
is the complaint of Dante. by their own social and family feuds than
There were, indeed, city fortresses, which by wars with their neighbours. The
were almost invariably in defiant revolt guilds revolt the
nobility, the
against
with gates closed to the traveller journey- young generation against the old, and
ing towards Rome, either because they even within these groups we find a social
were attempting some theoretical revival line of demarcation which betokens dis-
of the early Roman tradition of freedom, cord. Thus, the obstinate division into
or because they were essentially hostile to imperial and papal, into aristocratic and
the imperial policy. But at least as great democratic republics, distorted and des-
was the number of those in which an in- troyed such unity as Henry III. had
creasing minority succeeded within a few secured in the northern half of Italy, and
years in cutting off, the majority from their also prevented the formation of any
resources and driving them out, themselves permanent unity within the more im-
to suffer a similar fate in their turn after portant towns. Hence, the history of
a certain lapse of time. " Two powers Italy during these centuries is marked by
were always opposed in Italy, because in the disadvantageous feature of disruption,
this country a party could easily be
notwithstanding the heroic achievements
3948
THE GERMAN SUPREMACY IN ITALY
of individual communities ; and it is of Canossa, who secured the possessions
consequently impossible for a brief narra- of the Widoni of Tuscany about 1030.
tive to attempt any detailed account of After the emperor and Pope had fought
the several stages of development. for the valuable inheritance until 1120,
Autonomous city government naturally these western portions passed to the
did not possess precisely the same strength greedy towns of Pistoria and Bologna,
and permanence in every district of Upper Mantua and Reggio, Modena and Lucca.
and Central Italy. Indeed, in isolated All these counts at that time the term
districts native or immigrant princes were was not official, but merely titulary were
able to maintain their ground such were ;
able to bring into immediate dependence
the powerful Aledramids in Piedmont, upon themselves all towns and districts
a family which had divided from the tenth which were dissatisfied with their state
century into the several branches of of tutelage under mesne vassals. By
Sezze, Albissola, Busca, and Ponzona of this means such districts were transferred
Vasto and of Montferrat, which on their from the feudal system and were incor-
side inherited the possessions of the porated in a petty state without further
dynasty of the Palaeologi in 1305. Other difficulty.
families of this kind were the counts of On the other hand, Rome repeatedly
Turin, whose line began with Humbert experienced dangerous revolts of the
White Hand of Maurienne, the counts of citizens against the papal power. The
Savoy, and the Lombard Otbertini or inspiringexample of Lombard civic free-
Estensi, with their rich countries of Milan, dom induced the Romans, who had
Genoa, Tortona, Luni, Gavello, Padua, already been excited by various schisms,
Este after the eleventh century and to entertain the project of restoring the
Bobbio. More short-lived were the counts old republic in the autumn of 1143. This
as a Ghibelline. The tyrant died of his dynasty can confidently confront the
wounds on September 27th of that year, question whether it gave more than it
as a prisoner in Soncino. The period of received to the country. The
Renaissance
German supremacy was definitely at an Renaissance owes something to
Debt to
end. Roman nationalism triumphed in the infusion of German blood,
the person of Charles of Anjou, who was Germany
whether of knights or crafts-
brought forward by the French Popes, men, which certainly modified the mixed
Urban IV. and Clement IV. On February Italian nationality, though to what extent
26th, 1266, he overthrew Manfred at is a matter of conjecture rather than of
Benevento on August 23rd, 1268, he
; demonstration. In any case the calm and
conquered the last male Hohenstauffen, unprejudiced observer will avoid the
Conradin, a son of Conrad IV., in the plain error of estimating the magnificent im-
of Palentina, between Tagliacozzo and perialism of past ages by the measure of
Alba at Scurcola, by a timely advance German particularism.
3953
WESTERN DEVELOP-
EUROPE IN MENT OF THE
THE MIDDLE NATIONS :
AGES ITALY HI
ei k
1530, at Bologna. The German Nicholas III. Orsini (1277-1280). This in-
sjuprema f supremacy
was thus by no competence is twice manifested in 1282
means en tir e ly brought to an when Sicily was lost to Aragon, and in 1303
end by the overthrow of 1268, when the papacy was defeated by French
though in the meanwhile the general nationalism.
situation had undergone great transforma- It cannot be denied that during the
tion and modification. first half of the thirteenth century Italy
Apart from the meteoric revival of the displayed fair possibilities of development
true imperial ruler in the person of Henry to an independent and national course
VII., we know of no German king who was of existence. In this respect the first
able to realise in practice the tradition of place must be given to the movement
northern supremacy. After his time we connected with the preaching of Francis
meet only with vague theories and mere of Assisi, and to his disciples who carried
shadows of the former power. It is a paper their inspiring enthusiasm abroad, after
supremacy, which the Germans from the 1210, from the beautiful Umbrian mountain
time of Lewis of Bavaria could no more town, with its fortress church. It is
renounce than the Hansa towns were difficult in a few words to give
able at a later time to surrender their an ^equate account of the
f F ra l
the world at large, had produced different cleared the ground for the permanent
effects in Sicily, Rome, Milan, and Venice. reception of the beauty and the freedom
Institutions were in a state of flux, and gathered from classical antiquity. This
nowhere do we meet with any definite preparation was the work of the thirteenth
constitution. No one town constitution century a work performed tentatively,
resembled any other. At eVery point with vacillation, and at times with appal-
transformation, confusion, and transition ling retrogression, but upon the whole
meet the eye. None the less, however, with success for it was a period which
;
a certain uniformity is plainly obvious, made that most valuable of all discoveries,
and this is provided by the ferment which the truth of individualism.
ran throughout the lower classes from This achievement was not attained
the outset of the thirteenth century. without a severe struggle. Opposition,
This phenomenon is not confined to negation, resistance, such were the ob-
Italy : a similar social movement appears stacles. To escape from the ordinary
in France and Spain, and even in the colder grooves of existence and thought, to throw
climate of North-west Europe. The term off political or ecclesiastical tyranny, such
"Renaissance" usually evokes in our was the doctrine which then occupied and
minds the thought of those brilliant attracted the strongest and noblest minds
"
achievements which this revival produced of the period. Uniformity disappeared
in the domains of literature and art. in individualism." The state became con-
We are too much inclined to forget scious of its individuality, began to realise
that the spiritual, scientific and artistic its tasks and to oppose the Church, which
Renaissance would never have exercised was attempting to break its bonds. A
the deep comprehensive influence which it similar process was advancing within the
actually exerted had it not been preceded minds of particular men. Situation and fate
by a long period of preparation which raise the individual occasion to the
upon
3954
superhuman position of an Ezzelino da demningall secular pleasure and all secular
Romano, who persecuted with violent quarrels, to the time of his Dominican
tyranny as evil any refusal to recognise brother Girolamo Savonarola, who fell a
what he personally considered just, right, victim in 1498. under the most tragical
or necessary. circumstances, to the political efforts of
Position and circumstance again may hostile Franciscans.
overwhelm the individual in associa- In all these talented Franciscans two
tions scorning every instinct of humanity, instincts were furiously struggling the
such as the orthodox intolerance mani- instincts of subjection to authority and
fested in 1303 towards the Paterene Fra of individual freedom. At a later date
Dolcino. Others are driven and the case the victory was secured upon other soil ;
is frequent to renounce the secular life, one witness can here serve the stake at
to abandon the family and state, to pro- which the ex-Dominican Giordano Bruno
claim their personal belief in conscious was burnt on February lyth, 1600. The
revolt against ecclesiastical authority, or acts of the Franciscans produced no per-
are induced to wander abroad as apostles manent result, and certainly none in
offering a pattern of the ascetic life, and Italy. The enthusiasm passed away, and
denouncing the irreligious and Fra Salimbene de Adamo, the
sinful habits of nobles and apos- first modern historian, a true
tates. It was tendencies of this contemporary of Frederic II.,
latter character that enabled the first modern prince, retails
St. Dominic to found his ordei with apparent complacency the
in 1215 ;
he speedily secured biting satire of the Florentine
large numbers of adherents grammarian Buoncompagno :
entirely ;
See the Doge of Venice prancing
founder combines in his own
!
ready obedience to their will, austere Carthusian order. He with 40O,ooo knights, peasants,
died in 1101.
These facts are plain from the citizens, clergy, and bishops
history of the Franciscan order from the from a score of great towns.
year 1221, and also from the history of art Notwithstanding the hopelessness and
in general. The passionate preachers of apparent difficulty of its individual pheno-
repentance, who offered a resolute opposi- mena, the whole movement undoubtedly
tion to all that could beautify and refine produced one good effect it stirred the
existence, inexorably opposed all those people from their state of senseless
innovations comprehended under the term
"
indifferent torpor. Though the waves
Renaissance," from the Dominican John of the movement occasionally passed
of Vicenza, the peacemaker of 1233, con * beyond the frontiers of Italy, yet one
3955
Boccaccio Dante
THREE GREAT FIGURES OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
The awakening of Europe to a new era of literary activity was due in large measure to the rise of these three writers
of Italy. Dante was, of course, the supreme poet of mediaeval times, bridging the gulf that had been unspanned since
Virgil. In Petrarch and Boccaccio the Renaissance took two different courses, the former great poet and thinker
striving to direct it along the high spiritual plane on which Dante had placed it, and Boccaccio, in his warm humanism,
achieving the more readily attainable by the broad appeal of his prose writings to the primal sympathies of mankind.
of its results, .and that by no means the eventual national union. The patriotic
least important, was the strengthening of art and the literary splendour of that
" "
the national consciousness. The pataria poetic constellation, Dante, Petrarch,
of Milan, the attempts at ecclesiastical Boccaccio, confirm this event. The
reform which Ariald> Landulf and Erlem- possibility of a successful ascent to
bald had undertaken between 1056 and these intellectual summits depended upon
1057 assumed a political character in the economic prosperity rather than upon
course of time. The ascetic, political pre-eminence.
* y s ir
and reforming move-
mystical, That such prosperity existed in full
Hallelujah J have com-
ments might easily
,
abundance is proved by the appalling
bined to secure a domestic height of the rate of interest and the
renovation of Italy had the people given flourishing position of the moneylender.
greater attention to the teachers and had It is extraordinary how often we meet
the two mendicant orders given in their with decrees upon this latter occupation,
adherence to the papacy with less rapidity. which forced the heirs of the money-
The suppression of factious animosity, lenders to make a penitent restoration of
"
with its' evil consequences, and of the spirit property gained by robbery and evil
of private revenge in the year of Halle- means," and remind us almost of the
lujah, 1233, might have led to a fruitful humiliating penance which Otto III.
political union of all classes in the year
; performed in 1001 before St. Romuald
1 2 20 St. Francis himself preached the in the old basilica of Sant' Apollinare at
cause of peace with powerful effect in the Ravenna " on account of crimes com-
town of Bologna, a city highly cultured mitted." A protocol concerning money-
though torn by domestic faction. similar A lending by Italians who carried on business
note can be heard even in the pessimistic in Nimes shows that interest was demanded
assertions and gloomy prophecies of the at the rate of 75, 113, 120, 175, and 218
Cistercian abbot Joachin of Fiore, and in per cent., and even 262 and 266 per cent.
the exaggerated diatribes of his adherent, figures in comparison with which the
the Minorite Gherardino of Borgo San average rate of 43*33 per cent, appears
Donnino in 1254 against the Hohenstauffen. comparatively modest.
At that moment individual
When TM_
There was every reason for
poets in
Moneylenders ,,
Sicily,from Arezzo, Bologna, Todi, and _. Riving the name of Lom-
Flourished , ?, , ,
Florence, who were all dependent upon
, .
,
3957
A SESSION OF THE GREAT COUNCIL IN THE HALL OF THE COLLEGE OF VENICE
The small but beautiful chamber in the ducal palace known as the H all of the College was chiefly used for the reception
of foreign ambassadors and state functions of the Grand Council, a session of which is represented in the above picture
From the painting by Malombra in the Prado Gallery at Madrid.
Bologna, the Da Polenta over Ravenna July 3ist, 1299, Pisa was obliged to cede
Dante's place of refuge the Manfredi over Corsica and part of Sardinia to Genoa, pay-
Faenza, the Ghibelline Ordalaffi over Forli, ing an indemnity of 160,000 lire, and was
the Malateste over Rimini, the Varani driven from the sea. Eventually, in 1313,
over Camerino, the Montefeltri over it was easily overpowered by the Ghibelline
Urbino, the Prefetti da Vico over Viterbo Uguccione della Faggiuola, who also
and Civita Vecchia. Here also the Italian subjugated Lucca in 1314 where Dante,
tendency towards multiformity is pre- upon his second banishment, remained
served. The case may be summed up as until 1316 and defeated Florence on
follows.
"
In places where the term
" August 29th, 1315, at Monte Catini. In
implies no expressed lordship,
signoria 1316 Uguccione was banished from Pisa
development remained some decades on account of his severity to Castruccio
behind, in comparison with other towns en
Castracani who died in 1328 as
" " '
252
3959
Many of the great palaces on the Grand Canal (1) still remain outwardly as they
were in the Middle Ages, nor has the aspect of the Rialto Bridge (2), formerly the
Exchange, been greatly altered, while the Bridge of Sighs (3) remains as it ever
was. Santa Maria della Salute (4), the fine church built in 1632 as a memorial
of deliverance from the plague, is one of the most characteristic views of Venice.
3960
Between the famous pillars (1), looking across to S. Giorgio Maggiore, the political
offenders of old Venice were beheaded. The equestrian statue of Colleoni (2), an
undistinguished captain of the republican army, is said to be the finest in the
world. The ducal palace, the library, and the Campanile, destroyed a few years
ago, but now rebuilt, are seen in our third view, and the facade of St. Mark's (4).
possible in the history of Venice. of Turin of August 8th, 1381, which was
"
Thus from 1148, and to a greater extent gained "by the good offices of the Green
from 1192, onwards, at which date Enrico Count Amadeo VI. of Savoy. After that
Dandolo swore to the constitution, Venice date a new revival began. Advantageous
treaties with the infidels were justified
after 1454 with the characteristic excuse,
"
Venetians first and Christians after-
wards." The previous century, however,
had induced the Doge Francesco Dandolo
(1329-1339) to make extensive acquisitions
of territory in the Trevisan interior. These
mainland conquests were successfully con-
tinued as far as the Adda and Rimini by
his successors in office, Michele Steno
(1400-1414), Tommaso Mocenigo(1414-
1423), and Francesco Foscari (1423-1457),
together with Erasmo Gattamelata of
Narni in 1438, celebrated by Donatello's
mounted figure before Sant' Antonio at
Padua, who saved the republic when
captain-general from the Viscontine con-
dottiere Niccolo Piccinino.
If we turn our eyes upon the extension
of the square of St. Mark, running towards
the sea, astonishment and admiration are
infinite, so close has been the co-operation
between Nature and human art. Yet even
rivalry of Venice and Genoa for predomin- a view in full moonlight will not provide
ance in the Black Sea, where Tana and unmixed satisfaction. Between the two
Kaffa were the chief centres of Genoese granite pillars bearing St. Theodore and
commerce. Eventually the long-desired the lion of St. Mark rises the shadow of
end to the struggle was secured by the the hero of Maclodio (1423), the condottiere
surrender of Chioggia on June 22nd, 1380, Francesco Bussone of Carmagnola, who
FLORENCE AND VENICE IN THEIR SPLENDOUR
on March 5th, 1432. On the "
was executed creations as the Madonnas" of Giovanni
right hand, the silent mint reflects the Cimabue (1240-1303) and the frescoes
watchful strength of the Venetian consti- of his pupil, Giotto
(1266-1337), are radiant
tution. But few windows illuminate the with light, and vital force. The
purity,
solemn splendour and the proud dignity "Madonna" painted about 1270 for the
of the Doge's palace. Even though its Cappella Rucellai was carried from the
notorious leaden chambers have been house of Cimabue to the church of Santa
"
destroyed for no years, yet its cisterns," Maria Novella by the enthusiastic Floren-
its rack chamber, and its Bridge of
"
Sighs tines with much splendour and trumpets,
which connects it with the old criminal in solemn procession." Nobility of form,
prison, preserve the memories of a system naturalness, character and virility are the
of state inquisition and police supervision, oft-noted characteristic features of the
the counterpart of which can have existed work of Giotto, which announced a new era.
only in Spain or under Asiatic despots. It Insunlit Tuscany the stereotyped
is no mere chance that the ambassadorial tradition was
formality of Byzantine
and diplomatic systems and the use of a overpowered and cast aside by the faithful
diplomatic cipher- observatipn of
evidenced by docu- Nature. Even more
ments so early as 1226 truly Florentine than
found their earliest her painting, which
and most dis- was influenced from
tinguished develop- neighbouring sources,
ment in Venice. is her sculpture, which
It would indeed be held the first place
surprising that the from the Trecento to
plastic arts here theCinquecento, from
found so fertile a soil Andrea Pisano and
were it not for the Andrea di Cione
fact that economic known as Orcagna
prosperity and the to the times of
Oriental wealth of Lorenzo Ghiberti and
the ambitious reign- Donate Bardi
ing families inspired known as Donatello
and preserved the and thence until
taste for beauty and Luca della Robbia
luxury. Andrea del and Michelangelo
Verrocchio, the Buonarroti. The first
creator of the ecclesiastical con-
ma^ni-
ficent equestrian struction of the
Statue Of the Captain- The gren us O f Giovanni Bellini has bestowed unmerited Renaissance
i
is the
Bartolom- fame u ? on the subject of this portrait, Leonardo Loredano, Medicean church of
general, who held the office of Doge during a period of " compara- ~
,
_
vs /
Colleom (I4OO- tively small importance to the constitution of Venice." This ban Lorenzo,
the rich me- ^amous painting hangs in the National Gallery, London.
Great, however,
morials of the Dominican churches of San was the contrast between these artistic
Giovanni and San Paolo, and, finally, the powers and the political condition of the
master of the full Renaissance, Jacopo chief city within this happy district, with
"
Sansovino, who, as architect to the its hedges of olive and fruit trees, with
"
republic, constructed, from 1536 onwards, its holm-oaks and pines, its villas and
the magnificent double hall for the proper cupolas, and with such towers as that
housing of the libraries of Petrarch and of San Gimignano. The soil gives food
Bessarion these poured the sunlight of in full abundance, colour to the painter,
Florence with lavish hand upon the and marble to the sculptor ; yet here,
darker gloom of the commercial town, as everywhere in Upper and Central
with its domination of sea and land. Italy at that date, confusions of party
In respect of artistic creation Florence faction, reigns of terrorism, and political
"
undoubtedly occupies the foremost place disruption were intensified. From the
during those centuries inspiring light
;
thirteenth to the sixteenth century there
and breath proceed from her activities was always a Florence in exile," says
from an early date. Even such early Ranke. Yet it is possible that this violent
3963
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
contrast between Nature and mankind comparatively wide influence, as was only
may have imagination and
stimulated natural from a democratic point of view.
given it wings, and have provided an un- This influence is evidenced, for instance,
failing supply of nourishment to artistic by the documents relating to the statue
imaginative power. of St. Matthew of Ghiberti (about 1420) ;
War is the father of all things, and the also by the history of the building of the
fact is true in the present case. The age Tempio Malatestiano of Rimini, about
_ of the signories, when the idea 1450, by the great memorial of the
_ 'of republican "freedom" often Renaissance couple, Sigismondo Pando-
suffered such extraordinary lofo Malatesta and Isotta degli Atti, with
the Arts j
explanations, compelled the its contorted s, raised by L. B. Alberti,
Italian spirit to produce its finest works. or, finally, by the accurate terms of the
Continuous vacillation between hope and commission, which the highly cultivated
fear, the abrupt and violent transitions Isabella d'Este gave to such an artist as
"
from supreme power to banishment, from Perugino The Victory of Modesty over
the bounteous table of the ruler to the Lust," in 1505. During those golden-cen-
scanty bread of the outcast, offered a rich turies the patron, whether an individual
supply of dramatic situations, crying to or a corporation, prescribed rules for
be used, and immortalised both by the performance, and watched, though with
plasticand by the literary arts. The only full respect, the work of the artist stage by
Imnerishable
make amends to God. Roman Catholicism cathedra j s Qf and Qf
places high value upon artistic appeals to Orviet the former, though
;
ofltal
the senses what marvellous art did
; begun amid the confusion which
Benvenuto Cellini expend merely upon heralded and conditioned the defeat of
the unseen vessels in the kitchen of Maria Montaperti, is in complete harmony with
of Loretto ! the prosperity of the proud victor at that
In most cases it was a secret anxiety moment, the faithful copy of Genoa as a
for the cause of art which inspired the territorial city state the latter, begun a
;
artisticpatron to make his sacrifices ; generation later, at the edge of the small
hence the artist readily conceded to him a and gloomy rock fortress, hardly to be
39^4
FLORENCE AND VENICE IN THEIR SPLENDOUR
compared with Spoleto, impresses the examination or investigation, between
surprised spectator as indeed marvellous. 1301 and 1303 accurately reflect the
From a political point of view, how- ferocity of the methods employed by the
ever, the disaster of Montaperti had Guelfs in Florence until 1306.
produced little or no per- The breach had become
manent effect upon the irreparable. Florence then
humiliated Florentines. The possessed adominant eco-
old murderous quarrel between nomic position. Through her
the Guelfs and Ghibellines, hands passed the greater part
which the exaggerations of of the trade in salt and corn,
tradition retrace to the murder in wool and cloth her financial
;
"by the best of motives, was without indeed, some unsound fruit, such as
resources consequently the alliance did
; Catherine, the instigator of the Massacre
not secure for Florence the supremacy at of St. Bartholomew, and others. Typical
which she aimed, and the result was a of these products are the criminal pair of
3967
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
cousins, Alessandro and Lorenzino, mur- fidelity, which may reconcile us to many
dered on January 6th, 1537, and on divergences from the strict path of upright-
February 26th, 1548. ness, and to many acts of severity. With the
Pandolfo Petrucci ruled Siena from exception of an interim from 1277 to 1302,
February 7th, 1494, until his death, on the town had been ruled by the Guelf family
May 2ist, 1512 and had his successors
;
Delia Torre from 1240, and in the winter
been men of similar character and of 1310-1311 it offered a reluctant sub-
capacity, this smaller but more brilliant mission to Henry VII. and his policy of
neighbouring town might easily have composing all differences. The remaining
become the seat of the Tuscan dukes in nine decades of the fourteenth century
place of Florence. None the less, no royal secured the inclusion of Milan in the
family rendered such services to art and empire, a change which met with little
science in so comparatively short a time as opposition, and offered every prospect of
the dynasty of the Medici. This was no undisturbed expansion and amalgamation,
small achievement in an age which saw the while no danger was to be feared from the
artistic rise, not only of such centres as obvious weakness of the empire. The
Rome, Venice, and Naples, but also of imperial power of an Otto, a Frederic, or
smaller capitals,
such as Ferrara
and Modena in
the sixteenth cen-
tury, under the
two Alfonsos of
Este, the friends of
Ariosto and Tasso ;
Parma, 1547-
1731, under the
Farnese Turin,
;
a Henry had long since disappeared, for theirown purpose by means of a few
leaving no trace behind, and the task of sharp strokes, after which the process
mutual recognition and tolerance had of reform might be attempted. The cura-
become extremely simple. tive process was painful, and consisted in
Nothing is more characteristic of this a complete renunciation of the almost
situation than the commercial attitude of inevitable factions and in a transition to
" "
Charles IV. between 1354 and I 355> and the hated subjection under some abso-
in the summer of 1368. Italy was then lute ruler, and this process was almost
harassed by the constant plague of mer- automatically completed. The physician
cenary troops, the "Compagniedi ventura," in question was Giovanni Galeazzo de
who, while generally brave, were entirely Visconti born October i6th, 1351, in
unscrupulous she was also anxious to
; Pavia who would most certainly have
recover her spiritual head, now far away deserved the name of a national hero had
in dependence upon France. These tasks it not been for the premature death which
had been attempted with better, though not overtook him on September 3rd, 1402,
with lasting, success by a famous woman, before he could complete his difficult task.
Santa Katharina Benincasa ol Siena, His government began by his determined
who died in 1380, and to them the second efforts to destroy the power of his cruel
Luxemburg king devoted no real part uncle, Bernabo, in 1385. He proceeded to
of his power. The exact antithesis of his secure his own inheritance in defiance of
ideal grandfather, Henry, and of his father, Bernabo's sons, to expel from Verona the
John, who was ever a chivalrous character, remnants of the Delia Scala, who seemed
he preferred negotiation to action. ready, under Can Grande, the patron of
Thus the shattered country was again Dante, and under Mastino II., to realise
threatened with the necessity of casting the Ghibelline idea of Italian salvation.
out the plague of foreign defenders and The next steps were the determined
native intriguers who used this
disruption expulsion of Francesco I. and II. da Carrara
3969
FLORENCE
OF THE BEAUTIFUL CITY OF connects
Photoch,
the two famous picture
Arno on the top of the old bridge
ss the river
were formerlv palaces belonging to the families whose names they still
bear.
from Padua, and the intimidation of These gains brought the power of
Francesco I. da Gonzaga by the attempt Gian Galeazzo to such a height that the
of his naval engineers to divert the course anxiety of the towns and signories, which
of the Mincio, and to transform Mantua wished to remain Guelf at any price,
into a swamp then followed the purchase
; became very intelligible, as also did the
of the ducal title from the needy King joy and satisfaction of the other towns
"
VVenzel, the elevation of Pa via to a county, at the approaching fulfilment of the idea
"
and the successful inducement of Niccolo unitaria by the Visoonti.
of Este to enter Ferrara in 1401. Mean- A view of Upper and Central Italy as it
while gentle pres- existed in the
sure or stern summer of 1402
menaces had will show no
steadily secured power compar-
for him the sig- able with the
nories and towns of Milan,
Duchy
of Assisi, Bo- except Savoy
logna, Nocera, and Piedmont,
Perugia, Pisa, Saluzzo and
Siena,and Spo- Montferrat, Asti,
leto, the acqui- and Genoa, Massa
sition by inherit- and Carrara, and
ance of Aless- the other districts
andria, Arezzo, of the Malaspina,
Asti, Bassano, Mantua and Mo-
B e 1 1 u n o. Ber-
dena, Venice and
gamo, Bobbio, Florence, and the
Casale, Bormio, Church State. It
Brescia, Como, isthus no remark-
Crema, Cremona, able exaggeration
Feltre, Lodi, when Alfieri, a
the Lunigiana, worthy teacher
Monza, Novara. of Latin at Kaffa
Parma, Pavia, in the Crimea, in
Piacenza, Pon- his "Ogdoas,"
tremoli, Reggio.
Tor-
composed about
Sarzana, makes
1421,
tona, Valenza, Gian Galeazzo
Vercelli, Vicenza, ask: "And what
and Vogh< TOMB OF LORENZO DE MEDICI BY MICHELANGELO would have
3972
Jo.
3973
HISTORY OF THE "WORLD
happened if fatehad granted me five of twenty years in Avignon, had been
"
years more ? and represents his illegiti- once more kept at Monza from March
mate son, Gahrielle Maria, as replying: 20th, 1345, and was thus in the power of
" Gian Galeazzo, but the proud ruler of
The whole of Italy would have obeyed
thy sceptre." Notwithstanding the occa- Milan was not destined to wear it. The
sional severity of his decrees, he was tripartite division of the "best duchy in the
reverenced for whole of Chris-
"
another hundre tendom was
years by the contemplated
people as a saint, under his will,
and this in spite but was pre-
of the fact that vented by the
the increasing ex- execution of
-P,f. Lombard family of the Visconti. He did much to regain the territories r?
1 hlS monastery O f his house, but died, in 1402, before his task was completed. Matteo, tnCSC WCre f ran-
fmrl ahcnrhprl
Q whose portrait is also given, belonged to an earlier period, and in the ppcpo
L da Car-
thirteenth century held for a time the government of Milan. In 1322
Considerable he was condemned as aheretic, and died three months after his trial. magllOla, JN ICCOlO
benefactions from 1393 to 1396, but from Piccinino, and Francesco Sforza, the eldest
the laying of its foundation stone on son of Giacomo Addendolo, known as
August 27th, 1396, had received no help Sforza of Cotignola, who was drowned in the
from the ruler until his death, while he Pescara on January 4th, 1424. The fourth
was also unable to spend upon the marble representative of the family of the last-
cathedral of Milan after 1386 as much mentioned upstart, a highly capable cha-
as he had done during the first decade. racter, Lodovico Sforza il Moro, suggested
The Lombard crown, after an absence the invasion of Italy to the French.
3974
SOUTH ITALY UNDER THE ANGEVINS
THE SICILIAN REVOLT & SPANISH SUPREMACY
IN 1266 the Angevin dynasty displaced as the heir of the Germans, an attitude
the Hohenstauffen in Southern Italy. adopted by his greater Carolingian pre-
During their period we meet with vitality, decessor in 774 towards the Lombard
and occasionally with freedom, though inheritance Charles made every conceiv-
;
"
within intelligible limits. The brilliant able effort to appear' as a new master." In
traditions of the Normans and the care- this bureaucratic state, which had grown
fully organised administration of the
Th G t
U P un der the Normans, the
Hohenstauffen could not be abolished
Ambitions of , Saracens, and the Hohen-
,, ,- , ,
in a moment. At the same time the ~. . . stauffen, the feudal system
i/harles 1.
Southern Italian is by nature so protean a underwent an unexpected re-
character that, provided blood is flowing vival under French forms. Dependence,
in his veins, the impact of any foreign however, upon pre-existing forms, and
influence will suffice to drive him forward resistance, upon the other hand, to aggres-
on an altered course only the torpidity
;
sive attempts, caused the king constant
of the later period of oppression has caused anxiety. In 1270 he considered that the
the extinction of this characteristic. second crusade of his brother Louis IX., if it
Hence an accurate examination does had failed to capture the last refuge of the
not confirm the impression that the Hohenstauffen party, had yet sufficiently
foreign French or the first Spaniards terrorised that retreat. He therefore
were responsible for the sudden death reverted to the old Norman idea of foreign
of southern civilisation. It is, no doubt, policy, and proposed to become master of
true
a y
that the presence of both shores of the Adriatic. He was,
these foreign rulers intensified however, unable to cope with the superior
that separation from the rest diplomacy of Byzantium.
Divided r TJ. i i i_ L j
Italy which originated in
ot The battle of Berat brought Charles'
the Byzantine period, and became per- ten years of struggle for Albania to a
manent in view of the hopelessness of temporary conclusion in April, 1281 ;
all attempts at fusion with the north. while the dangerous alliance of Orvieto,
This alienation it is which has indisputably which Charles concluded on July 3rd, 1281,
stamped the general historical develop- with Pope Martin IV., Venice, and Philip
ment of the two Sicilies with that lifeless of Courtenay, the husband of his daughter
character which has prevented every care- Beatrice, with the object of reviving the
ful observer, from the papal Saba Malas- Latin Empire of Baldwin II., broke down
pina to N. Nisco and R. de Cesare, the bio- at the moment when it was put to the
graphers'of Ferdinand II. and Francis II., test, and Sicily, which was wildly excited
from feeling the pleasure of unrestrained by the intolerable burden of taxation,
satisfaction before exploits of undoubted threw off the heavy yoke forthwith.
magnificence the sense of
;
some flaw On March 3ist, 1282, the alarm
in the picture ever dominant.
is was rung by the vesper bell of
of the c c ; i
Charles the first Angevin king of
I.,
s ...
. Santo Spinto, in the plain of
Naples and Sicily (1266-1285), began Oreto to the south of Palermo,
by thoroughly destroying all traces of and was transmitted to the capital by
the government which he had set the bell of San Giovanni degli Eremiti,
aside ;
he wished, above all things, to with its almost Mohammedan cupola.
erase from the book of history the two The Sicilian Vespers overthrew the French
previous decades. This Capetian and Pro- supremacy, and after a five months' re-
vengal ruler was disinclined to appear publican government, Peter III., the Great,
253 3975
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
of Aragon the masterless throne.
seized On the contrary, after the turbulent and
The island that is to say, one-
of Sicily unfortunate government of Charles II.
half of the southern kingdom was for the (1288-1309) it seemed as if some prosperity
long pe-'iod of more than two centuries might be vouchsafed to Naples, which had
a valuable possession for the dynasty of been isolated since 1302 under the govern-
Aragon. Naturally the policy of Aragon ment of the philosophical and poetical
exerted a decisive influence upon Sicilian king, Robert the Wise (1309-1343). His
history between 1282 and 1516. Some few efforts to check, first Henry VII., at the
exceptions there were during end of 1311, who replied by deposing him
Spain's
this period, after James' renun- on April 26th, 1313, and then, in 1328,
Dominance
ciation in favour of Anjou in Lewis of Bavaria, by a strong federation
in Italy
1295 had been nullified in 1296 of the Guelf towns in Tuscany, eventually
by the elevation of the Ghibelline Frederic proved successful. A fundamental feature
II. The weak government of Frederic III., in the policy of Robert, and of the Angevin
who ascended the throne in 1355 and rulers in general, was an attitude of friend-
reigned thirteen years, conceded too much liness to the papacy, which need cause no
influence to Rome and
Naples after 1372 ; surprise in view of the origin of these kings
then came the reign of his daughter Maria, and of the position of the papacy at that
during whose minority the barons rose to moment. The reign of Robert was suc-
power and engaged in faction ceeded by a century of con-
fights until her husband, fusion which centres round
Martin the Younger of the whims and passions of
Aragon, appeared in 1392 two masculine queens-regent,
and overthrew the opposition Joanna I. (1343-1382) and
nationalist party of Andrea Joanna II. (1414-1435).
Chiaramonte. The inter- Charles Robert, as the great-
regnum between the death of grandson of the Arpad
Martin the Elder, in 1410, and Stephen V. who was a nephe w
,
but highly cultured princess on May same time he had the resources and the
22nd, 1382, the attempt was renewed capacity to pursue an imperial policy in
to consolidate this remarkable alliance the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas. The
between Southern and Eastern Europe. increase of the power of Gian Galeazzo of
At the beginning of 1386 Charles III., the Milan disturbed his Guelf opponents and
Short, was crowned, and in 1403 was obliged them to concentrate. During
succeeded by his brilliant son Ladislaus. those years we meet with more than one
In either case these projects resulted in mention of a league between Naples, the
failure. It seems as if the friendly star Pope, Florence, King Rupert, and Venice,
which had guided the first Charles to which Padua, Bologna, Ferrara, and
Naples, and pointed the way for his Mantua were to have joined. On the
energetic grandson, Robert, had deserted other hand, the continued cry raised by
the latter at Angevins. The fact is true the East for a thorough Crusade against
both of the Durazzo dynasty and of the the Turks gave a great stimulus to the
three Louis of the younger house of Anjou, project of an alliance of some of these
invited southwards by Joanna I. they ; powers with France, Genoa, and Athens.
were unfortunate, or fortune mocked them. In no case did the plan meet with any
One exception there seems to have been considerable success, but the ready com-
namely, Ladislaus (1390-1414). His ''
titles pliance with which distant and close
were pompous he styled himself
; King neighbours made overtures to the liberal
of Hungary, Jerusalem, Sicily, Dalmatia, King of Naples sufficiently shows what
Ramia, Servia, Galicia, Lodomiria, Cu- extraordinary prestige Ladislaus enjoyed
mania, and Bulgaria, Count of Provence, about 1400. On April 25th, 1403, Rome
Forcalqu-ier, and Piedmont," thus enu- opened her gates to him, an example
3977
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
followed by Perugia. These ambitions, of Calabria, the son of Rene of Bar.
however, aroused distrust elsewhere, for He was a true contemporary of men
no one was anxious to replace the am- like Sixtus IV. della and of
Rovere
bitious Visconti with an Angevin, who the upstart Francesco Sforza, and he
might complete the unification of Italy. succeeded in establishing his own rule by
None the less, when he had availed marriage alliances with both families.
himself of the schism so far as to be upon The nobility soon felt the results of his
the point of regaining his mastery of success, and upon this question King
Rome, he died, before he had Louis XI. had already provided a prece-
'* y s
reached the age of forty, dent which cried aloud for imitation.
on August 6th, 1414, not Otranto, an outpost important for its
Decadence u , ,
six months after he had advanced position, had been captured
granted at Piperno, on the edge of the by the Turks, with great cruelty, on
Pontine marshes, remission of house tax August nth, 1480 thirteen months later;
to some two hundred families of Sezze on September loth, 1481 Prince Alfonso
an instance of his care for the people. He, reconquered it with the help of the Pope.
again, possessed neither good fortune nor In other respects Ferdinand showed high
guiding star. capacity in his position two favourite ;
Ladislaus and his sister, Joanna II., objects of his domestic care were juris-
belong to the age of decadence, as is prudence and the culture of the silk-
attested by the inscription on the Gothic worm.
memorial raised by the king's fraternal With the death of Ferrante the favour
love behind the high altar of San Giovanni of fortune which had protected the south
Carbonara at Naples. A new spirit, or for half a century came to an end. Alfonso
the revival of the old, is first typified in II. was intimidated by the menaces of
Alfonso I. the Noble of Sicily, who had Charles VIII. and hated by his people.
been Alfonso V. of Aragon since 1416,
N . On the last day of the first
,
and in his of
Naples by twenty-
mastery year of his reign he abdicated
Heavy Loss v , t T* j- ,
two years of obstinate struggle. His .in favour of his son, Ferdinand
s
theories of life were far removed from the II. The latter triumphed
general obscurantism which characterised over the French, after eighteen months
the Angevins, of which there is no more of conflict, on July 2oth, 1496, and died
striking proof than the fact that under his upon October yth of the same year.
government the keen champion Lauren- The throne of Naples was once again
tius Valla attacked the secular power of left desolate. Frederic (1496-1501), the
"
the Pope in 1440 by his researches de brother of Alfonso II., was said to have
falso credito et ementita Constantini shown too great a friendship towards
donatione." the Turks and under the excuse of pro-
;
In the same sense is to be understood tecting Christendom, Louis XII., who had
Alfonso's remarkable grant of help in inherited the claims of his cousin, Charles
1453, during the last heroic struggle of VI II., upon Southern Italy, joined the
Constantine XI. It was not so much cousin of Ferrante, Ferdinand the Catholic,
the result of zealous championship of in 1500. The latter, however, who was
Christian doctrine as the outcome of a at heart a determined enemy of the French,
Revival
ca ^ ^y m
considered imperialist used the allies merely for the purpose
policy. However, in company of a joint conquest. The whole of the
of the
Sciences
w ^
otner ro yal humanists of Neapolitan kingdom was eventually re-
his time he eagerly grasped covered for united Spain in 1504, after
the precious fruit of the destruc- the brilliant triumphs of Gonsalvo de
tion of Constantinople, the revival of "
Cordova, the Great Captain."
the sciences by the dispersed exponents This transference implied a heavy loss
of Greek civilisation. The first seven to Naples henceforward the kingdom
;
years of the reign of his illegitimate became a mere appanage of the Spanish
son and successor, Ferdinand I. (" Fer- monarch, which
" fell by inheritance to the
rante ;
1458-1494), were disturbed House of in 1516.
Hapsburg
by struggles with the Angevin John HANS HELMOLT
3978
MOORISH ASCENDANCY IN SPAIN
THE SPLENDOUR OF THE CALIPHATE
AND THE ANDALUSIAN CIVILISATION
IN the middle of the eighth century Spain to oppose the hated Somail and Yusuf
* was but very to win the favour of the Kelbitic race
loosely connected with ;
the Saracen Empire. Rival races set up and the more so if he belonged, as Abd
rulers by force of arms, so that it happened ur Rahman did, to a Kaisite family.
on occasion that Kelbitic tribes helped a Abd ur Rahman succeeded in entering
Kaisite, or vice versa the Berbers either
; into relations with the friends of the
formed alliances with the Arab races, or Ommayyad house, and in September of the
acted for themselves, under the year 755 he landed on the Spanish coast.
guidance of some fanatical Yusuf's first attempts at resistance failed
Races in fj , ,, .,, ,
;
s
. without attaining any
saint, negotiations were begun, but came to
lasting result. In 750 the nothing. Most of the Kaisite tribes
most powerful man in Spain was the gathered at Yusuf's camp, while the
Kaisite Somail after the Kelbites had
;
Kelbites flocked to Abd ur Rahman.
been defeated in the battle of Secunda, he Auxiliary Berber troops joined both
found a docile instrument in the governor sides. In the following year Abd ur
Yusuf though his cruelty to the vanquished
,
Rahman won a brilliant victory over
made him an object of inextinguishable his adversaries and seized Cordova ;
hatred to all the Kelbitic tribes. Yusuf and Somail then recognised the
Meanwhile, the reigning house of the Ommayyad prince as the emir of Spain.
Ommayyads in Bagdad had been over- Abd ur Rahman devoted all the untiring
thrown and almost exterminated by the energy of his ambitious nature to the
Abbassides. Only a few members of the desperate task of forming Spain into an
family made their escape, among others, independent and united nation. Un-
the youthful and ambitious Abd ur scrupulous as to the means he employed,
Rahman. After various adventures, he crafty and determined, and peculiarly
took refuge in Africa but there, as every-
;
favoured by fortune, he accomplished his
where, his attempts to gain power made task but he was enabled to hold his
;
him an object of suspicion. He was ground only by the fact that the Arab tribes,
obliged to flee from .place to place, and though ever ready to revolt,
'
3979
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the rule of Islam, which now began to rise independent states in the north of the
from unimportant beginnings, and even- kingdom. After several bloody conflicts,
tually came forward as the most dangerous he succeeded in subduing both of them.
enemy of the caliphate. At first it seemed Hischam also fought successfully against
not only that Spain was submerged in the the Christians of the North, but his
flood of Moslem conquest, but also that character inclined him rather to peace and
Southern France would fall before the to the furthering of his subjects' welfare.
Arab onset. It was only Charles Mattel's After his death, in the year 796, his son
victory at Poitierjp in
brilliant Chakam ascended the throne. He was
the year 732 that droves; the at once attacked by the two brothers of
rc *
v .
army of Islam back across the Hischam, who had already thrown the
Pyrenees. But even in Spain kingdom into confusion. At the same time
the inhabitants of 'the mountains in the the northern frontier was disturbed by
north were never really subjugated. Their incursions of the Prankish troops. Chakam
submission to the Romans and the Goths succeeded in getting the better of his
had been only temporary, and they had, relatives, but against the Franks he was
to some extent, retained their original not so successful.
Iberian language. The Arabs deemed those Barcelona fell into the hands of the
barren heights comparatively unimportant. Christians, and the nucleus of the kingdom
The situation became more critical when of Catalonia was thus formed. Chakam's
that portion of the Gothic people which army was almost perpetually under arms
was capable of offering resistance began against the kings of Leon. The fleet,
to gather in the northern mountains, and which had been of little importance before
to project the recovery of their land by the period of the caliphate, undertook
force of arms. Under the leadership of punitive expeditions against the Balearic
Pelayo, or Pelagius, the people of the Islands and Sardinia. A revolt of the
Asturian mountains shook off the yoke of renegades in Cordova was crushed with
their enemies not long after the conquest. terrible severity some of the inhabitants
-j
;
Then the Berbers, who had largely settled were forced to emigrate, and,
The Caliph s r,
in the North of Spain, were weakened by . alter many J trying adven-
LUXUFIOUS , ,
"ii r j r-
the collapse of their rising against the _ . . ., tures, they
J finally found a
Court Life , ~ , .
the Caliphs
the foreign history of Spanish 888), was able to subdue this uprising.
Islam is, for some centuries, bound As the central authority began to
up with the personality of these monarchs, decline, feudalism among the Arab, Berber,
or of those who held the reins of power and Spanish nobles again appeared. The
in their stead. Abd ut Rahman I. next caliph, Abdallah (888-912), had to
was succeeded by his son, Hischam I., cope with both of these dangers and the ;
who was immediately obliged to take result of his efforts was most
unsatisfac-
measures against two of his brothers, who tory. Every important noble lived as an
had revolted and attempted to found independent prince behind his castle walls.
3980
THE MOORISH ASCENDANCY IN SPAIN
The Christians and the renegades of the coming all opposition, in repairing disas-
Granada mountains pressed forward to the ters,and, notwithstanding his continual
very gates of Cordova, under their leader, wars, in furthering the progress of the
Omar ibn Chassun, and the caliph's feeble country in every direction. An army
policy of reconciliation was wholly fruitless. such as Arabian Spain had never before
In the extremity of despair, Abdallah seen was under his command, and the
ventured to attack the Christian army most powerful princes, East and West,
which was threatening his capital, and desired his favour and courted his friend-
won a victory as brilliant as it was
Pr ship. In Spain, as elsewhere,
unexpected in 890. He thereby gained Follows Arab
.
J of the Arab power
the victory
v ,
momentary relief ;
but in the year 902 implied an advance in eco-
Victories
the attempts of the aristocracy to win nomic progress. In other
their independence, and the restlessness of European countries feudalism steadily
his Spanish subjects, brought him into gained ground; in Spain it continued to
pressing difficulty. It was only when decline, and left room for the increase of
Abdallah succeeded in winning over his general prosperity. The free peasants were
most dangerous opponents, the Arabs of able to increase their acquisitions at the
the district of Seville, that the power of expense of the Arab nobility, who were
the caliphate began to revive. continually at war over private feuds.
Abdallah's grandson and successor, Abd The princes and nobles of the land
ur Rahman III., took vigorous measures were ever ready to foster and promote
to strengthen the tottering monarchy. the cause of learning reading and
;
Christian states. By adroitly turning to it was the healthy and brilliant bloom
his own advantage the racial wars in Africa, of well-nurtured material prosperity.
the caliph got possession of In truth, the northern inhabitants of
Ur
o K ii. several of the coast towns, Europe, living as they did in gloomy
Kahman 11 , c ,. ,
pure Arabs, aroused the greatest discon- which to-day impels us to look back with
tent among the nobles, and on certain yearning and regret upon the too rapid
occasions cost the caliph dear, for several flight of that happy period, when Cordova
battles were lost owing to the misbe- and Toledo guarded the sacred fire of
haviour of the native contingents. How- civilisation upon European ground, a
ever, Abd ur Rahman was incontestably the fascination which still throws its glamour
greatest ruler of the Ommayyad dynasty. around the halls of the Alcazar of Seville
He was marvellously successful in over- or the pinnacles of the Alhambra.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Our picture of the dreamy beauty of But that wonderful prosperity of Spanish
Andalusian civilisation would be in- Islam which permitted the rise of a large
complete if we omitted the glorious de- number of wealthy and brilliant cities,
velopment of the art of poetry, which and allowed individual provinces to gain
drew its sustenance from the western in strength and independence, became
of
imagination and blossomed to a richer life dangerous at length to the ascendancy
even than it did upon the banks of the the Ommayyad dynasty, and prepared the
twin rivers of Mesopotamia. But it was way for the disruption of the kingdom into
not only in the domain of a number of petty states. Prosperity and
progress might gain rather than
lose by
poetry that the Andalusians
Poetry the intel- such a separation, but it could be foreseen
exercised splendid
Flourished
lectual power which often that the military power of Spanish Islam
compelled admiration from their co- would be fatally weakened thereby. Upon
religionists. Philosophy also found a the death of Chakam II., in 976, signs of
home and a refuge from persecution the coming disruption were apparent.
at the courts of the caliph and his The successor to the throne, Hischam II.,
governors and feudal princes, who had was then only eleven years old, and various
long since learned that the most audacious personages of importance began to quarrel
opinions must be heard openly among about the regency. Fortunately for
men, and that otherwise they would the empire, the most capable of these
grow to strange and dangerous propor- aspirants, the chamberlain Ibn abi Amir,
tion in secrecy and persecution. Theo- or Al Mansur, as he afterwards was called,
logians with their arguments might succeeded in seizing the chief power by
attack the sceptics when these demanded cunning and force, and retained it to the
the mathematical proof of the truth end of his life against his various oppo-
of their religion they might attempt
;
nents. Hischam had been brought up by
to brand these unbelievers for ever his mother, Aurora, a native of Navarre,
as drunkards and voluptuaries they ;
who was allied to Al Mansur, in accord-
did not burn them at the stake in . . . ance with his ideas, and re-
* ge
Moorish Spain. niained a tool in the regent's
Abd ur Rahman was, on the whole, hand throughout his life.
Triumphs A, ,,, f A1
,
successful in checking the growth of the Abroad, the period of Al
Christian kingdom on the north and in Mansur's rule was, undoubtedly, the most
securing his frontiers but the hopes of
;
brilliant in the history of the Ommayyad
conquering Africa, which the revolt of the dynasty. Never since the conquest had the
Abu-Jazird against the Fatimides had Moslem sword won such brilliant victories
aroused, were only of short duration. In over the Christians, never had the armies of
the year 947 the rebels, who recognised Andalusia penetrated so far into the lands
the spiritual supremacy of the Caliph of of their hereditary enemies. In the year
Cordova, were beaten and slain. 981 Zamora was captured. Barcelona was
Spain, in its most flourishing period, taken in 985, and the fortress of Leon in
was never equal to the task of sub- 987. A tremendous impression was created
jugating Morocco and before long it
; in 994-997, when Al Mansur pushed on
came to owe its very existence to the into the barren land of Galicia and cap-
help of African Islam. During the reign of tured the national shrine of Spanish
the peaceful successor of Abd ur Rahman Christendom, that of St. James of Com-
III., the patron of the arts, Chakam, or postela, and razed it to the ground.
of Learning
^
Hakem II., the Christian
renewed their attacks
th red ub ed Vigour but
the continual quarrels of his
;
Such successes were made possible only
by the sweeping reforms which Al Mansur
had introduced, for his own ends,
the military organisation of Andalusia, and
into
opponents, and the magnificent army by his final breach with the remnants of the
which his predecessor had left to him, old Arab racial organisation. The levy by
gave Chakam so great an advantage that tribes was wholly abolished, and the inhabi-
in the year 970 the Castilians were tants called upon to serve were arbitrarily
glad
to make peace, and the caliph obtained drafted into the different regiments. The
leisure to concentrate his attention flower of the army, upon which Al Mansur
upon
the furthering of civilisation in his relied, was formed partly of Berbers from
country
and upon the advancement of learning. Morocco and partly of Christian soldiers
3982
THE MOORISH ASCENDANCY IN SPAIN
from North Spain, who had no scruples as being responsible for the burden
whatever in righting against their com- that oppressed the people in particular
patriots. The Christian states were con- Al Mansur himself and his most faithful
tinually at variance with one another, and dependents, the Berber chiefs and the
did not reject the help of the Moors when Christian soldiery. Upon Al Mansur's
occasion offered. Al Mansur's most dan- death an uproar arose in Cordova, the
gerous rival was Ghalib, the commander of inhabitants furiously demanding that
the troops on the northern frontier, and a henceforward Hischam II. should reign as
successful general. After he had been an independent monarch. Mozaffar Abd al
defeated and slain the regent could place Melik Modhaffer, the son of Al Mansur,
implicit reliance upon the fidelity of his had much trouble in subduing the rebels.
troops, and could successfully meet all When Mozaffar died, in the year 1008, the
attempts to overthrow his power. But a general discontent broke into open riot ;
military supremacy, naturally, did not the brother of the deceased, who took his
benefit Spain in the long run. The fact place, was driven out and killed.
that Al Mansur attempted to strengthen It soon became evident, however, that
his perilous position by lending a close nothing had been gained by the overthrow
adherence to the orthodox theology was of ministerial government. Individual
3983
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
ally, increased. At length the aristocracy Almeira, Denia, and Valencia, were in their
gained the upper hand in the desolate hands the last-named town, however, for
and ruined city. They abolished the only a short period, as one Amiride, a
caliphate, and thereby hastened the dis- descendant of the great Al Mansur, speedily
ruption of a kingdom that had once seized the government of that town.
been so powerful into a number of feudal In the south-west, Mohammed, the Cadi
states and city republics in 1031. The last of Seville, who carried on the govern-
caliph of the Ommayyad house, Hischam ment in the name of a pseudo-Hischam II.,
III., died a few years later, became the head of the Arab party.
Fall of the
Ommayyad forgotten and despised, in Owing to his efforts, Cordova was out-
stripped by its sister town, and the Arab
Dynasty
refuge in his need. population in the regions under Berber rule
The interests of the great towns, Cor- came over to him. After the death
dova and Seville in particular, had long of Mohammed, his son, the refined but
ceased to coincide with the interests utterly unscrupulous Motadhid, utilised
of the rest of the country. It was in- the opportunities of his position. He
evitable that these great centres of com- aggrandised the town of Seville to such
merce and manufacture should eventu- an extent that even Badis of Granada
ally drift apart from the provinces, the trembled before his dangerous rival, and
prosperity of which was based upon planned, upon one occasion, the massacre
agriculture and domestic industries. The of all the Arabs of Granada, in view of
fall of the Ommayyad dynasty was per- their natural leanings towards his enemy.
haps accelerated by the fact that they had The strong contrast between the rough,
united their interests too closely with unpolished Berber state and the brilliant
those of the people of Cordova, for the culture of the kingdom of Seville became
development of Cordova was bound to still more prominent after Motadhid's death
result in republicanism, and when they in 1069, when the poetic and pleasure-
were abandoned by the fickle citizens of the but energetic, Motamid
Threatened loving,
-
,, <? ,.
, ,-
the Slavs
m * J ew Samuel, and
ness
, T ,
the foot of the Pyrenees. The differences their desire for independence in
Seat
ea of
resulting from situation and nationality ~
Uovernment
their restless behaviour. As the
.
. .
r , ,
became apparent at a very early period territory of the kingdom of
differences which have continued beyond Oviedo spread southward, and the plains of
the sixteenth century, and have not been Castileand Leon became .gradually popu-
wholly obliterated even now. lated, the centre of gravity naturally shifted
The flower of the Gothic nobility had to that part of the kingdom. Perhaps
betaken itself to the central portion of the Christian kings of Northern Spain
the northern coast land, to Asturias. were rather too slow to realise this natural
Here Pelayo, who is known to the Arabian development of affairs when Ordono II.,
;
historians, raised the standard of national in the year 955, at last moved the seat of
resistance and drove out the Arab governor, government to Leon, numerous important
who had established himself at Gijon. counties had arisen in Castile.
Under Alfonso II., about 800, Oviedo Alfonso III., the Great (866-910), who
. became the capital of the did a great deal to assure the existence
The Forward ., ,
p
..
f
new state, to which was united of the kingdom, and created a strong
Cantabria on the east, which southern frontier by fortifying the line
Alfonso*!
had also been liberated by the of the Douro, would have done better to
Gothic nobles. The retreat of the Berber abandon Oviedo with its unfavourable
settlers, who were driven out by dissen- situation. By his division of the kingdom
sion and famine, had given King Alfonso I. among his sons, this otherwise admirable
the opportunity of pushing southward ruler fostered the seeds of dissension,
into the Castilian plains, seizing the which must have developed in any case,
country at the foot of the mountains and made it possible for the Moors, after
as far as the Douro, and making a desert they had concluded their internal quarrels,
barrier of the rest of Old Castile. The to carry on a vigorous frontier policy
Christian inhabitants were transported under Abd ur Rahman III. and Al Mansur.
thence to the northern districts, and the The polished inhabitants of Andalusia
Mohammedans were driven southward. looked with horror and disgust upon
Alfonso's successor, Froila L, conquered the danger which threatened
Andalusia ,, ,, ,, ...
Galicia, which the Arabs had never
Stricken
them from the north, upon this
i j -.i_ ,\ , ,
3985
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
between the nations were broken down, the Pyrenaean valleys too had never been
one insuperable obstacle remained reli- entirely in the power of the Arabian.
gion. In the last resort the sword must The Iberian races, against which Romans
decide whether the soil of Spain was and Goths had in vain directed their
to belong to the followers of Mahomet arms and the resources of their civilisa-
or to the Christian believers. The opposi- tion, the Basques of Navarre and Biscay,
tion became only the sharper with the had this time, too, made only a show of
lapse of time. During the first centuries submission. Further eastward the Gothic
Symbols of
Christian
P
. ,
^ ^^
the rough and bold warriors of
,
j^
their
.
to
.,
contributions
faithfull
,
.
nobles held out here and there, and kept
up relations, by the mountain passes,
with their people in Southern France.
Su rem
erect those mighty churches and These thin seeds of new states began
cathedrals which were the tokens of to sprout when Charlemagne made his
Christian supremacy but they were not
; expedition across the Pyrenees, formed
ashamed, upon occasion, to enter the the district held by Arab governors and
"
Moorish service, or by their efforts on the petty chieftains into the Spanish Mark,"
side of the unbelievers to remind princes and organised the small beginnings of
of their own nation that they owed duties Christian states into principalities. The
to their feudal nobility. With the same later kingdoms of Aragon and Catalonia,
carelessness the smaller Arab princes the lowly foundations of which were then
entered the lists against the mighty laid, were thus brought into close relations
power of the caliphate, in union with the with the South of France and with Central
kings of Leon or the courts of Castile. European civilisation, a connection which
Afterwards fanaticism became more fer- persists to-day in language and customs,
vent upon both sides, and religious hatred and sharply differentiates Northern Spain
took deeper root. Closer relations with from Castile and its neighbouring districts.
Rome turned the Castilians into distin- The Basques, however, did not submit to
guished supporters of the Catholic religion, c , this influence. They had not
who were eventually to thwart the pro-
the Basque
resisted the
, , , ~Arabs merely
.
to
gress of the Reformation. The Moors of
,
,
.. be ruled by Frankish counts :
Mountaineers . .
Spain displayed the resolution and con- they felt no reluctance, tor
stancy of martyrs in their misfortunes. once in a way, to enter into alliance with
The state which included Galicia, the Mohammedan governors, and to
Asturias, Leon and Castile, quickly attack the Frankish army in the mountain
formed, and no less quickly divided, into passes. The half-legendary destruction
separate provinces, was the chief Christian of Roland and his army, and the more
power in North Spain. Scarcely touched credible overthrow, probably in the
by any external influence, shut in between year 824, of a division of the Frankish
the waves of the Bay of Biscay and its force in the pass of Roncevalles, are
Moorish enemies, it was from the begin- sufficient evidence of the Basque policy.
ning the most Spanish, the most national Finally, towards the end of the ninth
and independent, of all states, and was century, the Basque mountaineers ex-
therefore destined to leadership and tended their conquests to the Ebro, and the
eventually to dominion. But it was not kingdom of Navarre arose.
the only power. Near it were the king- appeared at first as if this new state
It
doms which rose in the valleys and at would gain an important share of the
the foot of the Pyrenees. The mountain tottering Moslem kingdom, for in the tenth
barrier of the Pyrenees had not century important territories beyond the
The A ab
the Arabs in their Ebro were in the possession of Navarre.
Overthrown P/evented
St mvasion " om passing OV6F But the Basques, while almost invincible
in France
into Southern France, where in their own mountains, have no
aptitude
they claimed the West Gothic possessions for colonisation and no inclination to
as their inheritance, but were
finally spread beyond their ancient boundaries.
defeated by the vigour of the Prankish In the year 1054 Navarre lost its
nation. They did not long hold out foreign possessions in war with Castile,
upon the north side of the mountains : and remained henceforward confined to its
Narbonne, their strongest fortress, was original territory. The kingdom of Aragon,
taken by the Franks in the year 759, starting from poor beginnings, ran a very
and it became speedily apparent that different course of development. When
3986
THE RISING CHRISTIAN REALMS IN SPAIN
the kingdom of Navarre was formed the the Spanish Mark, which now included
principality of Aragon included only the besides the principality of Barcelona,
little
upper valley of the river of that name, was separated from Septimania i.e.,
which runs deep between the Sierra de la Languedoc Barcelona thus taking its first
Pen a and the chain of the Pyrenees. A wild step towards complete independence.
and barren district, it seems for a long The next period is marked by the fact
time to have formed a part of the Spanish that a family apparently of Gothic
Mark and to have been governed by counts origin becomes the hereditary ruler of
of Gothic origin during the ascendancy Barcelona with the consent of
;
Bare lona
of Navarre it formed a part of that the Prankish king. In the usual
kingdom.
Atthe beginning of the eleventh
^ eu ^
manner separate districts,
such as the counties of Urgal
century Navarre, under Sancho the Great, and Gerona, branched off from this state,
seemed destined to form the nucleus or the whole was united in one ^iand.
of a mighty kingdom, and Castile was The port of Barcelona enjoyed great
added to it by marriage but upon
; owing to its advantageous situa-
prosperity,
Sancho's death, in the year 1035, the tion, and was always a most important
kingdom again collapsed. Thereupon source of strength to the kingdom of
Aragon obtained its independence under Catalonia. It had, in consequence, a
Sancho's son, Ramiro I. Ramiro found character of its own, enjoying a special
his kingdom very diminutive. Its ex- freedom of life and manners which reminds
tension was stopped by Navarre on the us of the Provencal or the Italian spirit.
west, and on the east by the little Pyre- There was one kingdom which came
nsean state, Sobrarbe, which had fallen to into being far later than all the rest, the
one of his brothers. South of it, in the only kingdom in the peninsula which
valley of the Ebro and in the surrounding refused submission to the Castilian yoke,
mountain country, were powerful Arab and preserved an independent existence
, states, the centre of which was and a language of its own the present-
*
Arafc Saragossa. An attempt of day kingdom of Portugal. All the other
EnTirc
Ramiro to get possession of states of the peninsula extended their
Navarre failed. However, after territory in a southerly direction, Asturias
the death of his brother, Gonzalo, he being the nucleus of Leon, Old Castile
gained Sobrarbe, which comprised the of New Castile, Aragon of Valencia ;
valleys on the southern slope of the similarly, the mother province of Portugal
Central Pyrenees. He could now venture was, undoubtedly, Galicia, a wild, moun-
upon operations against the Arabs, whose tain district in the north-west corner
empire had begun to fall with the death of the peninsula. In fact, when Portugal
of Al Mansur. appears as a separate state, we find
In the year 1118 the conquest of Galicia and Portugal united under the
Saragossa and the valley of the Ebro government of Garcias, the son of King
gave the kingdom of Aragon its natural Ferdinand of Castile, in 1065. But even
capital and wider room for expansion. then a revolt of the counts of Portugal
Meanwhile, the principality of Barce- against Garcias showed that enduring dis-
lona, the nucleus of the kingdom of sensions were now beginning to develop.
Catalonia, had developed quite indepen- The important influence of geographical
dently of Aragon. Prankish influence had conditions ishere apparent. The original
been greatest and had continued longest Portugal, which takes its name from the
in the north-eastern corner of Spain. harbour Porto Calle, the
s
Socially and politically this district clung modern Oporto,
s was the
of Portugal,, s
tenaciously to its powerful and energetic
,
growing Castilian power was shaken by the the civil war ended in the complete
counter-assaults of the African saviours of victory of Alfonso VI. in 1073. The
Islam, the Almoravides. Cid's campaign against Va-
Portuguese , .,,
Long and bloody conflicts occurred be- MI j k tk lencia nearly coincides with
Helped by the , , , , t J, y?. , r
tween the different parts of the Northern Crusaders
te First Crusade.
.
and Navarre in their internal dissensions. the contrary, a papal decree especially
Abd ur Rahman II. and, above all, Al directed the Spaniards to overcome the
Mansur were able to turn the unhappy foe within their own country. One of
disunion of Christian Spain to their own the barriers between Spain and the rest
advantage their
; brilliant
campaigns of Europe was removed by this fact :
restored the shattered caliphate to its old many knights, from France in particular,
splendour, and they were aided by Chris- flocked into the country, as in the case of
tian troops, who were not ashamed to Henry of Burgundy, to fulfil at so con-
serve in the ranks of their country's hered- venient a distance from their homes the
itary foes. The kingdom of Leon was Crusader'svow they had taken.
threatened with total destruction. Castile The Portuguese owed several decisive
Restored
was practically
J .. independent. successes to the help of German and
iin_ .4
r-i **k
of the
When Sancho the Great of
<-, ,
Dutch Crusaders, who put into Portuguese
Olory XT ,.
r*. i.t Navarre obtained possession of harbours on the way to Jerusalem. But
v/aliphate /-.,! t r. j-i i_i
Castile by hereditary right, in the lively hope of further conquest, which
the year 1028, after Aragon and Sobrarbe had been aroused by the fall of Toledo,
had already done him homage, the centre of remained for the moment unfilled the :
3988
WANING OF THE MOORISH POWER
AND AWAKENING OF THE CHRISTIAN REALMS
HTHE Spanish Moslems found an African Almoravides had not the least intention
^
ally in the
person of Yusuf, the prince of of giving up the country for which they
the Almoravides, or Murabites, in Morocco. had fought so fiercely a country whose
The Almoravides were sprung from the riches and hopeless disunion made it
wildest nomad tribes of Western Maure- at once an attraction and a prey to
tania they were a sect of religious warriors,
; any energetic conqueror. The emir of
and seemed the incarnation of that fanatical _ .
Saragossa was alone able to main-
energy which had inspired the early period Islam
tain his independence through
,,, ,- , .,
In them the strength and
,
of Islam.
Saved
su tle policy and thanks to
violence of nomad life again triumphed the favourable situation of his
over the peaceful forces of agriculture and little kingdom. With the support of the
trade. In the first half of the eleventh Almoravide troops, he repelled three
century began that movement which over- attacks of the Aragon army, and succeeded
threw the Zeirites, who were then the cleverly in getting rid of his inconvenient
dominant power in Morocco, and finally guests. Huesca was then, in 1096, definitely
wrested the ancient kingdom of Carthage lost to Aragon.
from the Fatimides. Morocco became the Thus Spanish Islam was saved, and its
capital of the new kingdom. politicalunity again restored, but at a
An acute and determined leader came to heavy price. The idyllic life of the small
the front in the person of Yusuf, and a crisis states was at an end. In all the large
of momentous importance arrived for Spain : towns Almoravide garrisons were quartered,
from the north Alfonso's armed troops and the union of the sword with the
Morocco to swept
down upon
r the fruitful Koran crushed all freedom of thought.
f~j t A
, j ,, T
.
army, ready to lend dubious and his son, Ali, who followed him in
assistance to the hard-pressed country. The 1106, was no unworthy successor.
Andalusian princes finally decided to ask Great hopes were aroused by his mili-
Morocco for help ; Yusuf was only too glad tary ability in the year
;
1108 he
to grant their request. In the year 1086 defeated Sancho, the young son of
he landed in Spain with a powerful army, Alfonso VI., at Ucles and it seemed as if
;
which was strengthened by the addition Toledo would soon be again in Moslem
of the Andalusian forces he marched upon;
hands. But the victory of Ucles marks
Estremadura, which was then extremely the culminating point of the Almoravide
hard-pressed by the Castilians. A battle power. The princes of Saragossa would
was fought at Zalaca, near Badajoz, and not unite with the Almoravide troops
the mailed knights of Castile were defeated to repel their common foe, and in the year
by Yusuf's infantry and negro guard. B ow 1118 this town fell into the
Alfonso quickly recovered from this blow, . ,
power of Aragon. Its loss was
*
and in the next year made ready to meet Power
a severe blow to the power of
any attempt on Toledo but he was obliged
; Islam, for the most northerly
to renounce all plans for the conquest of outpost, which had hitherto checked the
Andalusia. The claws of the Castilian lion, advance of Catalonia and Aragon, was
with which he had threatened the followers thereby lost. The war with the Christians,
of Islam, were cut for a long time to come. who, fortunately for the Andalusians, were
Yusuf was now able to complete his then involved in internal struggles, re-
designs on Andalusia undisturbed. The solved itself into a frontier warfare,
3989
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
entailing heavy loss on both sides and and long an object of hatred to all the
leading to no permanent result. In the Christian powers on the Mediterranean.
year 1125 Alfonso of Aragon replied Almost at the same time King Alfonso
to the Alnioravide incursions by a puni- of Portugal stormed Lisbon the Count of
;
tive expedition, organised on a large Barcelona seized Tortosa and the mouth
scale. He received assistance from the of the Ebro.
Mozarabic Christians, who were still Fortune gradually declared in favour of
numerous in Granada, and pushed forward the Almohads. Cordova fell into their
into Granada and the neigh- hands, and Almeria was retaken by them.
of
bourhood of Malaga. It was, Finally, they stormed Granada, the last
Barbarians however, only
,
J a brilliant
.
,,. ,
feat
,
refuge of the Almoravides in Andal :sia.
,
of chivalry, and nothing more. The remnants of that nation once so power-
The pitiful condition of the Almoravides ful fled to the Balearic Islands in 1157.
must have finally induced the Andalusians Christian Spain had only been temporarily
to attempt to realise their hopes of shaking united, and its disruption and the con-
off the tyranny of the African barbarians. fusion thence resulting gave the Almohads
They were already preparing with the help time to establish themselves securely.
of the Christian kings to drive the Almora- In general their rule was milder than that
vides over the sea and to exchange one of the Almoravides had been. In fact, it
ruling power for another, when the im- was the better portion of the mixed popu-
pending dissolution of the Almoravide lation of North Africa which had gathered
kingdom in Africa turned their gaze in round the white Almohad banner to oppose
another direction. the cruel tyranny of the inhabitants of the
The sect of reformers known as the plains, and had trampled the black
Almohads, whose founder, Abdallah, gave Almoravide standard in the dust.
himself out to be the Mahdi, had developed, After the death of Abd al Mumen,
in spite of persecution and occasional de- in 1163, his son, Yusuf, conquered Va-
feat, into a formidable political power, in lencia and Murcia, where a
c ...
direct opposition to the Almoravides. In ~ Mohammedan dynasty had
the year 1145 the Almoravide monarch,
,
Defeated i-,i_ u i_ "Vi-
j.
hitherto held out with the
,1
at Al re
Taschfin, was defeated and slain in battle by help the Christians. War
of
the followers of the Mahdi, Abd al Mumen. against the Christian states followed with
In the previous year a revolt had broken varying results. In the time of Yusuf's
out in Eastern Andalusia. It was soon successor, Al Mansur, occurred one of
followed by others in different provinces. those important conflicts which occasion-
Spanish Islam was now in a state of ally break the monotonous list of sieges
indescribable confusion. New kingdoms and incursions.Unfortunately for them-
rose and provinces and cities fought
fell ; selves, the Castilians, who could not at
one against the other and throughout ; that time expect any help from their co-
the turmoil the Almoravides, who had, religionists, had made a devastating expe-
meanwhile, lost the town of Morocco, their dition into Andalusia, and brought down
last African possession, continued to hold upon themselves the Almohad princes ;
out in individual fortified towns and Al Mansur crossed the straits with an
castles. With the help of Christian troops, enormous army, and after a bloody con-
they even, in 1147, recovered Cordova, flict 1195 at Alarcos, utterly defeated the
in
which they had lost. At last an Almohad Castilian forces, which had in vain ex-
army landed in Spain. It did not, pected reinforcements from Navarre and
Moorish however, make...
such rapid Leon. Al Mansur's attempt to reconquer
,
r ress as might have been Toledo in the next
Stronghold P g
failed entirely.
, year
The Christian princes,
expected. The most brilliant successes of the
Captured
naturally, did not forgo the Mohammedans were able to check, but
opportunity of attacking the country while not to avert, impending destruction.
it was thus rent with internal dissension. The confusion which broke out again in
A powerful army, under the leadership Christian Spain brought no advantage
of the King of Castile, marched through to the Almohads. When, at length, Al
Andalusia and Granada, and, with the Mansur's successor, Mohammed, gathered
help of a fleet, provided by Genoa, Pisa, all his strength for one tremendous blow,
and Catalonia, took the town of Almeria, union among the Christian princes was
the stronghold of the Moorish pirates, restored at the eleventh hour. In the
3990
WANING OF THE MOORISH POWER IN SPAIN
Navas de Tolosa the fortunes
battle of with the consent of Alfonso VII. The
and the power of the Almohads were count at once undertook the duties of
utterly shattered. regent for Ramiro, who retired to the
Hardly had Alfonso VI. of Castile been seclusion of a monastery. Thus the king-
buried, in 1109, when Castile took up arms doms of Catalonia, or Barcelona, and
against Aragon. In the wars and confusion Ar?gon were practically united. The re-
which resulted Castile came off much the sults of these events were of immeasurable
worst. Social order and public morality importance for the whole of Spain. Cata-
disappeared under the mad rule of Urraca, _. . Ionia was a maritime power ;
whereas the king of Aragon was able to hit*161"* its policy had been
of
bide his time, extend his boundaries, and en tirely foreign, and its most
conquer powerful Saragossa in 1118. The important interest lay in the
death of Urraca, in the year 1126, dissolved Mediterranean. Its close union with Aragon,
the connection between Aragon and Castile : the most thoroughly Spanish of all states,
Alfonso VII. took up the government of gave it the advantage of a strong barrier
his disordered country. The power of the in the rear, but also connected its future
Castilian lion rose again during continual indissolubly with that of the Christian
warfare against the Saracens, while Aragon, kingdoms of Spain. The development in
after the death of Alfonso I., was again the Iberian peninsula necessarily tended
divided into its original provinces of towards union ;
it at once became mani-
Aragon and Navarre, and thereby lost its fest Catalonia was destined to be
that
preponderance. At the same time the a Spanish, and not a French, province, and
principality of Barcelona was united to that all the conquests made by the Cata-
Provence, and gained considerable power lonian sea-power were bound to be the
and prestige. inheritance of the rising power of Castile.
This change of circumstances made The great Spanish empire of later times
Alfonso VII. so pre-eminent that in the was largely founded upon the possessions
year 1135 he had himself pro-
r of Catalonia and Aragon in the west of the
Alfonso ,.
VII. J ,
j .
t c
-f.,
.
princes, who were present in person or tempts upon the Balearic Islands had led
were represented by envoys. Ferdinand I. to no permanent result. In the thirteenth
and Alfonso VI. had already made a tem- and fourteenth centuries the influence of
porary claim to the title of emperor, which the two united kingdoms was considerably
in Spain naturally did not bear the same extended, until at last the standard of
significance as in Italy and Germany. Aragon waved over the largest islands in
The confusion which broke out shortly the Western Mediterranean, including
after the coronation made it sufficiently Sicily ;
even a part of Greece recognised
plain to Alfonso VII. that the conception the dominion of Aragon for a short period.
of the princes concerning their relations At the same time, the domestic interests
to the emperor did not coincide with his of the dual kingdom obliged it to press
own. southward, and so to secure a proportion-
Portugal in particular now made a ate share of the Moorish spoils. Thus, in
decisive effort for independence, and was the year 1238, Valencia fell into the hands
supported by Navarre, the mountaineers of Aragon. The advantage in this rivalry
of which country were as unconquerable remained decisively on the side of Castile,
as ever. In the year 1139 Count Alfonso _ which occupied Murcia in the
pai in
of Portugal took the title of king. In year j,^, an(j thereby entirely
1147 he wrested Lisbon from the Saracens cut off from Aragon any
Development ,.,..
.
* possi-
c-j
with the help of German and Dutch troops, bihty of further advance, bide
and thus gained a capital worthy of his by side with this development of Spanish
country. foreign policy important changes within
Meanwhile, however, important events the kingdoms were taking place, which
were taking place in the east. Ramiro made the eleventh and twelfth centuries
II. of Aragon had abdicated, and left the extremely important in the history of
country to his two-year-old daughter, the country. Hitherto the Spanish king-
Petronella, who had been betrothed to doms, especially Leon and Castile, had
Count Raymond Berengar IV. of Catalonia lived in self-dependent isolation, in
254 3991
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
conformity with their geographical position. Bernhard of Toledo, in whose vigorous
The unceasing warfare which they had attack upon the Mohammedans in his
carried on by their own efforts had driven see we trace the beginnings of that
their hereditary enemies from one portion arbitrary spirit which was at that time
of the ancient Gothic kingdom. Such wholly foreign to the rough but mag-
civilisation as had survived these rough nanimous Spaniards. It was foreign in-
times sprang chiefly from the prosperity fluence that first inspired this temper
of the Gothic kingdom, in which the into a people naturally noble and kindly,
Roman and Gothic elements until it eventually broke out, at a later
Foundations
of Church
had been united under the period, in the practices of the Inquisition.
banner of the Athanasian belief. At the same time, the French monks
and State
On these old foundations rested were the involuntary means of intro-
both Church and State the Gothic liturgy,
; ducing European civilisation. If Spain
which was preserved unchanged, and the now became more open to the influences of
alphabet of Toledo, were outward tokens the outside world, it is to the activity of
of the isolation of the Spanish people, a these men, in great degree, that this result
state which was in such harmony with the must be ascribed.
very spirit of the race that any internal At the same time, the stirring period of
movement which might open up the coun- the Crusades brought the chivalry of Spain
try to the influence of Western European into closer connection with that of neigh-
civilisation was inconceivable ; while, bouring countries. The Templars entered
naturally, religious convictions formed an Aragon and undertook with brilliant suc-
absolute barrier to any possible approach war .against the Saracens.
cess a frontier
towards the civilisation of the Moors. In Castile, during the twelfth century,
There was, however, a power which there was formed, upon the model of the
could not permit the existence of Christian Templars, the knightly orders of St.
kingdoms in continued isolation from the James, Alcantara, and Calatrava in ;
universal Church a power which had Portugal was formed the order
been for centuries to subject
K '
n htl
_ ! g y of A viz. These orders proved
working Orders ,.
, ,
campaign, in the year 1157, miscarried, and Church, which had hitherto displayed
the emperor died in the Muradal pass and increased its power chiefly by its
during his retreat. Unfortunately for insistence on due respect for marriage,
Christian Spain, Alfonso had divided his now took in hand the difficult task of
kingdom between his two sons the one, ; uniting the Christian states for common
Sancho III., obtained Castile, while the action against the Almohads. It seemed,
other, Ferdinand II., received Leon with for example, an almost impossible
the adjoining territory. The consequence undertaking to bring the sister kingdoms
was a series of wars between the Christian u
Holy War
i w of Castile and Leon to reason,
, ,, ., ,
3993
3994
DEVELOP-
WESTERN WENT OF THE ft
\i
EUROPE IN W NATIONS: IK
Q THE MIDDLE W THESPANISHVi
AGES IJ PENINSULA f
IV
In the year 1236 the old caliph capital, ruler of Granada succeeded, by timely
Cordova, fell into Ferdinand's hands, negotiation, in preserving his relations
though a vigorous attempt to raise the with Castile but Murcia and Niebla
;
siege was made by the leader of the were now incorporated into the Castilian
Andalusian Moors, Motawakkel, a de- kingdom. This state of affairs was to
scendant of Beni Hud of Saragossa. After continue for two centuries.
the death of Motawakkel, the best of the At first it seemed as if the victorious
Moors gathered round Mohammed ben career of the Castilian monarchs would
Alahmar, the son of a noble Andalusian carry them even beyond the Straits of
family. He established himself in the Gibraltar : Alfonso X., who succeded his
mountains of Granada, and succeeded in father, Ferdinand, in the year
Visionary
founding a kingdom which was destined
to endure for some time. Mohammed
..
Ideas of
A
Alfonso
, ,
-1made
1252,
sions
,
large
upon several occa-
preparations
?
for
T->
legal code had met with such determined ordinary woman which averted a state of
opposition that he was obliged to abandon absolute anarchy, as is shown by the fact
the idea. The king at length found a that after her death, in the year 1321, the
number of his nobles, under the leadership kingdom fell into hopeless dissension. Only
of the Lara, united with the rulers of when Alfonso XL, in 1325, at
Granada open revolt against him.
in
*
^ e a e
?
* f UI"t een seized
>
Although his successor, John II., was chief part in the conquest.
but two years old, the struggles and Then arose those friendly relations between
confusion which had hitherto been in- the great nobles and the industrious Moors
evitable were now avoided. Unfortunately, which came to be so important later on.
the feebleness of John's rule (1406-54) All early attempts to expel the Moham-
brought this progressive movement to a medans entirely were frustrated by the
standstill. Henry IV. (1454-74) was decisive attitude of the feudal lords who
wholly in the hands of his favourites, held fiefs in Valencia. Under Peter III.
and well deserved his nickname of Help- (1276-85), the successor of Jaime, the
3997
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
transmarine policy of the kingdom assumed Sicilians and the Aragonese forces on the
great importance, for there remained spot, although Jaime supported his enemy
nothing more to conquer in the Spanish with troops and ships. In return for
peninsula. The people of Sicily had shaken Sicily Jaime had received Sardinia and
off the rule of Charles of Anjou, the Corsica as a fief from the Pope. Although
creature of Rome, in the bloody Vespers Frederic continued to retain Sicily, Jaime
of the year 1282 they offered the
;
had no scruples about seizing these islands
crown to PeU r III. as King Manfred's in the year 1322.
_ son-in-law, and on his arrival The real struggle, in this case, was carried
with a strong Aragonese army on by Barcelona, which provided most of
Power of ,,
~ . received him with JjoyJ as their the munitions of war, against the powerful
Catalonia ... .
TT
liberator and saviour. Upon commercial town of Pisa, which then lost
this occasion also Catalonia alone bore the its possessions in Sardinia. The place of
cost of the war and we may estimate
;
this decayed trading town, at the mouth of
the strength of its sea-power from the the Arno, was taken by its old rival. Genoa,
triumphant resistance which Peter III. and which energetically took up the war with
his bold admiral, Roger de Lauria, offered Catalonia for the mastery of the Western
to the overpowering numbers of his allied Mediterranean and for the possession of
enemies, among whom were the Pope and Sardinia, which that mastery carried with
the King of France. it. The war, in which both sides suffered
Aragon, as we have said, took but little heavily, was at length closed by a peace
share in the trouble or the glory of this of exhaustion, and Catalonia succeeded
war. but continued its regular develop- through the utmost exertions in retaining
ment as an inland state. The ostensible possession of Sardinia.
object of this internal policy was to weaken Up to this time the affairs of Aragon
the evil effects of the feudal system by the had run parallel to those of Castile. The
union of all peace-loving classes, without Catalonians carried out a far-reaching
having recourse to the dubious means of an ei
. maritime and commercial
absolute monarchy. It is a process worthy ~ J in close connection with
policy
.
Surrenders
mone y and
troops, met nothing barons of Aragon and Valencia in open
but hostility, threats, and battle at Epila, and by cleverly utilising
Sicily
demands for fresh privileges. this success, he established, in 1348, the
The evolution of Catalonia into a great predominance of the royal power in Aragon.
maritime power proceeded also for some Peace, however, was not definitely
time without any help from the
kings and assured, as was seen under Peter's
even against their desires. When successors the continual wars for the
Jaime ;
II. gave up
Sicily, as the price of a final possession of Sardinia and of Sicily,
and lasting peace with the Pope and with which was reunited to Aragon, afforded
France, his brother Frederic kept pos-
session of the island
many an opportunity to the feudal
with the help of the nobility for creating the usual disturbances
399s
THE UNIFICATION OF SPAIN
and defying the power of the throne. and Navarre for her own son, Ferdinand.
The dominion of Aragon over Sardinia The consequence was civil war, which did
had no sooner been firmly established than not terminate even with the sudden death
the ancient family of the counts of Barce- of Carlos, who was most probably poisoned,
lona became extinct upon the death of in the year 1461. Shortly afterwards, the
King Martin in 1411, and quarrels con- same fate overtook his sisters, to whom
cerning the succession introduced fresh his claims had descended. Barcelona
confusion. Fortunately, the different especially prosecuted the war with the
orders in the state soon agreed to raise bj of despair,'., called
energy in
Union of r .
j
to the throne the Infant Ferdinand of and
to its aid,
.? princes
foreign
1,11.
.
Aragon and , , ,
Alfonso V. (1416-58), gave, on the contrary, Castile, which Queen Joanna brought about
his most assiduous attention to the by the marriage of her son Ferdinand
foreign policy of the country, and after a to Isabella of Castile, naturally gave a
struggle lasting twenty-two years, ob- new turn to Spanish politics, unfavourable
tained possession of the kingdom of Naples. to the aims of Barcelona.
The defence of his new acquisitions and Joanna's project of uniting Navarre and
the continual wars with Genoa kept the Aragon was not immediately successful.
king on active service until his death. The fortunes of the little Pyrenaean state
The close connection with Italy was not up to the fifteenth century can be sketched
without favourable results for the coun- in a few words, inasmuch as there is no
tries of the Spanish peninsula a breath ; extensive foreign policy to be traced, and
of that spirit which was bringing forth the the internal development of the country
. ,
Renaissance in Italy came over ran a course parallel to that of the rest of
to the Iberian coasts, and was Spain. The advance of the Castilians
Effeminate , j .-, ,
of Barcelona. Even under King Martin had to satisfy their ambition in little frontier
the effeminacy of the court gave great wars or marriage alliances. After the
vexation to the rude nobility. dynasty of Champagne became extinct,
The citizens of Barcelona had almost Navarre was for some time (1285-1328)
the entire maritime traffic of Catalonia united to France, but recovered its 'nde-
in their hands they really sustained the
; pendence when the house of Valois came
ambitious foreign policy of the country, to the French throne.
and it is, therefore, a remarkable fact that A remarkable parallel to Peter the Cruel
they should have lived for centuries of Castile, or rather a caricature of that
on such excellent terms with the royal unscrupulous and autocratic monarch,
power. This fact is not only good evidence isseen in Charles II., the Bad (1349-1387).
for the statesmanlike conduct of the rulers, His successor, Charles the Noble, was fully
but also shows that the successors of occupied in undoing the mischief which his
the old counts of Barcelona considered predecessor had caused. Charles the Noble
their interests as involved in the good was succeeded in 1441 by his daughter
or ill fortune of the city. It was only under Blanche, who had married John of Aragon ;
3999
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Navarre situated north of the Pyrenees inhabitants of which were always ready to
remained in the possession of Jean d'Albret. cross the straits as allies of the kings of
After the county of Roussillon had Granada, and even manifested a desire
passed out of the hands of the kings of at times to conquer the little Spanish
Aragon into the power of France the kingdom for themselves. In such cases
best and most natural frontier for Spain the regular policy of Granada was to buy
was established the growing monarchy
;
the help of one of the Christian states by
began steadily to remove the feudal paying tribute, and to play it off against
. that divided the
dissensions their inconvenient fellow-believers from
n ' on
country. The foundations for
. Africa. Around the fortresses of Gibral-
f
the union of Aragon and Castile tar, Algeciras, and Tarifa, where invaders
States j i_ j.i i
had been laid by the marriage from Morocco entered the peninsula, the
of Ferdinand and Isabella in the year forces of Castile-Granada and North
1469, but there were difficulties in the Africa fought many times in different
way of its completion complete incor-
:
combinations, while the kingdom of
poration was wholly to Ferdinand's in- Granada, which nearly corresponds in
terest, but was not desired by the people extent to the modern Spanish province of
either ofAragon or of Castile. Isabella that name, maintained to the end its
was a true Castilian, and well able to natural boundaries.
maintain the rights of her position against The state was not, however, a closely
her husband. Herein she found herself organised unity. Feudal tendencies pre-
vigorously supported by her subjects, vailed here, as in Christian Spain, and the
who looked with burning jealousy upon governors of individual districts often held
any encroachment of Aragon. Gradually, independent power. In particular, Malaga,
however, better relations came about be- which was divided from the vega of Granada
tween the parties, and the union was by precipitous mountains, and Guadix, on
cemented by common inclination. To this the east of the capital, constantly and
fact, above all others, is due the permanent successfully defied their suzer-
Where the , ',,
union of the Spanish-speaking states.
all ,
Moors Found
am during
,
i i
the early history of
,
, ,, ,
XT / ,
.
which ascribed to them most of the blame and decisive revolution. Queen
for the approaching ruin. However, the Feudalism Isabella, in her struggle
,
bb against
., ,
the
"
sacred hermandad," which provided
sons of Abul Hasan, the prince 2,000 men for police and militia duty,
Abu Abd Allah, or Boabdil, seized the cleared the land of robbers and criminals
throne. A civil war thereupon broke out, in a short time, and so intimidated the
which Ferdinand I.
cleverly turned to his rapacious nobility that many of the
own advantage. Thanks to his activity, grandees themselves joined the Holy
the resistance of Granada, Brotherhood. The government at once
though very
vigorous in certain quarters, became dis- profited by this success to introduce a
organised and futile, and the Christian general code of laws, doing away with
arms made great progress. The confusion numerous discordances of the " fueros."
4002
THE UNIFICATION OF SPAIN
The queen, whose efforts were directed to brought them into close connection with
the establishment of an absolute monarchy, the clergy, whose help they bought by
did not propose to set the hermandad on concessions of a most important kind, so
a permanent footing. In the year 1498, the that Spain eventually became the centre
confederacy was dissolved, although a part and stronghold of all the reactionary
of the police troops provided by the towns tendencies of ecclesiasticism. But the
continued under arms. cause of this is hardly to be found in the
A dangerous instrument in the hands nature or inclination of the Spanish rulers.
of the feudal nobles were the three knightly If the unity of Spain and of its people a
orders of Santiago, Alcantara, and Cala- unity that had been so hardly won, after
trava. Their extraordinary wealth made many failures was to be preserved, if the
their members, who were recruited from discordant elements in the state were to
the nobility of the country, men of be harmonised, and the irreconcilable
considerable power. The crown took this elements expelled, it was necessary to
weapon from the nobles by permanently unite all Spaniards by some spiritual
vesting the grand mastership in the king. bond. This bond it was necessary to
Membership could, consequently, be con- preserve intact by every possible means.
ferred only by him, so that the vigorous And the only possible unifying force was
year 1158. The order was dissolved in 1872, but one class was restored two years later. A Knight of St. Benedict oi
Aviz, in Portugal, is represanted by the second figure, this order having been founded in 1147 and constituted by Pope
Innocent III. in 1214. It is not known when the Order of St. James of the Sword, in Spain, depicted in the third
was founded, but it is known to nave been in existence in the year 1030, while the Order of Our Lady of
illustration,
Montesa, in Spain, a knight of which is represented in the last figure, was established in 1316 by Jacob II. of Aragon.
and calculating a man as Ferdinand people would not lay aside their shining
favoured the Inquisition, because its aims arms and enter into industrial and com-
were in harmony with his own foreign mercial rivalry with the rest of the world.
policy. This policy now becomes of The rulers would not renounce those great
momentous and fatal import in the history and ambitious designs which must, indeed,
of Spain. This policy it was that brought have forced themselves unbidden upon
the kingdom, after a rapid and brilliant their notice. Feudalism, which had been
rise, to the extreme of degradation and repressed with such difficulty, now had
weakness. its revenge. It gave a special colouring to
For centuries the Spanish people had the policy of the nation. While the other
kept one object before their eyes an nations of Europe were entering upon the
object that had guided them through all modern age of industry, of powder and
the devious windings of their history cannon, Spain, like the last of the knights
4004
THE UNIFICATION OF SPAIN
errant, went out in search of adven- far Indies. In granting this request,
tures. The journey had a glorious be- Isabella gained a boundless acquisition
ginning but, like that of the immortal
;
for her realm, and laid the foundations
Don Quixote, it came to a piteous end. of a world-wide power. This was the
If Spain had desired to continue its special work of the queen.
previous policy, the next move would Ferdinand's attention was fixed upon the
naturally have been to pursue the enemy Mediterranean and he was, therefore,
;
across the straits, and to win back indifferent to an undertaking which must
North Africa to Christendom. Attempts ,
have seemed to him shadowy
rerdinands j , .,?, ,
of this kind were actually made. Among . ..., and chimerical compared with
them was the conquest of the town of
Indifference,
ms own
.
^ TT
His
.
to ri
^ Columbus ,
,
European designs.
, _, ,
Oran in the year 1509, and in after behaviour towards Columbus
years Charles V.'s expedition against after Isabella's death shows that he clung
Tunis and Algiers. But North Africa to his prejudices, in spite of the discoverer's
was too 'difficult and uninviting a prey success. Possibly Ferdinand, with his cool
Easier and more splendid tasks soon and calculating mind, formed a more
diverted the attention of Spain from a accurate estimate of the real and permanent
definite African policy. And yet Spain's significance of the discovery and conquest
position in the world would have been of America than did most of his con-
entirely altered if she had succeeded in temporaries', who were blinded by the
bringing the Straits of Gibraltar within her dazzling riches of the new country.
dominions, and thus obtaining It must have been a source of
secure possession of the entrance anxiety to him to see the stream
to the Mediterranean. of immigration that soon began
Two other ideals drew the to pour into the New World at a
Spanish rulers to a far-reaching time when the whole might of
First, there was
foreign policy. Spain was required to carry out
the dowry which Aragon's mari- the policy imposed upon the
time power had brought to the country by her position as a
united empire, the claims to Sicily European power. At that moment,
and Naples. If these were acquired, too, the emigration of a large
Spain's position as a European number of Moors had left room
power was assured. King Ferdi- enough for new settlements on the
nand's policy here gained its most GONSALVO QE CORDOVA Pyrenaean peninsula, and necessi-
brilliant success. Thanks to the who overthrew the tated the utmost exertions to
C a d
military genius of the "gran Ridded the ki n om maintain the civilisation of the
gd
capitan." Gonsalvo de Cordova, of the two Siciliesown<
to
regions that had belonged to Islam
he succeeded in overthrowing the the Spanisl ^ at a fairly high level,
power of France, and in the year 1503 The treasures of America, which came
added the kingdom of the two Sicilies to over the Atlantic in abundance, were but
the Spanish crown. After Ferdinand's death a poor compensation for the strength that
efforts in this direction passed the bounds had left the country. Those treasures
of discretion when the Spanish monarchy continued to attract fresh emigrants.
became united to the Hapsburg empire. Those who remained were excited by
The acquisition of Naples was due to dreams of sudden wealth, and lost their
Aragon but, as fate would have it,
; capacity for hard and monotonous labour.
Isabella of Castile had already taken a Like an idle spendthrift who feeds upon
step fraught with consequences the vain hope of some rich inheritance, the
Columbus -
,
to
ol immeasurable importance to Spanish people gradually allowed the real
Appeals ,, ,.
,.
. ,
.. ~ vie en the realisation of a Spanish sources of their prosperity to dry up, until
the U , . . .
,
foreign policy in the widest they were forced to resign their proud
sense of the term. When the royal pair position as leaders of Europe, in impo-
were holding their court in the Alhambra, tence and beggary.
shortly after the fall of Granada, one This course of development did not
Christopher Columbus kneeled before immediately take place, and it needed
Isabella's throne, as a bronze statue on the disastrous policy of Philip II. to
the banks of the Genii represents, and bring it to full completion but even in ;
implored ships and men to explore the Ferdinand's time the first symptoms of
route across the Atlantic Ocean to the the disease became apparent.
4005
)/ Emanuel, 1495-152'
ffib
KINGS OF PORTUGAL FROM 1139 TILL 1521
4006.
v *W * ~v4r- WfJFllff tillffir'X
WESTERN
EUROPE IN
WKLS^^S^P^ % ^
^T^^^^ T'TTi^K^
.
V C DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
NATIONS:
THE MIDDLE THE SPANISH
AGES *-^^ ^^3 PENINSULA V
L- ^~^~^m
PORTUGAL IN THE MIDDLE AGES
HER MARITIME TRIUMPHS & HER PITIFUL DECAY
was a
special reason for the
sup- Portugal had been a naval power since
THERE
port Isabella gave to the undertaking 1180, when she won the first brilliant naval
of Columbus. While Castile was pursuing victory over the Moors a royal navy was
;
its domestic policy, the little kingdom in existence under Sancho II. (1223-1245).
of Portugal, with persistent energy, had The rich fisheries of the Portuguese
sought new fields for its activity. Its coast, and, above all, the whaling
brilliant discoveries on the African coast industry, created a race of hardy seamen.
had attracted universal attention, and, In Portugal, to a much greater extent
finally, the splendid voyage of Vasco da p or uga s than
, in Spain, circumstances
Gama had opened the sea route to East Wonderful p Om t e(i the nation to the true
.,
India. Jealousy and a desire of imitation so urces of prosperity with un-
Prosperity .
v .
dynasty, at the battle of in inexhaustible abundance. It was only
xy
'
Kingdom <
Navas de Tolosa. T->
, .LI
=55 4007
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
afterwards received the honourable title discovered by the Portuguese in 1335,
of "the Navigator," a son of John I. of had fallen, meanwhile, into other hands ;
was also the base of all expeditions from new impulse was given to discovery under
Morocco against the Pyrenaean peninsula. John II. (1481-1495). After rounding the
It is highly probable that this was some- Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1486,
thing more than a mere romantic adven- Vasco da Gama sailed round the south of
ture the object was rather to protect
;
Africa and came to anchor on May 2Oth,
trade passing through the Straits of 1498, in the harbour of Calicut, on the
Gibraltar, and to bring about the removal coast of India. An enormous region was
of the heavy toll which Ceuta levied on thus opened to Portuguese activity, a
every passing ship. The preparations region further increased by the discovery
made striking this blow ensured its
for of Brazil in the year 1500. Agreat impulse
entire success. When the people of to commerce and an extraordinary in-
Morocco attempted to retake the town, crease of wealth were the immediate
the chivalry of Portugal obtained an results of the discoveries. For the best
opportunity, as the king had desired, for The Entry part of a century the colonial
the display of their prowess in arms to ocean Ower was shared between
p
the benefit of their nation.
Inquisition
Spain and Portugal,
D with the
, ,j. ,. ,, T,T
But among the warriors there was one papal benediction, the Western
upon whom the mysterious face of the Hemisphere being for the most part
African sphinx, that enigmatic look, appropriate to Spain, and the Eastern to
which gave promise of new wonders, Portugal. In the long run, however, these
had made a deep impression, in spite of enormous possessions proved a doubtful
the uproar of battle. This was Prince blessing. The pernicious desire to get rich
Henry. From the day he first set foot on rapidly and without labour seized on
African soil he formed a firm resolution to the whole people, who were not numerous
solve the riddle of this sphinx, and to send enough, indeed, to colonise or to defend
forth ship after ship southward towards their new possessions. While the colonies
those legendary countries of which nought were swarming with adventurers, and
but vague rumours had come down from Portuguese navies dominated the Indian
antiquity, and the treasures of which Ocean, the fertile fields of the mother
could not but fall to the man who was bold country sank into desolation. The expul-
enough first to tread their shores. In the sion of the Moorish population, in the
1420 the first expedition
year
J time of Manuel the Fortunate, or the
Portugal in T t .eli j
wmcn 7<
,1, >
4008
AND WHAT THEY DID FOR EUROPE
THE BIRTH OF THE CRUSADING SPIRIT
""THE Crusades may be regarded as the last On the other hand, a Teutonic people
* throes of that great migratory move- appeared, advancing under the stress of a
ment which has modified and transformed new migratory impulse. The Northmen
Western Europe since the entrance of the again drove large masses of the population
Teutons into the clear light of history. to leave their homes and seek new settle-
The consolidation of the Prankish Empire ments elsewhere their echeloned advance,
;
and the downfall of the Teutonic Medi- in connection with the western
Advance
terranean states may seem to have termi-
of the pressure against the Moham-
nated this process of migration, but the
Northmen
medan barrier, may be regarded
fact is that the period by no means ended as the first territorial impulse
with those events. towards a crusading movement ;
it was
The invasion of the Arabs,even when the return wave of a migration towards the
the first deadly menace to the growth of south-east, by which the eastern empire
Christian civilisation in Europe had been was carried away in its final attempt
repelled by Leo the Isaurian in the East, to resume the attack against the infidels,
and by Charles Martel in the West, intro- a stream which did not spend its force
duced a constant element of fermentation before the middle of the thirteenth century.
into the West, notwithstanding its apparent A special section has been already
solidarity. devoted to the raids of the Northmen, and
The ordinary historical manuals are the misery which they brought upon all
silent upon the fact that Rome was the coasts of North-western and Western
menaced by Saracen raids in 841 and Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries
846, that Genoa was devastated in 935 and has been already considered. Here, how-
993, that Pisa was captured in 1004 and ever, it is worth while to mention, for the
ion, that communication across the Alps sake of completeness, the manner in which
was paralysed by these invaders for many these Viking voyages brought the furthest
decades, while they carried fire and sword shores of the southern sea within the
to the neighbourhood of Lake Constance, purview of western ambitions. The enor-
and overran Hungary about 1092, mous range of their expeditions, which
starting from the Alps and the Adriatic. spread from Vineland to the steppes of
The attempts of Western Sarmatia and to the shores of the Levant,
Eur P e to shake off this P ara ' created a new and extended horizon for
f w t R
lysing yoke are to be regarded as the Crusades, infinite in comparison with
introductory to the Crusades, the narrow outlook of previous centuries ;
in which they were concentrated at the this horizon for the eastern half of the Old
moment when the East, on which the World was further extended to the Sunda
victory of Leo the Isaurian had produced Islands and to China, through contact
more permanent effects than that of with the science and the commerce of the
Charles Martel, saw its mortal foe advancing Arabs. This extension of geographical
in the last third of the eleventh century. knowledge is the most remarkable result
4009
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
of the crusading movement, and 'is in the battle of Stiklastad, where Olaf lost
immediate connection with the widening his throne and life, Harald was wounded,
of the intellectual horizon. It was chiefly and fled, a landless wanderer, to his fellow
the voyages of the Northmen which enabled tribesmen in Russia, then to Apulia, and
the western world thus to extend its view. afterwards became captain of the Varanger
The advance of the Xorthmen to Pales- guard in Byzantium, where he was un-
tine can be traced almost contempo- known. During ten years, at the head of
raneously with the appearance of the this corps, he visited Sicily, North Africa,
The Route Varangians in Bvzantium. The Palestine, and Egypt. He then became a
usual road to Constantinople, son-in-law of Prince Yaroslav in Russia,
to the ,, .. .
rivers ot Russia, which led far to Norway upon the death of his nephew
the South through Scandinavian territory, Magnus.
was the obvious road to the Holy Land for He met his death when he attempted
pilgrims they were able to travel in their
; to seize the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, in con-
own vessels to the rapids of the Dnieper, junction with Tostig, the rebel brother of
from which point they continued under the Saxon king, Harold. Only eighteen
Byzantine escort. This road was not days before the victory of William the Con-
closed until the Latin conquest of 1204 queror at Hastings, Harald Hardrada fell
cut the connection of the Russian princi- in the fierce battle of Stamford Bridge.
palities with Byzantium. On the other Thus the whole of Europe, from the extreme
hand, princes and nobles who could fit out north and north-west, to the furthest south
" "
large followed the
fleets Vestrvegr and south-east, including the coasts of
through the ocean and between the Pillars Africa and Asia, had seen the face and felt
of Hercules. the arm of this great hero. He may be re-
For a long period bands of Vikings garded as personifying that Scandinavian
occupied points on the western coasts as movement which created the horizon of the
ports of call to secure this maritime route. Crusades. In the meanwhile, the Norman
Such were the islands at the mouth of the conquest of England had set
Effects of e ,- r ,1
Rio Tinto and off Cadiz, the harbours of free large populations
i
lor the
the Norman .
, ,,
Brittany, and even those of Normandy, c movement to the South-East.
-,-,
finitely to the Holy Land. To or that the legend of Peter the Hermit
this land legend transfers the death of the
expressly mentioned Bari as the harbour
missionary Olaf Trygvasson, who fell in where the pilgrim returning with the
the battle of Svoldr in the year 1000. Saviour's message first set foot once more
St. Olaf, who twice turned back The greatest result of
upon the upon western soil.
road to Palestine, is brought by legend to the First Crusade was not the capture of
the country, perhaps in recollection of Jerusalem, an acquisition of sentimental
the heroic deeds there actually performed rather than practical importance, but the
by his brother Harald Hardrada. After establishment of the Italian Normans in
4010
BIRTH OF THE CRUSADING SPIRIT
a Syrian stronghold of the Mediterranean, Spaniards against the Arab conquerors
little more than ten years after their during that same eleventh century. Since
fruitless attempt to conquer the eastern the middle of the century the struggles in
empire, and a short time after the con- the Pyrenaean peninsula had attracted the
quest of Sicily from the Saracens. The neighbouring Catalonians, who were closely
Crusades began almost at that moment related to the Spaniards and the Provencals.
when the Norman impulse to expansion Even on the Northern French coasts
was necessarily turned towards the most powerful armies of knights were formed,
westerly possessions of Islam. especially by Norman leaders, to assist
At the same moment, after centuries of their co-religionists in the south-west,
inactivity, the attack upon Islam was when these were once more hard pressed
" "
resumed from other quarters. In Italy by the Almoravids. Hispania and the
this movement began at Pisa, which at Saracen territory are equivalent concep-
the beginning of the eleventh r tions in several of the Prankish
century had suffered severely chronicles of the First Crusade.
under the raids of the infidels. Thus it is clear that from this
In the year 1032 the citizens point also the European
of Pisa made their first re- movement against Islam le-
taliatory expedition to North ceived an effective impetus.
Africa after they had freed At the same time that
Sardinia, in 1016, from the powerful movement towards
danger of a fresh Moslem the east, which for nearly two
occupation. This was followed centuries flowed back, only to
by numerous enterprises return apparently with revived
against Sicily and Tunis, until force, could never have been
a crushing blow was delivered aroused solely by the indepen-
by the allied forces of Pisa dent movements of super-
and Genoa, in 1087, under the fluous populations towards
banner of St. Peter, which the south-east, or by a new
had been given them by tendency, partly national and
Pope Victor III. when they religious, partly political and
attacked the piiatical emir economic, to attack Islam ;
Normans removed the burden- he lost his life at the battle of stik-
l'
S destructive violence.
desperate position to which
The
in
the Eastern Mediterranean, and turned the been reduced by the Seljuks after the
eyes of the maritime nations to the coasts battle of Manzikert, in 1071, called forth
of Egypt and Syria. Hence the liberation that cry for help which the Emperor
of Apulia and Sicily from the Byzantines Alexius I. sent to Pope Urban II. in 1094.
and Arabs, and the disclosure of the Greek If we consider the response which
and Oriental half of the Mediterranean to greeted this appeal in the West, it be-
the eyes of the Latin half these may be
;
comes clear that the opposition of
ranked among the most powerful impulses Christians to Arabs was not in itself
which influenced the coming migratory sufficiently strong, in spite of the Spanish
movement. The expansion of Western wars,, to produce so violent a struggle
Europe against Islam was further stimu- between two worlds. After the Arabs
lated by the advance of the Christian had become a civilised power in the East,
4011
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the devotees of Christianity had secured In each case a spiritual authority acquired
a comparatively safe and profitable new influence by a coalition with a new
position, which was only occasionally secular power. The importance of the
disturbed by such Mohammedan fanatics new alliances became world-wide when
as the Egyptian caliph Hakim the ; they rushed into conflict.
oppression of the Christians and the The appeal of the Greek emperor to the
destruction of the Holy Sepulchre, which West to begin the inevitable conflict
he commanded; were but temporary with the Seljuks advancing from Central
causes of irritation. It was the Asia roused a spiritual and intellectual
; M*r
k cruelties of Turkish rule which movement, which gave this conflict be-
PH rims
made thC lot
Christian Pil-
f tween East and West a material import-
grims and settlers in Palestine ance, a territorial extension, and a degree
intolerable it was
;
the desperation to of influence unparalleled in previous
which Byzantium was reduced after the history ;
was due to the spirit
this result
Seljuk invasion of its last remaining and which pervaded the West at the close of
most prosperous Asiatic provinces that the eleventh century. Owing to this
produced the idea of a general European spirit the Crusades long retained the
rising, of an offensive and defensive character of religious wars, in which the
alliance against the new oppressor. peoples of Europe fought with high enthu-
It was not so much solicitude for siasm for their most sacred possessions.
Jerusalem as the hope of reconquering Asia We have seen how the repeated inter-
and of strengthening the Byzantine minor ference of the German emperors had
empire which inspired the great Pope raised the Roman Church from the depths
Gregory VII. with the first idea of a Crusade of depression and despair how, again,
;
immediately after the Turkish invasion of the Romance spirit, as expressed in the
the year 1074. His preparations for the Cluniac reforms, had based a theocratic
accomplishment of this idea were at the ideal upon the principle of self-renuncia-
moment frustrated by the struggle with tion, and had used for the realisation of
the empire. So, again, Urban II., a ,
this project the vacillations and
regory s
vigorous and clever successor of Gregory, lct r y f( '
necess ities of the empire during
received, if not the most permanent, at the
.
Church
the second half of the eleventh
,
Aimed at pire. The barbaric vitality of theories, they could find satisfaction only
f,
the
01-1 r j ^1.
in vigorous outward 'expansion under the
Seljuks reinforced the
decadent power of Eastern Islam, even as sign of the Cross. Urban II. possibly
the expansion of the Normans had regarded the appeal of the Emperor
revitalised the Christian West with ;
Alexius I. rather as an opportunity of
full justice Ranke compares the Turkish reuniting the Greek Church to Rome
seizure of the decadent caliphate to the than as one of reconquering the Holy
alliance which at the same moment Sepulchre. In his momentous address at
identified the interests of the reformed Clermont on November 26th, 1095, he was
papacy with those of the Italian Normans. able, first of all, to turn the hearts of his
4012
BIRTH OF THE CRUSADING SPIRIT
French compatriots towards this object, Einsiedeln, to St. James of Compostella, to
which had played but a secondary part Rome, and especially, oultre mer, as the
"
in Gregory's plans, for the reason that the French said, to the spots where the feet
horrors of the Seljuk invasion had gone of theLord had stood." From the Prankish
home to Christian minds but at the
; Empire, from Teutonic territory, and from
" "
same time he discovered a magic word the British Isles these pilgrimages brought
which unchained the spirit of the age ;
new adherents, and especially the most
he was able to realise what Gregory had recent converts, of the Christian faith
"
only projected when he identified the to Jerusalem. These pilgrimages had been
more powerful current of popular feeling facilitated and organised by Charles the
with the hierarchical movement." Great through his relations with Harun
It was by no means the Normans alone alRaschid and by the outlay of large sums
whose thoughts m for the building
and desires were of churches, mon-
directed towards asteries, and
the Holy Sepul- shelters in the
chre at that time. Holy Land
so
Pilgrimages to that the legend
Jerusalem had credited the em-
never ceased from peror himself with
the time of the a pilgrimage to
Roman Empire. the tomb of
Augustine's well- Christ. During
known epigram, the following cen-
"Christ is reached turies the number
by love and not of pilgrimages was
by sea, "remained to some extent
unintelligible to influenced by the
the youthful greater or lesser
minds of the bar- toleration of the
baric nations, as Mohammedan
it had been to rulersofPalestine.
the increasing With the year
materialism of 1000, which was
the age of deca- expected to bring
dence. As in the the end of the
case of relic- world, the
east-
worship, so also ward wave of pil-
in that of pil- grims began to
grimages, no resemble a small
tangible or satis- migration.
fying symbol About 1025, at
could be secured POPE URBAN ii. PREACHING THE FIRST CRUSADE the instance and
In l 95> a council was held at Clermont in Auvergne. Leaving the w jth the help of
Unless it imDlied >
pation in the promises of the faith through with the Abbot Richard of St. Vannes at
the penance and bodily danger incurred Verdun Lietbert, the Archbishop of Cain-
;
upon a perilous pilgrimage. bray, is said to have led out the incredibly
Even when the upper classes at least had large number of 3,000 pilgrims in 1054.
acquired a mo.e lational conception of The largest of these bands amounted to as
religion, older personal theories of the many as 7,000 men on the most moderate
struggle for salvation by no means became estimate, and included English, Germans,
extinct. The new personal Christianity and French, under the leadership of
continued to employ the weapons of the old Archbishop Siegfried I. of Mainz in 1064.
corporate Christianity with the asceticism
; This expedition underwent severe struggles
of 1he eleventh century was combined the in the Holy Land, from which scarcely
fashion of pilgrimages to St. Mary of a third of the pilgrims returned home.
4013
4014
WESTERN WHAT THE
EUROPE IN CRUSADES
THE MIDDLE DID FOR
AGES EUROPE II
unwelcome manner. The movement followed, who had long yearned to take
coincided with social and economic dis- the field for the Church and these, with ;
tress of every kind, which may not have undisciplined monks, women, and vaga-
weighed so heavily upon the world as the bonds, composed the majority in the
usual exaggerations of contemporary crowds which passed in wild excitement,
chroniclers represent, but none the less during the spring and summer of 1096,
in thousands the desire through South Germany and Hungary
utcome o inspired
^ Q esca pg f rom a distressing to the east, led by a few adventurous
situation. The years from 1085 nobles committing many lawless deeds
Enthusiasm /,
, ,
and acts of riot in the name of their faith,
,
40*5
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
were annihilated by the enemy's cavalry. asceticism among others, and in many
Peter himself had previously taken refuge cases the combination of these defects,
in flight he afterwards collected the
;
often led even their clear knowledge astray.
scanty remnants of his bands in Constan- Probably the most suitable commander-
and played a somewhat deroga- in-chief of the Crusade would have been
tinople,
tory part in the great crusading army as an experienced Churchman. This position
the leader of vagabonds of every descrip- devolved upon Bishop Adhemar of Puy as
tion. The " Peasant Crusade," upon the papal legate, after he had been the first
most moderate computation, and allowing to kneel before the Pope at Clermont and
for the incompetency of that age to form to sew the cross on his right shoulder.
any reasonable numerical estimate, must Adhemar does not, however, appear to
have depopulated Western Europe by far have possessed those qualities of supreme
more than 100,000 men. Its disastrous leadership which would have enabled him
issue proved that vague national impulses to co-ordinate the very heterogeneous
were not in themselves competent to elements of the crusading army more- ;
solve the serious problems which the Pope over, fate did not permit him to see the
had placed before the Crusade. goal of the pilgrimage to which his wise
We have, then, to ask whether the orga- counsel, his knightly spirit, and his well-
nisation of the royal armies and bands known piety often proved advantageous.
of knights which followed
on the heels of these
peasant masses was any
more competent to grapple
with these tasks. It has
already been observed that
the only Crusade which
ended in any small measure
of success namely, the
first owed its result en-
tirely to the calm foresight
and the colonial genius of
the Italian Normans, who
joined the expedition with
largely secular aims and
objects and soon became
its leaders. Had it not
been for them, and espe-
cially for their brilliant
leader, Bohemond, the
splendid armies of knights
which started in the
summer and autumn of
1096 would probably have
failed to reach their goal,
and would perhaps have
suffered the fate of the
peasant hordes. The
nobles of France, Lor-
raine, and Provence, whose
troops formed the nucleus
of that army, doubtless
realised more clearly than
the adventurous leaders of
the Peasant Crusade the
material necessities and
actual requirements of an
armed pilgrimage but un- :
amv;Hra1
anrl a ^
e P werful protagonist of the First Crusade
mystical ftom the Patriarch of with the
Jerusalem, along
presenting "letters dismissory
n
alleged message of the Saviour.
4016
THE PEASANT CRUSADE: PETER THE HERMIT ADDRESSING THE PEOPLE
The zeal on behalf of the Crusade up by the eloquence of Peter the Hermit affected every class. The
stirred
misguided Peasant Crusade, disastrous in its issue, drained Western Europe of over 100,000 men, who set out
on an adventure without understanding: what it involved. In this picture Peter the Hermit is seen appealing
in vain to the people who are bent on releasing their fellows who have been imprisoned for pillaging:.
Of the secular nobles the best-equipped Southern French Crusaders in general, and
army was led by Raimond, Count of this leader in particular, were charac-
Toulouse and Viscount of Provence ; terised by a strange mixture of burning
this force advanced in the autumn of enthusiasm for all the mysteries of the
1096 through Northern Italy, Dalmatia faith, and of every mundane solicitude for
and Macedonia to Constantinople. The their own profit and advantage. We
military success of the Crusade had have no knowledge of the reasons which
been secured by the count's adhesion to may have induced the count to leave his
the resolutions of Clermont, though this magnificent possessions, presumably for
had apparently been prearranged. The ever, and to seek a new dominion abroad,
4017
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
not even in the neighbourhood of the Lorrainers under Godfrey displayed an
Holy Sepulchre. The next crusading attitude of hostility upon the march,, and
prince of importance was Godfrey of when encamped before the capital armed ;
Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, conflicts were frequent with them and with
equal in power to Raimond, though the other armies. The superior culture
subordinate in rank. With him went and the strict administrative bureaucracy
his elder brother Eustace, who subse- df the East Roman state could never enter
quently returned to the county of Bou- upon an equal alliance with these forces
logne, which he inherited after of barbarism, licence, and greed.
Leaders
the Crusade had begun, and The Greek emperor adopted a cleverly
in the
his younger brother Baldwin, devised expedient he availed himself of
;
Crusades
who, like Godfrey, was inspired the forms of western feudalism to turn the
by religious zeal and desire for action, crusading movement to his own purpose.
and hoped to carve out a future for him- Possibly he was inspired by an extravagant
self. A large army of knights, drawn imperialism which declined to surrender
from Lorraine and the German districts any antiquated claim or any conceivable
on the left bank of the Rhine, gathered hope in favour of his foreign allies ;
under the banners of the duke, and in possibly he was merely anxious to bind
August marched through Upper Germany, the crusading princes so closely to his
where many other bold champions person and his empire as to prevent their
joined them, advancing south-eastward adopting any dangerous counter policy.
through Hungary. Between these alternatives we can hardly
The third main portion of the crusading decide the fact remains that interminable
;
army was formed by the North French, negotiations were supported by cunning and
Norman, and Flemish contingents. Count gentle pressure of every kind, and speedily
Hugo, Vermandois. the brother of Philip
of produced discord among the leaders of the
I. of France, Duke Robert of Franks. The friction between the bold
Normandy,
elder brother of William II. and Henry I. _ and far-seeing Bohemond
Crusaders , ,, , ,.? .
,,-. .
expectations or desires, and for to close behind them, and should have
Alexius in j -11 11-1
a Difficulty ^ d r f r GVl1 he Was obll g ed made no attempt to establish themselves
to use it in the interests of his in Philomelium and Iconium. As the
empire. In place of the auxiliary troops procedure followed in Cilicia and Armenia
for which he had asked, he found one-half Minor was wholly different, we may per-
of Western Europe levied before him, and
haps assume that a frontier line roughly
constituting a force capable of conducting denoted by the Taurus Mountains had
an independent policy or of acting against been drawn between the two spheres of
his empire. Only a short time previously interest,and that beyond this Alexius
the Italian Normans had brought that had contented himself with an imaginary
empire to the verge of destruction. The feudal supremacy over such districts 'as
4018
Antioch and Edessa, which but a short upon this theory, to push forward the
time before had belonged to the Greek frontiers of East Rome to the base of the
Empire. It is, moreover, no mere coinci- Taurus, and to permit the formation
dence that these cities of Byzantine origin beyond that line of smaller Christian
became centres of Frankish supremacy. outposts, acting as buffer states between
Had not Antioch presented itself to the himself and the Mohammedan Empire,
mind of Bohemond as a worthy prize, the and bound to his own state by a loose
crusading army would have passed by this tie of allegiance.
strongly fortified town, as it passed by The most important dates of the expedi-
Aleppo, Tripolis, and Damascus. It seems tion through Asia Minor maybe again
to have been the intention of Alexius, recalled. These were the capture of
Nicaea on June
igth, 1097, after a
siege of six weeks,
with the help and
to the exclusive
advantage of the
Greeks, when a
relieving army
from the Emir
Kilich Arslan, or
Suleiman II.. had
been defeated the ;
victory at Dory-
laeum on July ist,
which was gained
by the timely arri-
val of the second
division of the
hard-pressed Nor-
mans the march
;
the Crusaders was revived. The sortie impossible to restrain the dominant idea
which they made in their supreme distress, that now guided the army. On June
when they had nothing more to lose, 7th, 1099, they at length caught sight
proved unexpectedly successful. The of Jerusalem, and beheld with reveren-
enemy was scattered, and Kerbogha tial awe the desired goal of nearly three
4021
THE FUNERAL OF GODFREY OF BOUILLON, THE FIRST KING OF JERUSALEM
One of the leaders of the First Crusade, Godfrey of Bouillon took an active part in the siege of Jerusalem, and was
elected its first king in the year 1099. His death, in 1100, is said to have been due to poison administered by an Arab.
inviting coasts of Northern Syria, and the the old feud between the Provencals and
state of Jerusalem could attempt to stand the Normans. Raimond of Toulouse joined
by its own resources. the Greek opponents of Bohemond and
This was no easy matter. In the first Tancred, but without success he then ;
place, the country was hardly suitable for perished in the course of an attempt to
the foundation of an independent state : found an independent government in
it was largely uninhabited and devastated Tripolis, on February 23th, 1105.
through the struggles of the last years. It was not until July I2th, 1109, that his
fled, while the Christian inhabi- this operation was conducted from the
Galilee"
tants were few and poor. The strong fortress which his father had built
" "
remnant of the French chivalry that had against the town, the Pilgrim Castle
"
been willing to support Duke Godfrey in on the Pilgrim Mount," known to
the occupation of the country is estimated the Mohammedans as Sandshil, from
by a tradition, probably not exaggerated, Raimond's title of Count St. Gilles. Th
at the number two hundred pilgrims
of ;
new county, Antioch and Edessa. was
like
that is to say, about two thousand men, connected with Jerusalem by some loose
when we allow for the due proportion of and almost imaginary tie of subjection,
infantry. Tancred led forth nearly twice but afterwards naturally gravitated more
this number when he began an incessant and more towards the north, and was
guerrilla warfare for fame and plunder as eventually united to Antioch.
"
the Prince of Galilee." A year after- Thus, through the preoccupations of the
wards he was summoned as regent to other princes, Jerusalem was left entirely
Antioch in consequence of the misfortune to itself, and Godfrey's whole
Jerusalem i_ _ j
by which Bohemond became a prisoner of w energies were absorbed in re-
the Turks. In this principality, however, sisting the hierarchical claims of
the utmost efforts were necessary to make the newly- founded patriarchate,
head against the infidels, who could and in some practically fruitless attempts
threaten the government from the strong- to add a few harbour towns to his
"
hold of Aleppo, and against the Greeks. empire," as harbours were indispensable
The Emperor Alexius had broken the to secure his connection with the West.
convention of 1097 as entirely as the Of any actual state or government there
Crusaders, and each side proceeded to was as yet no question certainly none of ;
256 4023
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the foundation afterwards ascribed to which drove hundreds of thousands east-
Godfrey of that carefully organised con- ward in the year 1096. A steady communi-
stitution and judicature which is detailed cation between East and West now began,
"
in the
"
Assizes of Jerusalem." A year which lasted for nearly two hundred years,
later the protector of the Holy Sepul- and attained a vigour unexampled before
"
chre died on July i8th, noo, poisoned, or since. During these two centuries the
according to rumour, by an Arab emir, East has been compared with a stormy sea
and left behind him nothing but the which never becomes entirely calm, even
D th beginning of a state. Godfrey when the most violent winds are at rest.
stands out as a noble figure, the To regard the workings of the Crusades as
Godfrey
fx?st ^'P 6 of knighthood but ; entirely confined to the greater expeditions
the legends which have centred is to take an
absolutely wrong view of
about his personality have exaggerated this age and of its enterprises. There was
his statesmanship and exploits in the an incessant coming and going by land
Holy Land. and sea, a constant flow of pilgrims and
The real founders of the Latin kingdom colonists, which was speedily organised
" "
of Jerusalem, in the narrower sense of by the regular passages between the
the word, are the two Lorraine princes, Mediterranean harbours of Europe and
Baldwin I. (1100-1118) and Baldwin II. Syria which took place at Easter and
(1118-1131). Both had been princes of midsummer.
Edessa before beginning their rule in the Immediately after noo, this movement
Holy Land, and in this advanced outpost was naturally only in its beginning but ;
had received a special training in war with even then those forces were fully operative
the infidels both were energetic, clear-
;
which aimed at removing the Prankish
sighted, and unscrupulous characters, and, dominion in Syria from the restricted
indeed, no others could secure any solid sphere of religious interest and military
success amid the difficulties of the situa- adventure, and making that power an
tion. Godfrey had conceded the claim of . actual and permanent colonial
the patriarch to feudal supremacy, but state. The forces in question
e
this was entirely disregarded by his fj J those which, from
were precisely
Crusade ,, , ,
, ,,, .
, ,
brother Baldwin I., who secured his the very outset, had guided the
coronation in the Church of the Nativity at last great expansion of the West in a
Bethlehem, on Christmas Day, noo; this south-easterly direction.
was the birthday of the Prankish state. The The military expansion of the Normans
capacity of Baldwin I. and of his nephew, had reached its objective with the occu-
who succeeded him in Edessa and after- pation of Antioch, and seems to have
wards in Jerusalem, discovered the exact been exhausted by this effort. In the
ways and means for making this empty title summer of 1103 Bohemond was released
a reality at the same time the possibility
; from imprisonment and re-entered his
of founding a colonial state of importance principality with great difficulty he then, ;
sufferings of the first Crusaders affected the autumn of 1107 he found himself at
Western Europe in a degree which may be the head of a great fleet and army.
How the judged from the fact that the Some remnant of adventurous care-
lessness then confused the foresight of
poranes regarded the vast this most politic among the princes of
Regarded
movement of this holy war as the First Crusade, and induced him to
a miracle. News from the East was passed renew that attempt upon the Greek
from city to city, from village to village, from Empire in which his father, Robert
town to town, by the road and from the Guiscard, had failed .an attempt which
pulpit, and was sung by minstrels. These throughout this century was the root of
reports secured the continuance both of the the Crusaders. Once again the
all evil for
religious and of the military enthusiasm, enterprise failed at its very outset, and
and of that desire for adventure, with its after a fruitless siege of Durazzo.
strange mixture of piety and materialism, Bohemond was obliged to conclude a
4024
THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM
humiliating peace in September, 1108. Jerusalem and Jaffa, and in the latter
A few years later he died at home on place laid the foundation of an afterwards
March 7th, mi, while making fresh flourishing colony. It soon became
preparations for the East. A year after- obvious that the co-operation of the
wards Tancred also retired from the scene ;
Italian commercial nations in the con-
he had succeeded, notwithstanding the struction of vigorous states, and in their
aberrations of chivalry, in maintaining maintenance by the Crusaders, was in-
and extending his Syrian dominion against dispensable. The opposition of Byzantine
the Seljuks and the Greeks. policy, and the growth of dis-
1
The Norman power, as such, thus of Greeks
sension between the Crusaders
&
steadily disappears from this quarter. and the Greeks, closed the land
Crusaders
The kingdom of Antioch, indeed, remained route through Asia Minor and ;
in the hands of the immediate successors the possession of harbours on the Syrian
of its founder,though in the female line, coast, though at first despised, became a
from 1130, and was the only crusading vital condition to the Prankish states, for
state which thus preserved its continuity. only so was it possible to secure connection
Bohemond's dynasty in Antioch survived with the West and to guarantee the arrival
the downfall of the original principality of troopsand supplies.
after the Mohammedan triumphs of 1268, The mercantile cities of Italy, however,
and kept possession of Tripolis for some conscious that their fleets were indispens-
decades, while a collateral branch secured able to the acquisition and maintenance
the throne of Cyprus. But after 1136 of this valuable possession, steadily used
Constance, the granddaughter of the first them to support their own interests, the
Bohemond, married Raimond of Poitou,
" magnitude of which was much increased by
the son of William of Aquitaine, the first the opening up of Syria and of its trade
troubadour." French influence then be- routes. They did not wait for the gratitude
came preponderant upon the Orontes, of the Prankish princes, but proceeded to
and thenceforward absorbed formulate their demands. Before the con-
r< nc
I j ence n
the crusading states after the quest of the several towns, they secured
th o ;s
disappearance of the Lorraine
.
important possessions and privileges as
dynasty from Jerusalem. Many the price of their help. Thus here, as in
English, German, or Norse leaders entered the Greek kingdom, colonies of Italian
the country with the great expeditions, citizens arose, which became the most im-
or with annual reinforcements repre-; portant centres of eastern trade and also
sentatives of all nations gathered in of Prankish dominion, though they stood
the harbours of Syria and the capital of outside the Prankish political system.
the kingdom. But the main stream from But the professional leaders of this
the leading classes, and from the circles system, the nobles and knights, speedily
which held possessions over seas, belonged displayed their incapacity. Feudalism was
principally and increasingly to France. as incompetent to cope with its constitu-
France stamped her character at an early tional tasks in the East as the Crusades
date upon the Prankish states. That which it led were inadequate for their object ;
character they preserved, with one ex- the colonising spirit of the Italians, on the
ception, which became of material im- other hand, displayed a wholly different
portance both to the foundation and to fixity of purpose, undisturbed by any
the entire future of these states. religious mysticism, by any extravagant
The participation of the Italian maritime enthusiasm or vague desire for adventure.
cities was of paramount importance for In the summer of noo the
Opportune
the fortunes of the First Crusade. The Venetians reached Palestine for
*
sieges both of Antioch and Jerusalem the first time ,with a large fleet,
Venetians , , ,, ,.
received valuable support from the Genoese and learnt from the lips of
fleets at the end of the summer of 1099
; Godfrey that had it not been for their
a large crusading army from Pisa reached arrival he would have been forced to
the harbours of Laodicea, which were surrender all his conquests. They recog-
then held by the Greeks, and supported nised that their opportunity had come ;
Bohemond's blockade, which came to they offered their help as auxiliary troops
nothing on account of the opposition of from the festival of St. John to that of the
the other princes. This force afterwards Assumption in return they were to
;
in conjunction with the Franks. They Bertrand to enter Tripolis itself. Genoa
further bargained that the town of was rewarded with a third of this town
Tripolis should be given entirely into their and with the whole of Gibelet.
hands should it be conquered, In the previous year the men of Pisa
Venetians
jn retum for a small yeady had supported Tancred when Laodicea
tribute in addition the Vene- was finally conquered from the Greeks.
b c 'a-Ing
;
behind the high altar of the Church of Acre they were to be allowed, without
the Holy Sepulchre. They were analogous interference on the part of the other
to those which Godfrey had granted to the inhabitants, to bake in their own ovens,
Venetians. In Arsuf, Caesarea and Acre grind in their own mill, use their own
the Genoese received quarters amounting bath, and enjoy complete immunity from
to a third of each town, and lands on the taxation, as in every other locality.
_. _ outskirts of the town to the Concession and fulfilment were, how-
The Genoese ,, i
Dominant in
same extent they were also
. .
; ever, two very different processes in the
T
v n I"*
i
want of any similar combination. They the other Damascus was rather
side,
were devoted entirely to their individual a protectionagainst the attacks from
interests, turning their weapons against Mesopotamia than a serious menace, though
one another, and not despising the help struggles with the power of Damascus
even of the enemies of their faith. The were frequent.
eternal geographical differences within Under these circumstances Baldwin I.
the Syrian territory, the northern part of showed high statesmanship when he
which is as naturally attracted to the devoted his attention to securing his
Euphrates and Tigris as the southern to country against Egypt at a time when no
the Nile, proved more effective than any serious tasks awaited him upon the coast
religious difference the religious struggle
; line, and when Antioch and Edessa were
as such often, and at a surprisingly early not in need of his help. To his efforts
date, disappeared, to the scorn and anger was due the line of strong fortresses
of devoutly minded pilgrims, and gave way which protected the southern frontier,
to- the secular requirements of the indi- especially towards Ascalon, including I belin
vidual states in every part of the country. and the castles of Beit Jibrin, Beit Nuba,
In the midst of these aberrations, which and Tell es-safiye, which were built at
4027
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the time of Fulk. In particular he it of the Damascenes on Mount Hermon
was who built Montreal (Mont Royal), the at the source of the Jordan a post that
great desert fortress situated half way the Mohammedans had hitherto used as a
between the Dead and Red Seas. This base for incessant raids upon the north
fortress commanded the routes between of Palestine and the coast towns, whence
Egypt, Arabia, and Damascus, and could they had supported the resistance
thus protect communication between these of Tyre, the conquest of which was not
countries in time of peace, or close it yet complete. Banias was recovered by
. , in time of war, as necessity the infidels in 1132, and again recaptured
Baldwins
Last might demand At a later date
.
by the Christians in 1140. At that point
Expedition
strong outpost was sup-
this was maintained, after 1139, the strong
ported by the fortress of Kerak, crusading fortress, Kalaat es-Subebe,
at the east of the Dead Sea, and that until, in 1165, the position was finally and
of Wadi Musa further to the south. definitely seized by Nur ed-din.
The far-sighted policy of Baldwin I. in Upon the whole the successes of
this respect led him to make a bold Baldwin II. were somewhat modest, but
expedition to the Red Sea in 1116, and the Prankish victories easily counteracted
eventually to Egypt itself in 1118; there, the pressure of the Mohammedans. As
however, was overcome by severe
he evidence of the Mohammedan attitude,
illness he could attempt any
before we may quote the words of one of their
further conquests. He died on the home- chroniclers, whowith somecomplains,
"
ward march on April 2nd. exaggeration : The
Islam had star of
His successor was Baldwin II. of Edessa, sunk below the horizon, and the sun of its
who was at that moment in Jerusalem. destinies was hidden behind the clouds.
It is not surprising that northern The banners of the infidels waved over the
affairs chiefly occupied the attention of Mohammedan territories, and the victories
this ruler, as for nearly twenty years he of the unjust overpowered the faithful.
had been closely connected with the des- _ G re * The empire of the Franks
e
tinies of Northern Syria. At that moment extended from Mardin in Meso-
E.mpire o .
drew its members from the influence of ecclesiastical control other than
the local clergy and its houses from the that of the Pope, drifted into hostility
supremacy of the bishops the order ; against the authorities of the Church, and,
speedily acknowledged no superior but perhaps, eventually became corrupted by
the Pope, and rose to great splendour. Nihilist and Satanist errors, which they are
Members of the superior nobility applied supposed to have borrowed from their re-
for receptionand brought their possessions puted Mohammedan model, the mysterious
with them princes and lords outbid one
;
sect of the Assassins.
another in rich grants of land and people. The rise of the two first knightly orders
In a short time the order became one of falls probably within the reign of King
the largest territorial powers even in the Fulk. He had been Count of Anjou, and
west, and an entirely independent power, through his son Geoffrey, the son-in-law
on an equal footing with the Syrian petty of Henry I. of England and father of
states. The increase of its wealth gave Henry II., became the ancestor of the
it an importance equivalent to that of Plantagenets he had taken the eldest
;
the Teutonic knights of later date after- solidation of its basis and the steady increase
wards imitated in their own interest. of its economic prosperity mark his reign
The Templars derived their name from as the zenith of Prankish development.
their first possession, given them by The growing disobedience of the vassals,
Baldwin II, a part of the king's palace which threatened to destroy the vitality
upon the supposed site of the Temple, the of the kingdom, was vigorously crushed
so-called Mountain Mosque (Kubbet es- for the moment. The rebel Count Hugo
Sachra) the Knights of St. John derived
;
of Joppa was humbled. Count Pons
their name from the saint to whom was de- of Tripolis was reduced to impotence, the
dicated a hospital, with a pilgrim's shelter intrigues of the ambitious sister-in-law
and chapel, founded before the Crusades of the king, Alicia of Antioch, were
and in connection with the Amalfitan thwarted she had been anxious to secure
;
monastery of Santa Maria Latina, near her own rule against the rights
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The connection between the monastery
and hospital was broken at the outset
the Protector
who
them
^ &m
of her daughter, Constance,
of the crusading period by the Pro- against the invasions of the Seljuks and
vencal, Gerhard, who raised the hospital Turkomans, and after one defeat had been
to high prosperity and wealth his ;
suffered at the hands of the Amir of
successor, Raimond du Puy, transformed Mossul, Imad ed-din Zenki, on July nth,
the brotherhood into a strict monastic 1137, it became possible to secure a firm
association and made the struggle against alliance of the crusading states with
the infidels one of the tasks of the Damascus (1133-1140), which protected
new order, in imitation of the Templars, Syria for the moment from any serious
4029
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
menace from Mesopotamia. The un- necessarily entailed the most complete
changing geographical conditions had al- downfall. The prosperity and well-being
most precisely reproduced that situation of the crusading states certainly received
which existed almost two thousand years the strongest impetus from the flourishing
earlier, when
the petty states of Jerusalem condition of trade and local culture, which
and Samaria were in similar relations with was due to the Italian colonists.
the East. On the side of Egypt a line of for- The merchants of the west had now
tresses was built which cut off any advance secured a footing in Asia in the midst of a
from Ascalon. and in the kindred nationality and under the most
When Trade -. T , , TZ i
. Moabite territory Kerak was favourable conditions of life, protected by
and Commerce -,
r ,
flourished
. ,erected not to be contused
,
reached their highest prosperity. This indeed the office of consul originated in
development filled the country with the this quarter.
wealth and luxury of a southern colony, There was no necessity to travel into the
and brought the days greatest bril- of Syrian coast could provide
interior, for the
liancy to the chivalrous splendour of the the products of almost the entire eastern
courts of Jerusalem and Antioch. This world. Mercantile communication with
was the golden age of the knightly orders, the Persian Gulf by which relations had
as yet entirely free from any ominous always been maintained with India and
symptoms of demoralisation. The weak- China across the Indian Ocean and with
nesses inherent in the feudal organisation Nearer Asia and China, by the land route
of the kingdom were less obvious under through Persia, Bucharest,
B * dd
ga <
of Feudal
from the north, with those of Egypt from
rate> tnat tne idea
^ S certam > the south.
Prosperity
the
feudal system, which
of To this influx of wares from every
in itself and with reference to the con-
part of the world were added the native
ditions of previous centuries was a great industries. These were silk-weaving,
constitutional achievement, attained to
especially of gold brocade, which had
its most perfect form in the reached high perfection, and the forging
kingdom of
Jerusalem, and to this extent realised of weapons, which had become no less
the highest possible point of its famous than the silk industry. This great
prosperity ;
possessed the best and widest harbour in Turkish misgovernment, and the most
Syria, and gradually collected the export careful cultivation prevailed in the warm
trade of the whole East within its walls, stretches of coast country.
as the customs tariffs, which have been International exchange of an extent and
preserved, record. From these documents richness hitherto unknown to western
we can see that in Acre were collected civilisation became the source of unpre-
rhubarb from East Asia, musk from Thibet, cedented and unexpected wealth. During
pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg in short, all the early period of the kingdom, a con-
the spices of India which were so eagerly temporary chronicler, the chaplain of
coveted during those centuries. Thither Baldwin I., who had accompanied him upon
also came aloe wood from Assam, the First Crusade, writes as follows
camphor "
:
from the Sunda Islands, Indian and East From day to day we are followed by
African ivory, incense and dates from our relations and parents, who without real
Arabia, and manyother products. In willingness abandoned all their former
Beyrout documents tell us that pepper, possessions. For those who there were
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
poor were here made rich by God those ; Moreover, it did not rest on the support
who had but little money now possess of an organised Europe, but only on the
countless wealth, and he who had never had casual impulse which drove kings, nobles,
a village, here receives a town from God's or knights individually to take the Cross.
hand." The acquisition of masterless land A wave of crusading sentiment might
and property was easy and when to ; carry vast armies to the East. In the case
this was added the profits of trade and of the First Crusade, only the magnitude
manufactures, every condition of of the wave had enabled the Crusaders
eni *
brilliant colonial prosperity was to achieve their object. There was no
present. Splendour and immor- other wave of the same magnitude, and
Luxury r
in the intervals of subsidence the support
ahty, the usual consequences of
luxury, were fostered by the southern given to the Eastern Christians was
climate, and speedily became apparent. desultory.
At the moment, indeed, these darker While Fulk of Anjou was king of
pictures were hidden by the brighter side ; Jerusalem (1131-1144), Imad ed-din Zenki
the splendour and brilliancy of western of Mosul was concentrating the Syrian
chivalry was conjoined with colonial pro- Turkish power in his own hands. The
sperity and found here the classical soil of Latins were at odds with the Greek Empire.
its growth, notwithstanding infusions of In 1144 Zenki captured Edena, and the
foreign blood. The incessant struggle conquest was confirmed in 1146 by his
against the infidels was an anxiety never son and successor, Nur ed-din. The energy
entirely overpowered by the inclination of the Pope, Eugenius III., and of Bernard
to pursue material interests through of Clairvaux set in motion the Second
commercial intercourse it was an anxiety
; Crusade, at the head of which Louis VII.
which produced the most complete military of France and the German Conrad were
skill on the part of the knights, which induced to place themselves. But there
made them perfect in the works of war _ was no combination. The Ger-
o apse o
and peace, and the determining element
theSecond
man expedition was virtually
j u r ^.i, T^ L j
in the social and intellectual culture of the ~ ruined before the French arrived.
Crusade ^, T .. -
, ,
Middle Ages. The European chivalry of Ihe Latin kingdom did not
the crusading centuries never denied that wish to bring down upon itself the
it had whole force of the Seljuks, and its leaders
originated on the plains of Syria.
France was its mother country, and gradu- deliberately misled their western ally into
ally became the great centre of the cru- inevitable failure. The Second Crusade
sading movement, whence it derived its collapsed. Within the Latin kingdom
claim to lead civilisation. Through France political disintegration and personal demo-
it passed to the other countries of the West, ralisation under the influence of Oriental
especially to Germany. As its prosperity conditions progressed together during the
belongs to the East, also does itsso reign of Baldwin III., who was succeeded
degeneration, the outcome of contact with in 1162 by his brother, Amalric.
the excrescences of a colonial civilisation The dissensions of the Fatimid rulers
which was destined to clear the ground for of Egypt caused one faction first to call
other economic, constitutional, and social in the aid of Nur ed-din's general, Shirku,
forms. and then to quarrel with him and invite
The prosperity, however, of the crusad- the aid of the Latin kingdom. The details
ing states the possibility of their main- of the contest need not detain us here.
taining a firm front against Military operations of varying success,
rT T* Islam-was doomed to end coupled with a fast-and-loose diplomatic
i
of the Latin , ,, 01-1
whenever the Selmk
..
Kingdom i i j
power
j
policy, ended in the ignominious with-
should succeed in concentrating drawal of Amalric, and the establishment
itself. Lack of cohesion among the Turks of Shirku as Egyptian vizir. In 1169 he
left the Christians in comparative security ; was followed by his nephew, Ayub Salah
but their own lack of cohesion could not ed-din Yusuf, known as Saladin, who,
but bring disaster in the face of united having made himself master of Egypt,
effort. Feudalism and effective cohesion was enabled, by the death of Nur
were incompatible and, practically speak-
; ed-din, to establish himself also as the
ing, the Latin kingdom was ultra-feudal. lord of that potentate's dominions in 1183.
4032
WESTERN WHAT THE
EUROPE IN CRUSADES
THE MIDDLE DID FOR
AGES EUROPE IV
4033
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
fortresses in Northern Syria, and reduced zealously continued the efforts of Gregory
Antioch to severe straits. At the end of to secure the co-operation of the western
October, Kerak succumbed to repeated powers in a new Crusade. Circular letters
assaults. The Templar fortress of Safed were issued to every prince, and instruc-
was captured on January 5th. 1189, Mont- tions for fasting and prayer to all the
real afterwards, and Belfort clergy, while the people were
exhorted to
shortly
(Shakif Arnun) on April nth. 1190. purity and simplicity of life. Indulgences
Antioch, Tripolis. Tyre, and the Johannite and the postponement of creditors' claims
fortress of Margat were the only positions were offered to all who might take the
all who remained at home, high and
remaining in the hands of the Christians. cross ;
"
Only Western help could now save the low, became liable to the Saladin tithe."
Prankish rule Thus amid pas-
from annihila- sionate excite-
tion. The failure ment Latin
of the Second Christendom
Crusade had con- took up arms
siderably damped
almost as one
the general en- man. Once again
thusiasm on be- the fire of en-
half of the Holy thusiastic devo-
Sepulchre. Mili- tion, scorning
tary reinforce- suffering or
ments to Pales- death, glowed in
tine were, com- the hearts of the
paratively speak- chosen ;
once
most scanty again the un-
ing,
during the gene- usual privileges
ration after 1150. granted to Cru-
The embassies of saders were re-
Amalric and garded by the
Baldwin IV., larger numbers
informing the of worldly wise
western rulers of participants as
the needs of the an excellent
Syrian states, opportunity to
were honourably withdraw with
received, but re- honour from
turned with no troubles at home,
tangible results, and to gain fame,
for the hostilities wealth, and an
prevailing be- everlasting re-
tween the empire compense abroad.
and the papacy, If ever a Crusade
and between afforded pros-
France and Eng- SALADIN, THE GREAT ENEMY OF THE CRUSADES pects of com-
land prevented The rapid rise to power of this great sultan was largely responsible
for the Third Crusade being undertaken. With fierce determination
plete success, it
any general co-
-
he opposed the crusading forces, but five years of stubborn conflict was surely this
exhausted him, and he showed a readiness to make concessions. A which was
operation. Now, three years' truce was agreed to, Jerusalem remaining with the infidels.
From the drawing by Gustave Dore
however, the dis- planned in 1188,
astrous news from the East aroused the for was joined in rapid succession by
it
deepest grief and the fiercest indignation in Philip II. Augustus of France, by his oppo-
Europe, and public enthusiasm rose even nent, Henry II. of England, by Henry's
to a higher pitch than at the time of the rebellious son Richard upon his father's
First Cruasde. The heart of Pope Urban III. death on July 6th, 1189, and finally by the
was broken by the news of the fall of Jeru- most powerful of western monarchs, the
salem, and he died on October 2oth, 1187. Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, whose reso-
"
His successor, Gregory VIII., at once made lution was taken at the famous Diet of
"
peace with the empire and upon his
; Christ at Mainz, on the Sunday called
" "
death, on December I7th, Clement III. Laetare Jerusalem March 27th, 1188.
4034
SALADIN AND THE CRUSADES
Once again one of the greatest military might not be used as bases by the Germans ;
and religious enterprises known to history, and an Arab Christian afterwards wrote :
"
born amid tumultuous zeal and burning Hadnot the gracious providence of God
enthusiasm, died away within a few years, brought death upon the emperor at the
and the united western armament was moment when he was about to invade
eventually shattered by miserable brawls Syria, it would have been said of Syria
with friend and foe, utterly unworthy of and Egypt in later days that here the
the movement, though it must be said Mohammedans once ruled " !
that the causes of failure to some extent The German army followed the route of
lay deeper than in unfortunate events and Godfrey of Bouillon, and surmounted
the antagonism of the leaders. In particu- such difficulties as they encountered with
lar a calamity, which could not have been greater ease than any preceding expedi-
anticipated, brought to a miserable end tion. Hungary and its king, Bela III.,
the German Crusade, one of the best and were overawed by the reputation of the
most capable ex-
peditions which
mediaeval Germany
ever sent forth.
The numbers of the
army were esti-
mated at one
hundred thousand
men, including
some fiftythousand
knights. These
figures were doubt-
less subject to
the usual exaggera-
tion, as it is ex-
pressly stated that
the army was
smaller than the
German levy of
1147, for the reason
that unsuitable
participants were
excluded by a cen-
sus (three silver
marks), and none
but well-equipped
and experienced
warriors, knights,
and trained squires
were admitted.
This proud host
was under the com-
mand of the most
experienced and
successful general
oi the age, the
admiration of East
and West, the
powerful emperor.
Upon the approach
of his army, Saladin ENGLAND'S CRUSADING KING, RICHARD CCEUR DE LION
himself razed the Filled with zeal for the recovery of Jerusalem from the infidels, Richard I., King of England,
Walls of several sa ' le d for the East in December, 1190, and fought heroically against the Christians' enemies
f(yt-f r-pccpc Pj-ipc
He was present at the capture of Acre, his military skill and prowess contributing largely
bCb 1 raJCS- to the fall Qf that stronghold> and at Arsaf he overthrew the Saracens. He failed, however,
tine, that they to reach Jerusalem, and eventually concluded a three years' truce with Saladi i.
4035
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
emperor Servia and Wallachia offered
; upon the completion of a day's march.
homage and hospitality. In the Greek The aged emperor was carried from the
Empire the path was more difficult ;
waves of the mountain stream still living ;
the dynasty of the Comneni had come to for a whole day the doctors strove to save
an end in 1185, and the old state of his life, but in vain. He died on June
disruption had returned. Beyond the loth, 1190, and with him died the spirit
Balkans the German army met with of the German Crusade. Contemporary
doubtful friendship, which soon became chroniclers represent the crusading army
treacherous opposition. Eventually, how- as falling to pieces by a process of disin-
ever, the army succeeded in forcing a tegration upon the death of Barbarossa.
It is certain that after reaching Antioch a
passage through Asia Minor and the
Seljuk territory, an exploit performed by
number of the Crusaders embarked upon
who was greatly beloved by her father, and this soon had the effect of reducing Isaac to humble submission.
no Prankish troops since the march of the their homeward voyage at the harbour of
Crusaders about a century earlier, in 1097. Korykos, that many bands separated from
At length, after unspeakable sufferings, the main body and were destroyed by the
the Crusaders were rewarded by the sight Saracens in the district of Aleppo, and
of the Cilician plains, the foreground of that thousands were swept away by a
Syria then the crowning misfortune came
; pestilence at Antioch. The majority of
upon the army and the Crusade in general the German Crusaders probably returned
in Kalykadnos (Salef). Reports differ as home from Northern Syria.
to whether Frederic was cut off in crossing At Tripolis, their leadsr, Duke Frederic,
or riding through a river to shorten a notwithstanding the competent guidance
difficult mountain path, or while bathing of Conrad of Montferrat, no longer felt
4036
THE CRUSADERS' FEUDS FIGHT BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH AT GIZOR
The Crusade planned in 1188 began under the brightest auspices, and it seemed as if success would at last reward
the enterprise of the Christian forces. But internal dissensions soon extinguished the enthusiasm. Differenc -s
arose between the followers of Philip II. Augustus of France and those of his opponent, rienry II. of England, ami in
the illustration we see the representatives of the two nations in open warfare. Inside the Castle of Gizor the French
fortified themselves, and the English made a determined effort to capture the stronghold. A terrible struggle took
place on the bridge, many of the hnglish, who were eventually driven back, being precipitated into the river beneath*
4037
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
himself strong enough to force the passes in Sicily duringOctober and December,
between the sea and the mountains on 1190, with the native population and
first
struggles in which the other western nations France started Richard delayed twelve
;
took part during the Third Crusade, apart days longer, and was then driven by
from the assistance rendered to King stress of weather to the island of Cyprus,
Sancho of Portugal against the Arabs which fell into his hands from those
" "
in 1189 by numerous Crusaders from the of the usurper, the Emperor Isaac,
coasts of the North Sea and from the Lower of the house of the by aComneni,
Rhine. We have already related that with remarkable conjunction of events. This
the capital towns of North Syria, Tyre chance conquest of Cyprus was almost the
alone remained in the hands of the Franks, only permanent achievement of the Third
and had survived two sieges by Saladin, Crusade. After the final loss of Syria, the
owing to the energy of Conrad of Mont- island became a valuable outpost of
ferrat, who had arrived from the 'west at western civilisation, and its close com-
the time of the battle of Hattin. mercial relations with the eastern world
The famoussiege of Acre began at the secured its prosperity until the Ottoman
end of August, 1189, in the course of which conquest of 1571. Acre was captured, in
the whole remaining strength of Christian spite of angry dissensions
Cyprus between the Christian leaders.
Syria and of the West was concentrated
about this town. At the moment when Richard Immediately afterwards, Philip
the besiegers began operations Saladin found an excuse for returning
appeared with a relieving force, and a to France. The fate of Jerusalem was thus
titanic struggle began upon two fronts, in left in Richard's hands and under con-
;
the course of which the chivalry of the ditions which imperatively demanded
Christian army displayed powers of statesmanship, he displayed nothing more
heroism and endurance worthy of the than a reckless bravery and an audacious
great memories of the First Crusade. The daring, with tales of which Mohammedan
assailants were continually harassed both mothers used to terrify their children in
by the garrison and by the relieving army ; later years.
their position depended entirely upon the He further tarnished his knighthood
maintenance of their communications with by his indiscretion in tearing the banner
the sea, and marvellous bravery and of Duke Leopold of Austria from a tower
tenacity were evinced in the accomplish- of Acre, and by his cold-blooded massacre
ment of this difficult task. For nearly two of 3,000 of the bold defenders, for the
years Acre was surrounded by the iron circles reason that their appointed ransom did
of the Christian besiegers and their Saracen not arrive at the time arranged August
assailants. Not until the spring of IIQI 2Oth. A
year was expended in purpose-
_ did Philip II. Aiigustus of France lessmarching and countermarching and ;
257 4039
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
to confer knighthood upon Saladin's in the Holy City. From the Latin
nephew, afterwards the Sultan Al-Kamil. state itself religious fervour had perma-
The wild project was even discussed at the nently departed but another century
;
end of 1 19 1 of a marriage between Saladin's was to elapse before the men of the West
brother Aladil and Richard's sister Joanna. ceased to be stirred by the crusading
Saladin was exhausted by five years spirit. After that it became a vague
of fierce conflict he showed a readi-
; dream, which never materialised itself.
ness to make concessions, and would But during the hundred years following
probably- have gone
c
so far as the Third Crusade a number of expeditions
Jerusalem T T> .
j.
r*
Left
r -.1. .1
with
to sacrificeJerusalem. But were undertaken, insomuch that historians
the ,1 A t_ i_ v.i
Infidels * ne Arab chroniclers emphasise are not agreed as to which of them are
the difficulty of conducting entitled to the dignity of enumeration
"
negotiations with Richard: Whenever an among the Crusades proper. One was
agreement was arranged with the King of organised by the German Emperor, Henry
England, he immediately annulled it he :
VI., before the twelfth century closed ;
continually made changes in the terms but he died without personally taking
of a convention or raised difficulties in the part in it, and it ended in disaster. The
way if he gave his word, he took it back
:
vigour and resolution of the great Pope
again, and was ever the first to break the Innocent III. brought together a great
secrecy which he had required." The end armament for the Fifth Crusade, when the
of all this purposeless struggle was a three new century began greed and Venetian;
years' armistice, which began on Septem- diplomacy provided excuses for turning
ber 2nd ;
it secured the Christians in it into an attack on the Byzantine Empire
possession of the seaboard from Jaffa to instead of on the Turk, and its outcome
Tyre, and gave them some fortresses in was the temporary establishment of a
the interior. Jerusalem, however, was Latin Empire at Constantinople. Other
left in the hands of the infidels, and Chris- successful efforts followed, and at length,
tians were allowed to visit the Holy in 1228, the Emperor Frederic II.
*
Sepulchre only in small companies and _ undertook
th'e long-promised
unarmed since 1187 the Sepulchre had
; _ f. . Sixth
Crusade. Without a
been guarded by Syrian priests, and battle, he forced upon the Turks
Christian prisoners had performed their a treaty which surrendered Palestine
tasks around it under the lash of their once more to him as king of Jerusalem ;
The Templars
Expelled
from Cyprus
^ *\ ^'-^
vourite, Guy, with the kingdom of Cyprus
upon Jerusalem, and in which that king- own accession to the English throne as
dom was ultimately merged. The great Edward I. demanded his return to his
effort had failed. Europe had finally kingdom, with nothing accomplished be-
demonstrated its incapacity for corporate yond the capture of Nazareth. So ended
action. A so-called kingdom of Jerusalem the last serious attempt to recover the
survived, but its king did not reign Holy Land for Christendom.
4040
ST. LOUIS, KING OF FRANCE, SEEKING REFUGE FROM THE SARACENS
Falling under the fascinating spell of the great crusading movement, Louis IX. of France, better known
as St. Louis,
headed a Crusade in 1249, making for Palestine by way of Egypt. Trapped and overwhelmed by the enemy, the King
of France fell into the hands of the Saracens, who demanded a heavy ransom for his release. Undaunted, however, by his
ill success on this occasion, he led another Crusade in 1270, but died when the expedition had landed on the African
coast
4041
WHAT THE
CRUSADES
DID FOR
EUROPE V
the
W S tO a PP 6ar Wlth, an
/
.
time
tO sation, and continued the religious war
with, if possible, greater audacity and
rumours of the friendly feelings entertained valour, certainly with more cunning, per-
by the Mongols for the Christians grew fidy, and cruelty. He resisted with such
in force. Like his brother and overlord constant success the inroads of the Mongols
Mangu, Hulagu, a grandson of Genghis in Syria, by which they had
already con-
Khan, who conquered Bagdad and des- quered Aleppo and Damascus, and pressed
troyed the Abbasid caliphate, was entirely forward to Gaza, that the last hopes of the
4042
THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN DEFENDING RHODES AGAINST THE TURKS
Though the days of the Crusades had passed away, the spirit of that great movement remained, and showed itself
in the Brothers of St. John of the Hospital. On the south-west shores of Asia Minor they created, after 1306, a
state of their own, of which the centre was Rhodes. That stronghold was subject to Ottoman attacks, and
successfully resisted a great siege by the Turks from May till June, 1480 the knights surrendered only in Io22.
;
granted to him by the Mongols, Bibars and Cyprus. Before setting out, they
proceeded with deliberate plans and aims.
were hastily selling their goods or be-
He led eight campaigns (1261-1274) against queathing them to the military orders,
the Christians, during which Csesarea and and rescuing documents and title deeds.
Arsuf in 1265, Safed in 1266, Jaffa and On May 23rd, 1285, the castle of Margat,
Belfort in 1268, and soon afterwards which belonged to the Hospitallers, and
Antioch, fell into his hands, and were on April 26th, 1289, Tripolis, which had
terribly devastated. In 1271, after he been weakened by civil strife, were both
had conquered a number of strong castles taken by the Egyptian who called him-
belonging to the military orders, among self Malik el-Mansur. Now only Acre,
them the celebrated Castle Kurd Athlith, Beirut, Haifa, Sidon, Tortosa, and
belonging to the Knights of the Tyre remained to the Christians, when
April, 1291, Kalaun's son, Malik
el-
Order of St. John, the remainder of in
the Prankish possessions fell
ripe like Aschraf Salah ed-din Khalil, advanced to
fruit into the lap of his third successor, Acre with a powerful army. Once more
Saif ed-din Kalaun. For some time marvellous deeds of bravery were achieved
previously the Christians, having fully
under the influence of the old crusading
realised the impending destruction, had spirit, till
on May i8th an assault of
4043
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
extreme force led the infidels to their goal. wars of the Cross. The oecumenical
Only a portion of the defenders escaped policy of the Church gives place to the
by sea the majority of the inhabitants
; development of national stability and
perished by the sword. territorial demarcation. While the First
The last heroic resistance of the Templars Crusade was distinguished by the efface-
in their castle was ended, ten days after the ment of natural differences and the unify-
conquest of the town, by the undermining ing" influence exercised on men's minds by
of the walls, which in their fall engulfed the thought of the ruling Church, the later
Christians and Mussulmans alike. That was Crusades became more and more the
the end. The last Christian possessions enterprises of individual nations. More-
were either forsaken during the succeeding over in the fourteenth century a Crusade
weeks by the inhabitants or given up could no longer be regarded as an aim in
after a short blockade. Thus the entire itself, but rather as a means of effecting
work of the Crusades was annihilated. national and political designs and of
Even with the complete loss of expressing the adventurous spirit of in?-
Syria the crusading spirit dividual classes belonging
by no means entirely dis- to the several nations,
appeared. As it lived in among which, early and
the hearts of the pious, so late,the French nobility
it occupied the thoughts took a leading part.
of politicians, aroused the From its ranks were still
lust of adventure in the drawn the outposts of
knights, and inspired the western civilisation, the
phantasy of the poets. Frankish potentates in
The fourteenth century Greece, the lords of the
witnessed many a hope- Cypriote kingdom, and
ful aspiration to organise also the noblest members
armed Crusades, and still of the military orders ;
more ambitious plans, only Genoa and Venice
among which the hope maintained an interest
of an alliance with the equally strong, even if
Mongols, even if their essentially different in
conversion to Chris- character, in the rela-
tianity was no longer tions of the West with
possible, played an im- Islam.
portant part, while the Thus all the plans
enemy who had first to which hadbeen con-
be conquered namely, trived for future Crusades
the Ottoman Turks in succession by Popes,
came more and more into by a Roman emperor, by
prominence. But as their CATARINA, QUEEN OF CYPRUS able men of affairs such
advance towards Europe as the noble Venetian
This picture of Catarina Comaro, Queen of
from
diverted the Struggle $$
'-ep^uced ^amtin^by Marmo SanudO; Qr by
between West and East f Cyprus, James n., and abdicated her deep thinkers such as the
:-*-
into
xu_.
another .:_.:
direction
. **&
in favour of the Republic of Venice.
Frenchman Pierre Dubois,
and compelled the West to fall back on a served in execution only the purpose of
hardly maintained defensive position, so advancing the interests of the Venetian
the spirit in which in the fourteenth Republic or of the French knighthood.
century Crusades could be considered and They do not belong to the history of the
planned was essentially transformed. Crusades in its proper sense if one looks
The papacy, which, immediately before deeper than the name.
and after the year 1291, under the un- Much more does the history of Frankish
welcome influence of the embassies from Cyprus deserve to be treated as a sequel
the East, had devised and set on foot to the Crusades. Its kings, sprung from
many a fruitless effort to avert the fate the house of Lusignan though after
of the kingdom which it had created, soon 1267 only in the female line, while on the
after realised that it had for ever lost the male side they belonged to the Antioch-
leading position which it had held when Tripolitan princely race of Bohemond,
it had called into life and conducted the and in reality therefore to the house of
4044
THE PASSING OF THE CRUSADES
Poitou had, on account of their manifold the destruction of the Syrian empire,
claims to the inheritance by marriage, made its influence felt here also. Genoa
worn the crown of Jerusalem or held the took possession of Famagusta in 1373,
regency in Palestine during the greater part and her monopoly of the commerce of
of the thirteenth century. When crown this great harbour crippled the industrial
and country were ultimately lost, many strength of the island, while the strife
valuables which lay hidden in the land which resulted, continuing almost a
were brought over to Cyprus. Even century, was fatal to the political power of
before this the island, by constant inter- Cyprus. Her last king, James II. (1460-
course with the West and with the Prank- 1473), by his marriage with Catarina
ish colonies, had been richly sown with Cornaro sought the protection of the
the seeds of culture, which now, when Venetian Republic. Under its rule the
Cyprus had become practically the frontier power of Cyprus revived until August ist,
of Catholic Christianity, yielded an abun- 1571, when, after an eleven months' siege,
dant harvest. it fell into the hands of the Ottoman like
Commercial towns, settlements
like the the whole inheritance of the Crusades.
of the military orders, foundCyprus a
in The fate of Armenia was accomplished
new home. Famagusta became a second much earlier. In the second century of the
Acre. There, thanks to a vigorous inter- Crusades the small Cilician state had
course carried on through the Syrian become, like Cyprus, a kind of offshoot of
Christians, the papal prohibition of com- the crusading movement, although it pre-
merce, issued after the fall of Acre in the served its national individuality and the
west but by no means inviolably kept, proud traditions of its arms and religion.
remained ineffectual, and the riches of the After the fall of Acre the harbour of
soil,increased by considerable agricultural Lajazzo now Ajas, opposite Alexan-
industry and by an almost tropical climate, drette became for a long time equal to
resulted in a very high level of cultivation, Famagusta as a centre of exchange
which almost exceeded that of the Syrians. between the East and the West, chiefly
Powerful rulers such as Hugo IV. (1324- because intercourse with the Orient was
I 359) w ho helped the Hospitallers to win unresisted there, and the province of the
Smyrna, and Peter I. (1359-1369), who Mongols on the frontiers of Western Asia
summoned an actual Crusade and from touched the shores of the Mediterranean
his own resources could provide means at this spot, so that Lajazzo became
for a temporary conquest of Alexandria the western entrance of an empire which
in 1365, maintained the small state at the extended over a greater part of the
height of its power. Decay approached world. Meantime the enmity of the
first when thequarrel of the great mari- Ilkhans, who at first had been allies of
fime republics, which had already caused the Ottomans, and especially of the
4045
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Mamelukes, quickly annihilated the mili- consolidation and more modern organisa-
tary power of this small state which had tion, and which included the chief posses-
originally been so great. As early as 1347 sions of the orders, was constrained to
Lajazzo, which had already been plun- feel their mere existence as a thorn in
dered and laid waste more than once, fell its own flesh, and made strenuous efforts
"
a prey to the Egyptians, and the rest of to extirpate this imperium in imperio."
the empire succumbed finally to an attack The annual revenues of the orders, if
of the Mamelukes. The last ruler of a calculated to present value,
according
collateral branch of the Cyprian would amount to fifty million francs, while
A Prtnee
Leo vi., who had the French crown demesnes at that time
Without a Lusignans r
'
4046
WESTERN WHAT THE
EUROPE IN CRUSADES
THE MIDDLE DID FOR
AGES EUROPE VI
.. ... centuries. Men confine them- Monte Croce, and several others, who
Difficulties r ,.,. ,
,
selves to superficialities when make more direct allusions to the relations
they place the moral responsibility for with Islam. In daily life, however, these
the downfall of Christian Syria upon the relations are more distinctly marked than
strifebetween papacy and empire, between in literary productions, which are always
Greeks and Latins, Normans and Proven- somewhat restricted to the official view
9als, French and English, between the of things. That might be said to be true
individual crusading states, Templars and of the narrow sphere in which people
Hospitallers, Genoese, and Venetians, or lived. Moreover, the hope, which was
when they impute the whole blame to the embodied in the great idea of the Crusades,
selfishness and immorality of the Franks, of expanding the narrow boundaries and
and to their cynicism and lack of dis- developing a fuller, freer life had vanished
cipline. All these were facts which accom- within a few decades, perhaps with the
panied or resulted from the Crusades, and appearance of Genghis ;
and two genera-
.
which could not be separated from the tions after Bohemond and
* " *
plan or accomplishment of the enterprise, ro ring Godfrey restrictions were still
f urt jier i ncre ased the
just like the secularisation of the Holy through
Wars and their issues. military and political
growing
It is just as superficial to argue that on consolidation of Islam.
account of the tremendous number of men Thus the warlike spirit, which had always
sacrificed in the Crusades no permanent been highly valued and cherished, together
occupation of Syria from the West could with chivalry and knighthood, were fet-
take place. The solution of the problem is tered in their powers of action, and even
Bather to be sought in the rivalry between if these had become free they could not
4047
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
have succeeded here, where combination the bearers and preservers of such tradi-
and unity were all-important, owing to tions the papacy and the empire there
the tendency of the mediaeval world was wanting every effective inducement,
towards dismemberment. While at home ifnot for the comprehension, at least for
the feudal system had arisen naturally the accomplishment of such great general
from the existing social and economic con- tasks.
ditions, it was established abroad on a soil The Crusades exemplify the unfailing
totally unsuited to it with such an exact- mediaeval
characteristic of Europe ;
not to the exertions of the West, but to ments of lucky adventurers, won half
the weakness of the East, this moribund by good fortune. The seizure of Italian
condition lasted a whole century. For territory by the Normans and their
lasting services either in war or to the state, conquest of England form an example.
it showed itself unfit, and the efforts of On the other hand, the German emperors,
the West to help its more and more even under favourable circumstances and
endangered outposts came to naught. by the expenditure of great forces, were as
From the Second Crusade onwards the little able to cope with Italy as with the
first expedition had achieved some results, internal problems of their own nation.
although not proportionate to the effort The fate of the Crusades was that of
expended all the Holy Wars were nothing the imperial expeditions to Rome the;
but great tragi-comedies, played on the plan on which they were based belonged
stage of universal history. But the noblest to the recognised horizon of the Orbis
emotions of the soul of the mediaeval age, Romanus, of the universal state, while, on
the utmost exertions of its energy and of its ., .. . the other hand, the means
Failure of
heroism, the radiant glories of chivalry, Qn which h depended for
the Crusades
and the bright religious enthusiasm were Ex lained belonged to a very
success
nothing but brilliant fireworks, useless for much narrower conception.
the desired end. The time was not yet The reason for the failure of the Crusades
ripe for the solution of such problems. is expressed in these words. A project,
But here is the essential point that age
: which pre-supposed the idea of a world
was indeed capable of great aims and of state, and which could be carried out only
inspired feelings, of heroic deeds also, if by an absolute military monarchy, men
feelings and aims were enough to achieve wished to accomplish by means of an
these. And the equality of the masses, organisation which had dismembered the
the uniformity of conditions, the want of state and diminished its powers ;they
individuality, made the expression of such wished to lay hold of the political, social,
feelings and aims on the part of the people and economic forces of the East, which
as a whole more original, more impressive, rested on the foundations of an ancient
more irresistible, than would be the case civilisation by means of the Feudal system,
to-day. But what was wanting, and which had its roots in much more simple
necessarily wanting to those times, was economic and social conditions.
the well-thought-out combination and That the First Crusade, almost alone
direction of the whole civilised world on a of all, had any success, although a
....
wrvat the single
aim. That the Middle pitiable one, in view of the enormous
,
Cr ades
,
^
es
r
were a period of small
,,
external demonstration of power with
states has been said in another which Europe began it, was simply
Lacke<
connection the forces of those
;
owing to the fact that the predominant
centuries were confined and restricted. military power of the East, at that time
Where not arising out of the needs and the Seljuk monarchy, had been, like the
sensibilities of the time, but transmitted as West, disintegrated by feudalism. That
tradition from a richer and more all- was perfectly recognised on the Moslem
embracing culture, higher ideas did indeed side ;
when Imad ed-din Zenki began
survive and act as guides to the aim of a again to combine the forces of Islam, and
world religion and a world monarchy but ; with this aim immediately created a
apart from those offices which served as kind of standing army, he forbade his
4048
WHY THE CRUSADES FAILED
soldiers to acquire landed possessions ; sumption in their favour, because the
that he put a bar to the decay of mili-
is, points of contact were everywhere else
tary monarchy in great and small fiefs. very limited, and in any extension beyond
Thus the powerful kingdom of the Atabegs these bounds could show but a limited
was created, and only its re-dismember- " "
effect while the Orient of the Cru-
ment under Saladin's successors, the sades for practically two centuries had
Ayubites, gave to the moderate momentary exercised an almost unbounded influence
success of the Third Crusade an influence over the West. Within these limitations,
which lasted for another century. When the European languages
Arabic Words ,,
an irresistible opponent to the Christians of themselves show, by J the
in Modern , ,
above all of Arabic, culture in source come the sesame lily, the carob
European life has been produced by con- tree (Johannis brotbaum), and saffron.
tact in other spheres than that of the Pistachio nuts and lemons bear their
still
Syrian coast-line, and has been there able Arabic names. Apricots were for a long
" "
to work more quietly, but more contin- time called Plums of Damascus ;
cated, but quite apart from this, the "Arbuse used to-day in Europe as an
"),
Norman kingdom of Lower Italy estab- article of common food, came to Europe,
lished on a Saracen basis, with the state if not from Syria, at all events through the
" "
of Frederic II. immediately succeeding it Crusades ;
the Arabic name pasteque
on the one hand, the Iberian Peninsula, has reached France, the Greek name
" "
with its interpretation of Arabic and anguria is.used in Italy.
Christian Roman ideas, extending over Of plants which are of industrial im-
nearly 800 years, on the other had even portance, cotton, the name of which is in
"
before the Crusades produced a mixed French coton," in German
1 "
civilisation, which was continued to a kattun," has an Arabic origin.
Debt to
certain extent for some time after their It first came into more exten-
the East
decay. Whether the Arabic civilising sive use in Europe through
influence perceptible in the West came in Syrian commerce, and brought with it the
any individual instance through Spain, Arabic invention of cotton paper, in place
Italy, Byzantium, or Syria, it is extremely of the less convenient parchment. Of
difficult to prove, and in the review of the other clothing materials, atlas (satin) and
Oriental sources of our mediaeval civilisa- samite (velvet) bear at least Byzantine
tion special care is therefore required on names, brought over with the objects
this very point of evidence of origin. In themselves at the time of the Crusades.
doubtful cases the Crusades have the pre- We learned then for the first time to
4049
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
value and imitate the arts of carpet- fifteenth centuries originates inan Oriental
weaving and embroidery. A knowledge custom. Oriental myths found their way
" "
of dyes and of dyeing materials came into literature, as in the Squieres Tale
mostly from the East. Crimson and lilac of Chaucer.
are Arabic terms, as also azure and other The two crusading centuries coincide
shades of colour used in the escutcheons with the period in which the papacy,
of the Crusaders. Very extensive were the although often violently opposed, still,
changes in costume and clothing, the result judged by the claims of the Gregorian
The East as
of trade intercourse, and the system, in the main victorious, stands at
necessity of adaptation to other the head of the western world. The
Teacher
climatic conditions. To con- Church of Rome as leader of the Holy
of the West
fine oneself to philology, came- Wars had at this time reached the summit
lot, kaftan, burnous, even the old Bavarian of her power and of her universal supre-
"
joppe," are Arabic words and objects. macy, and while she subjected the minds
Besides many a new weapon and war- of men
to herself, she exercised at the
like ornament (target, chainmail, bow) same time an influence in temporal
we have also to thank the more luxurious matters never seen before or since the ;
East for the name and use of the slipper levying of the Crusade tithes is a very
(pantoffel. pantoufle). From the East palpable proof of this influence.
and Byzantium came, during the age of Meanwhile, we have already seen, in our
the Crusades, elegant fashions for ladies, first review of the impressions made by the
objects for toilet use, and means for beau- Crusaders on the West, why a secularist
tifying, such as rouge. Glass mirrors, reaction of necessity immediately followed
instead of polished metal plates, were first the overstraining of the Church's share
known and valued in the East, and the in the Crusade idea. That lay primarily
use of vapour baths was first introduced in the inner nature of things, in the
from there. Such a striking innovation as necessity of moving purely worldly forces
the revived fashion of wearing the beard is _ . for the attainment of a sacred
the result of contact with the bearded sons aim The rest also already
'
Mthl in
of Mahomet. It was principally the I/I V* estimated was the result of
sphere of luxury in which the closer inter- closer contact with Islam and
course with the East, and the increasing its confessors. In the twelfth century this
participation in its wealth, had permanent contact had already been sufficiently close,
effect. Acomplete change in domestic as long as the forces on both sides were
and social life passed over the nobility equally balanced. In the thirteenth cen-
and clergy, to be taken up soon afterwards tury there resulted from it the permanent
by the most successful members of the new influence of a superior culture which had
moneyed class the citizens of the town. demonstrated its efficiency by political
Mention must also be made of the success.
technical and industrial inventions which It finally came to this, that a mis-
the youthful civilisation of Europe derived sionary like Ricoldo da Monte Croce
from old Asia, of the already mentioned held up the Mohammedans to his own
changes in weapons of attack and defence, fellow-Christians as models worthy of
and with them of tactics, and of the imitation with respect to moral serious-
enormous acquisitions to architecture, of ness and austerity of manners, religious
plainer ecclesiastical buildings and more faith, zeal for knowledge, sociability
ambitious civil monuments. If we pass with strangers, and harmony among
* ro suc ^ g reater changes, themselves and so there remained but
Effects ;
turning-points in
,
. .'
the
little of the zeal for warfare which was
characteristic of the preaching of the
Luxury history
of art, to the trivial and crusading period.
external, we shall hardly recognise customs Moreover, the accompanying alienation
which are everywhere in use to-day, such from a system which has made every
as the lighting of houses to express emotion subject to the ecclesias-
public spiritual
joy, as borrowed from the Saracens, which tical conception, produced out of the
they undoubtedly are. Ecclesiastical gloomy fanaticism of the, ascetic the spirit
life bears witness to such enrich-
itself of a healthy secularism, which re-awakened
ment from the East . the common use
; or re-created chivalry, homage to women,
of the rose wreath in the thirteenth and
joy of life, and love of song. Quite in the
4050
WHY THE CRUSADES FAILED
midst of a movement which the Church of the Western world were created
life in
had created out of the spirit of religious by the economic movement of the
repression, renunciation of the world, and Crusades, which in its course elevated
the exercise of penance, there were forced the hitherto lower ranks of labour, trade
on the minds of the Crusaders, through and commerce in short, the middle
the mere extension of their intellectual class. When Europe entered on the
horizon, the hitherto unsuspected great- Crusades, she stood for the greater part
ness, wealth, and beauty of the wide world. still in the agricultural stage, in that of
their Virgin worship, a blending of en- sessors, the nobility and clergy, were the
thusiasm and refined sensuousness, to the only cultured classes, and feudalism was
love of battle with its growing worldly the most suitable, if not the only possible
impulses, and, not least, to the vision of a form of government. This form of govern-
strange world of wonders. ment was indeed brought from Syria,
On the soil of the Crusades chivalry but the state which had been erected
became the formative influence of the there on quite other foundations of a
later centuries of the Middle Ages. It richer culture had also necessarily to
. created a whole system of social fall to ruin. So much the more did the
F rui so
regulations, of courtly customs, economic forms which we meet with on
anc* ^ re fi ne d culture, in the this old field of civilisation take root and
centre of which stand, along- thrive. Remains of the old financial
side the tournament, the love of system had been everywhere preserved
romancing, and a hitherto unknown in the West together with the original
graceful homage to women. Not by chance forms of barbaric culture, and the transi-
is the first troubadour, Count William of tion from the lower to the higher economic
Poitou, also the first Crusader poet who is stage would have been also completed in
known by name to us the age has
;
the course of inner European development.
dawned when the theme of chivalric love In Italy, the country most nearly
rules the poetry of Provence as well as affected, which had, even before the
"
that of Germany, and, like the Minne- Crusades proper, experienced the blessing
lied," the popular and court epic shows of international intercourse, this new spirit
at every
step
traces of the East. But in was awakened, nourished from those
first
this new social edifice which the Crusades springs which flowed towards it through the
erected as the consummation of mediaeval activity of the Syrian ports Venice and ;
culture there came forth unmistakably Genoa, into whose lands Eastern trade,
the special tendency of this period of after driving back much Italian, French,
perfection and transition to destroy its and Spanish competition, gradually
own creations. With unexpected rapidity _ gathered itself, were the first to
the beautiful world of tournaments and feel it, and soon became its
of Golden
love and song sank into decay. pioneers across the as yet inhos-
Days
It would lead us too far to examine pitable Alpine passes, into the
in detail the causes of its decay; there land of the Germanic barbarians. Then
can, however, be no doubt of this, that dawned the golden days of Augsburg,
the keen morning air, descending from Niirnberg, Bourgcs, and Lu'beck the ;
the fields, of action of the Crusades, blew golden age of Upper German trade pre-
so cuttingly on the dreamland of the supposes the changed routes of the Crusade
Middle Ages, with its chivalric ideas, period, just as Crusaders showed the way
that itfaded away^and, vanished for -ever. to Flemish and Hanseatic navigation.
New and far more permanent, conditions CLEMENS KLEIN
THE PORT OF BYZANTIUM IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY
From the original drawing by W. E. Wigfull
4052
COMMERCIAL RIVALRY IN THE LEVANT
THE EFFECT OF THE CRUSADES ON COMMERCE
CINCE the beginnings of authentic his- to say, during the first half of the seventh
K-' the trade of the Mediterranean
tory, since the times of the Phoenicians, century
Hellenes, Carthaginians and Italians, the region still continued in the hands of
Mediterranean Sea has been the scene the Eastern Romans. The Balkan penin-
of intercourse between races and of sula as far north as the Danube, Asia
commercial activity more important and Minor, Syria, Egypt, the northern coast
far-reaching in their effects than at ,. _
The Great
.of Africa to Mauretania, parts
,
r T ,
Finally, the Romans united all the coun- all under the dominion of the
tries of the Mediterranean coast under Byzantine Empire. Trade, both foreign
their dominion and when the economic
;
and domestic, was carried on by Greeks,
and political downfall of the western Syrians, and Jews. Constantinople and
empire took place, together with the Alexandria were the two great centres
development of a new Europe as a result of commerce, although the cities of Syria,
of the migration of nations, the eastern Asia Minor, Thessalonica, and Carthage
empire still remained firm, maintaining continued to maintain a commercial
both its dependeHcies and its civilisation, activity that had been carried on from the
and renounced neither its earliest times.
Where the
commercial nor, theoretic- Merchandise from India and China was
Mohammedans
Conquered ally, its political supremacy brought to Byzantium via the Red Sea,
over the whole Mediterra- the Persian Gulf, and various overland
nean region. During the seventh century routes that passed through the interior
Mohammedanism forced its victorious of Asia. Byzantium was thus a centre of
way to the Mediterranean, and within a the carrying trade between east and west,
surprisingly short time gained dominion the possession of which has ever been
over the half of its coasts. a token of control of the world's traffic.
Thus three great spheres, of civilisation Another branch of Byzantine commerce
came into contact on the shores of the was the domestic industry of silk-weaving.
sea which washes three continents the
: The Byzantine gold coinage, the gold
Western Christian, or Latin, the Eastern "solidus" of Constantine worth a
Christian, or Byzantine, and the Moham- little more than three dollars, in later
"
medan. Consequently a struggle for polit- times called the byzantine," or
ical and economic supremacy between the bezant became almost a universal stan-
three great spheres of civilisation followed dard of value even Byzantine silver
;
journeyed to foreign lands the foreigners after its conquest in 1073 by the Normans
came to them. The active trade of Con- under Robert Guiscard, the sworn enemy
stantinople became a passive one its ;
of the Byzantines. Its .fall as a commer-
entire life was derived from foreigners. cial power was brought about by the
There was even a Mohammedan immigra- rivalry of Pisa, which in 1135-1137 attacked
tion to Byzantium, where finally a mosque and conquered it.
was built for them here, as in Alexan-
;
More fortunate than Amalfi, Venice
dria and in Antioch, the spirit of trade was soon rose to the position of mistress of
more powerful than religious differences. Mediterranean commerce. The city on
The Red Sea having lost its importance the lagoons also recognised the suzerainty
for the Indian trade, to which of the Eastern emperor, and consequently
c n *
_.
the choking up of the old canal obtained for her citizens the right to
R
of Rameses may J have in part settle in Constantinople. In spite of
tolndift , . .
contributed, the most import- religious differences, ever since the ninth
ant commercial route from India to the century Venice also had been engaged in
west was by the Persian Gulf and over- active trade with the cities of Egypt and
land through the domains of the caliphate ; Syria. The prosperity of Venice was due
even the Central Asian commercial routes primarily to her favourable geographical
passed through Mohammedan territory situation, and this advantage remained
before they reached their goal at the to her so long as the Mediterranean con-
Caspian and Black Seas. Since Con- tinued to be the centre of the world's
stantinople was now the centre for traffic commerce. The Venice of the Middle Ages
4054
COMMERCIAL RIVALRY IN THE LEVANT
controlled an exceptionally extensive the Venetians also, and they had defeated
sphere of distribution. Situated at the Robert Guiscard at Durazzo in Albania ;
northern end of the Adriatic Sea, the city the Emperor Alexius I. (Comnenus) granted
was within a short journey of the Alpine them the right of commerce, duty free,
passes ;
the rich plain of the Po lay behind with the whole of the eastern empire in
it, the western coast of the Balkan 1082. In former days the Venetians had
peninsula and the approaches to the been compelled to pay two solidi on the
lands of the Save and the Danube before it. entrance of every ship into port, and
The two political parties of the city, the fifteen on its
departure. From this time
Byzantine and the Italian, represented two forth their position in regard to commercial
complementary commercial interests the trading with the " East was the more en-
importation of commodities from the viable one of the most-favoured nation."
East and the exportation of merchandise By the time when Venice gained this
into the various neighbouring regions of predominance at the Golden Horn, Pisa
consumption. Moreover, both the eastern and Genoa had reached a commanding
and the western empire courted the position in the western end of the Medi-
favour of Venice, which adroitly balanced terranean inasmuch as the decline of the
;
4055
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
meanwhile, the Norman conquest of by the mother city. Trade was not
Southern Italy and Sicily had begun. The difficult, for coveted luxuries and
the
Pisans and Genoese also took part in this spices of the tropics were transported by
struggle, for was clearly to their interest
it the Arabs to the western extremity of
that the wayto the East should be ren- Asia via the old commercial routes, without
dered open and secure. As Wilhelm Heyd the assistance of Europeans. Nor would it
says in his history of Levantine commerce, have been advisable for Christian mer-
"
The maritime traffic between Spain, chants to set foot on the desert trails or
Southern France, and Western the pilgrim roads of Mohammedan Asia.
Effect of
on the one hand, the The dangers of traffic by sea between
the Crusades Italy
Levant and Northern Africa South-western Europe and the Levant
on Commerce
on the other, equally affected were lessened by the use of convoys, which
Sicily midway between where the letters
. . . twice a year brought cargoes of European
patent of the Norman kings promised a merchandise of metal and wood, arms and
cordial reception to merchants, and consuls cloth, returning with a freight of silk, glass,
of their own nation, or, at least, fellow- cotton, sugar, and spices from the East.
countrymen settled there, gave them every When the kingdom of Jerusalem fell,
assistance." Thus Pisans and Genoese in 1187, to rise again nominally in 1229,
journeyed to Egypt and Syria even before the Western Europeans lost their Syrian
the time of the Crusades, and also con- possessions, together with all the feudal
voyed pilgrims to the Holy Land, which rights appertaining to them. However,
had become very difficult of access ever a few seaports remained in their hands
since the rise of the Seljuk dynasty. end of the thirteenth century,
until the
The Crusades led to a complete trans- and more than this was not needed by
formation in the commercial relations with the Frankish merchants in order to main-
the Levant. Of the tremendous, and for tain their commercial connections. Even
the most part wasted, power expended by after the evacuation of Acre, in 1291, and of
the nations of, Western Europe in order to and Sidon in 1295, direct
The Greek TyreJ
,
re ,
^
T? j
become and to remain masters of the Holy _, . traffic between Europe and
Empire ,. \
Land, at least a certain portion profited in D Syria was not entirely sus-
the maritime provinces, whose centre of pended. In the meanwhile,
gravity had for centuries been inclined Western Europe was amply compensated
toward the east. After ithe establishment elsewhere for what had been lost in
of the first crusading states, the kingdom Syria. After the arrival of the first
of Jerusalem, with its dependent princi- army of Crusaders in Constantinople, in
palities of Edessa, Antioch, and Tripolis 1096, the policy of the Greeks had
(1097-1100), a new field of activity was become unfavourable to the western
opened up to Italians, Provencals, and nations. In fact, the sword of destruction
Catalonians. Above all, an opportunity was suspended over the Greek Empire.
was offered them for crossing the bound- Each Crusade that passed through its
aries of Asia, under the protection of territory threatened its existence, and the
western laws and institutions. Normans of Southern Italy were still
There was also the possibility of winning busied with their old schemes of conquest.
new privileges, for the Franks or Latins re- In order to divide their enemies, the
quired a constant traffic with the East, and, Byzantines continued to shower privileges
therefore, could not dispense with the ser- upon the Italians, granting to all the same
vices of the navigators of Southern Europe, favoured position that up to this time
_. _
The Good
whom they employed in trans- had been enjoyed by the Venetians alone.
,. i_ j- i
of P
rtm g not on ty merchandise However, this action of the Eastern Roman
but men Soon thev acquired
-
. .
Government was not at all in harmony with
the possession of entire streets the spirit of hostility to foreigners shown by
and quarters in the cities of the Crusaders, the populace. They had just cause of com-
and also of land, upon which the Syrian plaint against the Latins, and especially
peasants were compelled to labour as against the Venetians, who had robbed them
serfs. These Southern Europeans were not only of their foreign trade, but of a con-
also free from taxes indeed, they often siderable part of their domestic traffic,
obtained for themselves a portion of the who paid no customs duties, and who
duties The local
collected. authorities showed plainly enough the pride of
were not appointed by the king, but mastery felt by a rising, active race towards
4056
GENOA HARBOUR, WITH THE TOWN RISING IN THE BACKGROUND
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TOWN AND PORT. WITH THE RAILWAY STATION
VIEWS OF THE GREAT COMMERCIAL PORT OF GENOA
4057
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
a decaying people that would not attribute the victorious Latins, and Count Baldwin of
the results of its inactivity to itself but Flanders and Hainault ascended the throne
"
to the influence of the foreigners. The re- of the Latin Empire," which existed
action against the ascendancy of the hated from 1204 to 1261. At the division of the
intruders made itself felt in a treacherous Greek Empire three-eighths fell to the
manner. In 1171 the Greek emperor, share of the Venetians, an amount equal
Manuel I., was compelled by the pressure to that granted to the new emperor. They
of public opinion to issue a secret order in retained possession of their share even
"
accordance with which all the after the fall of the Latin Empire."
Venetians in the empire were im- The land consisted of strips of coast and
Fatc of j ,,
the Latins ^
t .
prisoned, and their possessions islands, widely separated from one another,
. ,
\T
Venice answered this
seized. it is true, but capable of yielding great
demonstration by entering into
of hostility profit. Now for the first time the Vene-
an alliance with the Normans, with the tians established themselves in the lands
result that the Byzantines immediately about the Black Sea and absorbed them all
endeavoured to make peace again. into their economic sphere of influence.
Soon, however, a still heavier blow was The mediaeval expansion of the Western
dealt, this time not only to the Venetians Europeans over the Levant attained to its
but to all the Latins. It was an act of greatest extent when the Greek Empire
national revenge similar to that once was re-established with the assistance of
executed by the oppressed Asiatics upon the Genoese in 1261. The rivalry between
the Romans in the days of the Ligurian and Adriatic
Mithradates the Great. In capitals led to a healthy com-
consequence of a mandate petition which was by no
issued by the Emperor An- means detrimental to the
dronicus I. in 1182, all policy of self -
preservation
the Latins in the empire pursued by the Byzantines.
were suddenly attacked and During the second half of
either massacred or sold as the thirteenth century the
slaves. Nothing could now Genoese penetrated farther
save the Byzantines from the into Asia than any Western
vengeance of Western Europe, European merchants before
although, after the overthrow MARCO POLO them. A region of colonies
of Andronicus, the Emperor He was only fifteen when he set such as had existed in Hellenic
Isaac Angelus indemnified the ^th^^he^an^u^cie
^L^re^w times arose about the Black
Pisans and Venetians so far as up at the court of Kubiai Khan, Sea, of which the chief towns
and rose to honour and wealth.
was possible, and restored to were Kaffa, or Feodosia, and
them their former rights and privileges. Tana, or Azov. From this district the
None of the weak Byzantine governments Black-Sea-China commercial highway ex-
were in a position to offer any surety that tended through Turkestan and Dzoun-
atrocities such as those of 1171 and 1182 garia to the Pacific coast. Missionaries
would not be repeated. However, common and merchants brought to the West
action against the Greeks was prevented by fabulous stories of the wonders of Nature
the rivalry of the Italian maritime states ; and the civilisation of the Farthest East.
single cities were powerless to deal out any As a rule, however, these tales had no
effectual punishment to the great and still effect except upon western imagination ;
financially powerful eastern empire. fully another century and a half were to
When, owing to the sudden death of the Discoveries pass
.v. before imagination became
f ,
brilliant Hohenstauffen emperor, Henry transformed into action, and
of the A e
VI., in 1197, the danger that had long of Conquest
the apparently fruitless under-
threatened the Eastern Roman Empire takings of casual adventurers
from Southern Italy was averted, the were to awaken once more in the glorious
Venetians, and they alone, had an oppor- discoveries of the Age of Conquest.
tunity both for revenge and for the attain- The journeys of Marco Polo (1271
ment of future security. Doge Enrico 1295), who may be taken as a representa-
Dandolo, powerfully aided by fortune, tive Asiatic explorer of the time, would not
succeeded in directing the Fourth Crusade, have been practicable had it not been for
in 1202, against Constantinople. Almost the existence of one of the greatest king-
the entire Byzantine Empire fell a prey to doms of conquest known to history the
4058
COMMERCIAL RIVALRY IN THE LEVANT
Mongolian Empire, founded by Genghis the time of the Crusade of 1204. Many
Khan in the half of the thirteenth
first years were yet to pass before the Turkish
century, about 1220. During tne years sultans succeeded in wresting from them
1240 1242 hordes of Mongolians en- all their islands and strips of coast even
;
croached on the borders of the Western after the Morea was taken from Venice
European sphere of civilisation, and for at the Peace of Passarowitz in 1718 she
two centuries a large portion of Russia stillretained the Ionian Islands and the
was ruled by Asiatic conquerors. Al- Dalmatian-lstrian coast.
though during early times the East had New Ocean After the Crusades, Alex-
repeatedly advanced against the West, andria had once more become
Route to the
such attacks had always had their origin the chief centre of Indo-Euro-
East Indies
in the power of expansion of races related pean commerce Cairo also, with
;
to the Mediterranean peoples, Semites or its dense population and bazaars, offered
Eastern Aryans. But with the advance many inducements to European merchants.
of the Huns a period of repeated inroads However much they had to suffer from
of Mongolian races Avars, Bulgarians, the fanatical hatred of the Mohammedans
Magyars, Seljuks, and Ottomans began, for foreigners, as well as from the thieving
which threatened and indeed narrowed government of pashas, their gains in trade
the territories of the stationary Indo- acted as balm to all the ill-usage they
Germanic peoples quite as much as the received. They defied the papal prohibi-
great Arabic-Berber invasions of the tion to furnish munitions of war to the
eighth and ninth centuries had done to the unbelievers, and soothed their consciences
southern or Mediterranean region. by the purchase of indulgences. But even
When, in 1368, the native Ming dynasty before the Turks came to Egypt another
again closed China which had just been event of note in the world's history had
freed from the Mongols to western im- already begun to cast its shadow over the
migration, the Ottoman Turks commerce of the Levant. This was the
Gams in
had already crossed the Helles-
the j t
discovery by the Portuguese of an ocean
route to the East Indies in 1498. The spice
j. i
pont and taken possession of
Levant ,,.
.
,. TM_-
Galhpohs in 1357. This was trade of Venice decreased with ominous
the turning-point in the history of Southern rapidity ;indeed, it had never been any-
European dominion and commerce in the thing better than traffic at second or third
Levant. Each square mile of ground hand. Lisbon now received merchandise
conquered and occupied by the Turks directly from the places of production and
was from all points of view irrevocably became the first spice market of Europe.
lost to the Christian nations of the West. At about the same time that the Portu-
However, Constantinople and the Black guese depleted the Red Sea and the
Sea region still remained to them. The Persian Gulf, Damascus, Alexandria, and
Mongolians again advanced, destroyed Cairo fell into the hands of the Ottoman
the army of the Turks, and thus procured sultan (1517-1518) a concurrence of
a respite of half a century for the Eastern events that ruined the commerce of
Roman Empire. After the second Mongol Egypt, and greatly injured Mediterranean
storm had abated, in 1405, the Turks re- trade in general. The Mediterranean
turned, reconquered the Balkan countries, became more and more a rather dangerous
and finally turned their arms against Con- cul de sac, with a considerable coasting
stantinople. The fall of this city in 1453 trade, it is true, but one that lacked con-
marks not only the end of the Byzantine tinental importance ;
in fact, the former
Empire, but also that of Western European centre of the maritime com-
dominion in the Levant. The Genoese merce of the world became
f th
abandoned their colonies on the Black Sea transformed into a permanent
Mediterranean . , .
4059
WESTERN THE
EUROPE IN COMMERCE
THE MIDDLE OF THE
AGES NATIONS II
*
,
tne ^6
-.,
to ta ^ e
ranean Upper Germany, the Rhenish
:
upon their
shoulders the
provinces,what is now Belgium (Flanders economic guardianship of the Germanic,
and Brabant), and North-eastern France. Letto-Slavic, or Finnic, races of the north
These central regions, with their large and east of Europe as an unavoidable
resources, their dense populations, al- historical necessity. The fact that these
ready divided on an orderly social system, isolated, loosely united city communities,
and their far-reaching lines of communi- left by the emperor and the empire to their
cation, held the commerce of Europe fast own devices, and torn by the feuds of the
to its old continental routes and stations. nobility, were able to undertake such a
If the commercial position of Italy task was due to the influence of the
was founded upon the idea of world German Hansa. Nevertheless, the story
commerce that is to say, the importation of the Hanseatic League seldom furnishes
of the natural products of the tropics us with a cause for indulging in that
The Sources
mto ^ ands ^ a more temperate enthusiasm which, according to Goethe,
zone, her is the best thing we
of Italiai supreme position in get from history.
Supremacy
^e European markets was also Certain bourgeois romanticists with re-
due to her own subtropical publican tendencies have not only en-
products, and even more so to her indus- veloped the Hansa in a deceptive lustre,
trial activity, which rested upon Byzan- but have applied to it terms that, like the
tine-Oriental foundations. To a still set phrases of epics, have been
repeated
greater extent the economic importance over and over again in works intended
and prosperity of the central countries to popularise history. Some of these
of Europe depended on manufacture regularly recurrent expressions, such as
4060
BEGINNINGS OF WESTERN COMMERCE
" " "
grand and
noble," are, perhaps, the In the economically undeveloped coun-
could be found in the
least applicable that triesfrom which the Normans had once
whole language, if the general policy and emigrated, or in which they had settled,
activity of the Hansa are to be charac- commercial representatives of distant
terised by them. nations of higher culture discovered a
The connected history of the northern sphere of trade the possession of which
seas, and, in part, that of the lands whose could not be disputed, at least with any pros-
shores are washed by their waters, begins pect of success, by the native inhabitants.
with the expeditions of the. Vikings, ,_,. _,
I he Germans w
The regions into which the
.
,
It is well known that
., ,
about 750-1050. , Vikings had rpenetrated and
as Leaders ,, ,,**. , , , , ,
the northern home of the Vikings, prac- eleventh the only point in favour of the
tically unknown to Europe until modern Germans was the fact that no other
ti mes Old Icelandic, the lan- European nation was as yet sufficiently
Wh >
Vikin^s
th *
& ua e ^ ^
e Eddas, developed mature to undertake the position of leader
Sailed to
from the primitive Norse tongue. in the northern sphere of commerce.
T,, /"vij XT
Ihe Old
Norwegian spread England was the first northern country
from Norway over the Faroes, Hebrides, of Europe with which the Germans entered
Orkney and Shetland Islands and the North into an over-sea mercantile relationship.
of Scotland, extending as far as the Isle of A statute of the reign of Ethelred the
Man and Ireland, where it was preserved Unready enumerated the taxes paid by
until the fourteenth century, and on the German merchants in return for the privi-
Orkney and Shetland Islands even as late lege of participating in the London market.
as the close of the eighteenth century. Documentary evidence of the existence of
The Danish, on the other hand, which had an association of Cologne merchants in
been introduced into Eastern and Southern London has come down to us from
England during the ninth century, had the twelfth century. King Henry II.
already disappeared in the eleventh ; took these traders under his protection,
and the native speech of the Normans nor did it matter in what part of the
who settled on the Lower Seine had been country they settled in other documents
;
replaced entirely by French about the their wine trade is spoken of on the same
year 1000. In like manner, Old Swedish, footing with the French, and their London
introduced into Russia at the end of the house is mentioned. Richard I., on his
ninth century, continued its existence there _ return to England by way of
only until the beginning of the eleventh. rchants in Cologne after his imprison-
That the Scandinavians, relatively few London m granted f ree dom from
., ,
in number, should, together with their customs and taxes, as well as
language and customs, be absorbed into the privilege of trading in English markets,
the more powerful and highly civilised to the Cologne merchants. Whether
stationary populations of the wide areas other Rhenish and Westphalian towns
of northern colonisation, was of itself a shared the rights of the Cologne Hansa, and
proof that reinforcements were ceasing to what extent, is not known to a certainty.
to arrive from the mother country, and At all events the merchants of Cologne,
that the migration of the Northmen was when a joint association
in later times, of
gradually coming to an end. German tradesmen had been formed in
4061
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
England, had their peculiar rights and century outstripped by a commercial
privileges confirmed by the English kings ; association that later became of great
the special aims and endeavours of Cologne importance to the Germans as a model ;
made their appearance again and again, this was the London Hansa of Flemish
even after it had become a member of the and Northern French towns. These were
common German Hansa. the same cities that had also appeared
The policy of the Plantagenet kings was as a chartered association at the fairs of
favourable to foreign merchants. Inasmuch Champagne and Brie, the greatest markets
as the one point of view from existing at the time there was, in fact,
Why England s.which ;
,
v
Kings
*
Favoured A
i i_
,
i
, ,
,1 TI/T-JJI
rulers of the Middle no difference whatever between the London
"
looked upon commerce Hansa and the Hansa of the Seventeen
Traders Ages
A ,. -,
Alien "
was that of their own profit, Cities known to the French fairs. The
it was quite natural that the English London League was by no means a mere
Henrys and Edwards should make use of association of Flemish merchants who
foreign traders as objects of taxation traded in England that is, it was no
;
ever one desired. Even before However, this association pursued other
commercial relationships had been esta- objects characteristic of its purely mer-
blished between England and the north- cantile and undemocratic nature. In
east of Germany, the foreign merchant in accordance with mutual agreements, the
England was already possessed of rights true producers of the cloth, the craftsmen,
and privileges that in the course of time were excluded from the right of purchasing
had come to be looked upon as indisput- wool as well as from that of selling the
able. The Cologne Hansa, with its limited finished product thus the merchants were
;
or local character, was during the thirteenth to retain all the profit, not only from the
4062
BEGINNINGS OF WESTERN COMMERCE
domestic but also from the foreign indus- the shortest and least dangerous route to
tries. The capitalists naturally looked the markets of Central and Northern
with contempt upon the man who lived Europe, and found it in the overland
by the labour of his dye-stained hands. route through Germany. Once more there
Only such men as had ceased to ply their was an accumulation of goods in the
trade as craftsmen for the space of a year Flemish towns and at the French fairs, and
and a day were eligible to the position of not till then was there an unrestricted
magistrate in their native villages, and and general distribution. Like the
later to the right of purchasing a member- ancient world, the world of
ship in the Hansa. The purchase-money the Middle Ages paid the
amounted to nearly seven and a quarter balance of its account with
dollars;
on the other hand, the son of a the merchants of the tropics
member of the league had to pay but in gold. It was due to the ingenuity
one and a quarter dollars. The Flemish of the Italians that this balance dimin-
Hansa in London, which flourished during ished in ratio to the total of exchange
the thirteenth century, was not so much until in the fifteenth century the produce
injured in after years by the German of European, and after the sixteenth
Hansa, modelled after it, as by the English century that of American, mines ren-
Staple Guild and the Company of Mer- dered the flowing of precious metals into
chant Adventurers that sought to make the tropics, whence there was no return,
the trade in cloth and wool national and almost imperceptible. In their transac-
to wrest it from the hands of the foreigners. tions with eastern countries, with the
Another type of mercantile association, Byzantine Empire and the Mohammedan
which as early as the twelfth century had states, all of which had either an un-
begun to extend its influence over the satisfactory gold standard or a double
central and northern nations of the conti- standard of gold and silver, the Italians,
nent, developed in the South of Europe. Provencals, and Catalonians rapidly de-
er iny s
, Ever since the time of the veloped their methods of trade and their
Crusades the stream of In- knowledge of financial affairs far in ad-
Lxclusion from .. ,
.. 1T , ,.
"
routes of the world's commerce, for this the Commenda," the original form of the
"
was the period of a quadrangle of later silent company," as well as of
routes unfortunate for Germany the all forms of commission trade, and the
" "
Mediterranean, French, Baltic-North Sea, open company to these the stock
;
and Russian. Germany suffered severely company, which arose from the various
because of her unfavourable situation in shipping societies and associations of state
respect to the routes of the world's com- creditors, was added in the fourteenth cen-
merce until well into the twelfth century.
8
tury. Such companies were
There can be no doubt that it is right to established not only in Italy
Mb! but also in foreign lands,
ascribe the economic backwardness of Ger-
Middle Ages , T~
where some ofr the largest
,
to the fact that she was so long excluded the Middle Ages the personal presence of
from a share in the world's commerce. the merchant himself was required.
But during the twelfth and thirteenth The Italians established their consulates
centuries a rapid change set in. The in Northern Europe as they had in the
products of the south that had been ac- East they occupied their own quarters
;
cumulating in the Italian markets sought and met together at certain fixed places
4063
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
in the foreign city, just as on the Rialto, or the more fit for a systematic extortion on
in the loggias of their own guild halls. The the part of the state, and for various
beginnings of the modern stock exchange other plunderings exercised at times of
may be perceived in these assemblies, in special need, until they were finally
which business concerning money and driven away and banned for all time.
bills of exchange was usually transacted. The Jews were especially unfortunate in
It is certain that the Italians, or Lom- England, where they were forced to sub-
bards as they were generally called, would mit to all manner of indignities from the
Money-lending
have been able to remain power which was supposed to protect
in ford countr ies Undis- them during the reigns of the early
Forbidden i j j -j.u L u
~. ..
. turbed and without being Plantagenet kings their final expulsion
;
to Christians , ,, , x ,, ,
followed in 1290 under Edward I.
,
was the boundary line that separated ous throughout the whole of Europe, bv
Christian from non-Christian, the barrier whom not only natives of Cahors, but
set by an age of natural economy, also Southern Europeans in general, are
thoughtful of the defence of the weak to be understood, finally gave their name
and of the consuming masses against to usurers of all nationalities. As
"
the advancing age of money, capitalism, W. Ashley says in
J. his English
and international trade. So strong was Economic History and Theory," the
the instinct of self-preservation in the Caorsini first came to England in the year
"
social organism based on natural economy 1235 as papal merchants" that is to
that religion itself was called upon for say, as individuals ready to offer a helping
protection the Church
; sought to hand in the collection of papal revenues,
enforce its prohibition against taking and also to assist in sending them to
interest on loans of money by threatening Rome. Forthis reason it was
the severest penalties. Still, at the difficult to attack the Cahorsins ;
Edict teat
*
time when the Southern Europeans came Failed
.
nevertheless, they, and par-
j.- 1 ji C- t t
to the North, lending money at interest, ticularly the Sienese a proof of
or, as it was indifferently called, the wide application of the term even
usury, was already in full operation. at that early time were exiled from
Forbidden to the Christians, it became England by King Henry III. in 1240.
a field for the commercial activities of However, the edict proved futile they ;
the Jews, who were also active in mer- remained in the country, acquired pro-
cantile pursuits. perty, and successfully pursued a business
In fact, the very time that the
at identical with that of the Jewish usurers.
commerce Southern Europe was in
of Not until the foundation of the great
the act of expanding over the central Lombard houses in the fourteenth century
and north-western portions of the con- by the name Lombards, Italians in
tinent, the financial dominion of the general, and particularly Florentines, are to
Jews was beginning to break down be understood were the earlier Cahorsin
under the burden of a detestation usurers driven into the background. The
which had arisen not only from religious new banking-houses of the Bardi, Peruzzi,
but also from economic motives. Thus Frescobaldi, etc., when Edward III. was
the Lombards came forward in place of no longer able to fulfil his obligations in
The Jews
the Jews. With their superior 1339, madeto the crown the loan which
,, j j
~ . .
capital they succeeded
i
al- was destined to have such an influence
Oppressed in /. , .
-. . most immediately
J in control-
England , .
Under Henry II., about 1180, the English that Cologne had become weakened by
standard returned to the full- domestic disturbances, and consequently
SttndLd &*
Carlovingian pound; was no longer able to offer opposition to
in England
the silver penny, the single
.
the common German policy of the Baltic
current coin, was struck, not capitals, the three leagues were incor-
according to the previously accepted porated into one league and the three
West Prankish or French standard of depots into one depot in 1282.
lighter weight (livre Tournois), but accord- From this time forth the meeting-
ing to the heavier East Prankish, or place of German merchants in London"
German standard, which had been and England in general was the Steel-
"
retained in Germany since the time of yard on the Thames, a collection of
Charlemagne 240 pence to the pound,
: storehouses and offices which the suc-
the penny having the weight of 32 grains cessors of the Hansa, known even in
of wheat (22 i grains). Compared to the modern times as the Hanse towns, did not
standard penny, pound, mark and shilling abandon until 1853. The Steelyard was
were mere units of reckoning until the surrounded by high walls, in which the
time of the Tudors. This heavy penny heavy gates were kept carefully locked
of East Prankish standard was called the for fear of attacks. The side facing the
"
sterling penny." Thames was open ;
a flight of steps led
Butat the end of the twelfth century down to the river ;
a wharf with a crane
the Easterlings themselves, the inhabi- aided in the unloading of goods that
tants of the German colonial lands which were brought directly to the
*
had developed on the shores of the Baltic, on sea-going vessels.
Met depot
began to visit England. They mu=,t Magazines, cellars, offices, and
in London j H- i_ -A.
i j.i_
have risen to power within a very few dwelling-houses lay within the
years, for the old-established and privi- peaceful cloister-like enclosure a monastic
;
"
leged Cologne Hansa, the Guild hall," discipline ruled as well among temporary
opposed them with such violence that the visitors as among the officials, who were
burghers of Liibeck appealed for help to bound to remain at their posts unmarried
the Emperor Frederic II., who repri- for ten years. It was only in the great hall,
manded the Cologne association, giving the common dining-room, and in the
" "
them to understand that the new arrivals Rhenish wine-house that signs of a
had the sarne right to be in England more joyful life were to be seen.
4065
Louvain Hotel de Ville
Novgorod but also in Riga, Vitebsk, and head of the cities of Livonia, also strove
Smolensk, show that along all the great to obtain the leading place.
rivers and their watersheds merchants from During the thirteenth century the
Liibeck and Wisby had made their way. relations between the German merchants
The German and Gotland mer- and the Russians repeatedly became so
ussta
chants who established them- strained that the cities of Germany were
Monopoly
selves east of the Baltic region
,. , ,
, . .
,
l compelled to exercise the sharpest coercive
did not obtain free rights of measure at their disposal, the interdiction
settlement as in England, for the Russian of trade that is to say, the suspension of
merchants, organised into associations, and all business with the penalised country.
assured of the support of the native popu- This took place, for example, in 1268
lation, which was hostile to foreigners, 1269. Inasmuch as the Russians finally
never lost their grasp of the monopoly of yielded to the demands of the Germans,
domestic trade. The native retail dealers, the voyages to Novgorod were resumed in
and even the Prince of Novgorod himself, 1270. Liibeck first obtained the leader-
were compelled to avail themselves of the ship, to which it now laid claim in all
services of Russian middlemen in their regions, in the eastern sphere of German
transactions with foreign merchants. Only commercial activity. After the embargo
the Church traded directly with the on trade with Russia was renewed, in 1278,
foreigners. Liibeck contracted an alliance with the
Nowhere the Germans en-
else did Germans of Gotland and the merchants of
counter such a task from the very
difficult Riga against all countries that were in a
beginning as in Novgorod. The constant position to injure the traffic from the
dangers to which they were exposed Trave to Novgorod, one of the numerous
demanded of them the closest of union and leagues formed by cities of
the strictest of discipline. The oldest list various regions, and dissolved
in
of the house-rules of the German yard, and renewed at intervals, until
Sweden
the often enlarged and altered Novgorod in the fourteenth century they
"
Skra," was drawn up in the fourteenth assumed a more settled character. In
century. At first the superintendents"
of general, even in later times the lesser
the St. Peter's depot, the two alder- alliances were more important and effec-
men," were elected from the winter or tual than the great league of all cities
summer voyagers to Novgorod, irrespec- engaged in the German northern trade,
tive of the city from which they came. called by preference the Hanseatic League,
The profits of the depot were sent to the and always more theoretical than real.
St. Peter's chest of St. Mary's Church in Liibeck and Baltic North Germany did
Wisby, and in all doubtful points of law not long remain content with their
appeal was made to the council of Ger- successes in Wisby and Novgorod alone.
mans in Gotland. During the course of In the thirteenth century relations with
the thirteenth century the city of Liibeck the Scandinavian kingdoms had become
won a signal victory over her rival in of the greatest importance.
acquiring the management of the Nov- Commercial development progressed far
gorod depot. From this time forth the more smoothly in Sweden than in other
.... , posts of aldermen were alter-
S
countries. Some time after the Germans
Da of
na-tely held by merchants of had first set foot in Gotland and Oeland
Liibeck and Wisbv. The they settled in Sweden itself, and ob-
Prosperity re i i ,
j MI
officials elected were responsible tained for themselves in the new cities, just
to their mother cities only, although the then beginning to develop, a position of
chief aldermen had power over life and
complete equality with the native popula-
death. The profits of the association were tion. Stockholm, the new capital, founded
sent to Liibeck, and the high court of the in the twelth century, was decidedly
league at this city, the authority of which German in character. German merchants
was supreme over the entire Baltic supplied the Swedes with luxuries from
colonial region, became the final court of the south, worked the mines of Atvida and
appeal for the Novgorod depot also. Falun on their own account, and bought
4068
THE COMMERCE OF THE NORTH
up the iron of the forest smithies. By the commercial associations were to be looked
end of the thirteenth century they pos- upon as privileged individuals became
sessed important privileges, such as ex- firmly rooted in that country also. Al-
emption from taxes, rights of settlement, though trade in Denmark itself was of but
protection against the rights of wreckage little importance, the right to settle in
and against piracy. But the land was poor, Schonen, a Danish dependency in Southern
and trade was consequently very slight. Sweden, was of the very greatest value to
Relations with Denmark, which never the merchant. The southern coast of
ceasedits endeavours to obtain Sweden was the centre of the herring
Commercial
dominion Qver the Baltic, were fishery carried on by Lubeck and its
l 1 ns
. far of
greater importance, Baltic neighbours, as well as by Bremen,
of Lubeck,,,
c
u , j. .
'
although more subject to dis- Hamburg, and the seaports of the Low
turbances. Denmark's claim to commercial Countries. Smoked or salt fish formed
power was supported chiefly by her the chief article of the inland trade of these
geographical situation and extension. In- cities. Moreover, the Baltic herring was
asmuch as the Danes were in possession of a valuable commodity even in foreign
the provinces of Schonen and Halland, in markets in those days of strict ecclesiastical
Southern Sweden, they dominated the fasting regulations. The great fishing settle-
waterways leading from the North Sea to ments were situated in the neighbourhood
the Baltic. They were able to open and of Skanor and Falsterbo, then flourishing
close the straits to the dwellers on the trading places, although now almost
North Sea who desired to exclude Lubeck unknown. Gustav Freytag has described
and the other Baltic ports from the North the life at the fishing towns as follows :
Sea, and in like manner they could either There, on the shore between the castles of
bar or unlock the Sound and the Great Skanor and Falsterbo the Germans had marked
off the land over which their rights extended,
Belt to the Easterlings. Hence it became
and where the banners of their cities waved, from
one of the earliest endeavours of Lubeck Danish territory by a moated rampart and
an endeavour never abandoned and Each city or company
palisade.
never achieved, except for a few brief Life at had its own station, or " vitte,"
the Fishing measured out to it in rods on the
intervals to obtain possession of the
Towns valuable ground, and each station
straits in order to keep the western races was in turn surrounded by poles
out of the Baltic, and the Gotlanders, and, bearing the coat of arms of its owners.
if possible, the merchants of all German-
Within each vitte stood the stone houses in
which the herrings were smoked and salted,
Baltic seaports, out of the North Sea. the piles of wooden casks, and the huts for
Lubeck desired to monopolise the entire fishermen and labourers and each was governed
;
trade between the two seas, to be the one according to the law of its own city, administered
centre of all commerce carried on between by a merchant of standing, appointed annually.
The superintendence of the whole was in the
the east and west of Northern Europe. hands of the Prefect of Lubeck, except that
Since the straits between the North Sea capital cases were reserved to the representative
and the Baltic were not seldom impassable, of the King of Denmark. All details were
Lubeck fell back on her favourable regulated according to a certain standard, the
size of the casks, the length of the fish the
geographical location, and rendered the
;
our with their nets in the sea day and night, and for
the Germans rupted waterway, quite large the night haul torches blazed along the entire
enough to accommodate the coast. On the shore, rope-makers and coopers
moderate-sized vessels used in the Middle laboured, and the merchant stored away his
goods in the wooden huts. There, between
Ages, stood at the disposal of commerce. mountains of fish, in the midst of salt and smoke,
In the course of the thirteenth century most
the costly wares of the Continent- silks
the Danish kings granted, at first to single and wines of the South, cloth of the Low Coun-
cities, and later to merchants from all tries, and spices of the Orient were sold as at a
parts of the German Empire, exemption great fair. The hastily freighted vessels made
three trips each season to the mainland and back ;
from wreckage rights, tolls, and taxes. at the beginning of each October the shores were
Thus the idea that members of German again deserted.
4069
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
In Norway, the classic home of the Bruges was frequently seriously disturbed
Vikings, the stormy impulses of bygone by conflicts of the different social classes
centuries were gradually disappearing at of the city, and by feuds with both
the time of the development of the German domestic and foreign rulers.
Hansa. Foreigners Englishmen, Frisians, Bruges was indebted to the relative
and Low Germans brought to Norway, proximity of the sea for its commercial
as poor in population as in products, prosperity. It was connected with Sluys
the petty wares for which its inhabitants as well as with Damme by waterways.
could afford to pay. The fisheries also The harbour of Sluys was shallow
,
. _
Market Town
commerce was at -r> J.-L
Bruges, the
,.
Countries by sea. From time immemorial
,
Europe. In all countries the finally united all the towns of Germany
*
merchants of single cities first that were engaged in trade in the north
dTh
received rights and privileges, and bad common commercial privileges
until, finally, the total of these to defend.
special rights was transferred to the great Before the end of the thirteenth century
companies of German traders. The leagues of German cities whose merchants
necessity for preserving their privileges, were engaged in foreign trade had been
and also for settling all disputes among formed. The history of this century
themselves without invoking the aid of was characterised by a strong tendency
foreign powers, led to a closer union of the towards federation. The decay of im-
merchants whose homes were in the perial power under the later Hohen-
"
Empire of the Alemanni," but who lived stauffens compelled many cities threatened
abroad temporarily, and to the formation by warlike nobles to join together for the
of self-governing associations, which re- protection of their political rights and
mained fixed, in contrast to the constant economic interests. The majority of the
changes that took place among their mem- leagues were limited in area or time,
bers. All these companies, yards, and
ec although easily renewed when-
offices retained their independence in , ever necessary. Since the fall
'
respect to the mother city as long as of Henr y the Lion there had
Advene?
they were able. They had the power of been no ruler in North Germany
refusing entrance to whom they chose ; capable of offering opposition to a foreign
there was yet no union of all the towns enemy. The empire left the North to
engaged in foreign trade. its late when Waldemar the Great ex-
In spite of this, however, in the thirteenth tended his power over the Baltic and the
century common interests developed be- new colonial regions. This advance of
tween the mercantile settlements in foreign Denmark was checked by a league of
lands and the cities from which they came. which Liibeck also was a member the ;
Indeed, the privileges were never granted battle of Bornhoved secured room for
by foreign rulers to individual merchants, development to the German Baltic regions
but to the mercantile inhabitants or for many years.
corporations of their native cities. During the following years of peace the
Moreover, appeal was made to the courts towns and principalities of Northern Ger-
at home on all difficult points many rapidly increased in the
" strength
;
Where the "
of law, and it was not seldom Dominium maris Baltici and supremacy
Trader had
that the mother cities, whose in Northern European commerce was
Security
co-operation was y indispens- transferred to the Germans. Now began
able, especially in laying embargoes on the long list of leagues and compacts
trade and in bringing about temporary entered into by cities bound together by
removals of depots, were called upon for common interests, and whole groups of
assistance. However displeasing it may communities closely united by common
have been to the self-governing unions of interests were established. As early as
merchants in foreign lands, the fact was 1241 Liibeck and Hamburg had entered
259 4071
4072
RISE OF THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE
into treaty, pledging each other to
a assemblies, by inscribing names of
protect the entrance to the Elbe and other members in a common roll, by statutes,
rivers from pirates. As allies, they waged ordinances, and bylaws, she gradually
war in 1259 anc^ cleared the coasts of the attained this ideal ;
but in spite of the
sea-robbers. Other cities had at times glamour that can be exercised by a name
made similar alliances. But each city or a conception, even by a dream, there
went its way, and often at critical moments was no Hanseatic assembly that can be
would adopt a policy different from that proved to have been attended by all
of its allies. This was sometimes due to the cities, no resolution by
ce
compulsion ; for all the towns were not f Md which a11 the towns usuall y
free cities of the empire, but were under considered Hanseatic were
some reigning house, and at best were bound, no membership roll
only semi-independent. The Pomeranian in accordance with which regular contri-
towns were under the dukes, Rostock butions flowed in from all sides, no
belonged to the house of Schwerin, Ham- universally recognised statute, no common
burg to the counts of Holstein, and so policy of defence, and no war in which all
with many others. the members were engaged.
Then there were the great ecclesiastical In short, the so-called Hanseatic
citiesgoverned by bishops or archbishops. League was a union of cities, similar
No general bond was possible in such in every respect to the union of German
circumstances. The cities were involved states called the Holy Roman Empire.
in the wars and quarrels of their rulers. The same tendency to the grand style
They struggled for a position of direct was shown not only in the artistic, but
relation to the empire, and in time under also in the political and economic, models
this constitutional demand they won of this age. The misconception into
many privileges and immunities, but until which the majority of modern historians
the Treaty of Westphalia their place in have fallen arises from the fact that they
the imperial economy was ill- all attempt to measure the mediaeval
The r t
the question for her. Liibeck as a free East, by Reval and Narva.
imperial city was superior to her confed- Although the territorial groups of cities
erates only from a diplomatic point of held their convocations with or with-
view, for the reason that she was not out inviting neighbour groups, Liibeck
exposed to the hampering paternal inter- endeavoured to convert the assemblies of
ference of a reigning prince. This circum- the Lusatian towns into meetings of all the
stance heightened the reputation of the confederated cities taking part in foreign
city on the Trave even in foreign lands. trade, and to transform these Hanseatic
The Hansa cannot be likened to a Hel- "
conventions, or Hansetage," into periodic-
lenic League, not merely because of the ally recurrent administrative and legisla-
weakness of the leading power, but by tive bodies of the league. Many such con-
reason of the dependence of the individual ventions were held, not only in Liibeck,
cities of the union. The Greek federations but in other cities. Liibeck issued the
were alliances of cities which were over
the city leagues of
How the Hansa invitations, presided
independent states ;
the sittings of delegates,
Applied
the Middle Ages, especially the Hansa, and preserved the minutes
the Boycott
were associations of towns, all subject to as well as the other records
an emperor, and, with but few exceptions, of the federation. In very few cases, how-
to an immediate lord as well thus they
; ever, were all the invitations accepted ;
were never in a position to act inde- and very few assemblies were attended by
pendently except when the power of the a sufficient number of delegates to deserve
ruling prince had been overthrown. the name of Hansetage. Full attendance
The Prussian towns, for example, were in was impossible, owing to the fluctuating
the iron grasp of the Teutonic Knights for character of the federation ;
in short, the
a century and a half, and had no oppor- meetings of the league were in every
tunity for self-dependent action until the respect counterparts to the imperial diets
fall of the order as a power. Membership of the Middle Ages.
in the Hansa was of no benefit either to a The only means at the disposal of
town or to its confederates, in case the the Hansa for the purpose of coercing
policy and interests of a feudal superior refractory
"
members was the boycott, or
imposed upon it a definite and unalterable Verhansung" the suspension, nay, the
attitude in regard to political affairs. prevention, of all traffic with the city in
When asked what were the character- question, the seizure of its ships, cargoes,
istic features by which a Hanse and other possessions, and the exclusion of
a urcs
town was to be recognised, we its inhabitants from the common rights
of the Hanse ,,
_ ,
their chartered rights behind them, they sucn an en d in mind that Count
th B it'
wearied their enemies into submission. Gerhard of Plon built a tower
The Hanseatic envoys were indebted at the mouth of the Trave in defiance of
for not the least part of their diplomatic Liibeck, just as Waldemar II had already
successes to the advantage which results done Count Gerhard also occupied the
;
from a narrow line of thought, and per- region of commercial roads between Ham-
sistency in always returning to the point burg and Liibeck in 1306, in order to rob the
of departure. merchants by compelling them to pay him
That the Hanse leagues made such for the escorts which he forced upon them.
headway during the fourteenth century, During the same period the Ascanian
and that any practical results were at- line of Brandenburg once more, as in
tained, was due entirely to their enemies. 1283, advanced against the Lusatian
They were drawn into the affairs of the cities and the Pomeranian princes, who
Scandinavian kingdoms against their will, immediately looked to Denmark for help.
and war alone assisted them to the degree The lords of Mecklenburg and Pomerania
of unity of which they were capable. It could not do otherwise than 'acknowledge
may be said to their credit that they pos- the suzerainty of Denmark Rostock, ;
s
about to set, was again, a by his retainers, that so he might have
decade later, playing the leading part in the right to exact enforced contributions
all negotiations with the northern rulers from the burghers. As for the fabulous
and the German lords. wealth of Wisby, an old song has it that
" "
De grote Ghert was murdered at the Gotlanders measured gold by the
Randers in 1340 when at the height of his hundredweight, that precious stones were
power and to this day the Danes sing
; playthings, that the women span with
the praises of his assassin, Niels Ebbenson, golden distaffs, and that the pigs were
as the avenger of their nation and their given to drink out of silver troughs. The
deliverer from the ignominy of foreign last especially seem to have fired the
rule. Christopher's youngest son, Walde- imaginations of the Danish ironsides who
mar IV., Atterdag,now took possession followed Waldemar on his plundering
of the kingdom, supported by the Lusatian expedition. The king of the Danes and
group, which also aided him in expelling Wends henceforth styled himself king of
the Holstein nobility and in forcing the the Goths or Gotlanders also. But the
counts of Schauenburg back across the prosperity of Gotland had vanished, never
Eider. Waldemar regained possession of to return. However, it is quite
Vanished
Zealand and Fiinen, and successfully with- certain that Wisby could not
Prosperity of
stood the Emperor Charles IV. when, after haye CQntinued to ma i nta in
Gotland ., ir f
,
dissolved on the Peace of Helsingborg, years' alliance with the princes of Sweden,
in 1365 each city wished to procure some
; Mecklenburg, and Holstein, who were
special advantage for itself, yet none opponents of Waldemar, and also a league
received any definite promises from Walde- for one year with the cities of Prussia and
mar, not to speak of tangible concessions. the Netherlands.
The impulse towards a fresh alliance In the year 1368 the allies captured
against Denmark arose in the Prussian Copenhagen and the strongholds of Jut-
towns, which could not dispense with the land and Schonen, with the exception of
passage through the Sound, and had a Helsingborg, which held out against them
close community of interest with the cities until the autumn of 1369. A blockade,
of the Zuyder Zee region, of which the through which the English and Flemings
centre was Kampen in Oberyssel. The also were excluded from Norway, compelled
allied cities of Prussia and the Netherlands Haakon to negotiate for peace and since the
;
4077
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
confederation in 1369, Liibeck representing enter the ports of Norway flying their own
the cities. Peace was declared in 1370, at a flags, which they were not required to
convention in Stralsund. This consisted of lower until landing.
two series of agreements one economic The Treaties of Stralsund and Korsor
and commercial, and the other political. secured the rights of the Hanse towns in
"In respect to the first, the Hansa obtained Denmark for many generations, and,
practically all the demands that had con- with the exception of the pledging of the
stantly been made, now by one city, now by castles on the Sound, which was only
another, during the last for fifteen years, were on the whole faith-
Conditions "
free- trade fully preserved until the outbreak of the
-
half century
of the Peace of
throughout the whole of Thirty Years War. The negotiations at
Stralsund
Denmark, freedom from Kallundborg had also ended in satisfac-
strand law, their own
jurisdiction over the tory terms with Norway, and now for the
fishing-depots, in duties. To
and reductions first time the depot at Bergen began to
the political changes that resulted from the prosper. The foundations of the rights of
Peace of Stralsund belong the pledging to the Hansa were now so firmly fixed that
the league of the most important castles of the league tried to procure monopolies for
Schonen and those situated on the Sound its members in accordance with the
Falsterbo, Skanor, Malmo, and Helsingborg general aims and purposes of all privi-
together with the payment of two-thirds leged classes and places in the Middle Ages,
of the revenues accruing to them during a who looked upon the acquisition of mono-
period of fifteen years. Waldemar was polies as the final object at which they
to recognise the peace as binding until ought to aim. So long as the Leaguers
Michaelmas, 1371, by affixing his great held the castles on the Sound this policy
seal. In case of his abdication or death, no was feasible but when the castles were
;
king was to succeed to the throne of Den- restored,monopoly was no longer possible.
mark without the approval of the Hansa. Still the Hansa by the application of
Although the princes allied with, the Union of vigorous effort won in open
Hansa v/ere not satisfied with the terms competition the predominant
Norway
of peace arranged by the towns on their position in the Baltic trade.
and Sweden r .
TT
, ,
own responsibility, they were unable to All the Hansa cities had not
continue the war unassisted, and so they joined in the Cologne Confederation, but
too came to terms with Denmark at only those whose trading interests were
Stockholm in 1371. Waldemar IV. delayed involved. The Peace of Stralsund in ap-
the ratification of the Stralsund negotia- pearance confirmed the rights of the
tions to the last moment, and finally leaguers. But of the two pledges given
sealed the treaty only with the small seal, for securing these rights, one, the right of
obtaining further concessions in addition. the Hansa to ratify succession to the
The management of the pledged castles in Danish throne, was only once exercised, and
Schonen was a source of many difficulties the other, the occupation of the castles,
to the league, the division of the revenues proved of no value, as the cost of upkeep
especially causing many disputes. When .
and of policing the sea absorbed all the
Waldemar died, in 1385, and was suc- revenues available from the occupation.
ceeded by his grandson Olaf, son of his As the league did not oppose Olaf's
younger daughter Margaret and Haakon of succession, his able mother Margaret con-
Norway, who was crowned without the firmed the Danish privileges of the Hansa.
formal assent of the Hansa, a final settle- But when Olaf succeeded Haakon of
w , ment of Hanseatic affairs Norway, in 1380, and united both crowns,
seemed probable. However, he declined to confirm the privileges of
Grandson on /-\i f j / , c ._
refused to confirm the the Hansa in Norway. Five years later,
the Thr n
Stralsund peace with the great when the castles reverted to Denmark,
seal until the Hansa had relinquished their the Hansa was reduced to its former posi-
claims to the right of ratifying the Danish tion as a purely commercial association,
succession. Negotiations of a like nature to and although negotiations went on for
those of Korsor took place in Kallundborg. years, the Hansa failed to better its status
Haakon of Norway confirmed all the privi- or to augment its rights. At Olaf's
leges which had ever been granted in his death, in 1387, Margaret played with the
kingdom to the Hansa, and, in addition, cities, cajoling and promising, but doing
granted all Hanseatic vessels the right to nothing to renew their privileges.
4078
ERA OF HANSEATIC ASCENDANCY
TO THE DECLINE OF THE GERMAN SEAPORTS
Bruges from an early date German invariably resumed in order, on the part
IN merchants had settled and opened fac- of the rising native trade, to free itself
tories. These factories obeyed the mother from the commercial ascendancy of for-
cities from which they had sprung. From eigners, especially members of the Han-
1360 to 1380 disputes arose, but the seatic League. Although at first a battle
supremacy of the mother cities was finally for the markets of England, it soon became
admitted in Bruges as elsewhere. The ^ _ a struggle for admission to
rights of the Hansa remained in full force Victor
a11 the Northern European
and effect up to 1560, when the markets fo^ England
mar kets, a that the
privilege
of Bruges were removed to Antwerp. Hanseatics would gladly enough
The success of the Hansa was due to have kept to themselves alone. The
strong measures adopted in 1358, and con- English first demanded entrance to the
tinued for a couple of years. An embargo Norwegian and Danish centres of trade,
was laid on trade and the markets were and then to the Hanse towns themselves.
temporarily removed to Dordrecht. This The struggle lasted until nearly the end of
drastic policy secured for the Hanseatic the Elizabethan Age, and closed about
traders the right of free settlement in all 1600 with the complete victory of England.
Flanders. Slight differences arose again During the reign of Richard II. a pro-
in 1388, and finally, in 1392, the Germans tracted dispute arose oh account of the
in Bruges were firmly placed in possession position taken by the Hansa in respect to
which they had
of all the trading rights for all foreigners in Norway and Schonen after
contended, and all subjects of the empire the conclusion of the Peace of Stralsund.
were made participators in The English merchants did not submit
England
Kings
s
thege .^ when settle( j ^ like the other non-German peoples. Now,
to the
Fnendlypj^^
Hansa
f s f as before, they sailed boldly into the Baltic
, T T- i j i ^T_
trade. In England also, the and obtained whatever goods they re-
position of the Hansa at the end of the four- quired without the assistance of the Han-
teenth century was becoming increasingly seatic, especially the Liibeck, middlemen.
difficult but here, too, the German cities
; The hostile attitude of the Baltic towns
succeeded in warding off all dangers. The was answered by the already mentioned
three Edwards were friendly to foreigners, temporary suspension of Hanseatic privi-
and granted them complete freedom in leges in England. In addition, the English
both wholesale and retail trade through- demanded an equality of rights in all
out the entire kingdom, even in the wool towns and districts of the Hansa. The
and metal industries. Richard II. also Germans received the usual confirmation
confirmed the rights and privileges of the of their privileges towards the end of the
Hansa shortly after his accession. But year 1380, without having granted full
dxiring the reign of this weak sovereign reciprocity to the English. The dispute
the national hostility to the commercial _ that followed, made all the
e
dominion of foreigners, which until that more acute through seizures
with Bailie .
time had been held in abeyance, arose and embargoes, lasted until
s
in full force. The House of Commons, 1388. From this time forth the
as the representative of the people, in- English enjoyed free trade with the Baltic
duced the king to suspend all the privi- seaports. Their merchants organised ac-
leges of the Hansa until the latter had cording to Hanseatic models, and elected
cleared itself of various charges preferred an alderman whose duty was to adjust
against it. This was the beginning of a differences and to represent the interests
long struggle, frequently interrupted, but of his countrymen in all their dealings
4079
with foreigners. Although bickering still in addition, disturbed the sphere of
continued between Englishmen and Ger- Western European maritime commerce
mans, even after the agreement of 1388, from their new headquarters in Friesland.
the position of the latter in England re- Once more the Hansa was obliged to unite
mained unaltered. The first of the Lan- its merchant vessels bound for the Nether-
castrian kings, Henry IV., confirmed the lands into fleets of about twenty ships
charters of the Hanseatics on their agreeing each, accompanied by convoy boats.
to an increase in certain customs duties, a Although the league vainly endeavoured
indispensable to the. to obtain the assistance of the cities of
The Growmg procedure
well . being of the government Flanders, a squadron despatched from
pc
, !f The chief feature of Hanseatic- Liibeck and Hamburg proved strong
English relations did not lie in enough to defeat the Vitalienbriider in the
the recognition of former privileges, but in Ems, in April, 1400. Some of the free-
the fact that the league was compelled to booters fled to Norway, others sought
grant free play to the growing sea-power refuge with the counts of Holland but ;
of England, even while the latter was Hamburg continued her campaign against
only beginning to develop. the pirates until, finally, the chief of the
Towards the end of the fourteenth cen- buccaneers, Klaus Stortebeker, was cap-
tury the Baltic was finally freed from the tured and executed an often-sung event
plague of pirates brought down upon it by that has long been retained in the memory
the war of the Swedish succession. Long of a people otherwise forgetful enough in
after Albert had been set free and Stock- regard to historical occurrences.
holm handed over to the Hansa as a pledge, Nevertheless, piracy on the North Sea
" "
the Vitalienbriider had continued their continued, and also the name of the Vitalien-
marauding expeditions, still remaining in briider, who for many years enjoyed a
the service of the House of Mecklenburg, second period of prosperity under the self-
which had not yet abandoned all hopes chosen designation Likendeeler, or "equal-
of regaining possession of the Swedish sharers." The occupation of
crown. However, the Vitalienbriider Gotland b y the Teutonic Order
thTreutonic
e c
removed their headquarters to Wisby, n
Order
was a source of great anxiety*
, TT . , ,
although the greater part of Gotland to the Hansa, for the order
continued under the dominion of Margaret. with which the non-Prussian cities of the
They also found places of refuge in the Baltic sought to stand upon as good terms
Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia, and even as possible for the sake of their common
on the coast of Pomerania, but Rostock interests pursued its own special aims, and
and Wismar closed their harbours to them. was a very untrustworthy ally moreover,
;
They were of the greatest injury to the itopposed the union of the three northern
associated German merchants. The situa- kingdoms, and challenged Margaret of
tion suddenly became altered when the Denmark to battle for the political supre-
Teutonic Order brought Wisby and the macy of the Baltic.
rest of Gotland under its jurisdiction in This caused the Hanse towns, hitherto
1398. Inasmuch as the Lusatian cities neutral, considerable embarrassment.
had just then
completed their preparations Should they take part in the struggle
for attacking the freebooters, and had between the two powers, or should they,
agreed on the raising of a war tax, and as formerly, let events take their course, in
since the queen of the three northern order to be in a position to offer their ser-
kingdoms had also taken steps against vices as mediators when the right moment
them, the Vitalienbriider left arrived ? The Teutonic Order would not
Pirates
in'the'
their Baltic hiding-place for the be turned from its design of occupying
North Sea
North Sea, which they now Gotland, and its commercial policy im-
made the scene of an activity mediately proved dangerous to the Hansa.
that had absolutely no political motives The Prussian, and especially the Livon-
whatever behind it. ian, towns had always striven in vain for
The North Sea had always pirates of its equal rights with Wisby and Liibeck in
own, who were chiefly of Frisian origin. Novgorod. Now, as a result of an agree-
During the Hundred Years War robberies ment with Lithuania, an independent
perpetrated by French and English buc- commercial region previously open to the
caneers frequently gave the Hansa grounds Prussian group alone of the Hanse cities
for complaint. But now the Vitajienbriider, was suddenly closed to them also ; the
4089
HANSEATIC WAREHOUSES AT NOVGOROD IN RUSSIA
.
R||J
THE LEAGUE IN GERMANY: SOME OF ITS OLD WAREHOUSES AT HAMBURG
Although the relations of the two powers upon the catastrophe of Tannenberg as
soon became strained again, a fresh having been a desirable check to the
struggle culminating in the fall of the order, ambitions of the order.
this had no lasting effects either on the The ancient Greeks have told us with a
independent trade carried on by the shudder of sympathetic awe about the
Prussian towns in Lithuania and Poland, children of fortune who, lifted up by fate
or on the depot at Kovno. When the and tempted to evil by success, suddenly
old connection between the Prussian found themselves cast down into the
Order and its cities was destroyed by the depths of misery from the very zenith of
dissolution of the former, the latter did
F H an A P ros P erity- To these self-de-
'
course, which was entirely out of harmony blind powers of chance, the
with the Lusatian and general Hanseatic German Hansa certainly did not belong.
interests. The development of the federal The gods did not abruptly thrust it into
character of the Hansa was over. The the abyss after the manner in which they
system of groups of cities
territorial treated the Teutonic Order but they ;
corresponding to the general development did not permit the league to expand or to
of the German nation proved fatal to the attain to greatness they hindered its
beginnings of a common league of German progress systematically, as it were, and
towns. with a most conscientious attention to
At the very time that the antagonism detail. Fate never permitted the Germans
between the far-seeing commercial policy of the lowlands to develop their com-
of the Teutonic Order and the narrower mercial activity beyond a certain point,
trade interests of the towns subject to either in respect to privileges or to area
it was in process of widening into a gulf controlled.
that could not be bridged over, a new Even Nature herself seems to have
"
competitor for the Dominium," or, rather, taken part in this general conspiracy
the Condominium, of the Baltic appeared, a against them :
through an unlooked-for
_ ,
The Teutonic r
pretender
.
,, ~that
,
barred the way caprice she inflicted an injury on their
(
Order Order-state to the trade from which the mercantile politicians
in Danger
sea Poland-Lithuania, finally of the Baltic towns, for all their wisdom,
united in 1401 This union was
. were never able to recover. The herrings,
a greater source of danger to the Teutonic which, together with the codfish, are
Order than was that of the three northern admirable types of the most stupid of
kingdoms. It was impossible for it to gregarious animals, were, at the beginning
.live with foes on both sides, so it made of the fifteenth century, unfaithful to the
peace with the North, ceding the island regions which since the very earliest times
of Gotland, which it had retained for nine
they had been accustomed to visit for the
years, to Eric,
King of Norway, Sweden purpose of spawning. Why the herrings
and Denmark, in return for a small sum
temporarily deserted the basin ot the
4083
THE ERA OF HANSEATIC ASCENDANCY
Baltic Sea at the beginning of the troubles arose in the Hanse cities. Not
fifteenth century, "to return again and only in respect to commerce and culture,
again usually in fish-periods," lasting but politically, the northern and southern
sixty years is a question for which portions of the Holy Roman Empire stood
history has no answer. Although, in spite in sharp contrast to one another.
of its wanderings into other seas, the As in the rest of Europe, a patrician class
herring still remained a fish accustomed to had also developed in the North German
spawn on the coasts, to be caught in nets, cities, an oligarchy of the rich, who held
and to be salted, smoked, and dried, government fast in
The Patricians municipal
,_. .
.
,,
completely unconcerned as to the nation- their own hands, and laid
of the
ality of the fishermen, this was by no Hanse Towns c aim to an inherited, ex-
means a matter of indifference to the j
clusive right to the manage-
Easterlings, who were joined by com- ment of all public affairs. As time went on ,
petitors at the fisheries in the shape of the upper class became more and more
the dwellers on the North Sea coasts, now isolated from the lower ranks of the
that the herrings had turned to the waters community. It transmitted its privi-
of England, Scotland and Norway. leges by granting equal rights to its
In addition to the fisheries, there were decendants; in other words, it became a
so many different interests to be guapded distinct and separate estate. Members
"
that during the fifteenth century the of this class were called Junkers,"
Hanse towns, either singly or in groups, and exclusive assemblies and ban-
frequently found themselves involved in quets
"
were held in their residences, or
the most difficult of conflicts. As a Junkerhofen." The patrician class of
foundation for closer
union, especially the Hanse towns had arisen from the
between neighbouring there existed
cities, families of wholesale dealers, and many of
a common necessity for protecting the them still continued to carry on trade on
privileges of the municipalities and the a great scale. It was not the fact of their
Secessions
welfare of the league against
,, -,, -,,
being merchants, however, that gave them
.. the ill-will and deeds of social standing, but the possession of
from Han seat ic , .
, , ,.
,
4083
HISTORY OF THE WORL-D
the mastery, yet without being able to relations of the league with the Scandi-
retain any length of time, for the
it for navian kingdoms. In this case neutrality
Lutheran clergy were no less anti-demo- was of no service the adoption of a
cratic and reactionary than their Catholic definite position alone could secure pro-
predecessors. The old class antagonisms tection and extension of commercial
in the towns gradually ceased under the privileges in fact, it did not lie beyond
;
increasing pressure of the ruling princes the bounds of possibility for the Hansa to
and of the legislation established by them. determine the course of events through an
which now included all muni- active interference in political affairs.
t
of Class
~ ,' cipal affairs
, T
within its Jiurisdic-
,
Both in the Slavic east and in the
Quarr l
tion. Nevertheless, from the Romano-Germanic west the league was
fourteenth to the seventeenth for the most part forced to permit great
century between the different
troubles political events to run their course. Its
classes continued to lead to very serious position was one of toleration by ;
results. Hate, barbarity, and treachery, actively interfering it would merely have
with their attendant murder, execution, vainly exhausted its insufficient powers
mutilation, arson, robbery, and pillage, of coercion. The attack of King Eric on
were the chief characteristics of the town Schleswig and on the dukes of Schauen-
life of the period.
burg compelled the citizens of Hamburg to
Together with the desire for the pro- take up arms in defence of their Holstein
tection of foreign trade, the tie that pre- neighbours. The strange spectacle was
vented the Hansa from falling to pieces presented of Hamburg and the Vitalien-
until the second half of the sixteenth briider who had been persuaded to join
century was the endeavour of the patrician their forces against Denmark fighting on
classes of the various cities to uphold the same side. Liibeck avoided the
constitutions favourable to their interests. struggle from the very first, and finally
Even Bremen, intractable as she had been, was successful in bringing about peace. At
more than once expelled from the league, _,. ,this time the Hansa again took
&D *
sought help from her sister cities when the PoHc y
U P t ^ie P ^ c y of urnon which
patricians were banished in 1365. The of?r\ r
Defence
it had adopted during the wars
r r ij T -u
J.T_ i
that sentences passed in one town Confederation of 1418 was the first since
should be valid for all members of the that of Cologne in 1367. A large number
league. Cologne, Brunswick, Stralsund, of cities, in all forty-seven, became mem-
Anklam, and Dortmund were all visited by bers of the new association. Inland towns
democratic revolutions during the four- were strongly represented, and many
teenth century in Brunswick the guilds
;
cities of the Netherlands also participated.
obtained the upper hand, in spite of A definite proportion was laid down for
temporary expulsion from the Hansa and the provision of men and money, and it
trade embargoes. Also Liibeck, the chief was decided that if any town of the con-
city of the league, was compelled to employ federation were attacked, it should receive
force in suppressing a movement among assistance, first, from the four nearest
the guilds in 1380. cities of the association, later, from the
As a rule, the guilds were supported by eight nearest, and finally, if necessary,
the reigning houses in all cities governed from the entire league. The confederation
by hereditary princes. Tyranny, Csesarism, also introduced rules of arbitration, in case
and legitimate unlimited monarchy are, in of disputes between members. These
reality, democratic forces that measures were directed chiefly against such
G Ul .
s
. . assist in the destruction of princes as were hostile to the towns.
y
frinces privileged
r '
classes and profes- The confederation also adopted a very
.
T
, , -u- i
the monarchical
sions. If firm position against the democratic revo-
forms of government of the last few cen- lutionists. Agreements were also made
turies have established themselves upon as to commercial affairs ; for example,
aristocracy of birth and the possession of the exportation of grain not purchased
landed property, it has been only in order in Hanseatic ports was forbidden. This
that these qualities might be put to use, was a demonstration against the Dutch,
not because of any real necessity for them. who sought out unfrequented harbours
Hanseatic policy during the fifteenth and endeavoured dispense with the
to
and sixteenth centuries centred in the intermediate carrying trade of the Hansa.
4084
HANSE SHIPS OF THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES
4085
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Affairs in the North kept the Hanse towns, exclusive control. Scarcely able to make
especially the Lusatian group, constantly any headway in Norway, the lands of the
occupied. Liibeck was at first allied with Baltic though the Wendish cities were
King Eric VII., against whom Hamburg practically inaccessible offered them an
was already in arms. Then, through the asylum also visited by the Hollanders
obvious favour shown to the Hollanders, in Danzig. The metropolis of Prussian
to whom he opened the Sound, Eric commerce had advanced in prosperity
succeeded in alienating his former friends. with the decline of the oppressive
F
. Liibeck made war on him from dominion of the Teutonic Order. Without
of 1426 until the Peace of Word- breaking with Liibeck, the merchants of
Denmark in g b ord
in 1435. Schleswig, Danzig took their own course in regard
the bone of contention, re- to trade with Poland-Lithuania, Holland,
mained with the dukes of Schauenburg ;
and England. English merchants founded
Liibeck was enabled to lock up in her a depot on Hanseatic lines at Danzig in
strong chest a new. confirmation of the 1428, their rights being based on the
hundred years' old Hanseatic privileges. treaties cf reciprocity between England
The relations of the Hansa to the Scandi- and the league. Nevertheless Liibeck,
navian kingdoms underwent no change always ready to appeal to the law when her
when Eric was deposed in 1439 and suc- interests were threatened, was greatly
ceeded by Christopher of Bavaria, but displeased with the advance of the
complaints of the favours bestowed upon English into the Baltic regions, although
the Westerlings by Denmark became more she had little to fear from competition.
and more frequent. The commerce
of England was not yet
After Christopher's death, in 1448, developed for that.
sufficiently In fact,
Christian I. of Oldenburg, the forefather owing to the struggle with France and
of the present house of Denmark, ascended to the Wars of the Roses, England was
the Danish-Norwegian throne with the in no condition to look after her commer-
approval of the Hansa. Although Sweden -
" ec
cial interests with any great
had separated from the Union, and was . . the civil war gave the
care ;
eizes ng is
now engaged in a seven years' war with Vessels ,
a we i come opportunity
jj ansa
,. .
,,
,
the other two kingdoms, the Hansa took of mediating between the two
no part in the struggle, content with a parties, as well as of receiving payment
fresh confirmation of their valuable rights from both for apparent services. During
and privileges. Nor did they interfere these days of king-making Liibeck boldly
when, after the main line of Schauenburg ventured to seize and to lay an embargo
had become extinct in 1460, Christian I. on English ships in the Sound.
was invested with the title of Duke of A proceeding of this nature gave the
Schleswig and Count of Holstein. English government occasion to take ,
From this memorable year date the suf- violent reprisals on the Easterlings
ferings of the provinces beyond the Elbe, dwelling in Great Britain in 1468. There-
whose destinies were now united with those upon one of the weakest points of the
of Denmark. Although the Danish-Nor- Hanseatic League came to light the ;
wegian king showed no open hostility merchants of Cologne, who had always
to the Hansa, Liibeck and Hamburg looked upon themselves as the rightful
were at least sufficiently on their guard owners of the London depot and as having
to increase the height of their walls been deposed by the Easterlings, deserted
and to strengthen their towers. In their associates, established themselves
England, also, the league as the sole owners of the Steelyard, and
En lish
preserved its
* settlements and obtained documents attributing to them
Hostility to ., , .
Hansa P
rivl l e g es during the fifteenth exclusive rights over the German guild hall
the
century, although relations fre- in London.
quently became strained, once, indeed, to Hansa had decided
In the meantime the
the point of open war. The English to expel Cologne from the league and to
merchants continued their endeavour to boycott English commerce. Since not only
nationalise export and maritime trade, Henry VI. but Edward IV., on recovering
and to wrest it from the hands of foreigners ;
the throne, confirmed the possession of the
they founded a wool market at Calais, Steelyard to Cologne, the suspension from
and their mariners appeared in waters the league and the trade embargo continued
over which the Hansa claimed to have in force ; in fact, a systematic naval war
4086
THE ERA OF HANSEATIC ASCENDANCY
such as the Hansa had never before waged capable of serving as the chief market for
against England, though it had against the trade between the Northern and
Denmark, began in 1472. In February, Southern European spheres of commerce.
1474, the Peace of Utrecht was concluded The people of Bruges might have over-
between the English king and the league. come their misfortunes to a certain degree
The negotiations were conducted by the by their own exertions but nothing was
;
was not finally settled until the Tudor king- stillat their offices when Antwerp sur-
dom gained new strength, and then in a way passed Bruges as a commercial centre,
that proved fatal to German active trade. and when the trade of Europe underwent
The exasperation felt by Liibeck a revolution such as it had never ex-
The Rich
ever since the time of King Eric perienced before or since. For two
Prizes
outlived the Peace of Word- generations the Hanseatics continued
of War
ingbord, in 1435 ;
and shortly obdurate, singing the while the litany of
after, in the year 1437, war broke out their inalienable rights, until, finally,
between the Easterlings and Westerlings. they also emigrated to Antwerp, and,
Each side captured the mercantile fleet naturally enough, arrived too late. The
of the other, but the Easterlings history of the Hansa when at the summit
suffered the greatest injury, for their ships of its power, from the second half
were the larger and their cargoes the of the fourteenth until the end of the
more valuable. In 1441 Duke Philip the fifteenth century, is cheerless and dull,
Good negotiated a truce, although the chief and worthy of but little consideration.
questions at issue remained undecided. Nevertheless, the league prospered, re-
Even if war did not break out mained in possession of its foreign rights
again, the connection between Easterlings and privileges, and at home continued to
and Westerlings was severed moreover,
;
be a power in political and economic life.
the Hollanders, although no longer Other cities and groups of cities showed
members of the league, could not be themselves to be no less tenacious than
driven away from Baltic waters. The Liibeck and its following of Lusatian
Hanse towns maintained their privileges towns in holding fast to their traditional
in Flanders, especially in Bruges, during claims and pretensions. Indeed, they still
the fifteenth century ; they employed . maintained the supremacy in
their old means of coercion threatening northern commerce, and pos-
f
to remove their markets elsewhere sessed great influence in the
and always with success, against the northern kingdoms. But with
merchants of Bruges, who were quite the fundamental change in political affairs
as desirous of obtaining a monopoly that took place within the Hanseatic
as they were themselves. sphere of influence during the fifteenth
.
By the second half of the fifteenth century, and produced still greater effects
century the city of Bruges was in a during the sixteenth, the German sea-
pronounced state of decline. Its harbours ports, whether single or united, were no
and canals became more and more choked longer able to preserve their commercial
up with sand the city was already in-
; supremacy. RICHARD MAYR
260 4087
GREAT DATES WESTERN EUROPE BEFORE
IN
THE REFORMATION
GREAT DATES IN WESTERN EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION II
GREAT DATES IN WESTERN EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION III
THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF THE
MEDI/EVAL WORLD
AN HISTORICAL SURVEY OF FEUDALISM
By W. Romaine Paterson, M.A.
THE ORIGIN OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
\ 7IRGIL described that man as happy We areapt to
suppose, for instance,
*
who is able to understand the causes that feudalism, which was the form into
of things. And certainly, unless the study which society fell in Europe during the
of human history is to be the mere idle Middle Ages, was a purely European in-
inspection of a panorama, we are required vention. Although, however, its maxi-
to make an effort to understand, at mum development did certainly occur in
least in part, the mass of historical causes Europe during the eleventh, twelfth, and
which lie behind the mass of historical thirteenth centuries, the germs of the
effects. Social and political institutions system were already active, not only on
did not shoot up in a night. If we wish European soil, long before the fall of the
to trace their genesis we are frequently Roman Empire, but within the Asiatic
compelled to look far beyond the particu- of Babylon and Assyria,
Feudalism empires .*. .
lar geographical limits within which they and even among uncivilised
.
an Ancient -, ,, ,, .
who were sold with the soil, like the "quemadmodum originarios absque terra
glebse adscripti of Rome. The Babylonian ita rusticos censitosque servos vendi
temples, the mediaeval monasteries
like omnifariam non licet " (xi. 48, 7). Sales
of Europe, owned serfs who tilled the lands whereby the purchaser of a portion of
dedicated to the gods, and in both cases land agreed to abandon his right over the
the subjection was hereditary. serfswho had been working upon it are
The Ancient
We may eyen gQ SQ t(> ^^ declared to be fraudulent.
In all such statutes we see already in
say
J that in Assyria the feudal
of Feudalism r j * n j i
tenure of land was fully de-
,
Empire. In the Codes of Justinian and humane provision of later Roman law
Theodosius there are numerous statutes contrasts very favourably with the treat-
which regulate the social condition and ment of the negroes by their American
ordain the
punishments of masters, for in the case of modern
serfdom in , , r i
. wild Keltic clans, was grad- successful winter expeditions across the
Influencc ', .
had reached these wild and virile nations. call the upper structure of feudalism
Their incursions had become bolder, and that is to say, the hierarchy of lords and
at length a feeble policy permitted overlords, vassals and under-vassals was
_ ,
permanent settlements of the the creation of the Teutonic invaders of
within imperial terri- France and (2) that what we might
Powcr on strangers
T^,
;
tory. That policy was dangerous, call the under-structure had already been
,
.1.c-i.1.
the Lbb r n r A T>
and
T
finally
-j.
it was fatal.
1
Buti firmly fixed on Gallic soil by the hands
during the slow ebbing of the strength of the Romans, and even of the Gauls. We
of Rome some of the barbarians, like the have already seen that in all the Roman
Visigoths in 412 A.D., became her allies. provinces serfdom formed the basis /of the
They actually helped to fight her agrarian system. But in Gaul itself the
battles, and in 450 A.D. the Visigoths Romans had inherited the serfs and slaves
joined forces with the legions, and over- who already existed in the country.
threw Attila and his hordes at Chalons- It is more than probable that the suc-
sur-Marne. Conscious of their own military cessive waves of conquest which swept over
importance the newcomers began to ancient Gaul made little change in the
annex more and more of
unhindered condition of the agricultural population.
The Burgundians arrived
(Gallic territory. Kelts,Romans, and Teutons exploited in
between 406 A.D. and 413 A.D., and made men who had been driven
turn the mass of
their headquarters at Lyons. Between by conquest and by various economic
412 A.D. and 450 A.D. the Visigoths spread causes to sell not only their labour, but
themselves along the banks of the Rhine their persons, to their superiors. At the
and the Loire, and founded their capital moment of the departure of Roman power
at Toulouse. from Gaul, Gallic society had
G
More formidable than either of those assumed the form into which
Who Sold ., .
i r 11
peoples were the Franks, who, between Themselves every
,. .
^ other ancient society fell.
A , ,, , ,, ,./
481 AD. and 500 A.D., conquered Northern Although there were different
Gaul. Paris became their centre, and grades among the freemen, and different
in 486 A.D. their king, Clovis, defeated grades among the bondmen, the variations
the last remnant of Roman power at may, in the one case, all be unified under
Soissons. The Middle Ages had begun. the idea of liberty, and in the other under
But early in the sixth
century the invaders the ideas of slavery and serfdom. And it
were fighting against each other, and first was the people at the bottom who felt
the Burgundians, then the Visigoths fell most severely the violence and pillage of
before the victorious Franks, who mastered the invasions.
the whole territory of France with the Not that the invaders were unacquainted
exception of Brittany and gave it its with a servile class among their own
modern name. Here and there the towns, ranks. Tacitusus that even free
tells
with the bishops at their head, retained Germans sometimes sold themselves into
their ancient municipal government, and slavery, and in his twenty-fifth chapter
the Church began to convert the barbarians he allows us to see that serfdom was fully
to Christianity, and to teach them some developed among them. The serfs, who,
-,. ~. of the secrets of the imperial as we know from other sources, were
I he C/hurch T-J , ,, ,. .
~ ..
Converf ing the
rule. But in the country dis- called lidi, or liti, were an inseparable part
,
.
T- , , "
the Roman organisation
, ,
tncts of their lord's domain. And," says
Barbarians "
of Gaul was destroyed. Out Tacitus, the owner requires from his
of the debris, and as a result of a slow slave, as from a serf, a certain amount of
fusion between the social systems of the grain, cattle, and clothing." When we
victors and the vanquished, feudalism arose. turn to the codes of law "of such peoples
It is to some of the main features of as the ancient Saxons, the Salian Franks,
feudalism that we shall give our attention
'
the feudal system gradually came into had no towns, and this fact
being. The Saxons had no kings until is important in the history of feudalism.
after the migration to England but in
;
For when they found themselves on
tribes like the Franks there existed from Gallic soil the Franks instinctively
ancient times a kingship which was both turned from the Gallo- Roman cities.
hereditary and elective in the sense that The centre of gravity was shifted from
the nation chose the king from the mem- the towns to the country districts, and
bers of a single family. They possessed it was in the latter that the feudal
also an aristocracy surrounding the king, regime was at first consolidated. In the
4095
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
former the bishops continued to control granted by the crown only during the
municipal affairs, and in some cases the lifeof the recipient. Such gifts were
"
ancient civic organisations appear to have calledtemporary benefices, or precaria,"
survived the conquest. No doubt the and they were recoverable by the
towns and villages formed part of the crown. But all estates tended to become
seigneuriallands, and later there arose hereditary. The personal relation of the
important problems concerning the re- vassal to his lord was expressed and merged
lations which existed between the in- in the property, and that relation was
habitants of the communes and continued between their respective heirs.
the lords of the domain. But The word feodum or fief is not found
Occupation
whereas during the Roman before the ninth century (884 A.D.), but
occupation of Gaul the towns according to" Du Cange it was synonym-
had played a predominant part, during ous with beneficium." Both words
the mediaeval period they became indicated the hereditary usufruct of an
subordinate to a powerful territorial estate on condition of the faithful services
"
nobility. Entire towns with all their of the vassal : ut ille et sui haeredes
inhabitants, in fact, could form part of a fideliter domino serviant" (Du Cange voc.
fief. The origin of this territorial sove- Feodum). And Du Cange tells us that
reignty is to be sought both in the grants at first fiefs were bestowed only upon
of land which the king gave to his im- families of noble blood. The word is
mediate followers and in the seizure of supposed to be of Teutonic origin, and "
Gallic estates by those of his warriors the old derivation from the Latin "fides
who were strong enough to secure their (fidelity) has been discarded. Feodum, or
"
own interests. Hence, two kinds of fief, is based on the Gothic faihu," Anglo
"
property in land came into existence. Saxon feoh," and means goods and pro-
An estate was either a beneficium (later perty originally property in cattle (vieh),
a feodum) that is to say, a portion of and at last in land. Weobserve, therefore,
land presented by the king to a retainer that feudalism originated in a great
in return for certain services or it was _
e struggle for the soil. He who
an alodium or alod that is to say, a was landless was impotent. If
na c y f
freehold property held independently and t, f ,. he enjoyed
J
neither absolute
Feudalism , ?
claimed by right of prescription. The ownership nor usufruct he sank
development of feudalism is marked by to a condition of servile dependence.
the tendency of the alod to become a On the other hand, the greater the estate,
feodum. In order, for instance, to secure the greater the power of the owner, for
the protection of a more powerful neigh- he was lord not only of it but of all the
bour and to prevent his aggressions, the men and women born upon it. When
owner of a freehold was frequently com- attacked by neighbours, his own im-
pelled to become a vassal and "to do mediate vassals and their vassals and
homage. This act was termed com- serfs were compelled to flock to his aid.
mendation." Although he retained his The feudal system thus contained
ancient rights over his property, the within itself all the elements of disrup-
original freeholder was now an inferior tion, and, indeed, it involved a kind of
and took the oath of fealty to his superior. veiled anarchy. It was the most pro-
The conquered territory became thus nounced and most successful form of
split up into great areas which fell under militant individualism which the world
the jurisdiction of separate sovereigns. has seen. As long as the central power
The principle of partition was was strong, as it was in the hands of
Clovis or Charlemagne, the tendencies
IT:-,I~
Kingdom dom, as
~ it had been a
if
,
royal
J towards disintegration were restrained.
estate. Both in 511 A.D., The freemen still sat in the local assem-
at the death of Clovis, and in 561, at the blies, or "mals," and administered the law.
death of Lothair, the Prankish kingdom Provincial governors, called Grafs, were
was divided into four parts. During the placed at the head of the jurisdiction of
Merovingian period, especially when the great districts, and were responsible to
strong hand of Clovis was withdrawn, the the crown.
conditions of land tenure were no doubt Charlemagne, in order to identify the
more or less chaotic. Estates frequently administration of justice with the throne,
changed hands, and sometimes they were sent throughout his empire at regular
4096
THE ORIGIN. OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
" "
periods
"
his magistrates, scabini or ancient Germany, when there was still
'Stagnation
waging war because inaction
sovereignty he enjoined an oath of D
ofr rcace
is hateful to the race, and
.. .
Charlemaagne
' n
to pl ace
The
feudal seign-
irresistible. fusion of property and sovereignty. It
eurs became again independent, the crown was a double triumph of aristocracy,
became merely a shadow and an effigy, and for it meant that, on the one hand, the
the crown domain merely another great people had been crushed, and, on the
fief. The national unity had perished. other, that the authority of the crown
There was no state, and its place was had been eclipsed and overthrown. Again,
filled by a conglomeration of minor and no genuine coalition was possible between
rival sovereignties. In the words of the lords of the domain. Temporary
"
Stubbs :The disruption was due more confederations did take place, but they
to the abeyance of central attraction than were soon dissolved.
to any centrifugal force existing in the The lands of Gaul were already par-
provinces. But the result was the same ; titioned during the Roman times among
feudal government, a gradual system of the great nobles, who were called senatores
jurisdiction based on land tenure in which because their rank entitled them to mem-
every lord judged, taxed and com- bership of the Roman Senate. But the
manded the class next below him, in which Teutonic conquerors had seized those
abject slavery formed the lowest and great estates, together with
irresponsible tyranny the highest grade, the slaves and the serfs who
in which private war, private coinage, were at work upon them. In
Aristocracy
private prisons, took the place of the some cases the domains were
imperial institution of government." voluntarily shared between the strangers
The view that the rise of the feudal and the old proprietors and in the laws of
;
sovereignties was due merely to the the Burgundians, for instance, the Roman
failure of the central power is perhaps and the Burgundian nobles are mentioned
exaggerated by Stubbs, who seems to as forming a single class. Out of a fusion
neglect the fact that the centrifugal of the great families of the victors and the
tendency was active from the beginning, vanquished there arose the feudal aris
and was never wholly curbed. Even in tocracy of mediaeval France.
4097
THE SOCIAL AN
FABRIC HISTORICAL
OF THE SURVEY OF
MEDI/EVAL FEUDALISM II
WORLD W.R.PATERSON
a fief was purely personal and military. side the jurisdiction of his
The Germanic invaders brought their own lord's domain, and the lord might become
habits with them, and, as we have now the vassal's tenant. In the one case the
seen, it was an ancient custom among superior bestowed a fief on his inferior,
them for a chief to make presents to his in the other the inferior bestowed a fief
followers. At first each prominent leader upon his superior. When the feudal
was surrounded by a band of soldiers, system had reached its maximum develop-
who lived with him on the estates which ment every seigneur had a seigneur above
he had seized, and he began to bestow him and every vassal a vassal below him.
upon these men the usufruct of certain In France the lower vassal was called
portions of the domain. Doubtless the arriere-vassal, and sometimes those
gradual increase of the numbers of such holders of fiefs within fiefs were, owing
followers made it inconvenient to have to the complications of the system,
and that gift was retained only as Isabel holds them from the said William
long as the services were rendered. But of Beligny the
;
said William holds
those gifts of land were not of equal them from the said Odet of Vanly, and
value, and the obligations of service the said Odet holds them from Mon-
likewise differed. The more important seigneur the Duke."
men received a greater share, and were And let us remember that it was
called upon to contribute military aid not merely land which could be thus
on a corresponding scale. Hence, at held in fief, but every form of pro-
the beginning there were created in- perty, including men, women and chil-
equalities among the possessors of fiefs. dren, taxes, and the right to
One vassal might enjoy the usufruct of hold an assize. When entering
and Children .
4099
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
has entered into the service of the said subject. And, conversely, although a man
duke, and has done homage. But he might be born within the domain of the
reserves the fealty by which he is already suzerain, he might not hold a fief in that
bound to the Lord of Coligny, the Abbot domain. In the latter case the subject
of Saint Oyan, the Count of Savoy, the did not owe either homage or the services
Lord of Baugie, the Count of Auxerre, which homage implied, but merely the
Regnard of Burgundy, and Henry of oath of fidelity. The conflict of obliga-
Paigne." Now this attempt to serve so tions, however, was often serious, especially
many masters often created during war, when every seigneur became
, a serious conflict of duties. anxious to press into his service as many
Ass.zes of
men as possible. The " premier seignor "
the
Jf fof insta the lords of
Jerusalem , , " "
a single vassal were at war, mentioned in the Assizes of Jerusalem
what was the vassal to do ? If he assisted is the one to whom homage had first been
the one against the other, he became made, and his claims to the vassal's service
entangled in the quarrel, and might suffer were held to be predominant. In some
reprisals at the hands of the seigneur cases it was specially stipulated that if
whom he disavowed. war broke out the vassal should deliver
The jurists of the Middle Ages had up his fortress or castle to his superior.
considered the case, and had made If the vassal remained in the fortress, he
provision for it. If we turn to the was considered to be guilty of a hostile act.
"
Assizes of Jerusalem," which forms one But if he quitted the fortress, he was not
of the most important of mediaeval considered to be implicated in the war.
"
documents, we find a statute which is Se il demoure en la forteresse," says the
"
framed for the purpose of enlightening the ancient custom of Burgundy, il est de
"
perplexed vassal. Se un home a plusiors la guerre." All such provisions imply
seignors il peut sans meprendre de sa foi that originally the feudal compact was a
aider son premier seignor a qui il a fait compact between a military superior
homage devant les autres en toutes choses . and his soldier, and in the
C
et en touts manieres contre tous ses f earlier period the relations
Pe ^'
autres seignors, pour ce que il est devenu between the two were simple,
e
home des autres sauve sa loyaute et auci and strictly personal. Owing,
peut il aider a chascun des autres, san le however, to the principle of sub-infeuda-
premier et sauf cens a qui il a fait homage tion, and to the principle of heredity,
avant que a celui a qui il vodra aider, car the territorial organisation of feudalism
a moi semble que se un seignor eust un became gradually more complicated. The
home on plusiors qui fust on fussent homes instinct of property had become power-
d'autre seignor devant lui et li eust fully developed. Whereas in ancient
semons de li venir aider a deffendre sa Germany it had been easy for a young
terre contre ses ennemis mortels qui warrior to withdraw his allegiance from
viennent pour lui devaster celui . . . a particular chief, it was now more
home pour foigarder de mesprendre de difficult for the vassal to transfer his
sa foi devoit venir devant son seignor fealty from one lord to another. For the
quant il seroit venus en champ et dire price of the exchange was the forfeiture of
li en la
presence des ses homes." (Assises. his fief. If the vassal renounced his
Ed. Thaumassiere. Ch. ccxxii.) The mean- service, he and his heirs lost everything.
ing of this somewhat obscure passage is that This fact proves that the fief originated
the vassal could promise different kinds in a close personal relation between the
of aid to different seigneurs, grantor and the grantee. When the
and that "loyalty" might in grantee died, his heir before entering upon
one case, ' although not in the inheritance was required to take the
Service , , . ,
Inventory ^7 / .
, ,
makes known
"
right hand upon a book, said My lord,
: to all whom it may concern
I will be loyal and faithful to you on that henceforward he holds as liege man
account of the lands which I hold, and will of the Duke all the property hereinafter
fulfil the obligations and the services mentioned which forms his own heritage,
which I owe on the terms assigned. So and was hitherto freehold and not fief nor
"
help me God and the saints ! liable to service of any kind to wit, the :
Du Cange, from whom we take these tower, the house, the enclosure, and the
words, tells us in his exposition under fortress of La Palu, the trenches, and all
the word "fidelitas" that when taking the enclosure round about. Item, all the
the oath of fidelity the vassal did not men, their allotments and their houses in
kneel, and was not required to make the towns of La Palu and Croisey, all the
so humble a reverence as in the act of said men being subject to the villein tax
homage. Whereas, too, homage was done and to the jurisdiction which fixes the
to the lord in person, the declaration greater and the smaller fines and to
of fealty might be made to the lord's mortmain, each of the said men paying
proxy, a steward or a bailiff. The symbol eighteen iivres tournois (i.e., the livre con-
of possession, a piece of turf taining twenty sous) of rent. Item, . . .
Edward II. as
Qr the branch of a tree> was the jurisdiction high and low over the
Liege man to the
then handed to the yassal town." and all over the above-mentioned
King of France , ,, - ...
and the investiture was property, to wit, all the woods and arable
complete. Thus we see that the old land. Item, the ponds, the mill, and
personal relation which bound the Teutonic dove-cot of the said house of La Palu to-
soldier to his chief persisted, at least in gether with all rights and appurtenances
theory, throughout the feudal age. And thereof. . .". It was by such instru-
even when the vassal enjoyed high rank, ments that the rights of property, in-
even if he were a prince or a king, the act cluding the right of disposing of the lives
of homage was no less compulsory. Thus and fortunes of villeins and serfs were
Edward II. of England as Duke of secured throughout the Middle Ages.
Aquitaine did homage in 1329 to Philip A formidable array of duties faced the
of Valois, and became liege man (homme- man who had accepted a fief and had
liege) of the King of France. become a liege. And, although to-day we
An important part of the investiture may not have much sympathy with the
consisted in the aveu, or statement, of the feudal spirit, we ought to recognise that it
inventory of the fief. It was necessary for often expressed itself in many chivalrous
the seigneur to know exactly what he was ways, and that it evoked some of the
giving, and for the vassal to know what best qualities of human nature. In the
" "
he was receiving. Any attempt on the w*s
Assizes of Jerusalem the
part of the latter to deny that he had t
sternest demand is made upon
Cxpecte, f
received this or that portion of the fief he devodon Qf the yassal to
the Vassal -
TT
was considered to be a crime, which was
,
it, except on payment of an indemnity to battle the seigneur's horse has been killed
the seigneur. under him, the vassal is required to
4101
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
surrender his own horse and to fight on foot. died his heir paid a kind of entrance fee
The duration of the military service in a (relevium), which was a tax on the entry
particular war varied according to the into possession, and the amount varied
extent and value of the fief. In some according to the suzerain's demands. It
cases it was sixty, in others forty, and in is true that in most of the provinces of
others twenty days. Sometimes the vassal France the tax was waived when the
served alone, but oftener he was com- succession to the fief fell directly from
pelled to bring along with him a contingent father to son. In such cases, according
TK v !
of his own sub-vassals to swell to Brussel, the heir owed nothing except
s
his lord's ranks. The retention the formal declaration of allegiance and
^l of the fief was conditional upon the military duties which that declaration
to his Lord ,
, .,,.
the fulfilment of these mili- implied (le fils succedant au fief du pere n'y
tary obligations, and just as the villein doit que la bouche et les mains). But when
paid rent in taxes and in produce, so the the heir belonged to a collateral issue the
vassal liquidated his debt to his lord by tax was payable, and it was heavy. Again,
service in the field. the suzerain possessed the right of choosing
Seignobos even suggests that at least in a husband for the heiress of any fief. In
two points the vassal and the villein the event of a refusal on the woman's part,
resembled each other. For each enjoyed, she was compelled to pay a fine to the
not the absolute ownership of the land, seigneur, while in the event of acceptance
but only its tenancy, and in both cases an equal amount was paid by the husband.
service was the price of the usufruct. The reason for such a regulation is easily
Whereas, however, the villein exploited understood when we remember that the
the land in the interests of the seigneur, usufruct of every fief implied military
the vassal defended it. The latter, in fact, service. Since a woman was incapable
was, in the strict meaning of the feudal of rendering that service, it was in the
relation, a soldier and companion-in-arms. seigneur's interest to provide her with a
But his duties were not confined to war. M husband who could under-
He was obliged to attend his suzerain's take the dutv.
Customs under ,, - According to
,, A .
, T >ii
court, and to offer advice on matters of _, the Assizes of Jerusalem,
Feudalism ,111 r,i_ c. t cc j
the lady of the fief was offered
policy and the execution of justice. Lastly,
the vassal was frequently expected to offer her choice of one of three barons. One
material aid, auxilia, to his seigneur. Some other important source of income for the
of these aids were voluntary, but others seigneur remains to be mentioned. If the
were specified on the bestowal of the fief, heir to a fief was a minor, the seigneur
and comprised (i) a ransom when the became his guardian, administered the fief
sovereign had been captured in war (2) ; during the ward's minority, and disposed
a contribution when the seigneur's eldest of the revenue. We may add that the
son was received into the order of chivalry ; reasons for sub-infeudation and for the
and (3) a gift towards the dowry of the great multiplication of fiefs were both
seigneur's eldest daughter. military and economic.
It will thus be seen that the possession It was obviously to the advantage of
of a fief was no mere sinecure, and, indeed, the seigneur to have as many fiefs as
the vassals suffered frequently from the possible, since every fief brought money as
exactions of their overlords. As we shall well as men. This process of sub-infeuda-
see later, the real weight of the entire tion really weakened the feudal system
system pressed most heavily on the from within since the alienation of the
villeins and serfs, but it would usufruct of the land involved the aliena-
Sovereigns ,
.'..,.
Who Were wrong to minimise the sen- tion of the rights which the land carried
Vassals
ous obligations of the holders with it. When the real danger of the
of fiefs. Sovereigns within policy began to be perceived, many of the
their own domain, they had sovereigns seigneurs attempted to attract vassals to
above them, whose authority was likewise their banners by paying them not in land,
arbitrary. The threat of forfeiture (fotisfac- but in money and thus they created
;
service, military or civil, but that in case eight days after Easter, at Chalon, and to
ofwar he was bound to remain neutral. be on horseback, well mounted, and well-
The vassal-liege, on the other hand, was apparelled in order to aid me in the
required to serve at his own expense in greatest struggle which I have yet faced,
any war in which his seigneur took part, and so conduct yourself as to win my
whereas the ordinary vassal was not goodwill. I commend you to God. Given
bound to fight after the fortieth day from under my seal at Genley this Easter Day."
the date of the assembling of the army. The date is 1325 A.D. The seigneur, how-
In some cases the vassal might be repre- ever, was not always certain of obtaining
sented by proxy in the fighting line, but his men, and in the present case the vassal
generally only when the war was one in was absent in Flanders. Sometimes the
which the seigneur was indirectly involved. vassals suffered great losses in their
About the end of the thirteenth century seigneur's wars, and in certain cases they
the seigneurs began to transform their were indemnified. One, Guy de Roche-
vassals into hommes lieges by attaching fort, for instance, in the service of the
special gifts to the fiefs (in augmentum French king was taken prisoner at the
This policy was dictated by the battle of Poitiers in 1356 A.D., and he
feodi).
261 4103
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
received (pour mes dommaiges de la unable to prevent the outbreak of war
bataile de Poitiers ou je fus pris) 600 florins. among the nobles, neither were the nobles
But the men who followed their seig- always capable of keeping the peace
neurs to the wars were not always vassals between their vassals.
in the strict sense. For a feudal castle In the fourteenth century it was still
attracted needy adventurers, who were possible for one petty seigneur to im-
willing, in return for maintenance, to place prison another and liberatehim only
their services at the disposal of rich and on the payment of an enormous ransom.
D kt S powerful leaders. Men who A certain Simon Buguet, in the year
V had lost their inheritance, or 1364, seized the person of one Jean de
, t
y
*B d
wnose ne f na d been forfeited, Rougemont, seigneur of Thil-Chatel, in
became retainers, and entered Burgundy, and threw him first into one
into relations with the feudal nobles some- dungeon and then into another. Deliver-
what similar to those in which the ancient ance was promised on a payment of a
Roman client stood to his patron. Sim- ransom equivalent to 40,000 francs of
monet, for instance, cites the following case modern French currency. The conditions
from the archives of Burgundy In 1368 : were that in default of payment the
a certain Jehans d'Arc, a knight, sur- prisoner should surrender himself at the
rendered his heritage to another knight, fortress of Chifferne. The protocol informs
Hugo de Pontailler. The latter promised us, however, that, owing to the dangers of
to lodge and to board the said Jehans, to the roads, which swarmed with armed
clothe him, to provide him with a horse robbers, Jean de Rougement decided to
and a servant, and generally to minister pay the money at an intermediate station,
to his needs. In return, Jehans d'Arc and to abandon the journey to Chifferne.
for himself and for his heirs assigns his Such a document presents a vivid picture
property of whatever kind, both present of the daily perils encountered under the
and future, to Hugo de Pontailler. This feudal regime. If justice existed, it was
kind of contract was either the result of wild justice, and might was right. If a
bankruptcy or of force majeure, and vassal became too powerful it
The Wild
although apparently it might be annulled, was in the interest of his
Justice of
the vassal was generally too deeply mort- suzerain not to thwart, but to
Feudalism
gaged to be able to extricate himself. conciliate him. And not only
Other documents belonging to the same individuals, but also entire communities
period prove that powerful suzerains often were in danger at the hands of roving
succeeded in compelling weaker vassals bandits. Whole villages were required to
to lend support beyond the limit fixed by ransom themselves in order to escape
the feudal contract. In an era when war being burned.
formed the chief pastime of the governing In November, 1435, the inhabitants of
classes, a seigneur could command the the village of Etalante, in Chatillon, were
services of his followers in the prosecution required to deliver up to some armed
of the most unjust aggressions on the men who had come from Langres a silver
territory of
his neighbours. Frequently pyx belonging to a church at Dijon in
the extortion of a ransom was the motive order to save the village from being set
which lay behind feudal pillage, and private in flames (pour racheter le feu que les
war was kindled merely for the purpose of ennemies de Langres voulaient bouter en
filling the coffers of a needy seigneur. ladite ville). Such were the conditions of
The efforts of Saint Louis and other French life in the feudal period, when society had
such as the right of dispens- the idea of a social order, in the main-
ing justice within a given area. Du Cange tenance of which all the members are
defines a fief as a thing given to one interested. The vassals were called
"
person by another in such a way that the pares," from which our word peers is
property of the thing remains with the derived but there was no genuine co-
;
giver, and that the usufruct passes to the operation among those co-vassals. The
receiver and his heirs. Before the eleventh social equilibrium which was maintained
century the conception of that form of within a given domain was highly unstable.
tenure had become widely extended, The vassals did not co-operate in order to
and, as Du Cange says, everything was carry out any genuine social purpose,
"
given in fief, saeculis xi et xii omnia in and again the seigneurs did not co-operate
feudum concedebantur." Among other in order to maintain any genuine balance
things, he enumerates the administration of power among themselves.
of justice in the forests, which was termed
"
A fundamental antagonism lay hidden
gruerie," the right of hunting, of amid all feudal relations.
the The
conducting merchants to and from the seigneur was often
as suspicious of the
markets, of collecting tolls and customs vassal's fidelity as the vassal was of
dues, of weaving, of changing money at the seigneur's
,
claims and
Feudahs s
the fairs, of grinding corn, gathering honey am)gated power The reaj
and making wine. In a word, industry character of feudalism is ex-
and justice themselves had become fiefs, pressed in this isolation of the
and we may add that human beings were various members of the feudal hier-
included in the same category. archy. And it was an isolation which
We can understand the complications of provoked suspicion, quarrels and reprisals.
mediaeval life when we hear that not only a How did the seigneur maintain order
domain, but the men and women upon it, within his own territory ? In the modern
might belong to two or more proprietors. world the public peace is guaranteed by
In a Burgundian protocol of the year 1378 the action of an executive which in the
we read that one seigneur sold and ceded punishment of crime expresses the will
4105
THE SPORTS AND PASTIMES OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND A JOUST
of the nation. But feudalism did not ing some matter connected with the fief
create nations at all. It created only which the latter held from the former,
groups of arbitrary sovereignties, and in the case was heard in the seigneur's court
each case the will of the territorial sove- in presence of the vassal's equals. If, on
reign was the nominal fountain of justice. the other hand, the dispute had no
It was the sovereign who appointed his reference to the fief the vassal was entitled
baillis, or bailiffs, for the trial of causes to have his claims heard not in the
within his own domain. seigneur's court but in the court of the
But along with the institution of seigneur's seigneur. Hence, in a duchy
bailiffs there existed throughout the feudal like Burgundy, a case of this kind might
regime a judicial system both more be carried from court to court until it
ancient and more in accordance with arrived before the Duke as supreme
the feudal spirit. We have said that the suzerain. Beaumanoir, who was the
vassals were pares, or equals. When, greatest jurist of the Middle Ages, tells
therefore, a dispute occurred between us that the appeal was required to be
any two of them the seigneur was peti- made in such a way that no intermediate
tioned to convoke all his other vassals in court was passed over, otherwise the case
his court in order that they might pro- was vitiated in point of law (il apel doivent
nounce their decision upon the case. estre fet en montant de degr6 en degre,
For equals could be judged and sentenced sans nul seigneur trespasser).
only by equals. Numerous mediaeval It often happened that in the litigation
documents prove that, for instance, a between vassals of equal rank the claimant
count was judged only by men of his or the defendant, although tried by his
own class. Even in the
cases where peers, refused to accept the judgment.
bailiff presided as representative of the Sometimes the refusal was justified, for
suzerain, he was only the mouthpiece of the majority in the court might be made up
the majority. In the event of a dispute of the vassal's personal enemies, while his
between a seigneur and his vassal regard- own friends might be absent. Recourse
4106
AN ENGLISH TOURNAMENT IN THE PALMY DAYS OF FEUDALISM
was had, therefore, to a more sum- were well born (gentils hommes or chevaliers')
mary method of bringing the dispute to the duel was fought on horseback, and
an end. What is known as the judicial those weapons which were allowed or
combat was simply the feudal private disallowed were carefully specified. Men
war reduced to a duel, and it was deeply of lowly birth (hommes de pouste) fought
characteristic of an age in which there on foot. In the arrangements for a duel
existed no central administration of justice. between a man of rank and a man of base
The disputants took the law into their condition it is interesting to notice a
own hands. Right was declared to be on touch of chivalry. If, says Beaumanoir,
the side of the victor, and the vanquished a knight calls out a villein, who, of course,
paid a fine to the seigneur of the domain. did not own a horse, the knight was com-
In Beaumanoir we find many details of pelled to fight likewise on foot ; for, adds
the formal and legal procedure necessary the great jurist, it would be a cruel thing
in arranging a judicial combat. He gives if in such a case the man of birth had the
excommunication that she sought to on the armour of feudalism the Church had
terrorise those who attempted to invade put off the armour of God. A great his-
her territory or to pillage her sacred torian says that even as early as the eighth
buildings. But century the
already, in the disorder which
ninth century raged in lay
she began to society raged
arm herself also in ecclesi-
with the tem- astical society.
poral sword, And as the
and she paid bishops be-
special defen- came more
ders, advocati, deeply entan-
to fight her gled in feudal-
battles. In ism it was
other words, difficult to
she summoned distinguish
mere enary them from
troops to her their secular
aid, and some- rivals. This
times powerful loss of the
THE MEDIAEVAL CEREMONY OF BLESSING THE FLEET
seigneurs were spiritual hege-
in her pay. But the bishop was likewise of the Church is perhaps the most
mony
a seigneur. Long before the tenth tragic fact in feudal history. She who
century he had vassals of his own, and had set out to capture the world had
he began to increase their number, failed in her great mission, and had,
and gradually imposed upon them the
instead, been captured by the world.
4108
THE SOCIAL AN
FABRIC HISTORICAL
OF THE SURVEY OF
MEDIAEVAL FEUDALISM III
WORLD W. R.
PATERSON
dazzling enterprises of the feudal age, its c who possessed none, and the
,
chivalry, its
Crusades, jousts and tour-
its landless were outside the pale of
neys, and even its architecture never would the law. Thus it was necessary for the
have existed. Although mediaeval wealth man who had no land to seek the protec-
was also expressed in certain manufactures tion of some more powerful person who
carried on in the towns, nevertheless the could represent him in the law courts.
main economic source of the period lay in The price of that protection was servitude.
the cultivation of the soil by a class who, vSince it was the possession of land that
strictly speaking, did not enter into the bought the privilege of membership of
feudal relation at all. The feudal relation the community, even a man of noble
which bound a vassal to his lord was the blood, if landless, was required to acknow-
result of a contract between them, but ledge the nominal suzerainty of another
there was no contract between a vassal and lord. The laws of Athelstan, like the
his serf. In the latter case the relation Capitularies of Carolingian kings, agree
.was expressed merely, on the in reducing the landless to a state of
e ngin Qne jiancj
^y p Ower> an(J on the
j } absolute dependence. Minute social sub-
other, by subjection.
j Those divisions existed among the Anglo-Saxons,
Serfdom {, t
writers, therefore, are correct and there was even a hierarchy among the
who point out that serfdom was not the landless. But the lowest level was occu-
creation of European feudalism. Its origin pied by the theow, or slave, whether of
was far older, and, as we saw, it may be British or of German origin.
traced to the domainal rights enjoyed by Again, in ancient England as in ancient
allancient landowners. Serfdom formed Rome the debtor was reduced to slavery,
only the natural and convenient basis upon and was never liberated until the debt had
which the feudal superstructure was reared. been paid. Moreover, slavery and serfdom
The was immemorial. Even
basis itself were hereditary. The earliest English
though feudalism had never developed its laws make it clear that slave and serf were
own peculiar character, the agricultural like cattle, the absolute property of their
population of Europe would have been masters. Their master was responsible
composed of serfs during many centuries for their offences just as he was responsible
after the fall of the Roman Empire. for the damage done by his
"
* cattle. The
So far as the Prankish kingdom was British serf had no
U
concerned, the condition of its industrial .! soci al status, no legal rights.
and Sold
.
old TT- tx -L i i
classremained essentially what it had been His services might be claimed
during the Roman occupation of Gaul. and left unrewarded, and his emancipation
But if we look beyond mediaeval France, if depended wholly upon his master's will.
we look at mediaeval England, for instance, The serf might be bought and sold and
we shall find the same system at work. pawned like any other common chattel,
The Saxons took with them to England and the master's right of possession in him
serfs and slaves. Among the Angles the was a right not only of use but of abuse.
4109
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Now, feudalism never reached in England to poverty and bankruptcy. freeman whoA
the proportions which it reached in France, had lost his estate came to a seigneur, and
and yet the condition of the early English said "If you support me with the neces-
:
"
serf seems to have been worse than that of saries of life, I will become your serf
the mediaeval serf of France. In other (vostres homs de cors). In some cases this
words, although feudalism could not have demand for protection was the result of
existed without serfdom, serfdom might oppression by another seigneur. A still
have existed, and did exist, apart from an more striking cause of serfdom, and one
elaborate feudalism. The word which indicates the extraordinary differ-
o were (
4111
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
and towns were laid under contribution. unclaimed within a year and a day, could
Whenever we find a case in which the offer his service to another lord, supposing
taxation of the individual varied according he was fortunate enough to find one.
to the arbitrary demands of the seigneur, Since, however, he thereby lost all that he
we may conclude that the individual in had possessed under his former seigneur,
of the lowest and most it must have been an intolerable
question was a serf
" tyranny
helpless class. Messire le Due," says which compelled him to take to flight.
"
the Ancient Custom of Burgundy, s'il As Seignobos points out, the real strength
volait les porrait tailler ou faire of the seigneur's position lay in the fact
ind lg nu
iner moins lug haut et bas that the villein was helpless apart from
Thrust upon x i-> >> T*
a sa v l nte Every serf
- the field which he and his forefathers had
the Serfs
was thus assessed
at the will cultivated. To be a vagabond was to
of the suzerain. And
there were some be in danger of being seized as a criminal.
special vexations to which the majority There was no certainty of obtaining the
of the serfs were exposed. Among these, right to cultivate a piece of land in another
" "
mention should be made of mainmorte domain, since all the domains were already
"
and formariage." The serfwho was parcelled out. Hence it was not necessary
subjected to mortmain was legally incap- to chain the mediaeval serf to the soil,
able of making a testament. If he died or to place him under surveillance.
childless, his property, which consisted Serfdom was better than famine, and it was
mainly in his right to cultivate a certain because these were his sole alternatives
portion of land, returned to the seigneur. that the serf, with rare exceptions, chose
Still more formidable was the custom the former both for himself and for his
"
termed formariage," whereby a serf was children. Among the archives of Burgundy
forbidden to marry a woman belonging there are documents which prove that
to another domain. The ancient code sometimes a serf after long wanderings
of custom in Burgundy, for instance, returned in despair to the place from
declares that the penalty for such a which despair had driven him.
Serfdom
marriage was the forfeiture of all that The administration of a feudal
Preferred to
the serf possessed. An alternative was,
Famine
domain involved both labour
indeed, offered; but it was of the most and anxiety on the part of
repulsive kind. the steward or agent who was set over
There is evidence that the serfs made it. For it was seldom that the seigneur
great efforts to extricate themselves came into direct contact with his villeins
from these The chief desire
indignities. or serfs.
of their liveswas to obtain a charter of In each of the three great economic
freedom,' which, however, was never a divisions of feudalism in France the
genuine charter, since it did not deliver chatellenie, the pote", and the prevot6,
them from taxation, which, although less the revenues were collected by men
arbitrary, was still oppressive. Often appointed for that purpose by the seigneur.
high prices were paid before the serf won The chatellenie comprised all the lands
immunity
"
from the seigneur's right of grouped round a chateau, and in time of
formariage." And yet after the immu- danger the inhabitants took shelter within
nity had been gained, the villein was by the seigneur's fortified walls. The pote
"
no means free. The seigneur's agents met (Latin :
potestas ") was a domain
him at every point, and revenue of other belonging to a church, and sometimes it
kinds continued to be extracted from his implied an entire district, which, inclusive
labour. It is important to of towns, acknowledged the suzerainty
A S stem '
~r i * LI
of Intolerable
remember
...
that the fortunes of
.
of a bishop. The preVote embraced the
, ,
tne V1 ^ em were not merely the
,
formariage, but if he settled on a domain the proprietor of the city had delegated
in which those customs were in These formed the great
vigour, he his authority.
immediately became subject to them. social groups of the feudal age until the
Originally, indeed, it was impossible for fourteenth century, and the condition of
the villein to change domicile. The seigneur the serfs was uniform in all three. In each
had the right to recovery (droit de of them the methods of exploiting the
poursuite). Later the fugitive villein, if land and its tillers were the same. The
4112
THE FLOURISHING OF FEUDALISM
change from imperial to feudal rule had of her own domains. And in times of
indeed brought some amelioration of the peace the chateau and the church and the
fortunes of the subject class, and yet, if embattled tower played a part of no less
we look deeply enough, we are struck not importance, since each was the visible
by the fact of progress but rather by the centre of the life which had grown up
fact of stagnation. When, for example, within its shadow.
we read the formulae of Marculf for the The great innovation which feudalism
sale of male and female serfs we seem to introduced in the cultivation of the
be witnessing transactions in the slave soil consisted in the allotment
c
markets of Greece and Rome. , . of usufructs in the domain.
seigneurs
In mediaeval practice as well as in Jn the Gallo . Roman Empire the
Claimed .
,.,, *, ,
mediaeval theory, the peasants were mere proprietor of a villa housed
accessories of the domain, and were sub- and fed his slaves on his own land, and
jected to detailed exploitation. Had used for his own purposes the produce
Aristotle and Varro seen these men at which their labour had wrung from the
work, they would have called them earth. But the feudal lord subdivided
"
animated implements." The Roman his land. The portion which he reserved
" "
villicus who drilled his master's slaves for himself surrounded the chateau, and in
was represented by the mediaeval major, extent it was comparatively small. The
who taxed and over-taxed his master's usufruct of the remainder was parcelled
serfs and villeins. Often this superin- out among the serfs and villeins. Hence
tendent belonged to the same class as the mediaeval landowner was relieved
the men over whom he ruled, and his of the necessity of exploiting all his land.
position was far from enviable. For he His policy was far shrewder. Although his
was personally responsible for the regular domain suffered a kind of partition which
payment of dues, which, owing to desti- was unknown in the Roman villa, this
tution and to bad harvests, sometimes dismemberment really involved a financial
could not be paid at all. gain. It was not the land, but only its
Th G FC
r* *n *r *, Simmonet even suggests that usufruct which the seigneur alienated. He
Castles of the , , j, 1-1?
F A burdens which pressed no longer needed to feed, clothe, and house
upon the
seigneur's steward his serfs, and yet he enjoyed a perpetual
were heavier than those which pressed income from their labour and from special
upon the serfs, for the revenues which he sources of taxation which feudalism in-
could not extract from the tenants were vented.
extracted from himself. What, then, were the sources of income
In spite of all such facts it would be of the feudal seigneur ? have already We
idle todeny the impressiveness of some of seen that when awas sold by one
fief
the aspects of feudal life, and it is not sur- vassal to another, or when it passed from
prising that the human imagination has father to son, an indemnity was claimed
been fascinated, for instance, by the great by the overlord. Whereas, however, such
portcullised castles which were built in gains were intermittent, the labour of the
that dim, troubled era. For those castles villeins and serfs of the domain brought
with their broad moats, their donjons, a revenue which remained constant. That
their prisons and their embattled towers, revenue may be divided into three parts,
were structures whose significance lay in corresponding to the different sources :
the strange anarchy in the midst of which (i) rent, (2) monopolies, (3) fines. In the
they arose. When the seigneur's domain earlier period, when money was scarce, rent
was attacked, it was the chateau which was paid in produce, such as
became the storm centre. Within its walls wheat and hay, wine, wax,
,
hcSeignettrs
men and women and children with their Income poultry,
*V pigs/oxen, and
iirv, AL
cattle took refuge, and the villeins were sheep. When, too, the seig-
called upon to mount guard (faire le guet). neur visited any outlying portion of his
The inferior nobles, if they did not possess estate, his horses and dogs, and sometimes
chateaux, nevertheless built for them- even his followers, were billeted upon the
selves houses often capable of
fortified villeins. Again, rent was paid by corv6es,
withstanding a prolonged siege. Even the that is by forced labour on the land
to say,
Church guarded her property by imitating immediately surrounding the castle. And
the defensive methods of feudal war, and corvees were of various kinds. Sometimes
she built fortifications to ensure, the safety the villein was required to work in his
4113
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
lord's fields or vineyards during a fixed employed for the exchange of commodi-
number of days in other cases the
;
ties. Therights of fishing, of hewing wood,
demand upon his services terminated and of drawing water, were also the
only when the work had been completed. seigneur's, and their hire formed part
Besides, the seigneur could commandeer of his income.
the villein's beasts of burden, carts, Lastly, the administration of justice
and agricultural implements. Rents pay- within the domain formed a prolific source
able in money were called "cens" the of revenue One of the greatest reproaches
.
Villeins
feudal quit-rents
,
,
but
,1
these
t
which the historian may legitimately make
F a b
were paid, not by the sens, against feudalism is that under its regime
^ ut ^Y the free villeins. We the judicial administration ceased to be
Purchase
have already mentioned the disinterested. In this respect mediaeval-
capitation tax, or taille, which was of two ism marked a serious retrogression.
kinds, arbitrary and fixed. had But it Whereas within the bounds of the Roman
remained arbitrary at end of
least until the Empire, of which France had been a
the eleventh century. In some cases it had province, the execution of the law formed
probably replaced the old dues which used part of the public service, and was the
to be paid in produce. When a peasant guarantee of social order, within the feudal
paid a tax which was invariable, it was a domain the administration of justice
sign that he had risen in the social scale, became a matter of private speculation.
" "
for it meant that his assessment was the The actual word justice became de-
result of a contract between him and his graded, for it meant merely the right to
superior. In certain rare instances the collect rents and to institute fines. No
villein was able to purchase his redemption central authority interfered within a
from the corvees and other obligations by domain for the purpose of drawing up a
payment of an amount equivalent to the list of crimes or devising a scale of penal-
value of his allotment. ties. For even although a central authority
In the second place, an important source had existed, it could not have
of the seigneur's income consisted in .abolished the seigneur's right
monopolies in certain industries. The D,sor!ur
t0
feudal theory was that not only the land, than it could have abolished
but everything that was upon it belonged his right tax them. Both of these
to
to the seigneur. Any profits, therefore, privileges had become immemorial, and
whether direct or indirect, which accrued they were conceived to be natural. At any
from the various enterprises carried on rate, they were of the essence of feudalism.
within his domain belonged to him. Hence There are documents which show that
the mills for grinding wheat and corn, the sometimes a seigneur possessed a third or
ovens for baking the bread, the market a fourth part of the judicature of a par-
place, and the wine-press, were the pro- ticular village or town that is to say, he
perty of the lord of the domain. Private shared to that amount in the profits of the
mills, private ovens, private wine-presses administration. Those profits arose out
were prohibited. If a villein wished to of the fines, and hence the interests of
have he was compelled to
his loaves fired, those administrators and lessees of justice
carry them to the seigneur's bakehouse, lay, not in public order, but in public
and to pay a tax for the firing of them. disorder. The tendency was to increase
Simmonet has published some documents the number of cases in which penalties
of the fifteenth century which prove that might be inflicted.
at a place called Mailley, in There was a graduated scale of fines
*1
A ai^ B urgun cly, certain men were which corresponded to the three kinds
for having cooked of b asse, moyenne, and haute.
Feudalism Punished justice
Christmas cakes in a private In other words, the results of judicial
oven. It can be easily understood, there- administration were reckoned according
"
fore, that in an extensive and populated to their economic value. The highest
"
domain, in which mills, ovens, and wine- justice (la haute justice) was so called
presses were in constant use, the seigneur because the judge fixed the amount of
enjoyed a considerable revenue. More- the penalty, not according to custom, but
over, the weights and measures set up in according to his own will. The greater
the market place likewise belonged to him, the crime, the greater the fine, and the
and he levied a tax each time they were greater the seigneur's advantage,
4114
THE SOCIAL AN
FABRIC HISTORICAL
OF THE SURVEY OF
MEDI/EVAL FEUDALISM IV
WORLD W.R.PATERSON
...
J power,
r the second charter granted to Dijon by
Rebellion ...., , ,
11 , . .
*t * IT -i A
that failed
even if it had been willing,
. 3 was r,
Hugo, third Duke of Burgundy, in 1187,
too often powerless to effect the yearly fine in return for certain con-
reforms in towns which owed allegiance cessions to the inhabitants amounted to
to suzerains of their own. 500 silver marks. According to Garnier's
Corporate action was discouraged computation this sum was equivalent to
throughout the Middle Ages. In 1368 the 168,000 francs of the modern French
inhabitants of Antilly in Burgundy united currency.
in opposition to their seigneur. They took Such transactions prove that the rate
"
an oath upon the New Testament to help of social progress in mediaeval times
one another against all the world and to depended upon the needs of the govern-
share a common purse." What happened ? ing class. Just as in antiquity the slave-
The seigneur put his forces in motion, the master often found it more profitable to
conspiracy failed, and the conspirators liberate his slave and live upon the new
were compelled to pay an immense fine. freedman's industry, so in the feudal age
If such things took place at the end of it was found that by easing the burdens
the fourteenth century, we can under- _ . which pressed upon individuals
r'
payment had
of a high ransom up their abode in the communes, and
completed their ruin. The cattle,
had having sworn the oath they became
been driven off, even the goods which entitled to all the privileges of member-
had been stored in the church as in an ship. The basis of that oath was mutual
inviolable sanctuary had been seized, and aid, for all rights were accompanied by
in despair the owners had duties. The greater communes possessed
emigrated.
This is not an abnormal but only a their own militia, were permitted to fortify
normal picture of what was taking place their walls, and to hold meetings for
throughout the feudal domains. And the discussion of public business. The
4116
FREEDOM FOR THE CITIZENS OF PARIS
From the painting of Louis VI. granting the first charter to the
citizens of Paris by J. S. Laurens
which had always been jealous of the wealth the founder of the new monarchy, was
and activity of the communes. The town in reality only the head of the French
of Laon, for instance, had suffered under barons. He founded a royal house, but
the tyranny of the bishop, its titular head. during the reigns of his immediate suc-
After a P eriod of struggle, cessors the dukes of Normandy and of
TK if 11
of the
which lasted almost twenty Aquitaine were far more powerful than
r years, a charter was obtained the occupant of the throne.
from Louis the Stout in 1128. The feudal system had so firmly estab-
By that charter some of the worst of the lished itself that, as we have already
feudal exactions had been abolished, and stated, the royal domain was likewise a
the government of the city had been fief, which required constant protection
revolutionised in the interests of liberty. against powerful nobles. It was not until
But Laon was not yet ripe for even a the reign of Philip Augustus (1180-1223)
modified form of self-government. Its that by help of a vigorous policy the
sedition was taken advantage of by its crown domain was not merely protected
bishop, who in 1190, by a transaction but enlarged. Henceforward, the mon-
with the French king, Philip Augustus, archy was not content with a mere atti-
succeeded in destroying the commune. tude of negation and defence, but, partly
In the following year, by a new arrange- by war, partly by treaty, fresh territory
ment with the king, the citizens regained was won, and with the increase of terri-
their liberties, and kept them for about a tory came increase of prestige. Philip
hundred years. In 1294, however, the Augustus, like England's Norman kings,
commune was again abolished, only to be set himself to ruin the great vassals. He
re-established later. This alternation con- did not scruple to attack
y .
ous
tinued until far into the fourteenth century, his own uncle, the Count of
^igo
ei p
and the history of the town, beset from . Flanders, from whom he
within and from without, enables us to see took Picardy. Besides, Nor-
how precarious were municipal liberties mandy, Brittany, Languedoc and Cham-
in the Middle Ages. Perhaps the most pagne were compelled to acknowledge
disheartening fact of all is that sometimes his sovereignty. Whereas, too, in former
the towns themselves, owing to the mis- reigns the king had deigned in obedience
government under which they laboured, to feudal usage to do homage on account
petitioned for the suppression of their of any fief which he held from an inferior,
charters. Such a fact, however, by no Philip Augustus refused to perform that
means justifies the feudal administration. act. There could be no surer sign that
The fall of the communes towards the end the crown had already recaptured part
of the thirteenth and at the beginning of its ancient hegemony.
of the fourteenth century was not followed In the reign of Louis IX. (1226-1270) the
by a feudal reconstruction, for feudalism royal authority was still further increased.
itself was falling before the rising power Normandy was ceded by England, and
of the crown. If the communes failed towns like Chartres and Blois, Macon
it was not because feudalism had succeeded. and Aries, were added to the kingdom.
And, indeed, the fact which should in- This process continued until the royal
terest and surprise us is that suzerainty was acknowledged throughout
N
men who had been so long French territory. Just as in the great
Stronger than j j , ,
the Kin misgoverned, and who had territorial divisions the seigneurs acknow-
almost forgotten the sound ledged a comte or due as their suzerain,
of the word liberty, were nevertheless so those local suzerains one by one began
able, in the face of immense odds, to to acknowledge the supreme sovereignty
improvise a form of government whose of the crown.
fundamental principles were sound. Thus the monarchy was one of the
The close of the feudal age is marked great enemies of feudalism in France
by a recovery of the- central control, as well as in England. The great differ-
which had been in abeyance since the ence in the two cases, however, is that
death of Charlemagne. That recovery whereas in England the triumph of the
4118
THE CLOSE OF THE FEUDAL AGE
monarchy over feudalism came early, Conqueror and of his successors was not
in France it came late. Before the abso- carried out except by means of a long
lutism of Louis XIV. was attained the struggle against the Norman barons. The
throne had passed through a prolonged royal policy consisted in pitting the force
and often a humiliating struggle with the of nationalism against the force of feudal-
great feudal potentates. ism, and in playing skilfully with both.
But in England the evolution of events But the sufferings of the nation which
was different. It was owing to the action the struggle involved were not in vain, for
of the crown after the Norman Conquest the king sided with the people,
Sk'lf l
that the growth of feudalism was checked. and a national, not a feudal
Policy of the
If, after the death of Charlemagne, France monarch y was founded. If
Conqueror
had possessed kings like William the we examine the coronation
Conqueror, Henry I., and Henry II., it oaths of William the Conqueror and of
is probable that in that country also Henry I. we shall find that both of those
feudalism, if not wholly arrested in its kings ascended the throne as kings of the
development, would have been at least whole nation. William declares that he
controlled. In England there never took will rule the entire people (cunctum
place after the Conquest that dismem- populum) justly. Henry I. re-established
berment of the land and of the central the old provincial courts or shiremoots,
authority which characterised the feudal which William had also favoured, and he
regime. This fact is all the more re- confiscated the great barpnial estates. By
markable since before the Conquest the these and by many other acts forces which
system of land tenure in England was, as were hostile to feudalism were early
we have already stated, likewise approxi- brought into play, and thus caused the
mating towards the feudal type. In mediaeval history of England to be widely
Saxon England the right of judicature divergent from the mediaeval history of
accompanied territorial possession, and France.
the man who had land sat in The English king was not a feudal
on the man who had
After the judgment
Jb -i- ,1 i j uv
potentate struggling against his equals.
c none. Even the old public The allegiance to a particular lord was
"
courts, called Hundred Courts," not allowed to override or to diminish
became private assizes in which a -local allegiance to the throne, and England
proprietor passed sentence on the people was not an assemblage of independent
of the district. fiefs, but a nation whose national self-
Moreover, there is evidence in Domes- consciousness was already in process of
day Book that in England, as on the development. No doubt, in the end the
Continent, owners of land that is to French, like the English, monarchy was
say, occupiers of a freehold were com- able to crush the minor feudal sovereign-
pelled either by poverty or by force ties and to take back into its own hands
majeure to place themselves under the the reins and bridle of government. But
protection of superior lords. In some the process was far slower, and the con-
form, therefore, vassalage had already summation came later by many centuries.
been developed in England before the Not that the English did not endure
eleventh century, and the obligation of manifold miseries of their own, for the
military service completed the feudal disruptive feudal tendencies frequently
character of the relations between the broke loose. But those miseries would
greater and the smaller landed proprietors. have been multiplied and magnified
still
The system was feudalism except in name. if, France, England had
like
Hence, when the Conqueror and his fol- r
become the scene of a fully
lowers arrived in England the English
Crushed developed system of feudal
method of land tenure seemed by no means misgovernment. In the pre-
unfamiliar to them. But whereas in ceding paragraphs we have endeavoured
France the central power had perished, to present only in very rude outline
and feudalism had risen on the ruins, some of the main aspects of a social
in England the king was still the lord system which, during a long period, pro-
of the national land. In his seizure foundly influenced European life. We have
of the kingship William determined mentioned that the reappearance of the
to maintain the English tradition, monarchy was a chief cause of the
That determination on the part of the disappearance of French feudalism. The
262 4119
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
unity of the kingdom which had been consider as authentic and final legal deci-
broken in fragments was reconstituted. sions which were incompatible with the
But it is not merely in the action of ex- old feudal usage. But no one can accept
ternal factors upon societies that the to-day so superficial a diagnosis, for the
student of social progress is chiefly con- causes of failure lay far deeper. Feudal-
cerned. When he has appraised the rela- ism resulted in economic sterility and
tive importance of the monarchy and the social paralysis, because the social and
communes as destructive agents working economic principles upon which it was
,
against feudalism, it remains for based were unsound. No mere tinkering
ranee
cs ore
s
^ m ^ ^^ whether also the sys- at its machinery could have saved it.
^ em ^^ no j. con f- am w ithin itself Human society is an organism, but the
the reasons of its own failure. vitality of an organism depends upon the
Human are highly complex
societies harmonious co-operation of all its parts.
organisms, and they are no sooner formed If some members are nourished at the
than they become the prey of many con- expense of others, the ultimate result will
tradictory elements. The battles which be the ruin of the whole body. And this
they fight against each other are often less fact is likewise true of the body politic.
momentous than the struggles of all of The process of exploitation can continue
them with moral and economic forces of only so long as the material lasts. If the
their own creation. The accumulation of material happens to be human life, it, too,
those forces is often secret and slow, and becomes at length exhausted.
it is not until the end of a period that we We have seen that the great method of
are able to discover the extent and mean- mediaeval exploitation was serfdom. But
ing of their activity. o apse
serfdom, like ancient slavery,
In the foregoing sketch we have perhaps ^-^ no p a y ^ g ex p enses
j. i{
gathered together some facts sufficient in has been shown that the fiefs
Structure , , , , ,
number and in character to enable us to became depopulated owing to
understand why feudalism was incapable the severity of feudal exactions. And the
of creating a permanent form of human bankruptcy of the peasant was followed
society. No man would dream
of reviving by the bankruptcy of the governing class.
it to-day. From a
philosophic standpoint Numerous documents prove that impo-
we should doubtless be prepared to say verished nobles were compelled to mort-
that, given the conditions of France from gage their property. What is more in-
the fifth till the fifteenth century, feudal- teresting is that when the agrarian ex-
ism was inevitable. But as we examine ploitation had ceased to be remunerative,
its internal organisation in the cold light the nobles, in defiance of feudal custom,
of modern inquiry we are struck less by the which forbade them to engage in com-
system's virtues than by its vices. Boulain- merce, began to have transactions with
villiers, who was writing in the seven- the merchant class of those communes
teenth century as a defender whose development feudalism had frus-
of feudalism attributes its trated. This fact meant that the aristo-
ViceTof >
I eudalism
decline mainlyJ to
.,
the adminis-
, ,,
cracy had made wretched use of their
trative incapacity of the seig- immense opportunities on the land. They
neurs and holders of fiefs. He points out had strangled agriculture, and they had
that they were guilty of ignorance of their attempted to strangle commerce. There
own feudal customs and laws. And he can be no wonder if this prolonged sapping
especially condemns them for having dele- of its own economic foundations brought
gated to professional jurists the admini- about at last the collapse of a structure
stration of justice in their territories. The which even in its upper storeys was
people began to regard the lawyers as the artifically built.
chief depositories of authority, and to W. ROMAINE PATERSON
4120
THE RENAISSANCE
ITS GREAT MEN AND THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS
BEING AN EPILOGUE TO THE STORY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
ITALY had already enjoyed a long intelligently readapted for practical pur-
*
period of development in culture at poses in Pa via. After the founding of the
the time when the countries north University of Bologna, in 1088, this town
of the Alps first became the scene of became the home of jurisprudence on
events bearing on the history of the the basis of the abstract law of Roman
world. The system of latifundia, or estate imperial times. The importance which
farming, under the later empire, had A E f
was Cached both there and in
depopulated wide tracts and caused such Politics and
. Milan to the Corpus JJuris is
, ,v , ., .
of K om e
the old masters in their lives
.. . . .
a republic after the ancient model, and to
, .
spiritworks artistically complete and yet partly philosophical among others one on
modern. These, being written in Italian, the best administration of the state, the
4122
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI, PAUL VERONESE
Paul Veronese, as his name implies, was a native of Verona, but most of his life was
passed in Venice during the
nourishing of its great school of painting. His work, which abounds in the public buildings of the famous city, is
singularly pure while instinct with life and character. Some of his masterpieces are to be seen on the ceilings and
frescoes of the buildings of his time, notably his "Triumph of Venice," which is
probably unrivalled as a ceiling
ag painting.
"
Liber de Republica optime adminis- form of his ideal attachment to Laura,
"
tranda are still more steeped in poetic whom he extols in his Italian poems.
feeling and display some slight knowledge Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the
of politics. As an admirer of Rome and biographer of Dante and the friend of
the Latin language he was no petty imi- Petrarch, gives prominence far more than
tator of the ancients, but a writer in Latin they do to a quite different idea, which is
with a style of his own. In some respects part of the literary property of the age.
he shows a distinct advance as compared He remorselessly attacks the Church and
with Dante. He stands out as a truly the clergy, notwithstanding outward piety
modern man in the midst of a still medi- and submission to the Pope. Some
aeval environment from the manner in which
alleged acts of the priests are attacked by
he, almost alone at that time, regards him in his " Decameron," which conse-
astrology as a fanciful illusion, and by the quently caused him to be reproached with
irreligion. He lacked the deeper political small. But this was soon changed. Colucio
ability requisite to attack the secular Salutati (1331-1406), chancellor of the
position of the Pope, although, being often Florentine Republic, introduced the
sent on diplomatic missions, he was cer- language of Cicero into the state docu-
tainly familiar ments, and the
with the politics Augustini an
of the day. monk Luigi Mar-
All sides of an sili (1342-1394),
individual intel- filled with deep
lectual are
life reverence for
embodied in these antiquity, was
three men, who able to combine
went advance
in with his spiritual
of their age, and position vehe-
yet were influ- ment attacks on
enced by it. They the papacy. Nu-
themselves were merous scholars
imbued with the joined him, and
idea that a new Florence became
era was opening, the seat of the
even if their en- ancient learning
vironment had in a new form.
slowly and labori- The writings 9f
ously to.arrive at the Latins were
a similar know still almost exclu-
were translated into Latin. Homer alone music, flourished anew under his rule.
was as yet left untranslated. Latin and The Archbishop of Bologna, Thomas
Greek towards the middle of the century Pasentucelli, was elected Pope on March
stood as equals side by side, and were i8th, 1447, and took the title of Nicholas V.
4125
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
He had lived at Florence in the circle scholar but under him the library and
;
of Cosimo, and now, on his accession the archives were transferred to new and
to the pontificate, he founded a similar larger rooms, and placed under the compe-
scientific centre by the formation of a tent direction of Bartolommeo Sacchi
second library of manuscripts. He sent (" Platina "). Art found once more a
out collectors to travel and search for vigorous patron in Julius II. (1503-1513),
manuscripts of ancient writers, and raised and literature iriXeo X. (1513-1521).
his collection of books under the care of Zeal for learning was not so prominent
the librarian Giovanni Tortello to 5,006 in the other states of Italy as in Florence,
volumes, of which Greek works formed and intermittently at Rome. Even in
no small part. Among the scholars Venice, where, owing to the general rich
whom Nicholas V. collected round him, development, much might fairly have been
Lorenzo Valla, who died in 1457, incon- expected, very little was done. Only spas-
testably takes the , modic efforts
first place. In the were made, and
domain of his- these often failed.
torical criticism j
Nevertheless, to-
he stands su- ;
wards the end of
preme. Besides the fifteenth cen-
him, Maffeo tury Aldus Manu-
Vegio, who died tius,the liberally
in 1458, an Au- educated printer
gustinian monk and publisher,
well acquainted acquired his
with antiquity, world-wide repu-
and Flavio Bi- tation there.
on do (1388- Artistic onlife,
recorded by the interior is adorned with sculptures by Michelangelo and other great luxuriance. The
Florentines. Giotto's campanile is also shown in the picture.
side of ancient Bellinis in rich
history. The efforts of Pope Nicholas were and skilfulcolouring found still more
not appreciated by his successors. Calixtus splendid successors in Giorgione, who died
III. (1455-1458) dispersed the library in 1510, in Titian (1477-1576), and in Paul
which had been collected with such pains. Veronese, who died in 1588. At the court
Pius II. (1458-1464), before his pontificate of Ferrara lived Lodovico Ariosto (1474-
known as ^Eneas Silvius Piccolomini, was " "
J 533)> the poet of the Orlando Furioso ;
himself familiar with the classics, and was and at Naples Giovanni Pontano (1426-
also a spirited and
vigorous writer, but he 1503), an eager patron of mathematics
had nothing to spare for other scholars. and astronomy.
Paul II. (1464-1471) absolutely hated all " "
By Renaissance we understand
science, and persecuted the Humanists, primarily what the word literally signifies,
"
although he showed a wish to preserve old the new birth," that is, of the antique.
buildings. Sixtus IV. (1471-1484) was no The antique was the model
great
4126
e was nw , ,
draughtsmanship, and conforming to the oldest notions of design, have a rare and gentle beauty in colouring and
is peculiar to this artist.
in the features of his figures which gives to them a somewhat ethereal feeling that
seems to recede far into the the art of the Roman sarco-
distance as compared with phagi, and on the whole he
the newly-discovered inde-
owes what is great and new
which forms the in his work far more to him-
pendence
chief feature of all this age self and the newly-awakened
of culture. Thus the new feeling for the life around him
kept the name than to any model. The slight
conception
"
Renaissance," but the idea connection that this new art
has with the antique schools
implied something quite diffe-
rent. The Renaissance owes is seen best in the productions
his
pontificate he
mains, and a great Florentine, Leon cautioned persons against burning the
Battista Alberti (1404-1472), who worked ancient marble to obtain lime, and, as Pope,
far more outside his native city than in it, he issued although, indeed, without much
tried to excel the antique in ornamentation, success a rescript which threatened the
especially in the shape of facades. But most severe penalties for the further
Padua, still more than Florence, became the destruction of old buildings. Even Pope
f hief centre of that revival of ancient art. Paul II., the enemy of the Humanists
Squarcione (1394-1474) had founded there (1464-1471), not only showed a refined
an atelier, in which copies were made of appreciation for the ancient works of
originals collected from all sources, even, it art, but was an indefatigably keen col-
is sai d from G reece i tsel f , This fact lector, who made his museum of Roman
,
explains
4128
THE RENAISSANCE
antiquities noteworthy even by the side with the older masters be traced. Then
of that of the Medici. A
rich native of he cast aside all that was non-indi-
Treviso had as early as 1335 founded in vidual, and gave play only to his
Venice a collection of medals, coins, bronzes, uncompromisingly realistic nature, which
cut stones, and manuscripts. In the next did not shrink even from what was ugly.
century the town preserved her reputation He worked for different patrons in wood,
and became the chief repository of ancient clay, stone, and brass. He
works of art. created for p adua the bronze
Work of*
The great personality with whom the Donatello equestrian statue of Gattame-
,
\
history of Italian painting in the fifteenth completed in 1453 [see
lata,
century begins is Masaccio (1401-1428). page 3965]. After more than a thousand
The feature which distinguishes his most years a technically difficult task had once
important work, the frescoes in the more been set, and had been performed
chapel of the Brancacci, from all earlier artistically on the grandest scale.
productions of painting is its absolute An abundant stream of art flowed in the
truthfulness. The realism already budding fifteenth century through every part of
in Giotto had completely ripened Ma- in Italy. Towards the end of the century the
saccio. His thorough anatomical know- foremost artists from Florence and Umbria
ledge, his better developed were summoned to Rome
perspective, the breadth to decorate the Sistine
of his compositions, and Chapel. In Florence itself
his distribution of masses, all art culminated in the
raised his art far beyond three names Leonardo da
that of the previous cen- Vinci, Michelangelo Buo-
tury. The art of painting narroti, and Raphael.
flourished in similar luxu- Leonardo, who died in
"
riance throughout the 1519, was a universal
whole fifteenth century. man," like Goethe, a
A contemporary of marvellously gifted nature
Masaccio is the Dominican architect, sculptor,
Fra Giovanni Angelico painter, engineer, phy-
(1387-1455), who, from sicist,and anatomist, a
the feeling manifest in his founder and discoverer in
works, is almost more every department, and
Gothic than a follower of yet in every other respect
the Renaissance, but a perfect human being,
nevertheless is in this immensely strong, beauti-
sense typical of a whole PAINTING BY MASACCIO ful till extreme old age,
It is with Masaccio that the history of Italian
of artists. lamOUS oc a
f Qrnnn c as a musician anH
mncirian and
group painting in the fifteenth century begins. His
him COme Lippo most important work, the frescoes in the chapel In the
,,
Lippi, composer.
of the Brancacci, is distinguished for its abso- T^, .
I5O5
T .
,-, 11- T-V , ,
Lippino, Botticelh., Dome- lute truthfulness, while his broad genius raised Florentine Michelangelo
GhirlandajO,, and the his art far beyond that of the preceding century.
^
( I47^- T 4) became his
group of the painter-sculptors Pollajuoli, rival. He too was painter, sculptor, and
Verrochio, and Lorenzo di Credi, who architect, and in addition a thoughtful
decorated with their skill the altars and philosophic poet. The chief scene of his
the great surfaces of the walls in the activity was Rome, where the Popes of
churches of Tuscany. the time, being lovers of art, gave his
At the same time, however, amid the creative imagination the right oppor-
great tasks which architecture presented, tunities. In Raphael of Urbino, who
plastic art had developed a died in 1520, the whole purpose was at last
ohibert,
i uxur i ance to w h ich it had fulfilled which the painting of the fifteenth
ar
I
, attained only in ancient Greece.
.
riumph r~, .
, .
century had prepared. All the tones ring
I he century opens with the out full and true in his art.
competition for the bronze door of the The direction of all these efforts towards
baptistery. Lorenzo Ghjberti was the the revival of the classical antiquity im-
victor, but Donatello is^the foremost plastic plies for the men of that time an immense
artist of the century. He is thoroughly increase of knowledge and extension of the
original in every respect. Only in his field of view within a comparatively short
very earliest works can any connection time. But scanned from the standpoint
4129
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
of the later development the value of genses, acquired the Burgundian lands of
the whole movement consists less in the Raymond VI. of Toulouse, France had
knowledge actually transmitted than in been divided politically into two parts,
the stimulus to intellectual freedom, in which showed for centuries marked
the promotion of individual thought, differences in the development of civilisa-
which should inevitably lead to a struggle tion. In the south the idea of the Crusades
against the spirit of scholasticism. By had found from the very first a more
the side of Christian authority embodied favourable soil. The Provencal poetry,
in the papacy there appeared mostly lyrical, had flourished there, and
the completely different system had developed highly a language which
C
?.
E of antiquity, and by the was intelligible in the whole Romance
side of Aristotle stood Plato. world.
The question was how to reconcile two Southern France was the first country
authorities which were completely opposed of the western world to have a literature of
one to the other. From this resulted a its own in the language of the people.
struggle against authority generally, out Down to the days of Dante verse and
of which individualism emerged in prose even in Italy itself were subject
renewed strength. The restoration of entirely to this Proven9al influence even ;
the rights of the individual is the Brunetto Latini still employed the French
essential feature of the new era, which language. Although the poetry of Southern
in the sixteenth century saw the re- France had fallen into decay after the
ligious revolution, in 1517, and the Albigensian wars, which inflicted deep
regeneration of the Catholic Church at wounds on the land, yet an attempt was
Trent, in 1563. made in the fourteenth century at Tou-
Pope Boniface VIII. (1294-1303) had louse, in new life into it
1324, to inspire
waged a bitter war with the French by founding a prize for poets.
artificially
kingdom for the secular supremacy, and Meantime the epic of chivalry, at first
King Philip IV. (1285-1314), who was in the Latin tongue, had been developed
fortunate in his struggle for absolutism, in Northern France, but after the time
had proved victorious, even
ifhe could not carry the
successor of St. Peter a
captive into France. The
brief reign ofBenedict XI.
(1303-1304) was not able
to weaken the opposition,
and at the new election,
on June 5th, 1305, a
Frenchman, the Arch-
bishop of Bordeaux, Bert-
rand of Got, was raised to
the papal throne as Clement
V. Being entirely submis-
sive to the influence of the
French court, he removed
the papal residence to
French soil. For seventy
years from 1306 Avignon,
a town on the Rhone, was
the permanent abode of
the Vicar of Christ. This
event was due entirely to
political circumstances, but
became of great importance
for the civilisation of France
and countries beyond. Up
to Louis VIII (1223- THE APPEARANCE OF THE VIRGIN TO ST. BERNARD
1226), Who, in Consequence Filippino Lippi, of whose wor k the above is very characteristic, was the son of
rf fViA war uiri+Vi AIKi
+V,o AlOl- the famous artist, Fra Filippio Lippi, and was born at Florence in 1457, dying in
OI tne War Wltn tile 1604. He painted
1504.
. .
manv frescoes,
nainted many fre
notably those in the Strozzi Chapel, Florenc*.
4130
THE RENAISSANCE
While Italy, even in the
eleventh century, had
possessed a seminary for
science in the University
of Bologna, and another
in the twelfth century, in
Salerno, and in the thir-
teenth century had added
four other s Naples,
Padua, Rome, and Ferrara
France could not indeed
present an equal number,
but possessed instead the
recognised foremost theo-
logical faculty of the world
in the University of Paris,
dating from 1200. This,
rather than any of the
Italian universities, be-
came the model for all
future foundations of the
sort in the West. Parisian
teachers left their chairs in
1378 on account of the
schism, and were instru-
mental in founding German
universities in Heidelberg,
Cologne, and Erfurt, while
two other teaching bodies
after the Paris model had
already arisen at Prague,
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI, BY GHIRLANDAJO in 1348, and at Vienna, in
In the days of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Dominic Ghirlandajo was one of the The movement in
foremost artists of Florence, noted for his powers as a teacher no less than for 1365.
England had found expres-
sion in the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge.
of Philip (1180-1223) the national
II. In the South of France the University of
language seemed here also to have Toulouse was founded in 1228, and that
acquired the flexibility requisite for poet- at Montpellier in 1289. The latter began
ical productions. This stage, accordingly, to contest with the Italian Salerno the
was reached considerably earlier here than reputation of being the most prominent
in Italy- In the South of France the school of medicine. The University at
relations with antiquity had never been Lyons followed in 1300.
lost to the same extent as on the other side Such was the intellectual life of the
of the Alps. Thus there could not be a environment into which the papacy
violent awakening of ancient life such as was removed when it prepared to establish
was seen in the neighbouring country. itself at Avignon, at a time when Rome,
The awakening was peaceful and calm. of all the more important towns of Italy,
The national literature soon produced was perhaps the least affected by the spirit
admirable results, which were not so com- of the Florentines. During
The Popes ,-,
4132
LEONARDO DA VINCI'S FAMOUS PAINTING OF THE LAST SUPPER
The genius of Leonardo da Vinci did not run in one direction only, and while famous as a painter he busied himself in
many other directions. Born at the castle of Vinci, near Empoli, in the Val d'Arno, about the year 1450, he gave
evidence of extraordinary skill at a very early age, and he was sent as a pupil to Andrea Verrocchio. He died in 151!>.
scholasticism, and too long opposed the means of livelihood for many men who
efforts of the Humanists. Yet it was there were not directly producers. Ecclesiastical
that the beginnings of a renaissance had and secular powers early vied in the con-
shown themselves even before Dante and struction of splendid buildings, and Gothic
Petrarch. But after the middle of the art developed here by the twelfth and
fourteenth century these efforts died thirteenth* centuries its finest fruits.In
away without having had any results the fourteenth century a decadence in the
comparable to those accomplished in Italy. development of the style had already set
In art, how- in. Its full deco-
literary activity
district. At the
in the South, was same time castles
the result of a and town fortifi-
The Louvre, which Philip Augustus had extent beautiful outlines with strong defen-
built in the year 1204 outside the former sive capabilities. When Clement V. (1305-
boundaries of the city of Paris, was recon- 1314) selected Avignon as his abode a
structedby Charles V. on a more complete spacious dwelling was first erected on a high
and splendid scale the castle gradually
;
rock rising above the Rhone but Bene- ;
prominently OUt, of Michelangelo, while the other, St. George, is the work of Donateilo, looked lovingly
oti/1 +V.a<V
illlU ,rrUc. the most productive sculptor of the Renaissance. Everything of his, at
ineir WOrKS
,
" "
Renaissance building, the Kiliansturm pleted until 1583. ARMIN TILLE
4136
EUROPE
FOURTH DIVISION
WESTERN EU ROPE
FROM THE REFORMATION TO
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
When our second division of Western European history opens,
most of the modern nations have already come into being. The
Scandinavian states are one clearly defined group the Britannic
;
4^37
MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE FOURTH DIVISION OF EUROPE
The fourth division of Europe, which treats of the westernpart of the Continent from the great religious awakening
known as the Reformation down to the time of the French Revolution, is illustrated in the above map. A
comparison with the map which illustrated the third division of Europe shows the changes that have been at work
among the nations. The great empire built up by Charlemagne, which dominated so large a portion of the Con-
tinent in the last division, is no longer pre-eminent among the Powers, while the separate kingdoms of England and
Scotland have come together in the bonds of union and as one nation are beginning to tread the path of conquest.
4138
WESTE QM^fHE
REFORM fVOfcUTION
GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PERIOD
By ARTHUR D. INNES, M.A.
THE PASSING OF MEDI/EVALISM AND THE NEW ERA
""THE division of history into periods, facturing possible on an enormous scale,
* labelled ancient, mediaeval, and introduced the most essential character-
modern, is of necessity arbitrary. There istics of the modern community. On the
was a time, which we commonly call pre- other hand, there is reason also in the view
historic, when the European peoples kept which finds the starting point of progress,
no written records of their civilisation. the emergence from barbarism, in the
Then some of them, already in many intellectual and aesthetic revival which
respects highly organised, preserved their began in Italy before the thirteenth cen-
records, and ancient European history .
tury was well ended. There is
e
began. When did end ? We take the
it
Ing
reason in the purely pic-
less
f
line of demarcation at the epoch or moment popular distinction
Medizevalism turesque
/*,
j
.
,, ,.
of time when the
old civilised races ceased
-,<,
4139
4140
claim to be the sole guardians of the peculiarly convenient, because it coincides
arcana of accumulated wisdom. The with a landmark in the history of the
general public slowly acquired the data country the establishment of a particu-
for inquiry and criticism. The second is larly vigorous and
notable dynasty.
the fall of Constantinople. Byzantium Modern England introduced under the
is
had carried on the Graeco- Roman tradition. auspices of the House of Tudor, which
With its fall, the south-east of Europe supplied it with five monarchs, of whom
became, not a link between East and West, three at least were of unusual capacity.
" "
Four
and between the old and the
"
Mediaeval history, then, ends, and
"
new, but definitely Oriental modern history begins at least, so far
Epoch-making
Events
and Mohammedan ;
neo- as concerns Western Europe with the
oriental, that is, with its past opening years of the sixteenth century.
dating from the Hegira. The East had And modern history itself finds a point of
definitely become the aggressor against the definite division in the epoch of the French
West. Third is the discovery of the New Revolution. The years from the Reforma-
World by Christopher Columbus and of the tion Luther's defiance of the papacy to
Cape route to India by Vasco da Gama, the French Revolution form a clearly-
which made the ocean the great highway of marked period, in which the consequences
the nations, and fleets the instrument of of the great- events above enumerated
commercial success and the guarantee of develop.
expansion beyond the limits of Europe. The effects of the increased facilities for
Fourth is the challenge to the papacy flung communicating knowledge, criticism, and
down by Martin Luther epoch-making, ideas, ramified into every department of
not as being the first of such challenges, human endeavour. After centuries of
but as being the first which resulted in a stagnation, even of retrogression, science
permanent reconstruction of the religious in the sense of knowledge of natural laws
basis of European society, and in extensive progressed enormously. The 200 years
political changes attendant thereon. which begin with Copernicus and
As distinguished from these events, Cnd With IsaaC Newton wh Se
March '
south, was being communicated to the while the eighteenth century witnessed
northern peoples. Politically, the tend- the invention of machinery, which com-
ency to form large homogeneous states pletely changed the conditions of labour,
with a strong central government was the practical application of steam-
first
overcoming the tendency to disintegra- power, and almost the first investigations
tion inherent in feudalism. of the nature of electricity.
In England, it is true, the principle had With the exception of Italian literature,
triumphed long before it was only a which, like Italian art, had already attained
reaction which was countered by the its zenith, all the great literatures of
establishment of the Tudor monarchy. Europe came into being though the
Now, however, France, under Louis XL Middle Ages had produced precursors such
and Charles VIII., and Spain, under as Chaucer in England and achieved a
Ferdinand and Isabella, had splendour which remained unsurpassed, if
Revolution
been added to the list of clearly not altogether unmatched, even in the
in the
states, and the new
defined period of the French Revolution or in the
-
Art of War
conception expressed in the nineteenth century. The one exception
" "
phrase the balance of power assumed a was Germany, where, at the close of the
dominant value in international politics. period, Goethe had indeed risen above the
" "
Finally, a place, though not the first place, horizon but ;
Faust was still unwritten,
must be given to the revolution in the art and Lessing's was almost the only name
of war effected by gunpowder, which had of consequence in pure literature. The'
now, become an assured if not an actually sixteenth century produced the Portuguese
accomplished fact. In England, it may be Camoens, Ronsard and the Pleiade and
added, the selected line of demarcation is Montaigne in France, Cervantes in Spain,
4141
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Tasso in Italy, and in England the tre- in their fulness but for the invention of
"
mendous group of Elizabethans," whose the printing press the same is true of
;
work extends roughly over the forty years developments in a third field which has
from 1580 to 1620. To the next century affinitiesboth with science and literature
belong Calderon in Spain, Milton and the which is vaguely and generally
field
Dryden with Bunyan and Defoe in Eng- termed "philosophy." The "scholasticism"
land, and in France the three great of the Middle Ages was not, indeed, so
dramatists Corneille, Moliere, and Racine utterly sterile as is sometimes represented.
as well as the school of critics, headed by In conjunction with the Reformation, which
Hoileau, who dominated European litera- liberated thinkers from the necessity of
ture for nearly a hundred years afterwards. compelling at least their publicly expressed
Under this last influence intellectuality conclusions to conform with the authorised
triumphed over passion, spontaneity was dogmas of the Church, the printing press
depressed by artificial rules ;
it is curious
" helped both to record the data for formula-
to remark that in England the
"
term arti- ting new ideas and to popularise new con-
ficial was complimentary. Hence the clusions. In the sixteenth century the great
victorious romantic reaction which fol- theological contest absorbed attention but ;
lowed this period makes the present-day the seventeenth produced the great names
critic inclined to deny that the pre-Revolu- of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibnitz the ;
tiori poets of the eighteenth century were eighteenth, Berkeley, David Hume, and
poets at all. Through most of the eigh- Kant.
teenth century classicalism held the field, Metaphysics, however, with mental and
the drama ceased to be dramatic, satire moral science, exercise a direct influence
and epigram flourished, but the lyric was only on the few; of more practically
at a discount it was an age of essayists
; recognisable effect was the revived study of
in prose or verse, though the tender political theory, which may be said to have
emotions still found occasional expression. started with the publication of Machia-
" "
Neither in the field of prose literature nor velli's Prince shortly after that states-
in that of natural science would these man's death in 1527. That work is a
developments have been possible at least handbook of monarchism divorced from
WHEN CONSERVATISM TRIUMPHED OVER SCIENCE GALILEO BEFORE THE PAPAL TRIBUNAL
:
A Scientist far in advance of his time, Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition and compelled to restate his doctrine that
the earth revolves round the sun. It issaid that after his recantation, he muttered sotto voce, " And yet it does move."
From the painting in the Luxembourg by J. N. Robert Fleury
4142
THE FIVE GREATEST SCIENTISTS OF TWO CENTURIES
ethics but it is an analysis of method
;
theoretic warrant for their practical de-
rather than an examination of principles. mands. The embodiment of the principles
" "
The truth that the establishment of a of the glorious revolution of 1688 in
strong central governmet was a manifest the constitutional gospel of John Locke,
political necessity for every state which in spite of prolixity and of a certain hazi-
wished to hold its own accounts for the fact ness, not only satisfied the Whig demands,
that the theorists from Machiavelli through but influenced thinkers abroad. Montes-
Jean Bodin to Hobbes were always advo- quieu, analysing the functions of the state
cates of monarchism, though Hooker, in on the basis of what may be called com-
"
his Ecclesiastical Polity," implies some- parative history and comparative law,
thing like the ultimate sovereignty of the pointed to British constitutionalism as the
people. The philosophical thesis, how- highest actual achievement in the art of
ever, was assuming by the middle of the government the Encyclopaedists" under-
;
seventeenth century the character of a mined the logical defences of the Ancien
" " "
political propaganda ; constitutionalists, Regime ;
Rousseau's Contrat Social
as well as absolutists, were in search of a captured the popular imagination, and
4M3
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
became a mighty agent in producing the peoples ; and the substitution of an
revolution itself. In practical manner the aggressive Mohammedan power for a
pen was revealed as no less mighty than decaying Christian power in the Balkan
the sword. peninsula was to all, except the barrier
The fall of Constantinople was an event states, a matter of importance potential
exceedingly striking to the imagination, rather than actual. Moreover, the asso-
but one of which the effect on the western ciated commercial problems, which other-
world may be exaggerated. The spirit wise might have forced themselves upon
which had flung the chivalry of the West the West, were largely modified by the
against the East, the spirit of the Crusades, development of the Altantic as a com-
had all but spent itself 200 years before. mercial highway. Again, it is probable
The Austrian Hapsburgs, essentially a that too much has often been made of the
western power, were to find their western effect of the fall of Constantinople on the
policy for two and a half centuries con- intellectual movement of the West. The
tinually hampered by the pressure of the dispersion of Greek scholarship and Greek
Ottomans on the east. When the Ottoman manuscripts which ensued did, no doubt,
power began to decline, the other western give an additional impulse to the study of
states began also to interest themselves in the Greek tongue and the Greek authors
an Eastern question, which did not, how- of antiquity. But the classical revival
ever, become acute, as far as they were had already begun in Italy the demand
;
concerned, till the nineteenth century. for scholars and manuscripts had already
On the other 'hand, during the period of been created, and the supply would have
Turkish aggression they did not greatly followed, though more gradually, even if
embroil themselves in the struggle which the Turk had been driven over the Bos-
the barrier states were obliged to maintain. phorus.
Byzantium itself had long ceased to Of our third great event, or pair of
exercise any fascination or any marked events, however, it would be difficult to
influence over the Teutonic or Latin over-estimate the significance and the
4144
COMMANDING FIGURES IN LITERATURE BEFORE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 9
G DE CAMOENS, 1524-80
4145
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
French, not realising this essential con- claimed the right and asserted the duty
dition of a successful contest, allowed for themselves, but were not for a long
their energies to be simultaneously dis- time generally disposed to recognise either
tracted by wars on the European continent. the duty or the right in the case of persons
The victory of the British race took a whose conscience and reason led to con-
new development when the race itself clusions differing from their own. In
bifurcated into two nations as the result other words, Protestantism did not realise
of a quarrel between the American that toleration was its logical corollary.
colonists and the mother country ;
but It divided into camps, Lutheran, Cal-
that development was only in its initial vinistic, or Anglican, which were too
stage at the close of our period. antagonistic among themselves for the
The fourth crucial event was Luther's nations which adopted them to oppose a
challenge to the authority of the papacj'. combined front to the attack of the
This authority was both political and papal powers a disunion which more
dogmatic. Politically it had attained than once brought the whole cause of
its effective maximum in the thirteenth Protestantism into serious jeopardy.
century, and had been weakened but not In many countries, religious profession
destroyed by the Babylonish captivity became so intimately connected with
"
of Avignon and the Great Schism. Dog- dynastic partisanship that heresy," or
" "
matically it had been assailed by papistry as the case might be, became
Wycliffites and Hussites, but the assault treason in the eyes of rulers ;
and in
had apparently been repulsed. Now, England and Scotland a similar relation
however, the renewed attack by Luther arose between Prelatists, or Episcopalians,
developed into the revolt against Rome, on the one hand, and .Puritans, or Coven-
both political and dogmatic, of approxi- anters, on the other, until mutual tolera-
mately the northern half of Western tion was reluctantly accepted by both as
Christendom. In the southern states, the only security against the restoration
Rome retained dogmatic domination by of Catholicism. This point was reached
accepting the political alliance, in place of at the moment when the religious question
the subjection, of the secular Governments. was ceasing to be a leading factor in in-
Dogmatically, Protestantism rests on ternational politics, and Catholic and
the individual's duty to obey his own Protestant Powers were uniting to resist
conscience, and his right to follow his the aggression of France. The storm of
own reason, even when counter to the theological antagonisms was becoming ex-
dictates of authority. The Protestants hausted among the educated classes, to be
4146
Leibnitz, 1646-1716
^ Berkeley, 1685-1753 Hume, 1711-76 Kant, 1724-1804
the eighteenth, if moral standards were a Louis XIV. and Dutch William.
finally
shade more refined, religious convictions But when we pass on to the eighteenth
"
had given place to a tolerant scepticism the youthfulness, the heroicalness," have
which professed Deism and called it vanished barbaric energy and Puritan
;
movement which bears the name of '"'that can be called noble. Among its most
the Wesleys, which was but one form of prominent figures, save perhaps Chatham
the revolt of idealism against the self- and Washington, Frederic stands among
satisfied materialism which threatened to the men who may fairly be called great ;
world was stirred, as it were, by a fresh summer and autumn ; the third, winter.
access of youth, a spontaneous vitality, a But another spring was to come, though
superabundant energy. It was an age of with more in it of March than of May.
4M7
2s
o !*8
""-a a
J3 K 4) 3
rt o e
yji
rt i
u rt
j=
sSl*
2 v
Ills
S **
8-rt.2OSs
o
"
> m jg
a
ll!l
w i-2.il
*S
H S B -S
3 I1>.
IHli
2 wa 8
rt
c
o^
-M t-
r* Q.
< 4? 5s S <S
^* A ^ b ^ P
oi-Sgll
J= B
|i|2 *"
5 SSsyE
M aw5|
HS.l
< S-
^
B-oSiS'
aj
w sssg^
3 O U
10 *
W .SS O
"
BS^-gS?.!
H S^5>S
-131|1S
5 -^ I
2 si Si!
HS'SS^g;
< ^oS-oS
S agoO
iJiSiJ
w
a
Hllf
"
1
**- " '2
:
O 8.
id
e
is-
& S"3"
O ~ ^
o. o
*
2
d 5s"
5 lll
< il^i
> *; S t!"3.
" rt
2 c
5
sit
g U
,
4148
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE GENERAL SURVEY
REFORMATION OF THE PERIOD II
TO THE BY
REVOLUTION A. D. INNES
of the Era
the religious reformer, whose
J?,. ,
survey. At the opening, then, we find
personalities were to dominate Spain, the Burgundian heritage including
Europe for thirty years Luther died in the Low Countries, the Central European
1546, Francis and Henry in 1547, though heritage of the Austrian house, and the
Charles survived them had all taken their Imperial dignity, all under one sceptre,
places on the stage. Among them those though the Austrian dominions were
four during those thirty years laid down very soon transferred to the emperor's
the lines of the national divisions of brother, Ferdinand.
Europe, saw the Europeans masters pi The theory of a balance of power among
South America and on the Indian seas, European states would have been stifled at
and marked out the course which was birth but for the fact that the emperor's
to be taken by the religious Reformation. realms were a heterogeneous assortment
All four were still living when Ignatius of unsympathetic nationalities, very in-
Loyola, on the Roman, and John Calvin on conveniently situated for united action,
the Protestant, side established the specific whereas the realm of the
types of the Jesuit and the Puritan. of a Balance
c
"
^
otner g1 6 Continental power,
Another decade of English history, .
p France, was homogeneous and
the decade of the Great Rebellion or compact. "The rivalry of the
perhaps we should say the two decades of two princes, Charles and Francis, and their
the Rebellion and the Commonwealth counter claims to sundry Burgundian and
marks a division of our whole period into Italian territories, were the fundamental
two. The Peace of Westphalia and the facts in the international situation.
Eng-
execution of Charles I. were all but con- land, standing outside, her policy guided
temporaneous, falling precisely midway at least in the judgment of the world
4149
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
by the minister Cardinal Wolsey, sought own in which he could be actively asso-
to hold the balance between the two, to ciated with neither of the two rivals.
preserve the general peace, and to reap the While priding himself on his orthodoxy,
advantages of her position as arbiter. Henry found conscientious reasons for
Failing to keep the peace, she threw her disclaiming obedience to an ecclesiastical
weight though by no means vigorously authority which could not be persuaded
into the scale on the emperor's side and ;
to declare his marriage with Catharine
only after the overthrow of Francis at of Aragon void. Conscience also com-
Pavia in 1525 was an attempt pelled him to suppress the monastic estab-
" " s
made to restore the balance by lishments in England and to appropriate
a return to the French alliance - their endowments.
the pile
But by this time, the new act At the same time the monarch, who had
"
was making itself actively felt. Martin been honoured with the title of Defender
"
Luther had challenged the papal preten- of the Faith by Leo X., was not persona
sions in 1517 at Wittenberg. In 1520 he grata with the Lutherans and the total out- ;
metaphorically burned his boats when he come was that from the hour when Henry
literally burned the papal Bull which con- began to seek for the so-called divorce
demned him as a heretic. By challenging from his wife, England ceased materially
the pecuniary and political as well as the to influence the policy of either Charles or
theological claims of the papacy, he Francis, while her king was making himself
secured the support of a number of secular supreme over the State, and the State
princes, while the religious enthusiasm supreme over the Church. Theological
of the masses over half of Germany was changes, however logically they might
aroused by his bold declaration against follow as corollaries to the revised relations
any authority which" pretended to over- between Church and State, were reserved
ride the Scriptures. Here stand I. God for the next reign.
help me. I cannot do otherwise." In Germany contests between Protes-
The fire was fairly kindled. Politically tantism and Imperial Catholicism continued
speaking, German unity had become im- Germany s
to alternate with periods of
r> , , i
Religious
doubtful compromises
r
~,
and
w
. .
Lutherans united at Speier in the protest the death of Charles a modus vivendi
against imperial restrictions which gave was established between the two parties
to their movement, and ultimately to the which remained effective for more than
whole anti-papal Reformation, the name of half a century. But the attempt to cen-
Protestantism. tralise power in the hands of the emperor
The new teaching progressed in spite of had failed, and the intimate connection of
the serious set-back which it received the empire with Spain was terminated.
from the social propaganda some of
of A Hapsburg was King of Spain, retaining
itsvotaries emphatically condemned by the Netherlands, and another wore the
Luther himself which brought about the imperial crown but the Hapsburg ;
and was at the same time endeavouring were established on the Spanish Main, and
to tighten its control in secular affairs. the Plate fleets were beginning to pour
Undersuch conditions an effective their cargoes into the Spanish treasury:
Anglo-French alliance would have pre- Also John Calvin had founded his theo-
sented a very grave danger to the cratic system at Geneva on a rigid pre-
Hapsburg monarchy but the King of
; destinarian basis; the Order of Jesuits
England elected to follow a course of his had been recognised at Rome, and was
4150
THE HUGUENOT LOVERS
This famous painting- illustrates the anxiety of a Huguenot maiden for her lover's
safety. On the eve of the
massacre of St. Bartholomew the intimation was secretly conveyed to the Roman Catholics that they were
to wear a badge on their arms to distinguish them from the Protestants, against whom the attack was to
be made. Hearing in some way of the impending massacre, the young woman has tied the badge about her
lover's arm and is entreating him to wear it, but he is gently seeking to remove the symbol of the craven.
From the painting by Sir J. E. MilLiis, in the Tate Gallery
264 4*5*
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
developing the powers generated by the Guise. Elizabeth's domestic administra-
union of a consummate education with tion was consequently emphatically Pro-
unqualified obedience and the Council
;
testant ; the more so when a singularly
of Trent, in which the adherents of the injudicious papal Bull in 1570 formally
papacy alone found recognition, was pre- invited English Catholics to profess loyalty
paring the conclusive dogmatic definitions but to compass treason. Nevertheless,
which were permanently to distinguish it was her business to avoid challenging
Roman Catholics from all others, and to the direct onslaught of the papal champion
lead to the popular appropria- until the outcome of a struggle could be
Philip the ,. r r- ,f i-
_. . tion of the name of Catholic anticipated with confidence.
pl R f
th *p
to the Romanists an abuse of Hence for nearly thirty years she played
terminology which is excusable persistently a double game, wounding
only because the opposition of the terms Spain whenever the chance appeared of
Protestant and Catholic is, on the whole, doing so unofficially, or dangling before
less misleading than any practicable France the prospect of a matrimonial
alternative which has been suggested. alliance, but refusing to commit herself to
In Germany there was a religious truce. open support either of the Huguenots in
In England the explosive Protestantism France or of the Protestant Netherlanders
of Edward VI. 's reign was followed by the in their struggle to free themselves from
still more acute reaction of Mary Tudor's the Spanish yoke. But sooner or later
government and that again by the com-
;
the battle with Spain was inevitable,
prehensive but still limited Anglican apart from the religious question.
settlement of Elizabeth. In France, the For the spirit of adventure had taken
orthodoxy of the court was qualified hold of the seafaring population of Eng-
by the Huguenot leanings of powerful land. The Italian Cabots John and
families. remained for Philip of Spain
It Sebastian had made their voyages to
to adopt the role of champion of the papacy North America in command of English
and hammer of the heretics. Between and Chan-
The Great ships, i_Willoughby
L
j j- j TUT
1556 and 1560, Spain, France, England, cellor had discovered Mus-
bailors .
,
and the Empire, each came under a new *v c covy
of the ocas ft -y 7
when in search of a
, ,, .,
ruler, who in the case of the first three North-east passage, old
guided its destinies for thirty years or William Hawkins had made the Guinea
more. voyage and visited the Brazils before
In France the sons of Catharine de Medici Elizabeth was on the throne and ;
were kings, but it was she who controlled many captains were soon emulating
them. To retain her own ascendancy their exploits, most notable among them
she played off the Guises against the being John Hawkins, who kidnapped
Huguenots and the Huguenots against negroes or bought captives from the
the Guises. Even the terrible St. Bar- native chiefs on the Guinea coast, finding
tholomew massacres of 1572, which she a profitable market for the same among
planned probably in a moment of jealous the Spaniards in America. But Spain
panic, failed to suppress the party of the was by no means disposed to let foreigners
victims, who won the day for their in- work their way into sharing her American
dubitably legitimate candidate, Henry of monopoly, and strict trade regulations
Navarre, in the struggle for the succession were laid down.
which followed the death of Henry III., These regulations the English seamen
and of Catharine herself in 1589, but only ignored partly as being in contravention
when Henry paid the Catholics of treaty rights, partly as having n6
Wh Q
Elizabeth was
their price, holdingb that
,,
a better warrant than the old Bull of Pope
,,
Prot stant
crown was worth a Mass. Alexander VI:, who had made a present to
In England, the daughter of Portuguese and Spaniards of the New
Anne Boleyn, born out of wedlock in the World, which was not his to give. In plain
eyes of every belie;fer in the papal terms, international law was far too vague,
authority, was wholljrdependent on the and its sanctions far too insubstantial, t6
loyalty of her Protestant subjects, whose control the proceedings of mariners and
hopes were no less bound up in her, since, adventurers on the other side of the
even if her legitimacy were admitted, ocean. If the Spaniards had a right to
the legitimate heir presumptive was the the monopoly, the English were no
Catholic Queen of Scots, who was half a better than pirates ; if they had not, the
4152
THE REFORMATION AND THE WARS OF RELIGION
English were within their rights and the ;
greatest sea-power, but when she was
debate could be decided only by the effec- challenged by England, the appearance
tive, if illogical, method of fighting it out. proved to be fallacious, though this did
Therefore, while Elizabeth and Philip were not occur till Philip's reign was far ad-
theoretically at peace, their subjects on vanced. Yet, even before that time, it was
the high seas and on the Spanish Main no easy matter to maintain a large force
were practically at open war. in the Netherlands so long as this was
;
The whole situation favoured Eliza- necessary, Spain was grievously hampered
beth's policy of deferring the collision as in other fields of activity, and
Prince of
long as possible. A large proportion of
,, .,
,
u j practically
Orange Heads r
f\ J it was necessarv
, , TU-I- >
her subjects, and one at least of her ablest ,. almost irom Philip s accession.
a Kevolt ,
i i
ministers, Francis Walsingham, were eager The Spanish king was deter-
to join issue with Spain long before the mined to exercise despotic authority and
queen or her most trusted counsellor, to crush heresy throughout his dominions.
William Cecil, best known as Lord Bur- The Netherlands, where the nobles and
leigh, were willing, partly because they the cities possessed traditional liberties,
were zealous for England to stand out had no mind to submit to the despotism
openly as the champion of Protestantism, of an absentee exercised through alien
partly because the mariners were confident agents and supported by foreign troops.
of the outcome of a naval struggle. Moreover, the northern provinces which
But Protestantism appealed to Elizabeth had adopted Calvinistic doctrines were
merely as a political necessity in her own prepared to do battle for their religion at
realms she cared nothing about main-
;
all costs.The organisation of a constitu-
taining it abroad except as a check upon tional opposition to an alien administra-
the capacities of Catholic governments for tion and to religious persecution was met
aggression. She would have preferred by the arrest of two of the leaders, Egmont
friendly relations with Spain on terms of and Horn, under the government of Alva,
_.
I he Shadow
mutual accommodation, wish- whom Philip had sent to replace his own
of a War
t \ir m R to keep-F
,
that power as a more diplomatic sister, Margaret of Parma.
balance to France. ip,
' I he rum of The arrest was answered by a revolt,
with S
either France or Spain would, in headed by William Prince of Orange and
her view, have rendered the other too his brother, Lewis of Nassau. Egmont
powerful. So long as Philip found enough and Horn were executed, and the revolt
to occupy him in the Low Countries, the was mercilessly crushed under the iron
prospect of an Anglo-French alliance was a heel of Alva. There followed a tyranny
useful diplomatic card in reserve, but a brutal both in its intentional cruelty and
dangerous one to play. In like manner, so its unintentional financial stupidity.
long as Mary Stuart lived, it was doubtful In 1572 the revolt was renewed, and was
whether Philip could reap much advan- obstinately maintained, sometimes by the
tage from Elizabeth's fall, since Mary's whole of the Netherlands, sometimes by
accession might bring about an Anglo- the northern Protestant provinces alone,
French alliance. But when the marriage with assistance more or less surreptitious
of Elizabeth to a French prince had finally but tolerably constant from England, and
become impossible, and the tragedy of less consistently from France, which of old
Fotheringay had been completed, Elizabeth had claimed suzerainty over Flanders and
knew that the fateful grapple with Spain Brabant. While the struggle was going on,
could no longer be averted. the audacity of the English seamen reached
Spain herself was a colossus far less D . . its climax in Drake's voyage
powerful in fact than in appearance. of circumnavigation , and ,,his
Spanish -r, ,
4153
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
appanage of the Spanish Crown till the ; directly and indirectly collisions between
house of Braganza succeeded in giving the crown and parliament. In Germany
effect to its own claims, of which the legal the recognition of the principle that each
superiority was indubitable. ruler should decide the religion of his own
The assassination of William " the state had brought peace; the German
"
Silent in 1584 failed to break down the Hapsburgs, unlike the Spanish branch,
stubborn resistance of the Protestant remained Catholic, but maintained the
Netherlands to Spain. Anglo-Spanish an- attitude of compromise.
became so acute that On the other hand, the Protestant
Tk Queen tagonisms
The f\ y^v , ,, u i i
Elizabeth was unable longer to states became divided into Lutheran and
f s
R
Beheaded
,"
resist the popular demand _for .
Calvinist, the two camps being in hot
an open support of the Hol- opposition to each other. But the time
landers. England and Spain being openly arrived when the heir to the Hapsburg
at war, a live Mary Stuart was no longer succession and to the empire was re-
a workable political asset. The Queen of cognised in the Archduke Ferdinand,
Scots was beheaded Philip resolved to
;
who was a bigoted Catholic. The ruling
crush Elizabeth and claim the English emperor, Matthias, was king of Protestant
crown in virtue of his descent from John Bohemia, where the crown was elective.
of Gaunt, and thus simplify the difficult The Bohemian diet was surprised into
process of crushing the Netherlands. The nominating Ferdinand as successor to
Armada sailed. In its progress up channel Matthias, but an attempt was made
the superiority of the English fleet was to upset the election, reject Ferdinand,
definitely manifested the Armada itself
;
and substitute Frederic, the Calvinist
was finally broken up in the decisive en- Elector Palatine and thus, in 1618, the
;
gagement off Gravelines, and its destruc- Thirty Years' War began. .
tion was completed by winds and waves In effect, the war was one for the re-
in the course of its flight round Scotland. covery of Catholic ascendancy in Germany.
The naval war continued for another The European championship
of
decade, but the naval supremacy of Spain of the Catholic cause had been
th^Thir?y
had vanished for ever. Philip defiantly Vj, taken over from the Spanish
Years War
,
.,
, TT
.-, ,
fitted out one fleet after another, but all by the German Hapsburg. On
met with disaster and, reduced though
;
one side was ranged the German League
his resources were, he threw himself into of Catholic princes, of whom the moving
a French war instead of strengthening spirit was Maximilian of Bavaria, sup-
Parma in the Netherlands. When Parma ported by Spain from the Spanish Nether-
died there was little doubt that the lands and North Italy. On the other
Hollanders would secure their inde- side were the German Calvinists. from
pendence, which they did practically some whom the Lutherans of Saxony and
ten years and formally some fifty years Brandenburg stood aloof. Victory at
afterwards. first lay with the Catholics by 1623 it ;
almost disregarded by foreign powers, and Denmark and Hungary were drawn into
of importance chiefly as
producing, both the German struggle on the Protestant side.
4154
THE REFORMATION AND THE WARS OF RELIGION
At this stage in 1626 Wallenstein leadership of his armies. When the two
appears, to restore the now threatened great commanders were pitted against
Imperial fortunes, but with a modified each other, Gustavus lost his life in the
policy. He is the champion primarily hour of victory at Liitzen in 1632. Wallen-
of Imperialism, with the aim of making stein, now incomparably the mightiest
the emperor master of the empire ; figure on the stage, meant to follow out
playing, mutatis mutandis, a role analogous his own policy, in which religious com-
to that of Strafford in England or of promise was now a leading feature,
Richelieu in France. But if the Catholic while his own aggrandisement was not
princes of the empire were willing to less prominent in it than his imperialism.
be led by their nominal suzerain to the But Wallenstein's schemes were ended by
overthrow of Protestantism, they were by the hands of assassins in 1634. In effect,
no means willing to be ruled autocratically the war now assumed the somewhat
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY THE BRITISH EMBASSY AT PARIS DURING THE MASSACRE
From the painting by P. H. Calderon, R.A.
He chose the league. But again Richelieu France maintained the same policy under
had become active, at least diplomatically ; Mazarin, and her armies acquired an
and the effect of his diplomacy was to unprecedented ascendancy under the
bring the Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus, leadership of Conde and Turenne.
into the field. The victorious advance The war was finally brought to an end
" "
of the Lion of the North forced by the treaties known jointly as the Peace
Ferdinand to recall Wallenstein to the of Westphalia in 1648. It left Sweden
4155
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
secure in the supremacy of the Baltic, an abnormal expedient for dealing with
and France in possession of most of the abnormal conditions utterly opposed to all
;
and Holland were formally declared in- able. It was doomed to pass away with its
dependent of the empire and of Spain mighty creator. Absolutism was to make
respectively. As between Spain and France one more brief effort. But it was, in fact, a
the contest was not terminated till ten lost cause the ascendancy of Parliament
;
years later. In Germany the prolonged was won. But while the Commonwealth
devastation of a war, particu- lasted, Europe awoke to the fact that even
larly hideous in the bru.tality Van Tromp and De Ruyter were no more
oTo Tilted
epopu '.
whj c h it was distinguished, than a match for Robert Blake, and that
left the land seriously im- Cromwell's Ironsides under Turenne, as
poverished and gravely depopulated. The under Cromwell himself, were more than
Protestantism of North Germany had a matchfor the best, soldiery in Europe.
survived the attack, and the wars of Absolutism w':eejected by England.
religion were ended. But the Catholics During the first half of the seventeenth
had foiled the attempt to establish im- century it was most decisively established
perial supremacy at the price of their in France. Henry IV. built up a popular
failure to establish Catholic domination. despotism, but it was Richelieu who did
The Hapsburg was primus inter pares, but for France what Strafford tried to do for
nothing more. The congeries of German England and Wallenstein for the empire. In
states was as far as ever from combining England and France, however, absolutism
into a single German nation. had different foes. In England it was the
In all these events, England had traditional rights of gentry and burghers
played practically no part. From 1618 that were at stake in France it was the
;
to strike at Spain, or to help the Huguenots his successor Mazarin had to cope, the aris-
at Rochelle, were all fiascoes of the worst tocracy had to be brought to submission,
kind but English intervention was ended
;
and the Paris parlement not, like the Eng-
altogether when the duke was stabbed lishparliament, a representative assembly,
by an aggrieved and crazy fanatic. but a body of lawyers made an unsuccess-
Under the Tudors, the crown had ful bid for constitutional powers. But the
obtained complete control of administra- policy of the cardinals prevailed, and when
tion, with the general aquiescence of Mazarin died, young Louis XIV. was already
Parliament while its policy was popular,
; the most absolute monarch in Europe.
it had been allowed to wrest the law to its Cromwell, in 1656, had accepted the
own purposes. The Stuarts endeavoured French proposals for alliance against Spain
to exercise in addition an effective control in the hope of promoting a Protestant
of taxation, and to override the law League for the defence of all Protestants.
in carrying out a policy which was If he had foreseen that, when he was dead,
4156
WESTERN EUROPE GENERAL SURVEY
FROM THE OF THE
REFORMATION PERIOD III
TO THE BY
REVOLUTION A. D. INNES
other openly were adherents of Catholi- was there even in the latter period any
cism, and aggressive Catholicism, though pretence that Louis was at the head of the
with an element of antagonism to the Catholic states of Europe. On the con-
papacy, was a part of Louis' programme, trary, the papacy was in direct opposition.
and the Stuarts were quite willing to pur- The primary objects which the French king
chase freedom from parliamentary control had in view were the magnification of the
at the price of subservience to France. monarchy in France, and the magnification
_ In England, people and parlia- of France in Europe. For the second pur-
c '
*
ment were
in ignorance of these pose, the great end to be attained was the
Succession
fundamental
...
facts the French
;
.
annexation to France of roughly the whole
, , ,
alliance and wars with the of the old heritage of Burgundy, of which
Dutch were both features of the Common- a great part was still attached to Spain. He
wealth policy, which in foreign affairs was had this end in view when he married the
generally popular. Consequently, people eldest Spanish princess, whose half-brother
and parliament acquiesced in an apparent shortly afterwards succeeded to the Spanish
continuity which was an actual reversal. throne, while her younger half-sister was
The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes married to the Emperor Leopold, the head
revealed the designs of the French king.; of the German Hapsburgs.
the English Revolution necessitated the The accession of Charles II. in Spain
association of English and Dutch, while permitted Louis to claim the Burgundian
the exiled king relied on French protection provinces for his wife, on the basis of a
and support. England, it is true, was .not law which gave the female children of a
enthusiastic in support of William 1 1 1. 's wars . _ marriage priority over even
first
Groups of soldiers were detailed to occupy the houses of the Protestants by force, and were there allowed to
conduct themselves as they pleased, provided they made the life of the occupants unbearable. There was no
indignity and ill-usage, short of actual murder, at which they stopped, and a favourite amusement was to bind the
master of the house to a chair, which was forced, with its occupant, over a blazing fire, the priest standing by
urging him to recant, while his Protestant Bible was thrown into the flames on which he himself was being tortured.
4158
AND THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES
The homes of the Protestants were indeed turned into fields of battle between the brutal soldiers and the helpless
inmates. One of the most ingenious systems of torture invented during the " Dragonnades" was to wear out the
resistance of their victims by the soldiers taking turns at the beating of drums in the bedrooms, where a Protestant
mother might be nursing her child, and so, by their noise, to prevent her for nights on end from falling asleep.
4159
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
enough to circumvent his Ministers for a the English crown was firmly set on the
substantial consideration, and that Sweden head of the Dutch Stadtholder, and the
also might be diplomatically detached. great navy which had inflicted a disastrous
Holland itself was the next object of his defeat on the English fleet off Beachy
aggression, with the additional motive Head was shattered at the battle of La
that the Dutch Republic stood in the way Hogue in 1692. The allies, however, were
of the development of his plans for sup- sufficiently diverse in their aims to enable
pressing the Huguenot religion in France. Louis, after holding his own but no more,
The attack was opened in to negotiate terms with them separately,
e ouse
of
assoc at j on
j w ith England, dur-, which were embodied in the Treaty of
Orange
Restored ing a convenient prorogation of Ryswick in 1697.
r> v
Parliament, in 1072. Holland, Louis was still further from having
however, resisted with her traditional achieved his ends than he had been after
resolution. The fall of the Republican Nimeguen. But fresh opportunities were
Government and the restoration of the presented by the now acute question of the
House of Orange in the person of young Spanish succession. The Spanish king was
William III. to the office of Stadtholder dying without issue: the children of his
provided a leader of unsurpassed tenacity two sisters were also the children of Louis
and shrewdness, and completely changed and of the Emperor Leopold respectively.
the relations of Holland and England, The acquisition of the whole Spanish
William being the nephew of Charles. dominion by either power was manifestly
England withdrew, and at the same time destructive of the balance, while there had
the powers took alarm, Catholic as well been formal renunciations on the part of
as Protestant. Louis found himself facing both the princesses. A partition was the
the prospect of a European combination. obvious course. An agreement between
Turenne conducted a series of campaigns the interested parties had bestowed the
of extraordinary brilliancy, but his career main inheritance on a grandson of the
was ended in 1675 by a stray bullet. the electoral Prince
The n
ft Br Hiant* emperor,
Next year the extraordinary development
ra egy o
W
o f Bavari a ho was outside the
,
of the French navy by Colbert was demon- Austrian succession itself but ;
>ug
strated. Conscious of the strain on his in 1699 the prince died. King
resources, however, Louis was ready for a Charles of Spain followed suit, after naming
peace on favourable terms, which were Philip, a grandson of Louis, as his heir,
obtained at the Treaty of Nimeguen in 1678. though the powers had agreed upon a fresh
But Nimeguen did not satisfy Louis. partition. Louis repudiated the partition
The audacity with which he proceeded to and accepted the will ;
Austria prepared
interpret treaties in his own favour could to assert her own claims the action of
;
from England. By the time that Louis turn in domestic politics placed the
was in a position to turn upon Holland, Tory peace party in power in England.
4160
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Twice in the course of the war Louis young Louis XV., and thus cleared the
" "
had been ready to make peace on terms way for a family compact between the
which would have fully satisfied even Bourbon dynasties for the aggrandisement
William of Orange, had he been alive. of the Bourbons and the humiliation of
But those terms had been rejected, and the Hapsburgs and of Great Britain.
now the practical defection of England The compact, which was a secret one,
secured him very much more favourable made in 1733, did not precipitate war ;
conditions, under the Treaty of Utrecht in for the French Minister, Fleury, was quite
France 1713. The Spanish Netherlands aware that much recuperation was neces-
were transferred to Austria, France before she could plunge into
sary for
after
but a Bourbon sat on the a greatwar with Spain for her ally. The
the Wars
Spanish as well as on the French English Minister, Walpole, was equally
throne, and Italy was roughly divided anxiousto avoid the arbitrament of arms,
between Hapsburgs and Bourbons. To though he had information of the hostile
Britain the most material gain was that designs. Both sides meant to achieve their
Louis was unable to intervene on behalf of respective ends by diplomatic methods.
the Stuarts when Queen Anne died, and But the control was taken out of the hands
a coup d'etat secured the Hanoverian of Fleury and Walpole by events which
succession. proved too strong for them. Commercial
In spite of the disasters of the War of friction in the
Spanish-American seas
the Spanish succession, Louis left France was exasperating popular feeling in both
with her borders greatly extended, her Spain and England, while the approach
frontier strengthened, and dynastically of a question of succession was exposing
in close associationwith Spain, which was Austria to attack at the hands of any power
now definitely severed from the Hapsburg which saw a prospect of profiting by her
connection. Moreover, the power of the dismemberment. Charles VI., emperor and
crown was practically unchecked. On the head of the Hapsburgs, ruled over a group
other hand, the tremendous series of wars of states which did not recognise a single
had exhausted the resources of France, _ common law of succession
and her industrial population had been
...
" in some ;
ment for the maintenance in both countries put forward claims against Maria Theresa ;
of the succession as laid down in the Treaty Frederic of Prussia started a general
of Utrecht. For a time conflagration by occupying Silesia with an
^Disturbing
thg disturbing factor in army. Every power found itself with
wasto be found in something at stake, or hoped to snatch
European Politics Europe
the jealousies of Austria something out of the turmoil, and all
and Spain under her new dynasty, and in Western Europe was very soon involved
the ambitions of the Spanish queen-con- in the War of the Austrian Succession.
sort, the Italian Elizabeth Farnese, for the The factor on which the world had not
advancement of her own children, whose reckoned was Prussia. In the past, the
succession to the Spanish throne was Elector of Brandenburg had stood on a par
blocked by the offspring of Philip's first with other princes of the empire. In the
wife. The prospect of a disputed French Thirty Years War, Brandenburg had
succession waned with the marriage of done its best to remain neutral, and had
4162
4163
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
never assumed anything approaching a against a circle of foes, and a struggle for
leading position. In the second half of the trans-oceanic empire between France and
" "
century, however, the Great Elector Great Britain. It was almost an accident
an astute politician and skilful soldier- that Great Britain and Prussia were ranged
had played his part with a consistent on the same side. Some British and
determination to strengthen the Electorate, Hanoverian troops and large British sub-
making and breaking alliances, fighting sidies enabled Frederic to hold his own
or refusing to fight, with most advantageous in a contest numerically most unequal on
p r SI
results to himself and little re- land, and left Great Britain free to devote
~* ? ^?
a First-Class ?gard for moral considerations.
- , ,
the whole of her real energies to the naval
T
His successor did little beyond and colonial struggle, in which she was
p
achieving the status of King completely triumphant. France, wholly
of Prussia but Frederic William, who
; misapprehending the conditions, wasted
followed him, devoted himself to the blood and treasure on the Rhine and the
organisation of his state and its army in Weser, while her fleet was wiped off the
a fashion which excited some derision ;
seas and her effective foothold in America
which derision his son, Frederic II., the and India was finally cut away.
Great, promptly showed on his accession For a century and a half England had
in 1740 to have been very much misplaced. been developing colonies along the sea-
The War of the Austrian Succession, board of North America from Florida to
which ended with the Peace of Aix-la- Acadia. For a somewhat shorter period
Chapelle in 1748, established the position France had been developing colonies on
of Prussia as a first-class power, while it the north and on the south of the British.
confirmed the descent of Spain into the British expansion would necessarily work
second class. Holland and Sweden had westwards; French expansion would
almost ceased to count. It left Maria necessarily work south from Canada and
Theresa in undisputed possession of her north from Louisiana, blocking British
Hapsburg heritage except for the cession expansion altogether. No compromise was
of Silesia to Frederic. It also left her The future mani-
Thc Future with possible.
.
f ,, , -,, .v
husband, Francis of Lorraine, emperor; _ festly
J lav-
with the power
the Greatest , .,
in effect the Hapsburgs were, relatively whose mantlme supremacy
Naval Power
to the Bourbons, stronger at the end than should enable her best to
at the beginning. Great Britain had lost maintain communications with her colonies.
nothing and gained nothing, except, in- Similarly for a century and a half an English
cidentally, freedom from the alarm of company had been developing trade with
Jacobitism, which had been finally broken India, and for half the time a French com-
on the fields of Culloden. But the rise of pany had been doing likewise. In India,
Prussia had decisively changed the whole as in America, a stage had been reached
favourite diplomatic problem of the bal- in which the virtual elimination of either
ance of power ;
an Austrian domination of English or French had become inevitable.
Central Europe was less to be feared than In 1744 Dupleix had begun the attempt
the activities of the Prussian king, who had to eliminate the British. Checked by the
moreover succeeded in making himself Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the contest had
personally obnoxious to Maria Theresa, to taken a new character, the rival companies
the Russian Tsarina, and to the French taking the field as supporters of rival native
king's mistress, Mme. de Pompadour. In dynasties, while in America the rival
the next European war, the rivalry of Bour- colonists were in collision. In India, as in
bons and Hapsburgs, which had America, naval supremacy was the con-
Prussia s i t $ *
Circl
been an unfailing factor in every dition of success. The insular position of
of Foes
combination for a century and England had necessitated the continuous
a half, disappeared altogether. development of her fleets the continental
;
Before the Seven Years War broke out, position of France had absorbed her
in 1756, the one definite certainty was mainly in the development of armies.
that France and Great Britain would fight, Colbert alone of French statesmen had
and that Austria and Prussia would fight. turned his eyes to the ocean rather than
How the antagonists would pair off was to the Rhine. Hence when the struggle
uncertain till the last moment. That 'war came it was France -that was eliminated.
in fact resolved itself into a desperate In India the British were left without
struggle for life on the part of Prussia European rivals to complicate their
4164
ASCENDANCY AND DECLINE OF THE BOURBONS
relations with native powers in North ;
on behalf of the colonies showed that
America they held the field, though the Great Britain was no longer the irresist-
outcome of the victory was to be a cleavage ible mistress of the seas.
of the race. But although the old family compact
The security of Prussia and the expan- reappeared, and Spain joined in, and the
sion of Britain were established by the French fleets secured the American victory,
Treaties of Paris and Hubertsburg in 1763. the effect was to concentrate British
Spain had gained nothing by a belated energies on the renewed struggle with the
intervention when the war was drawing to Bourbons the tottering naval supre-
;
a close. After the peace, the German macy of the islanders asserted itself once
. .
sovereigns were engaged mainly
, more. The Peace of Versailles, which
on the organisation of their closed the war in 1783, left Britain shorn
Difficulties
.
A .
in America
own states ;
their foreign r
... &,
policy of half her empire, but it had passed not
T7 .
due to the maritime superiority of the over France, whirling down the crown and
British she had been resolutely recon-
;
the noblesse, and the Republic emerged.
structing her navy, and her intervention ARTHUR D. IXNES
AMERICA'S PROTEST AGAINST BRITAIN'S TAX: THROWING TEA INTO BOSTON HARBOUR, 1774
4165
/"* V *>
'
'^
^ '
_,,
JOUNDING-fENGLANiDStoLONIALEMPIRC
f -**- ^^___
J ^.
j
4166
the process the English sailors gained the barbarous lands to be held by homage
knowledge that no other craft afloat from the sovereign of England, the
could cope with theirs, and that from inhabitants to be ruled by English law
Spaniards they had nought to fear. and to enjoy the privileges of free
Drake's pretence of colonisation was Englishmen." The new colony was
of the slightest but there were other
; intended, we are told, not only to extend
merchant seamen in England who and enrich English commerce, but to
"
yearned for legitimate trade, and the aim find employment for those needy
of these men was still to reach the golden people who trouble the Commonwealth
East by sailing north-west. The quest at home." was to be an agricultural
It
for gold had to be held out as a bait to colony, and on the island of Wokoken,
the adventurers, but when Humphrey in June, 1585, the English possession of
Gilbert, always with the north-west Virginia was formally established. Failure
passage in view, in 1574 petitioned for again attended the experiment. Again
a charter from Elizabeth to discover and again Raleigh tried to establish his
new lands it was avowedly for the colony of Virginia, while occupied with his
purpose of founding a half-way colony dream of finding and making English
"
on sundry rich and unknown lands the land of El Dorado on the Orinoco.
fatally, and it seemeth by God's provi- Sometimes success seemed to promise
dence, reserved for England." In 1578 in Virginia, but disaster came at last :
the charter was granted, and when, in the settlers, 89 men and 17 women, who
1583, the expedition sailed, it was with an were left by Governor White on the
elaborate plan of government, devised to colony in 1587, were all lost, and the
"
establish on the American coast another colony apparently died. I shall yet live
4167
4i68
WOLSEY'S LAST INTERVIEW WITH KING HENRY VIII.
THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE
EMPIRE AND EUROPE
AND THE HOUR OF THE REFORMATION
l_I OWE VER cheerless was the form of the by the town herdsmen to the pasture-
** and national life of western
political ground formed an inevitable part of
continental Europe in the fifteenth century, city life. In Frankfort-on-Main it was
however miserable the condition of the unlawful after 1481 to keep swine in
people, and however hopeless the future the Altstadt, but in the Neustadt and in
seemed, still it is incontestable that during Sachsenhausen this custom remained as a
that century a number of phenomena can matter of course. It was only in 1654,
be traced which we may regard as the first after a corresponding attempt in 1556
steps toward what we call modern pro- The Homes
had failed, that the swine-pens
,, -
,
,,
gress. The progress of that century of rL
of n- u
the Rich
in the inner town were *pulled
_
j . .
,,
all the achievements of progress at that only here and there a building with open
time, although from a modern standpoint timber-work and overhanging storeys, as
much seems wanting. We have seen the in Bacharach or Miltenburg, reminds us
political importance, since the fourteenth of the style of architecture then customary
century, of the towns with a few thousand in the houses of burghers. The great bulk
inhabitants. But inside the city walls, of the inferior population, who lived on
_ and in their immediate mendicancy or got a livelihood by the
the buildings and exercise of the inferior industries, usually
in the Fifteenth vicinity,
J
.
,,
~ other constructions ex- inhabited squalid hovels in the Neustadt ;
Century j ,
hibited, as it were, the the town wall was often the only sup-
reflected image of the external power that port for these wretched buildings. The
firm foundation for a political existence, a internal fittings of the houses, even
vigorous community with rich sources of among the wealthy population, were very
wealth. The streets, it is true, were mostly defective according to modern ideas ;
narrow and irregularly built, the houses especially since Gothic was as little suit-
chiefly of wood, while almost every burgher able for the petty details of objects of
kept his cattle in the house, and the herd of luxury, as it was splendidly adapted for
swine which was driven every morning the building of churches and town halls. 1 1
4169
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
was the influence of the Renaissance which Except a low hearth tax, which was payable
added so much to the comfort of the house. by every householder, the proper subject
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
'
of taxation was thought to be the excess
saw the building of those Gothic town which the individual had beyond what
churches and town halls which have often was required for a decent livelihood. There-
served their original purposes even to the fore, it was only about 1500 that an income
present day. The power and pros- tax was decided upon while always up
;
perity of the towns find their best ex- to that time, and often later, a property
tax to suit different cases was usual.
r m ny s pression in them and in the
,
Such storehouses were erected in almost it was the person of the prince, with
every town during the fifteenth century. his court ceremony, his courtiers, and
On the other side, there were tariffs for the princely servants, who was the supporter
sale of all wares, high enough to enable of this power, and not the territory.
every artisan to make a good livelihood, His relations to the district were based
and to give the purchaser a guarantee entirely on private rights any co- ;
for the quality of the wares. Natural operation of the states, who were in no
competition was diligently discouraged way representatives of the country, but
since, except at market times, goods merely protectors of their own interests,
from foreign spheres could be imported and was only reluctantly granted, and, as
sold only under onerous conditions. soon as conditions allowed, was restricted
The town was also the greatest capitalist;
and in many cases finally put aside.
as a seller of annuities on lives and in- Politically, the princes gained in influence
heritances it was a banker, and enjoyed the more the towns sank into the back-
unlimited credit. Thus, it obtained in ground economically, they strengthened
;
. . return means for the construc- themselves by the conquest of towns here
p
oft J
Moderate
tion of fortifications or for the and there and by the greater use made of
r
acquisition of sovereign rights those towns already subject to them.
Taxation
from the hand of an im- The secularisation of Church property,
pecunious prince. Since the municipal as a consequence of the Reformation in
offices were mostly Central and Eastern Germany, considerably
honorary, the govern-
ment cost little for this reason, too, the
; increased the extent of the property held
direct taxes were very moderate, since
by the territorial lords. In this connec-
the taxes on commodities were profitable, tion indistinct conceptions of the property
especially the excise, which the princes of the state and the possessions of the
allowed the town councillors to levy, first prince made a separation of the two im-
for a limited period and then Not before the second half of
permanently. possible.
4170
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE EMPIRE AND EUROPE
the sixteenth century did the constitutional private ends, has been fruitful for the
idea of the relations between the prince on whole nation. The universities were
the one side, and the territory and the primarily private institutions established
subjects on the other, gain any ground. by them for the extension of scientific
The last stage in the development was thus activity. The faculty of jurisprudence
reached, so that the German monarchy served them for the training of their
became constitutionally obsolete and in ; officials, and only gradually was formed
the Peace of Westphalia it was possible the modern provincial university in which
to proclaim the sovereignty of
"
the merely the highest honorary post under
princes, although without prejudice to various titles is reserved for the ruling
the empire." prince.
Even in the age of the Reformation the The numerous castles, dating from the
princes constituted no separate power. Middle Ages, which at the present day
In place of the old rivalry between as state property afford quarters for
princes and towns there came the new judicial and administrative authorities,
opposition between Catholic and Protes- were founded or acquired by princes, and
tant princes the opposition from which many gems of secular architecture are due
political questions were now treated, and to them. The most magnificent pile
which, in certain cases, drove individual among the castles of the Renaissance was
princes into alliances with foreign powers that of Heidelberg before its destruction.
of the same creed. The power of the But the palace of the Elector Maximilian
princes grew in spite of all confusion and at Munich, with its Italian style, and the
distress they became conscious of their
;
castle of the Dukes of Wiirtemberg at
duties, and in happier times after the Stuttgart vie in artistic beauty with the
great war lived for the people, so as to gigantic building on the Neckar. Such
raise their economic position. It is structures imply an advance in technique
through them that the modern state has and an increasing number of able master
become what it is. All that the in- workmen, as well as the accumulation of
dividual princes did in the cause of large capital in the hands of the reigning
progress, although primarily for their own prince. It gradually became possible for
4171
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the princes to live permanently in one far into the seventeenth century, when it
place, to create for themselves a royal was replaced, somewhat belated, by the
residence, and. as the next step, to adorn empirico-scientific method of judging the
this place artistically. But even this outer world by a mode of thought which
preliminary condition required consider- corresponded to the artistic naturalism
able wealth and a strict organisation, and was as unsatisfactory as the system
which had to furnish the means for which it so proudly displaced.
keeping up a court, and for the first In Germany was discovered that art
time was able to supply the which more than any other provides the
Money s P ace residence with al j that was means for communicating to every
m National member of a nation a certain measure of
Development
required-
*
, ,
Money becomes,
.-r- ,1 j
for
i
the first time in the develop- intellectual culture the art of printing.
ment of Germany, the all-important This art rendered possible the dis-
first
later, clearly on account of the great cost ficiently paid, and successes were never
for individuals. forthcoming. Nevertheless, under Maxi-
Maximilian was, on the whole, unfortu- milian larger sums of money had been
nate as a general, but his ill success was available for military purposes than at
due more to his wavering policy and his any other period. Capital, the new power
unstable nature than to mistakes in which began to rule all manifestations of
strategy. Indeed, he distinctly improved life, was able to make its influence felt in
the art of war, chiefly by organising the this also. One further point deserves
4174
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE EMPIRE AND EUROPE
notice in the growing use of firearms result was a complete shifting in the
that Germans particularly interested them- relative power of the European states.
selves in them, and that the universal Italy and Germany soon lost their posi-
employment of them started with Ger- tion, while Spain, with Portugal, England
many. Everywhere German gunners were and Holland, came forward boldly as
to be found, and even in Morea a traveller colonisers and masters of the world trade.
met some of them. Lisbon now became one of the economic
The discovery of the New World had centres of the world the sea became the ;
close relations with Italy, the seat of the Martin Behaim, of Nuremberg, was in the
trade in the Levant, that the trading-house Portuguese service and the Augsburg ;
of the Germans at Venice enjoyed an merchant family of the Fuggers, which had
unexpected prosperity. Germany now for been quite important since about 1460,
the first time took part in universal com- formed in 1505, in combination with the
merce. The prosperity of its towns, which merchants Welser and Hochstetter, one of
were forced to find in material wealth a the trading companies such as were usually
. ,
compensation for the vanished formed in those days to attain a certain
* y S
definite object, in order to obtain several
c omm r & hope of political supremacy, is
. -
decades after, Europeans were living on profits derived from trade. The Reforma-
the western and southern coasts of Africa tion of Emperor Sigismund," the pro-
and in the newly discovered America. gramme of social reform with the funda-
Even before the end of the century, in mental thought of Christian communism,
1498, Vasco da Gama solved the riddle of had been repeatedly printed since 1480,
the day when he ultimately reached India especially in the agitated times after 1520.
by sea. These events were of unexpected Men perceived then for the first time that
importance for the destinies of Europe. The the economic outlook of Germany was
4175
changed, that the masses were far more dis- South. The situation was different in the
contented than in the old days. The blame districts east of the Elbe.They were still
for all this and the simple-minded ob- backward in industrial progress. Magde-
server had the answer pat must lie with burg was almost the largest .town east-
the great traders, who made such incredible ward the towns were everywhere thinly
;
profits, possessed virtual monopolies, and distributed, and a peasant life prevailed,
by the splendour of their households out- less degraded, however, than that of the
shone the mighty Emperor Charles V. The west. These eastern districts were less
Fuggers continued to play a affected by the general turn of events.
pR .
p
,
art m
Sp am during the whole Indeed, the territorial lords developed a
* '
began at a time when in the heart of advanced further into the political fore-
Germany the calamitous consequences of ground, especially since the new opposition
the overthrow of culture made themselves between Protestant and Catholic princes
acutely felt. forced the eastern territories, the principal
The sovereignty of Charles V., who support of Protestantism, to assume, more
ruled over Spain and Germany, had con- than before, a political position.
cealed the beginning of this disaster but ;
The revolution in prices was felt most
the change which had set in showed itself acutely in the East by the country nobility,
all the clearer in the further course of which had already played a very modest
events. The commerce with Italy lost political part. Some of its members, indeed,
more and more in importance, and no appeared regularly at Court as officials in
compensation for this could be found. The the princes' service but the mass of them
;
Netherlands, the northerly part of which, had retired to their country seats, which
owing to its favourable position on the more and more lost their character as
Atlantic, became, with Amsterdam at its centres of territorial dominions
The Hard
head, the commercial centre of North and assumed the features of
Lot of the
Europe, no longer formed an integral part Peasant
manor-houses. The manorial
of the empire indeed, they offered econo-
;
estate was managed with a view
mically the sharpest opposition to Central to agriculture on a large scale, a system
Germany. The Dutch seaports soon out- now first found on German soil and the ;
stripped the trading places on the Baltic, hereditary villeinage, also called serfdom,
so that the Hanse towns themselves in the represents the peculiar status of labour in
north were deposed from their supremacy this new undertaking.
in trade. Hamburg alone at that time The development of the country in
gained in importance, for, thanks to its the south and west of Germany had pro-
more favourable position for development, duced quite different economic and social
it undertook the part of middleman for forms. The continuous parcelling out of
the import of Dutch wares into Germany, landed estates and the frequently increased
and, with a view to large profits in the burdens had placed the peasant, after
future, allowed Englishmen to settle the cultivation of the land was ended, in a
within its walls. position which made him appear the most
The effect of these events, the shifting harassed person of the times. The same
of all centres of gravity, was soon felt by conditions prevailed which in France,
the people in the heart of the country for ; aggravated by a strong despotic rule,
while trade and industries pro- produced the state of society directly
ec
_ duced imcomparably smaller preceding the Revolution in 1789. Such a
to German i t .
profits, the circulation of money J, state of things must arise where the natural
Advance , , , ,
was checked, and a marked overflow of population does not find a suit-
rise inthe prices of commodities and an able opportunity to emigrate, or new
increasing depreciation in the value of opportunities for work through the intro-
money were noticeable. The result is duction of fresh branches of industry.
again a general retrogression of the nation And besides this, the peasant was
from the stage of international intercourse excluded from every higher intellectual
to that of mere domestic economy a return employment. He was politically powerless,
to economic conditions which had been and the decline of the old system of the
long since left behind in the West and the lord's court had much lowered the old
4176
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE EMPIRE AND EUROPE
"
position of the socman" in the supreme By the middle of March, 1525, the demands
court. But no power, whether the territorial had been formulated in the " Twelve
lord or the imperial legislature, contem- Articles of the Peasantry." In other places,
plated doing anything to raise the condition especially in Alsace and Austria, the most
of the peasant, and even if the thought sweeping political demands were attached
had been entertained, there were no means to those complaints against the manorial
available for carrying it into execution. lords which must be reckoned as fair
The urban proletariat was in no en- charges. In the Austrian do-
Peasants . .
u T> i
viable position, and in many towns since c .
minions, especially in Tyrol,
Strongholds ,,
about 1450, often in conjunction with the ~_ the rising in the autumn of
Oaptured ... ,
ment against the secular privileges of the his companions had to yield to the armies
_ clergy, especially against their of the princes at Frankenhausen, and some
exercise of trades which injured six thousand peasants were killed there.
Against the .
~f the taxpayer, and against the The great peasant revolt was a disast-
L/Iergy 'ft
immunity from taxation en- rous failure, so far as concerned the amel-
joyed by clerical property, was noticeable ioration of the condition of the peasantry.
even before Luther's appearance, and The on the continent was
social revolution
explains the reception of his writings in still remote future. But the con-
in the
1520. There was an equal feeling against ditions which produced the social revolt
the authorities both in town and country. tended also to make a religious revolution
At the beginning of the period from 1520- popular. On the other hand, it had an
1530 the land was again in a ferment. The effect not unlike that produced by the
had been carefully planned,
revolt this time excesses of the French Revolution outside
and its was to carry out Luther's
object of France it frightened the conservative
;
teaching by force. But the outbreak was element among the intellectual progres-
delayed for some time. However, in 1524, sives as well as the vested interests of
the Landgraviate Stiihlingen on the Upper property, bringing about that reaction
Rhine revolted, and the town of Waldshut which was incarnated in England at this
was drawn into the rising ;
at the time in Sir Thomas More and at the later
same time an open revolution broke out epoch in Edmund Burke.
in the territory of the town of Zurich Althou Sh Luther took up his
Part 'in the
in close connection with the proposals Para]? le agamSt th^ ^volution,
Revolution
for ecclesiastical reform. Soon the was
his doctrine held
respon-
movement spread to all Upper Germany; sible for the anarchism which he con-
its object was to realise the socialist demned. At both periods culture and
programme which had long been in philosophy shrank back appalled when
the and seemed to the peasants
air, the genial irrigation which they had
"
synonymous with the "justice of Luther designed threatened to turn itself into a
"
and the freedom of a Christian man." devastating flood.
4177
4 i 78
WESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION
AND AFTER
TO THE
II
REVOLUTION
***
Thuringian peasant family which ordination to priesthood on May 2nd,
originally was settled at Mohra, was born at 1507, the title of Father was bestowed on
Eisleben on November loth, 1483. His him, as well as the power to celebrate
father, notwithstanding his small means, Mass. Luther had fulfilled his. duties in
sent the boy to school, at first to the village the convent with unwearying zeal, and
school of the place, and in 1497 to Magde- had studied diligently. He had therfe
"
burg, to the school of The Brothers of the seen the Bible for the first time in his life,
Common Life." After a year the boy, aged
Where Luther
had to "(! it,
fifteen years, went to attend the Latin
^8 ,
out, indeed, understand-
school at Erfurt, and there first came into ing it at first. When he finally
contact with teachers who had studied abandoned the ancient ideas
"
the Humanities." His circumstances of theology learned at school, he began to
were very straitened, since he was forced have an inkling of what he afterwards laid
to beg his bread by singing, until a friendly down in weighty propositions.
reception was given him in the house of While still at Erfurt, the young monk
the merchant Cotta. During the summer had attracted the attention of his superior
term of 1501 Luther entered the famous in the order, the Vicar-General von
University of Erfurt, where philosophers Staupitz, who intelligently sympathised
and Humanists worked harmoniously side with his spiritual nature. It was he who
by side, and was advanced to the degree transferred Luther after ordination as
of Master of Arts in 1505. His father priest to the convent of the order at
would have been glad if he had Wittenberg, in order to give him at the
Luther
'
s , , , f > .
... . chosen the career of a jurist, same time a post as teacher in the philo-
,, with its rich prospects, and the
.
sophical faculties at the university there.
Convent f, f, .
son had agreed to the suggestion, His lectures were entirely confined to the
for great honours could be won in that way. well-trodden paths of the academical
But before the young student had begun teaching in philosophy, while metaphysical
his intended professional studies some- thoughts were exercising his mind, and
"
thing occurred which led him into other he studied the German Theology " of
paths. Not indeed so much the often- Tauler, the fourteenth century mystic.
quoted buffets of fortune, the death of a The journey to Rome in the year 1511
friend, and the deadly risk he ran through on the affairs of the order may well have
a flash of lightning, as the deep inwardly been of supreme importance for the widen-
religious spirit, the conviction that the ing of his range of observation, and the
profession of a lawyer did not offer scope recollections of the life at that time in
to his zeal, drove him to enter a con-
Luther as
secularised Rome may
J have
a , , ,
-,. . influenced
a Theological, ,
his attacks on
, T> .
and Luther chose the settlement of the Teacher papacy. But immedi-
Augustinian Hermits at Erfurt, belonging ately after his return home
to the Saxon congregation of the order, any fundamental opposition to the Church
which was conspicuous for its strictness. and her institutions was far from his
The Bible was studied diligently there, thoughts. An event of greater signifi-
and strict asceticism and self-examination cance for the future of the young man of
were obligatory on the members. twenty-nine was the attainment in 1512
The year of the novitiate, which de- of the title of a Doctor in Divinity at the
manded the performance of the lowest instance of his old friend Staupitz. The
duties, was passed, and the dress
of the subject of his professorial teaching was
4179
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
fiow theology, not philosophy. His inner religious conviction of Luther that justi-
religious convictions were thus opened fication by faith was an essential postulate,
,'to the circle of his pupils, while he could not possibly allow such encroach-
himself was more and more engrossed with ments on the rights of the minister to pass
the problem of faith. The exposition of unnoticed. He wished at any rate to
the Bible itself was now his task. Both in open a discussion on the indulgence
form and matter he tried to explain it question in order to establish his view of
differently from his predecessors and con- the matter, which was clearly not under-
temporaries in the professorate, since, stood, many thinking it was a mere
while still always taking the text of the squabble between monks. He therefore
Vulgate as his basis, he not only gave the chose the form in which the professors
allegorical explanations of the Scripture, under such circumstances usually invited
but put before his hearers the doctrine discussion that is to say, he published
of the Apostle theses composed
..j-^,
Paul himself. His |
in Latin, which
interest in were nailed up on
Augustine in- the door of the
creased visibly, castle church at
and he was Wittenberg.
sincerely pleased They were ninety-
that the latter five in number-
was now sup- probably as an
planting Aristotle answer to the
in the university. numerous in-
In addition to structions given
his lectureship, by Archbishop
he was soon given Albert of Mainz
the post of to his vendors of
preacher the
in indulgences and
convent church, the 3ist of Octo-
and in 1515 he ber, 1517, was
had, as deputy, chosen, as being
to undertake the the eve of the
duties of a town dedication
clergyman. festival of the
During this Church of All
ministry for the Saints. These
care of souls he propositions went
first came into in fulness far
contact with the beyond what was
granting of indul- usually contained
gences. Some of in the statements
his congregation of any one invit-
had obtained in- But Martin Luther the Reformation would have taken different i n
for
g discussion.
lines. Born at Kisleben, in 1483, he studied for the Church, but could
dulgence papers
-. not continue to remain in it, and he became the leader of the far- They -.,
not only put
the _^-
, .
Domini- reaching Reformation movement. This portrait is from the original nup<;tinn<; us > h 11 t
mnlr Tr>Vior.r,
can monk picture by Holbein, now in Windsor Castle, England.
Johann also gave concise
Tetzel, who was preaching at Jiiterbogk, answers for anyone who could read them,
in the territory of Magdeburg the Elector condemned the abuse, and even went the
of Saxony had forbidden the of the
preaching length attacking sacrament of
of indulgences dominions and
in his penance itself.
had shown them to him. Luther had This was the first act of Luther the
already, in 1516, openly attacked this reformer. But he himself was by no
in his sermons. It was asserted that means clear as to its scope, for no
thought
because money was required at Rome to lay further from him than separation from
build the church of St. Peter, the Catholic Church. The stone, however,
indulgence was set rolling, and continued to roll,
was now granted for money without
without any special effort on the part of
the pious deeds formerly required. The the man who first set it in movement.
4180
THE MAN AND THE REFORMATION
Luther himself sent his theses to the Rome to enter into
There was no wish at
Arch-
ecclesiastical authorities, notably to a discussion of the disputed questions
bishop Albert of Mainz, under whose in the way that Luther naturally took for
instructions the indulgence vendors worked. granted, but by the spring of 1518 a
He was conscious of his disinterested trial for heresy was suspended over him.
motives, and declared himself astonished When he was summoned before the
that no one came forward to the verbal court of two bishops in Italy, he applied
contest, although in a few weeks all to his territorial lord, the Elector Frederic
Germany was familiar with the contents of Saxony, who had long been friendly
of the theses, and trumpeted the name of towards him, and asked that he should be
the composer, who even before was not given a hearing in Germany. The elector
entirely unknown. The immediate object was staying just then in Augsburg, where
of the attack, the Dominican Tetzel, made Maximilian was holding his last imperial
a literary re- diet, and where,
joinder to the on account of the
theses, and op- Turks' tithe, a
posed to them papal embassy
one hundred and was also present.
six propositions He consequently
based completely exercised his in-
on Thomas fluence with the
Aquinas. Tetzel emperor, who was
won the title of in urgent need of
a Doctor in his support for the
Divinity from the desired election
university at of his grandson,
Frankfort - on -
Charles, that a
Oder and
; since decree should be
it was a Do- passed enacting
minican who con- that the monk of
fronted the Wittenberg
Augustinian should have a
monk, there is hearing before the
no reason to be papal embassy at
surprised that at Augsburg. The
Rome no further cardinal, Thomas
importance was de Via of Gaeta,
attached to the usually called
matter, which was Cajetanus, offered
regarded as a no objection, and
quarrel arising was ready to try
from jealousy the monk for his
between the two LUTHER IN LATER LIFE audacity ; and at
Orders. A Writing The painting from which this portrait is taken is now in the the close of the
nf TnVmnn Frlr Tower Church at Weimar. It was begun in 1552 by Lucas ^jpr et jLn Orfnhpr
er
JOnann liCK, C ranach, the Elder, and completed three years later by his son. \
>
.
>
4182
LUTHER'S PROTEST: NAILING HIS THESES TO THE DOOR OF THE WITTENBERG CHURCH
The granting of indulgences, given so freely and with so much effrontery by Tetzel, found in Luther an uncompromis-
ing enemy. When the city of Wittenberg was crowded with people on the occasion of the Festival of all Saints, in 1517,
Luther, at the noonday hour, boldly walked up to the castle church and nailed his theses, consisting of ninety-five
propositions on the doctrine of indulgences, on its door, thus launching a movement that was to revolutionise the world.
several days. Eck drew from him not only tian State," appeared in print. The rela-
the repeated assertion that an acknowledg- tions with Ulrich von Hutten and Franz
ment of the papal primacy was not von Sickingen, into which he had shortly
necessary for salvation, but also the avowal before entered, had distinctly influenced
that even the councils themselves might this pamphlet for, passing over the power
;
err, and that only God's word could of the princes, he placed his hopes on the
be accounted infallible. Eck thus won the emperor and the nobility during the
day, for he had proved Luther's heresy. impending attempt which was to restore
The latter himself must have felt at that the right relations between secular and
moment for the first time a conviction spiritual powers. By this train of thought
that he no longer stood within the Church the author met the Humanists, who had
and must have said to himself that the for a long time been weary of the ecclesi-
papal ban would inevitably strike him. astical tutelage in intellectual concerns.
At this stage there was a division of But Luther taught more emphatically
opinion.Men took sides for and against than they did that the opposition between
Luther everyone in public life had to
; priests and laymen as it existed in the
adopt some definite standpoint. The Church was unbiblical. At the same time
greater part of the Humanists stood by a programme of secular reform was un-
the reformer, and in the forefront the folded, which pronounced against the
teacher of Greek at the University of capitalists, in support of the knights, and
Wittenberg, Philip Schwarzerd, called lashed the money-seeking temporal policy
Melanchthon, who, perhaps, grasped the of the papacy. In fact, a warning was
questions involved better than all his issued to all temporal authorities that
contemporaries. Luther himself did not they should no longer allow the export of
rest;
he now produced a programme in money to Rome in any form.
which he combined all that possessed his easy to understand the rapid circu-
It is
"
soul. In August, 1520, his treatise, To lation of this treatise, which in an unprece-
the Christian Nobles of the German Nation dented manner comprised all that thousands
concerning the Reformation of the Chris- had long felt, even though as the fruit of
266 4183
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
quite different trains of thought. Even four months, the allotted period, Luther's
before the thoughts thus developed had recantation did not reach Rome, Pope
been further expanded from the dogmatic Leo X. hurled the ban against the heretic
side, especially with reference to, the and his followers on January 3rd, 1521,
"
sacraments, in the Prelude to the Baby- and suspended the interdict over all places
"
lonish Captivity of the Church he wrote where they should remain.
this time in Latin the news came to At first the party round the young
Germany of the papal Bull issued on June Emperor Charles openly entertained the
c s
i6th, which condemned forty- plan of using the religious movement in
one propositions of Luther, and Germany to exercise pressure on the
'" gc
recant
required
^ his him to Curia in political questions. On the other
to Luther . . ....
within sixty days.
teaching hand, the imperial court, however un-
His deadly enemy, Eck, had co-operated willingly, had to pay regard to Luther,
in the preparation of this threatening if it did not wish to fall out with the
Bull,and also brought it to Germany, where Elector of Saxony. One thing was, at any
it was published on September 27th. rate, certain the diet, which met at the
But the most important point, the execu- beginning of the year at Worms, must
tion of the Bull, which the papal legates occupy itself with the question which was
at Cologne imperiously demanded in agitating all The imperial
leading spirits.
November from the Elector programme of work had not,
Frederic, was omitted, indeed, touched the religious
since the territorial ruler at question but the states
;
Roman-
, .., .,
in God, the corporeal is in bondage through ists, and with them the em-
his fear of his neighbour. The effect of peror, showed themselves little edified.
this treatise almost exceeded that of the The result was an imperial proclamation
preceding ones. His words were every- to the states, which confirmed the safe-
where read and understood, for what he conduct as far as Wittenberg, but at the
propounded he said in the language of the same time prohibited the continuance of
people. Personally he gave up monastic the preaching, and announced the treat-
practices in the winter of 1521-1522, even ment of Luther as a convicted heretic.
though he still wore the cowl. Since after On the way from Worms to Wittenberg,
4184
THE MAN AND THE REFORMATION
Luther, who certainly knew of the plans churches, and laymen began to preach to
of the friendly elector, was surrounded the people. At Zwickau especially, where
in the vicinity of Waltershausen in Thurin- the clothmaker Nicolas Storch and the
giaby Saxon horsemen and priest Thomas Miinzer tried
conducted to the Wartburg, to kindle the revolt, the
while his friends in Germany image- breakers won ad-
supposed him to be dead. herents, although the council
The emperor now formally repressed the movement and
proclaimed from Worms the banished Miinzer, who now
ban of the empire over the sought safety in Bohemia,
heretic, and ordered the without indeed being able
confiscation of the property to accomplish much.
of all who adhered to him, Luther had appeared once
and the destruction of his in December, 1521, for a
writings indeed, to avoid
;
short time at Wittenberg,
further harm, the intro- in order to express his
duction of a general censor- opinion as to the condition
ship of books was demanded. of things in the tovvn, but
From the beginning of soon afterwards returned to
May, 1521, Luther lived in the Wartburg. At the
the Wartburg only a very
:
beginning of March he no
few initiated, above all longer maintained the
Spalatin, knew of his abode, reserve which was required
which at first was not even A FAMOUS HUMANIST of him, but left his place of
Ulrich von who was born in 1488
revealed to the elector. and died inHutten,1523, was a famous German refuge, contrary to the will
"
Squire George," as the portedpoet and humanist, and warmly sup- of the elector, and entered
the cause of the Reformation.
theologian was called there, Wittenberg in order to
employed his solitude in studying the New preach daily to the people, and to warn
Testament in the original, and beginning them against further blind excess of zeal.
his translation. In September, 1522, the One note rang clearly in these exhortations
whole New Testament, but without Luther's that the Master attached weight to faith
name, was in and in
printed
German. Ihis was by no
FRANCt cvs vu .,
.
^,tjK>NutN alone,
cared little for
comparison
the externals
means the first German of religion. His words had a
edition of the Bible. During marvellous effect. The
the quiet work
in the development, in the same
Wartburg, the reformer, form as at Wittenberg,
who hitherto had advanced spread to the places round,
alone into the foreground, both far and near. In .
The Lord's Supper This celebrated German knight, Franz even Luther's patron, tllC
n hntri forme was
ootn lorms aHmin von
wa aamm- Sickinprei., lent his great influence to p1 pr f nr FrprWir
the Reformation movement, and led a c-iector rreaertc, naa
liaH nnr
istered at Wittenberg in the league sich sought to introduce it by openly severed himself from
u force. Ha died from wounds in 1523.
autumn ofr 1521 to TUT /-ft.
, . -> A. -L.
But nowhere
i ,
v,
-
tested against this answer, the
' Peasants," attempted not only to clear
Nuremberg , -,,
matter remained so. It was himself from the taunt that he was con-
proposed once more to discuss at a council nected with the revolt, but at the same
the question which had really long ago been time called for the forcible suppression
legally decided. Indeed, it was not so much of the rebels, should timely warning
a sincere conviction that forced the states be fruitless.
to this view as the fear of a sanguinary The result of the Peasant War is well-
rising of the people. known. It affected the Reformation in
The German council and the prelim- the Church in two ways. On the one side
inary council, which had already been the princes of Central Germany had
summoned to Speier for November, 1524, heard from Luther's lips the exhortation
did not meet. But the representatives to use severity, and the reformer now ap-
of the papal party assembled in the peared to them as an advocate of the
summer of 1524 at Nuremberg and re- power of the princes they could make him
;
solved, in addition to complete condemn- useful for their purposes. On the other
ation of Luther, to aim at an improve- side, in great districts of Germany many
ment in some unimportant points the still entertained the opinion that at bottom
papal exaction of money and the morality Luther alone was to blame for the whole
of the clergy. This was the condition revolt, and therefore they had good
4186
POPE LEO X. EXCOMMUNICATING LUTHER AS A HERETIC
Luther was not the man to yield even under papal pressure, and when he failed to recant, Pope Leo X. hurled his ban
against the heretic and his followers on January 3rd, 1521, and published the interdict in all places where they should
remain. In the above picture, the Pope is seen seated on the balcony of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rome, surrounded
by priests with lighted torches, while beneath him are crowds of people on bended knee, as he pronounces his terrible ban.
4187
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Anabaptist Manz had been drowned in 1527, validity of the resolutions passed at Speier
and at Miinster, where in 1534 the Nether- in 1526 with respect to the Edict of
landers Jan Matthys of Haarlem and Worms. A committee, it is true, some-
Jan Beuckelszoon of Ley den wished to what modified the form of the imperial
found a Christian kingdom on a- com- demand ;
nevertheless the princes of
munistic basis, the Protestant movement electoral Saxony, Liineburg, Anhalt, and
was completely suppressed in 1535. Franconian Brandenburg, as well as the
Political and religious aims were mixed towns, opposed it, and contested the
up in the affairs at Miinster. Similarly at right of the assembly by a resolution of
Liibeck, where, under the leadership of the majority to abolish suddenly the
JiirgenWullenweber in 1534 the democratic imperial recess of 1526. However, the
elements conquered the aristocratic council view which was vigorously supported by
and partly drove its members from the Archduke Ferdinand gained the day
town. Here also the religious and the namely, that the majority must in all
political revolution- , cases be respected.
ary spirit met, to There remained
which later strict i
nothing for the dis-
Lutheranism was an affected princes but
uncompromising op- to protest against the
ponent. But the proclaimed right, a
ecclesiastical zeal of proceeding which
the democratic leader gained them the name
"
was here distinctly Protestants." It is
inferior to his political to be carefully noticed
ardour, although he that in this protest
was finally executed no religious, but
in 1537 by the Duke merely a constitu-
of Brunswick as an tional, question was
Anabaptist. discussed that is to
The diet of Speier say, whether a unani-
in 1526 had created mously passed decree
an intermediate can be abrogated by
religious position a majority. Never-
which was equally theless, a uniform
insecure for the old religious conviction
and the new faiths, spoke in the protest,
for each party had to which, struggling
fear a vigorous on- against authority, as-
slaught from the sumed the right for
other. It did not every estate in the
therefore cause realm to decide these
wonder when the questions by its own
Chancellor of Duke power. There was
George of Saxony, still the inclination
Otto von Pack, told LUTHER'S HOUSE AT FRANKFORT to submit to a council.
the Lutheran princes about a strong The immediate result of this protest
Catholic league. Philip of Hesse, in excess was the secret league, concluded in April,
of zeal, immediately armed against his 1529, between electoral Saxony and Hesse,
presumed foes, at whose head naturally as well as the towns of Strasburg, Ulm,
the emperor would stand but his position
;
and Nuremberg, for the common protec-
was seriously weakened by the discovery tion of their religious convictions, even
that Pack's documents, on whose evidence against the empire, while the Swabian
he had relied for justification, were entirely League began to consider itself the
fictitious. champion of Catholicism. The separation
A new imperial diet met under the between a Germany of the old faith and
pressure of these events in the spring of a Germany of the new faith was thus
1529 at Speier. The imperial proposition complete. On each side princes and
read at the opening held out the pros- towns stood united, for the diet of Speier
pect of a council, but also disputed the had broken up the hitherto common.
4188
THE MAN AND THE REFORMATION
principles of the towns, and no council was absolutely barren in results. Luther
was in the position once more to heal the tried vainly to conceal this fact even
breach. The soul of the Protestant League from contemporaries by a pamphlet,
was Philip of Hesse. He had high which epitomised in articles the
fiiteen
political aims, and wished to effect a union points common to the doctrines of the
of all who had separated themselves from two reformers, as opposed to the funda-
the Church. His attention was, there- mental point of difference. The distress
fore, necessarily directed toward the in the empire was, as a whole, very great,
Swiss reform movement, which ran parallel owing to the Turkish danger. Neverthe-
with that of Wittenberg, and was main- less, the imperial diet, which sat in June,
tained in closer dependence on the human- 1530, under the emperor's presidency at
ism of Zwingli. A reconciliation of the Augsburg, was strongly influenced by the
dogmatic differences between Luther and religious, or rather theological, controver-
Zwingli was the dearest wish of the sies, for the papal legate and the Pro-
landgrave, and he hoped to accomplish testants were agreed that this was the
this by a religious conference, which met first matter to be treated. The Protes-
in October at Marburg. tants, in conformity with the request of
Great as was the pleasure with which the emperor, had briefly drawn up their
"
Zwingli and his Humanist friends, Hedio doctrinal views in the Confession of
and Oecolampadius, accepted the invita- Augsburg," a work of Melanchthon, which
tion, it was with heavy heart that offered as mild a resistance as possible to
Luther appeared at the conference. It the papal opponents, and emphatically
was impossible for him to
depart in repudiated only the admission that
the slightest particular from his stand- Luther's doctrine was heretical, and
point on the doctrine of the Lord's asserted that, on the contrary, it coincided
.Supper, which presented the most im- with the teaching of Augustine. Luther,
portant subject of dogmatic controversy. outlawed and excommunicated, did not
The conference, as might be expected, venture, since the elector disapproved,
4189
4190
THE MAN AND THE REFORMATION
to represent his own causeAugsburg.in Mansfeld, as well as the towns of Magde-
"
Melanchthon took but showed
his place, burg and Bremen, united for the main-
by his yielding disposition that he would tenance of Christian truth and peace, and
not have been the right man to conduct for the repression of unlawful powers,"
the real struggle. He still hoped for an while other princes and towns still hesi-
ecclesiastical peace, and would be content tated to join. There was no immediate
with the concession of the marriage of prospect of confederates in South Germany.
priests, of the chalice for the laity, and On the other hand, relations had already
of a reform in the Mass, and therefore been established with King Frederic I. of
found support among the Catholic princes, Denmark and King Gustavus of Sweden ;
111-
works and by his enjoyment. Whence was religion to find safety ?
The Church, however, did not recognise the To take the place of the old, a new
justification for this effort, nor did she form of Christianity must be given to the
educate all her subjects to religious free- world, a Christianity which would not
dom and independence, as well as to moral suppress man's nature, but would rather
activity in the world and moral joy in develop and indulge a Christianity
it,
existence. No, she rigidly held to her old which recognised the towards
impulse
ideas and would gladly have seen every religious liberty and man's dominion of
one hold them. She trusted still to the Nature and tried to guide it into the right
efficiency of her means of discipline, as if paths. It is true that the effort of the
the time never comes when the son scoffs Church to crush all religious
at the rod of the father.
Change
freethinking instead of inspir-
of Creed r r-
*/..
And yet there was no other Christianity . _ ing a spint of freedom unfits
,
than that which was characterised by those who break away from her
those mediaeval fundamental conceptions. to become themselves safe guides. Religi-
It was clear that the new notions were ous freedom is abused in the saddest fash-
irreconcilable with the old faith. Men ion, but those who thirst for truth are at any
must either believe and live once more rate offered the opportunity of quenching
according to those old ideals and sacrifice their religious craving. Christianity may
the new ones, or they must hold fast to revive in them under a strange, new form.
the new doctrines and abandon the old. It was not mere chance that this reshaping
Countless numbers had alreadv chosen of Christianity was effected in Germany.
4*93
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Even in the Middle Ages all those efforts destined to sink into hell," he wailed.
to divest the faith, which had been trans- Then the general of his order, the holy
mitted from the Gneco-Roman world, Staupitz, pointed out another goal for his
of its legal character, and to make it the efforts. It is impossible for us to earn
personal concern of the individual, had God's grace by our piety. But Christ is
originated among Teutonic peoples. The our refuge from despair Christ does not :
peculiarly characteristic Teutonic sense of frighten us, but consoles us. Through
reality which hates mere show, the depth of Christ we can obtain forgiveness for not
purpose which cannot be satis- being what we ought to be forgiveness,
fied with outward piety, the in- and with it God's grace. Instead of the
Welcomed by . ...
.
u u "
the ^
..
Germans quiring
P spirit which is not con- unanswerable question When shall I :
.., ,
"
2
tented with any reassurance finally become pious ? we must put the
"
from human authorities these caused this other question: When shall I obtain for-
"
intensifying and deepening of religious life to giveness ? And the answer runs, " Only
through Christ, through faith in Him
"-
spring up in Germany, the heart of Europe,
and to find there an enthusiastic welcome. that is, through personal trust in Him
Martin Luther grew up among medi- Who brings God's grace to us.
aeval conceptions. He held by the Church Luther now read the Bible in quite a
and he obeyed the Church. A rever- new
"light.
"The just shall live by
ential awe seized the boy of fourteen when faith the saying became great and ex-
;
he saw that Prince of Anhalt in the cellent to him. Faith alone justifies, and
,
Franciscan cowl
walking through the brings life. The more he learnt in the
streets of Magdeburg, bent double under
" long struggle to leave the old way, which
the heavy beggar's wallet Whoever : the teaching of the Church had pointed
saw him must in devotion kiss him and out, and to walk in the new way of trust
blush for his own worldly state." But he in God's grace, the more he found that this
was consumed with an ardent longing for path was the right one. His conscience
religious independence, and therefore for a _ was calmed. He felt that he
The Great
personal conviction that he stood in the nQw had found a actuall
He was man Discovery .
^ , T^/ ,- ,
on earth, he entered the Augustinian that labour and are heavy laden, and
"
monastery and undermined his health by I will give
you rest." No man cometh
services which he considered meritorious. unto the Father but by Me." Luther
But Luther, like thousands before his thus attained independent faith no ;
time, could not rest satisfied with the idea human being, no Church had now any
that he had nothing more to do. For he felt , authority in his eyes. And yet this faith
in his unflinchingself-examination, more did not arise from his own liking. On
and more clearly that all his pious deeds the contrary, the objective fact, the grace
were insufficient in the eyes of God that ;
of God, which was objectively present,
all was done only from fear in fact, in his became his subjective possession.
Luther s
case, with a secret indigna-
,
The terrible danger which lay in the
il d a g ain
S te G ,
had now, as he thought, learned from ex- subjective,and yet based on that which
perience that we cannot get for ourselves was present outside him completely free ;
the one thing on which all depends, the and yet completely fettered authorised :
dimly shine the beacon-lights on which spicuous religious work such as prayer,
the sinner, trembling before God, rests his the founding of churches, monasticism,
hopes the saints with their services and could be impure, while the most incon-
their mediation, those helpers in time of spicuous secular work is sanctified by faith
' '
things no more. All that is to be retained of God, receives with thankful joy from the
of such observances preaching, baptism, hand of God all the good that God's good-
absolution, the Lord's Supper is to serve ness gives ; this thankfulness keeps him
only for strengthening the sanctifying from misusing it. The terrible danger lying
trust in the grace and love of God. in the awakening of the sense which is
How splendid a new morality might directed towards the world, lest the man
grow on such a new soil of faith ! "A disregard the Creator and Lord of the
Christian is the free lord of all things, and world in worldly work and wordly enjoy-
subject to no one." No sort of compul- ment, and employ both only for his selfish
sion can produce really ends, and bring only de-
good works, but as the good struction on himself and on
tree bears of itself good his fellow-men this danger
fruits, so the faith which is surmounted. Christianity
inspires the man brings has thus won a modern
forth, as it were involun- form. It no longer con-
tarily, actions which are tradicts the ideals of the
well pleasing to God. The new era it wishes and is
:
example. There remains, Dr. Eck, was one of the disputants becomes Protestant, passing
indeed, in the heart a ten- from the old era to the
denc towards evil but PP C Leo x against the reformer, new.
;
-
Luther himself did
faith cannot palter with it, cannot gloss it not suspect the epoch-making import-
over with sham work of holiness. For faith, ance of his religious discovery. The
so truly as it loves God, hates evil, and respect for the Church which he had
therefore fights unwearyingly against it. imbibed from earliest infancy did not allow
Just as the claim and essence of this him to contemplate any deviation from
morality took a modern form, so, too, did her teaching. In order to oppose a mere
its application. The Middle Ages held abuse he nailed his ninety-five theses on
that man's highest act of piety was to indulgences to the castle- church at Wit-
leave the world, and to devote himself to tenberg. But though their language was
religious works. But whoever, in the temperate, though they expressed little of
station in which God had placed his new revolutionising thoughts, they
M ..
View him, had attained actual com- kindled like a flash of lightning.
of Piety
munion with God knew that When Dr. Eck had read them, he cried
"
he had in this station to show out Ha he will do it. He is the
: !
his new spiritual attitude, that it was not man for whom we have so long waited."
what he did that made the difference, but It was felt that a personality was speaking
how he did. it, whether he did it from love there which had an ardent longing alike
of God, because God had called him to this for objective truth and subjective certainty.
work, and so in the way which was pleasing The supporters of the old order did him
to God. What folly to consider impure good service when by their opposition they
4195
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
disclosed the yawning gulf between their divine spirit they repudiated science and
;
conceptions and his. Many of the Human- study, and wished to abolish everything
ists, hitherto indifferent to it, were fired in the Church which did not date from the
for this struggle by the disputation at apostolic age.
Leipzig between Luther and the great When Luther was forced to live in
Roman theologian, Dr. Eck in July, 1519. the Wartburg, this storm broke in
The movement became a matter of Wittenberg. Professor Carlstadt wished
interest to the German people through his to cease lecturing ;
the schoolmaster
"
treatise To the Christian No- refused to teach any more. All that was
bility
J of the German Nation," the growth of time, especially the images,
Obstacle to
Luther
m
. . .
,
wmcn ne championed with
.
', .
desired, Contented him- Desiderius Erasmus, the great scholar of the ashamed to ^
dispute
-
7 /
cp>1f wima
wit VIP vpcniptnlprant Humanists, was lacking in religious fervour, and oHniir thp faith anH thp
sen vague T .rant while he rejoiced in the war against the "fat aD
probability, SO that paunches of the monks," he also wrote in gospel With priests and
to the leader of the Reformation
Luther answered him opposition
-
:
monks, masters and
"The Holy Spirit is no sceptic He has ;
doctors of divinity."
not inscribed on our hearts a vague delu- Equally great success was attained
sion, but a potent and great certainty by the spiritual songs set to new vigorous
which does not allow us to waver, but melodies in which Luther and some of
makes us, thanks be to God, feel as certain his disciples, following his example, made
as we are that two and three make five." the newly discovered faith resound through
While Luther wished for a the world above all by the hymns, which
;
The Creeds
moral code which, based on have soared beyond the Kyrie Eleison,
of Erasmus
confidence in God, sought so characteristic of mediaeval Christianity,
and Luther
only to please God, Erasmus to the proud joy felt by the child of God
" "
wished for morality," which, if necessary, sure of the Grace of God Nun freut :
was to be attained even by unproved euch, lie be Christ engemein', denn ich bin
assumptions, subject to one provision only dein, und du bist mein, uns soil der Tod
" "
that it did not disturb the peace of the citi- nicht scheiden Ein' feste Burg ist
;
zens. Thus the claim of a religious feeling unser Gott das Reich muss uns noch
springing from God, and directed towards bleiben." The people sang these songs not
4197
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
only in. divine service, but also at their had to be introduced for Church matters.
work and on the road. The divine wor- Most of the bishops, however, resolutely
ship hitherto held in Latin was performed opposed the new religion. Who was, then,
in the German tongue. The first regula- to perform the services, which could no
tion of the reformed public worship that is longer be required from them, in the
extant, dates from the year 1522, drawn separate provinces ? Only the territorial
up by Caspar Kanz in Nordlingen. Luther lord possessed the requisite authority and
did not follow with his German Mass until power for such outward church government.
1526, since he was reluctant to propose It was not a complete novelty when
"
external innovations so long as the people Luther, in his treatise To the Christian
were not ripe for them. Nobility," stated the proposition that,
In consequence of the resolutions of the if the need arose, every member of the
imperial diet of Speier of 1526, the Lutheran Church must help her, so far as possible,
states undertook to regulate the ecclesias- and when he now called on his sovereign
tical system in their own provinces on the not to refuse to help the Church of his
new basis, and the visitations organised for territory in her hour of trial. On the
the purpose revealed the pitiable conditions contrary, a return had already been made
which had been produced through the in the fifteenth century to the idea pre-
neglect of the people of all religion, vailing in the empire of the Franks
and the disorganisation of the Church before 800. that the lord of the country
through the uncertainty of recent years. had rights and duties in the Church of his
Luther then gave Christianity his two territory;
and the Pope nimself had
Catechisms, of which the Lesser Catechism conceded many such p r r'-eges to the
especially, a masterpiece, brought the new territorial lords. The princex iad often done
i
now derelict, had to be managed and turned or if heresies had broken out, they had con-
to other uses ;
a definite organisation sidered it their duty to guard their subjects
4198
THE PROBLEM OF THE REFORMATION
from this poison, just as they protected root out theLutheran doctrine should
their sovereign from hostile attacks. persist in their efforts, thatno one should
Luther certainly, following the text be allowed to protect those who were prose-
"
Render unto Caesar the things that are cuted for religious opinions, and that in
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are the Lutheran districts all the existing
God's," once more clearly separated the remnants of Catholicism were to be pre-
spiritual and the secular power, and thus served. To assent to this, they declared,
"
declared that the submission of the
p ... meant nothing else than openly
1
secular power to the Church and the of*!) if
*
deny Christ and His word."
thraldom of the conscience under some
Maurice
^ was * nev who in the diet at
external power were alike wrong. But Augsburg in 1530 solemnly,
yet he assuredly did not wish that the in the presence of emperor and states,
secular princes should exercise a spiritual professed the faith which the highest
authority, or should extend their powers in Christendom had banned and
government to the very heart of the proscribed it
;
was they who closely
Church and subject men's consciences to banded together in the Schmalcaldic
compulsion. League in 1531 for the protection of the
All the same in this distinctly critical Protestant faith.
time they ought clearly to recognise their The selfish policy of Duke Maurice of
duty of attending to the outward welfare Saxony certainly enabled the emperor in
of the Church. She ought to follow her the Schmalcaldic war to defeat and take
own ordinances and laws. But the re- prisoner the ^ heads of the Protestant
quisite ordinances and superintendence League in t5~46. But when Maurice, in
ought to be provided for her by the princes, order to undo the consequences of his
p
. who must take the welfare of perfidy, turned against the emperor, the
their subjects
J
to heart, and who, Religious Peace of Augsburg was finally,
Helping the ,, .
^.
Church
from their prominent position
, f. \ .
in the imperial diet at Speierin 1529 "pro- another religion were to leave the country
"
tested that the resolution of the majority without incurring any loss of honours
"
should not be published as passed, with or goods. It is small wonder that the
their good-will, knowledge, and counsel" Emperor Charles V. could not bring him-
a resolution which had laid down that self to co-operate in the conclusion of such
those who had hitherto endeavoured to a peace. ARM IN TILLE
267 4199
4200
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
IV
REVOLUTION
arrangements which had been established terms with Protestantism, and to be once
in the Church were not unassailable. more united, were finally excluded. It
Thus a dangerous uncertainty crept was thus distinctly declared that the tradi-
in. Even in the year 1485 Archbishop tion of the Church was to be honoured with
Berthold of Mainz had instituted a censor- the same reverence as the Holy Scriptures.
ship of books in order to suppress the Bishop Brentano, when asked what
German Bibles, of which there had been traditions were meant by this, declared :
"
many editions, and accordingly men like We accept those which satisfy us ; we
Sebastian Brant and Geiler of emphatically reject those which clash
Th Bibi *
in the German Kaisersberg
i, had declared it with our belief." It is the province of the
(l
.
j ,,
,
,, , "
a wicked thing to print the Church alone to decide what the true
Language T->-I.I /- T> "
But now
i
Bible in German. meaning of Holy Scripture may be.
the preparation of a German Bible Thus the Church is made the authorised
was advocated by Catholics in the exponent of Holy Scripture, and the
imperial diet at Speier in 1526, and doctrine of justification by faith as
loyal members of the Church caused such proved by personal experience alone is
translations of the Bible to be prepared condemned; the Church, moreover, holds
and circulated. the means for winning the redemption
Even the chief doctrine of Lutheranism, brought by Christ to man. Salvation comes
"
the proposition By faith alone we through her, and the seven sacraments work
are justified," was acknowledged by the as instruments of grace in all the faithful.
Catholic party at the religious conference of On the other hand, the disgraceful ex-
Regensburg in 1541, accepted in connection crescences, which had given special cause
"
with a protocol by the imperial councillor for railing against the Church," were cut
Granvelle, and sent to Rome for approval away, partly by general re-
by the papal legate Contarini. The Pope the ligious means, partly by direct
,-,-, TU
indeed rejected this tenet in that crude prohibitions. Ine council
the , ,
form and the agreement fell through. resolved on various measures
But Luther's appearance must have exer- for the removal of all non- Roman prac-
cised immense influence on those who still tices, but left their execution to the Pope.
remained loyal to the Roman chair when A confession of faith was established
such proposals were possible. It was high which had to be sworn by the holders of
time that the Church clearly defined the any ecclesiastical office and by all teachers
boundary between herself and the at the university. In this., loyal obedience
4201
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
"
was sworn to the Pope, the representa- Catholic Church in Germany if it had not
tive of Jesus Christ," and a pledge on oath at last been roused to a vigorous struggle ?
had to be made that "the Catholic faith, Even in those countries where, according
without which none could be holy, to the injunction of Duke William of
"
should be supported by all subjects." Bavaria that he who recanted shall be
"
The " Roman Catechism was drawn up beheaded, he who does not recant shall
as a counterblast to Luther's Catechism. be burnt," the anti-Roman movement
" "
The Index of forbidden books was had been most mercilessly crushed, as,
^ rr rs
introduced lor the suppression for example, in Austria and Bavaria,
of poisonous food for the mind. Protestantism had nevertheless gained
y !
The Council of Trent finally much ground. For example, in 1556 the
declared the text of the Latin states of Lower Austria would grant
translation of the Bible, the Vulgate, to aid against the Turks only on condition
"
be authentic," and orders were given that free exercise of religion was con-
"
that no one should venture to reject ceded them. The Emperor Ferdinand was
it on any plea whatever." But since the obliged to grant them at least the com-
text of the previous editions showed many munion in both kinds. A few years
differences, it was not clear which transla- afterwards, even the prelates declared to
tion might not be rejected. the emperor that his whole land would
"
Pope Sixtus V. in 1590 prepared a com- fall away from the Catholic faith if the
pletely faultless edition," and, appealing to marriage of the clergy and the communion
the guidance promised to the apostle Peter, in both kinds were not conceded.
"
forbade the faithful to alter, add to, or The situation became even worse in 1564,
omit the smallest particle in it." His on the accession of Maxmilian II., who had
second successor, Clement VIII., however, been brought up in the Lutheran faith.
found so many faults in this edition that Only consideration for Spain and the
he ordered all extant copies to be brought Catholic princes of the empire deterred
up and destroyed, and prepared a new Protestant
him from formally going over
,, -n VMT
edition, which altered more than 12,000 _, . . to the Protestant Church.
. He
Triumph in ,
in the Roman
tioned by Luther, sought
b , to mediaeval Church had shown themselves
show thatf these contained the
, , .
the world and consume its strength in represented by Ignatius as the highest
asceticism, but towork in the world and consummation, so sovereignty over others
on the world. Nor does it wish to withdraw was to be the ultimate object of all efforts.
its converts from the world. They may Ambition, that deeply rooted defect of
remain in the world, if only they remain ecclesiastical Catholicism, will flourish in
subject to the Church in spite of secular this order, and will more and more destroy
enjoyments, and are useful to the Church the nobler and divine components which
with their secular work. Even due sub- ecclesiasticism had retained from the
mission, the other ideal of mediaeval piety, primitive Christianity. In what field
..
grew dim, to many at least, especially were these warriors to display
before the impulse to win their activity ? Oral confession, which
of Mediaeval,
p. independence and to possess by Protestants was despised, must once
a personal sense of religion. more be revived, for whoever submitted
Ignatius showed one way to content this to it showed his willingness to allow himself
aspiration'. The means which Luther to be ruled. Nothing else afforded so
desired for the purpose and declared to favourable an opportunity to regulate
be attainable namely, that the individual men's consciences. At a time, then,
man should acquire personal communion when worldliness was omnipotent and the
4203
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
disinclination for confession and penance absolution," so the doctrine is laid down,
"
widespread, the masses could not become even if he cannot define the dogmas of
once more accustomed to confession unless the faith." It became possible in this
"
the yoke of Christ was lightened," as the way to bring those who were devoid of all
Jesuits termed it. theological training to a formal but honest
They therefore applied their greatest submission to the Church, which showed
ingenuity to a revision of the moral code, itself in confession.
the precepts of which were to be followed A complete series of other orders or
in confession, and tried to estab- unions owed their rise to the anti-Protes-
The Jesuits
lish such elastic principles that tant movement in the Catholic Church.
Revise the
consciences must have become Their ideal was no longer abandonment of
Moral Code
dulled but the task of con-
; the world, but activity in the world. The
fession was made far more simple. Sin, old irrevocable vows of chastity, poverty,
it was merely in the wrong-
said, consists and obedience kept many devout Catholics
ful act, which is committed not from from joining religious orders, and the need
ignorance or passion, but deliberately. It Was felt for a new expedient to meet the
is not always necessary for a man to do times. The institutions of Vincent de
what he himself considers right he may, : Paul (1576-1660) became most successful,
contrary to his conscience, obey that especially the Society of the Sisters of
which an authority has declared to be Mercy, founded in Paris in 1634. These
"
permissible. A woman, for instance, has took their vows only for one year. In
murdered her husband in order to marry addition to the nun who is withdrawn
her paramour and has afterward sinned from all mankind, the universal sister
with him. Must she, then, run the risk of comes forward. The cloister is no longer
death and shame by revealing this cir- their secluded world, but the home which
"
cumstance in confession ? offers them training and rest. What was
Since one authority, Henriquez, answers their final aim ? Vincent explained to the
in the affirmative, and another, Lessius, in sisters: "It has never been
" " Slst
the negative, according to this probable God's will when He founded
view it is permissible for a man to be silent your community
... J that you
J
Mercy ', ,, ,. ,.
on the point even against his own con-
,
Henry IV., by the Edict of Nantes in 1598, any Catholics left at Graz, the
;
assured to the Protestants their religious capital of Styria, only three were to be
and political rights he fell beneath the
; found. Ferdinand did not rest until he
dagger of the monk Ravaillac. had brought back all his subjects to the
Richelieu, indeed, broke the political fold of the Church, or had expelled them
power of the Huguenots, who prose- from his land. The action of the Jesuits
cuted Catholics in turn, but he also con- became bolder and bolder. It was soon
firmed their ecclesiastical privileges in
" " openly stated in print that the Religious
the Edict of Grace of Nimes in 1629. Peace of Augsburg could no longer be
4205
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
kept; then, that it was an easy thing From Zurich the ecclesiastical reform
completely to stamp out the plague of of the sovereign congregation spread to
heretics in Germany, since there was no the other Confederates in Appenzell the
;
leader among the Protestants who was Mass was abolished in 1552. But im-
formidable in a war and, besides that,
; mediately an opposition was raised
"
they were divided among themselves, for among the five places," Schwyz, Uri,
the Lutherans and Calvinists
8
Unterwalden, Lucerne, and Zug, which,
did not hold together. This as favouring the French mercenary system,
observation corresponded only had been dissatisfied with Zwingli's pro-
Reformation ,
114.
+V, 1'+ T test. The reformer now, in 1525, demanded
Switzerland, by the side of the movement war against the five cantons. But the
which Luther had inaugurated, a somewhat danger was averted this time Zurich act- ;
altered form of the opposition to Rome had ually gained the triumph of not being
been developed by Zwingli independently. excluded from the federation, notwith-
Ulrich Zwingli, born on January i, standing the antagonistic demands of the
1484, and thus of almost the same age as original cantons, and of finding a comrade
Luther, enjoyed a conspicuously Humanist in the faith in the canton of Berne.
education, studied under Conrad Celtes After the democratic municipal govern-
in Vienna, and devoted himself especially ment had been introduced into Berne in
to the theology of Erasmus. 1528, the cantons of St.
In 1506 he was curate at Gallen, Glarus, Schaff-
Glarus, and as such ex- hausen, and Basle adopted
pounded the Bible and the Reformation according
studied Origen. But after to Zwingli's ideas. At the
his expulsion by the French same time, fortunately,
party, who hated him for more friends were won for
his sermons against the it in South Germany. In
mercenary system, he went the towns of Constance,
as secular priest to the Miihlhausen, Nuremberg,
pilgrimage resort of Maria- and others there was lively
Einsiedeln, and began in sympathy with the Refor-
1516, actually before mation at Zurich, which
Luther, to preach in was based on civic inde-
favour of reformation, but pendence and ; Zwingli
without visibly leaving the might fairly dream of a
Church. Here, and still larger league of followers
more at Zurich, where he A GREAT swiss REFORMER when Philip of Hesse
lived after 1519, he adopted uirich invited him to the religious
a gradually more inde- me ingll
f i
When, instigated by Rome, discussion at Marburgf.
five papal cantons went to war with , , , .
,
We
pendent style of explana- the two reformed cantons, in the year know how his hopes were
1531 Zwin * u was slain in the st *e le
tory writing and took up
>
-
deceived. And now the
an anti-French attitude in politics. In 1522 Five Places were ready to defend their
his opinions as to such institutions of the old faith by the sword. They allied
Church as fasting and celibacy became themselves with Austria, but received
accentuated he called for a moral reform
;
no assistance from that quarter, and were
"
as the result of justification by faith." obliged, in the summer of 1529, to con-
In the next year, in a discussion at clude the first Peace of Cappel, which
Zurich, which had been started in con- established the equal rights within the
sequence of a complaint brought by the federation of the cantons of both re-
Bishop of Constance before the council Th G ligions. Zwingli had thus
as to the religious innovations, Zwingli obtained a great success, and
Success ... ,
He married in 1524 Anna Meyer, nee still hoped for a great South German League
Reinhard, a widow aged forty-three, and with the towns predominant. A political
administered the communion in both kinds. organisation would bring him nearer this
4206
THE TRIUMPH OF PROTESTANTISM
end. Zurich and Berne were, according Luther claimed that he reached by per-
to his wish, to obtain, constitutionally, sonal experience the certainty that God
the foremost place in the federation. is absolute Love. This idea, he said, had
Zwingli wished, therefore, to proceed filled him with rapture and given him rest.
with the utmost rigour against the five Zwingli, on the contrary, the more inde-
cantons who professed the old religion ; pendent he became by freeing himself
but he did not find any support from Basle from the influence of Luther, looked on
or Berne. The attempt was now made to God as the Highest Being, as the Omni-
If he called God
'
Luther regarded them as proofs of God's respondence and his numerous writings
love, which wishes to give us heavenly he acquired great influence far beyond the
gifts ;Zwingli, as proofs of our obedience borders of Switzerland. Geneva afforded
to God. Luthei adored the condescen- a refuge to the French, English and
sion of the Lord, who in the Holy Scottish exiles who had been driven from
Communion unites himself with His be- their homes for their religion's sake,and
lievers according to Zwingli's view the
;
when quieter years came they returned
exalted divinity cannot so unite himself to their country filled with the spirit of
with what is earthly. Not the body and Calvin. He founded in his native Geneva
blood of Christ at all, but bread and wine a university which provided the foreign
only, are received. Zwingli reformed congregations
declared as early as 1525 with preachers and in-
that his Lutheran oppo-
" spired them with the strict
nents were impelled by Calvinistic spirit.
"
another spirit and in ; Thus Protestantism
the religious conference parted into two streams.
at Marburg in 1529, The true Lutheran spirit
where Zwingli, full of his laid no stress upon the
political plans, tried to point whether a man
effect a union with the subjected himself in ex-
Wittenberg party, Luther ternals only to the com-
could not refrain from the mands of God, but feared
"
expression : You have a that such conformity to
different spirit from ours." the law might hinder a
Although little suspecting man from recognising his
the real tendency of this inward alienation from
whole discussion, he God and from seeking and
hoped for a settlement of finding fellowship with
the dispute in the future. God. The reformed spirit,
This Swiss movement, on the other hand, em-
in a slightly altered form, phasised the point that
JOH N CALVIN
spread far beyond its He was
born at Noyon in Picardy, and God was the only and the
,7~orc alter 6 the Reformers he became one of the
aft^r Jjoining oUc^l,,^ TLord,
rt-rl ana
or>rl
years SStTfiMrM off the movement.
1 figures O He did a absolute
the death of Zwingli, in lasting work for Geneva, where his system wished to bring about the
,i * c.
the year 1536, r
Calvin set
of ecclesiastical discipline was established.
i j. r ri T
execution of this Lord s
j,
himself the task at Geneva of founding a will. Even if all cannot be led to salvation,
community in which everything bowed yet all can be forced to outward obedience.
before the law of God. Every individual Calvinism had, therefore, a strict legal
citizen was obliged to bind himself by character but it was able far more than
;
4208
THE TRIUMPH OF PROTESTANTISM
Netherlands, and Scotland the Calvinists Protestant Church communities to prevent
were able to combine into a political party the continual unrest of the congregations
and to take up arms repeatedly in defence by-fixing definite limits. At the same
1
of their faith. But, on the other hand ,
time- another form of Protestantism was
this zeal awoke a noble spirit of sacrifice established. Elizabeth of England hoped
and a great impulse toward action. Hence finally to secure tranquillity for her
it followed that while Luther wished to 4 ,
country by, considering, as far as possible,
work only where his calling made it his the wishes of those who were favourable to
duty, the Calvinists wished to spread the Ihe n;
TK. Rome. With. this object
Divisions T^I *
the
.
,. ,
honour of God in every part. i_ ,
,
Hamburg preacher, Westphal, first warned declaration that he would not force on
men of the danger that Calvinism was any congregation a preacher whom they
threatening to absorb all Pro- suspected. But still many ways lay open
testantism Bitter Struggles
' to the elector by which he could restrict
Amon
mong thee
ensue(j w hi c h opened the eyes Lutheranism.
Protestants , .
4210
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
TO THE
REVOLUTION
two most important political powers of the empire, it was agreed that it should be
the time, the Pope and the French king. mainly in the hands of the states, but that
All prospects pointed to a stormy future. no. alliances with foreign powers should
Charles, immediately after the election be made without the sanction of the
in Frankfort on June 28th, 1519, was forced emperor: The Supreme Court was re-
to make important concessions to the vived and an imperial defence system
princes in a capitulation and established, since a central fund, with a
Crowning f j- j i_,i-o t_ i
;
f
he did it by his Spanish plem- Pro rata division among the states, was
Ch 1
Ptentiary, who could not, any
V created.
more than
himself, fail to see The arrangement of these matters was
the wide-reaching consequences of these most important for Charles. But it was
promises. It was not until October, 1520, no end in itself, but merely a necessary
" "
that the Roman emperor elect put preliminary for him, since he did not wish
foot on German soil and was crowned at to be disturbed for the moment in his
Aix-la-Chapelle. One of the first acts of his international plans. On his accession he
reign was to summon a diet to Worms for had taken over the quarrel with Francis I.
the beginning of the year 1521. The new of France both on account of Burgundy and
emperor was eagerly expected in Germany, also of Naples and the fear of Charles's
;
and not least among the friends of the superiority in Italy, in case he should
Reformation for much, if not everything,
; lay claim to Milan, drew Pope
depended upon his attitude. He also Leo X towards France. An '
war and sent an army into France. Charles his army was annihilated, Bonnivet slain,
was now master of Italy. In August, 1523, and the artillery lost. The emperor was
there was a renewal of the alliance betwe.cn proud of this victory. He wished to make
him, his brother Ferdinand, Henry VIII., a wise and full use of it, but failed to do so,
Pope Hadrian VI., the Duke of Milan, and and wasted time in long negotiations,
the small Italian republics for the com- while at the same time he demanded too
mon protection of Italy against Francis, many humiliations from the French
who was preparing a new expedition to crown. England concluded peace with
Italy for 1524. Francis wished to place France in August Pope Clement VII. had
;
himself at the head of the army, and was already taken the French side. The other
already on the way when he heard of the states of Italy had now to fear the
E .
plan of his ambitious cousin supreme power of Charles as much as
Charles, Duke of Bourbon, to go formerly that of the French king.
Army in TT
'
France
over emperor. He there- In liberated Milan voices were now heard
fore remained behind himself against the imperial liberator. A
peace
and sent only his general, Bonnivet, who between Charles and Francis was finally
achieved some small successes. Meantime concluded in January, 1526, at Madrid,
the English invaded the North of France which would have meant the complete
once more, and a German army ravaged overthrow of France if it had been Francis's
Burgundy. On April I4th, 1524, the will to keep it. Nothing less than the
combined French and Milanese army of cession of Burgundy and the abandonment
Bonnivet was completely vanquished by of all claims on Naples, Milan, and Genoa
the German marksmen at Gatinara on was demanded of him. But Francis, before
4212
THE EMPIRE UNDER CHARLES V.
he actually swore to the treaty, had deter- The Emperor Charles had taken no share
mined to break it, and expressed this at all in this expedition, but lost his
intention in a proclamation to his coun- power over the Landsknechte. At the
cillors, denouncing the treaty as having same time England allied herself closely
been procured by constraint. with France and the emperor had been
;
Only a few months elapsed before the deprived of all his conquests of 1525. The
Emperor Charles saw himself faced by French army found a friendly reception
another hostile combination. In May the everywhere in Italy, and in the
M|S
Pope, King Francis, the Duke of Milan, and [
autumn of 1527, with the help
Venice, concluded the Holy League in order
to expel from Italy the imperial troops
r \A of Genoa, besieged the imperial
~ :i " ~ r, XTT ' ^ A i ~1"
city of Naples, rortunately
which still held the Milanese territory, for Charles, pestilenceraged in the
and to restrain King Francis from carrying French army, and Marshal Lautrec
out the treaty into which he had entered. himself finally August I5th, 1528 suc-
The Pope at once released him from his cumbed to it ;
and the Genoese leader
oath. Burgundy, notwithstanding the Doria, who himself slighted by the
felt
energetic protests of the emperor, was not French, placed his ships at the service of
ceded even pressure on Francis's ally,
; the emperor in 1528. Further French
the Pope, by a warlike demonstration of operations failed, until at last, in accord-
Colonna against the Medici in ance with the heartfelt wishes
"
September, 1526, had no effect. of both sides, the Ladies'
The Constable of Bourbon Peace," mediated by Louise,
had meantime the power in mother of Francis, and
his hands at Milan, but could Margaret, aunt of Charles,
offer resistance to the league was concluded on August 5th,
only after a reinforcement 1529, at Cambray ; France
by twelve thousand Lands- by it renounced all preten-
knechte, which Frundsberg sions to Italy and the feudal
brought him at his own cost. lordship over Flanders and
The general found himself Artois. Charles, reserving his
forced by want of money to claims, left Burgundy in the
lead his army into the hostile hands of the French, and set
states of the Church in at liberty for a ransom of
February, 1527 nevertheless,
; two million crowns the sons
a mutiny broke out on March THE EMPE |R CHARLES v. o f F ra
ncis, who were still re-
s
i6th at Bologna among the nin et e^ n s'overeig'nin^hreereahns maining in power. Francis,
Landsknechte, which was having been ruler in the Nether- who was to marry a sister
i ands and kin s: of Spain- before
with difficulty suppressed. Charles, undertook the
of
his election as German>E or>
The deeply mortified com - ?ff duty of reinstating the
mander was prostrated by a fit of apoplexy followers -.of Bourbon in their possessions.
to which he succumbed at his home in During, his progress through Italy,
Mindelheim on August 2Oth, 1528. which Charles began immediately after
Bourbon's resolve to march on Rome the signing of peace, a treaty was
itself was now fixed. He rejected an negotiated with Venice and the Duke of
which the Pope
armistice, wished to buy Milan. The emperor received from both
with a large sum, and stood by the considerable sums of money, of which he
beginning of May before the walls of Rome. was able to make good use. The Pope
In the storming of the city, which began on crowned him at the beginning of 1530 as
the very day after his arrival, emperor at Bologna.
"Ma y 6th J 527. Charles of
>
After a ten years' war Charles, now a
Sie f R e
was slain.
Bourbon His man of thirty, appeared finally as the
Landsknechte avenged his bringer of peace to Italy, and the con-
deatn, took the city, and began a terrible queror of the French rule. Yet his position ,
scene of pillage and murder. The Pope re- apart from the religious dissension in the
mained a prisoner in the Castle of St. Angelo, empire, which then began to influence all
and the league brought him no help he ; political life, was by no means favourable,
was compelled, therefore, to submit to an for the West was continually threatened
agreement by which 400,000 ducats and by the growing danger from the East, the
some strongholds were given to the army. victorious army of the infidel Turks.
4213
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
We have already traced the growth of August 29th, near Mohacz, while the victors
the Turkish power up to the beginning of without difficulty took the capital and
the sixteenth century. Sultan Selim I., who marched onward, devastating the country
died in 1520, had made conquests mostly with fire and sword. As King Lewis was
on Asiatic soil and had subdued Egypt. But dead, the old pretensions of the house of
his son, Suleiman II., surnamed the Mag- Hapsburg were revived. Archduke Ferdi-
nificent, once more attacked the European nand found, however, an opponent in the
powers, conquered Belgrade in 1521, and voivode of Transylvania, John Zapolya,
. drove out in 1522 the Knights who allied himself with France and the
Driven
f St J hn fr" m
the lsland f Sultan, and was elected king by a section
Rhodes, since their Grand of the people on November loth, 1526.
5
Master, Philip Villiers de 1'Isle Nevertheless, the representative of the
Adam (1521-1534), appealed to the Chris- Hapsburgs was elected on December i6th,
tian powers in vain for help. The Knights 1526, by another section, in a diet at
defended themselves heroically, and at last, Pressburg, under the influence of he
on New Year's Night, 1522-1523, they left queen-widow, Mary of Austria, and on his
the island unmolested under the com- advance in the summer of 1527, Zapolya
mand of Villiers. The Emperor Charles was forced to retreat to Transylvania.
assigned to them on March 24th, 1530, Ferdinand was crowned at Stuhlweissen-
the island of Malta, with Gozzo, Comino, burg in November, and so linked Hungary
and Tripolis as a home, and thus once more permanently to the house of Hapsburg,
pledged them to wage war against Turks just as at the beginning of the year he had
and pirates. connected Bohemia with it. Thus the
When, on August 29th, 1521, Belgrade Austrian monarchy was founded:
fell before the Turks, Lewis II., who had At the same time the Turkish danger
mounted the throne in 1516 at the age of became an imperial danger in a more real
ten, was king of Hungary. The Turks sense than before, for the imperial heredi-
came once more, in 1526, with an enor- tary lands were the first objects threatened
mous army against Hungary. The king by the attack of the unbelievers. Suleiman
advanced to meet them with an inadequate came forward as the avenger of Zapolya in
force, and was defeated and slain on 1529, conquered Ofen on September 8th,
INCIDENT IN THE SACK OF ROME: THE DEFENCE OF THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO
In the storming of Rome, which began on May 6th, 1527, Charles of Bourbon was slain, and avenging his death, his
Landsknechte took the city amid scenes of pillage and murder. In the castle of St. Angelo, which Benvenuto Cellini
is here seen defending, the Pope was for some time kept a prisoner. Cellini, by his own accbunt, was the hero of the fight.
42I 4
THE CROWNING OF CHARLES V. AS EMPEROR BY POPE CLEMENT VII. AT BOLOGNA, 1530
From the picture in the Palace of the Doges at Venice
and caused his protege to be proclaimed alterations were effected, which resulted
king. On September 2yth he actually ap- in the development of the absolutism of
peared with 120,000 men before Vienna and the princes and in the suppression of the
began the siege. All Europe trembled at states.
this event ;
but the heroic defence of the The diet of Augsburg in the summer of
garrison so far saved the situation that the 1530 was the first at which the emperor,
Sultan was induced, by the murmurs of his having been absent for nine years, was
troops and the threatened lack of provisions, once more present after having at
to withdraw on October I4th, 1529, after length achieved a victory. There was
he had destroyed the churches and devas- work enough to do, for, in addition to the
tated the country far and wide. aid against the Turks urgently needed by
The Council of Regency, which had the empire, it was essential to deliberate
been established on the basis of the resolu- over a great number of imperial laws,
tions at Worms in 1521, had no longer the among others over the criminal code,
character of a board representing the the so-called Lex Carolina. But the reli-
states, but that of an official body, and gious question, the solution of which was
therefore possessed little reputation in the
Ch *'rl required by the Protestants
It had hardly gained any influ- De i re they would consent to
empire.
ence on Protestantism and its develop-
w "th
a '^ ag amst the Turks, gradually
th^ Turks
ment. The emperor himself was, as we by its importance supplanted
know, entangled in great international all other subjects of deliberation. It was
schemes, and could not, therefore, directly only after the Religious Peace of Nuremberg,
have any part in it, so that the imperial in 1532, that the emperor found himself in
diets of the third decade had very little a position to carry out the long-cherished
significance for the constitution and plan and to put an imperial army into
administration of the empire. On the other the field against the Turks. During the
hand, within the territories, in connection summer more than 70,000 men advanced to
with the Church reform, important the East. Nearly two-thirds of them were
268 4215
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
troops from the emperor's patrimonial encroachments of the Hapsburgs. In 153!
dominions but still it was an imposing
; some towns, among others Frankfort,
army that marched out against the enemy. Hamburg, and Liibeck, had joined the
Suleiman had little good fortune in his league, and other towns of Upper Ger-
campaigns of 1532. He besieged in vain many had followed them only Nurem- ;
the small Hungarian town of Guns, which berg held aloof. The members of the
was bravely defended by Nicholas Juris- league had created a military organisation
chitsch. At Gran also the siege was unsuc- for themselves similar to that which had
cessful,and the fleet of Genoa won some been formed by the nearly extinct Swabian
decided victories at sea. It would have League.
been easy to win back the whole of Hun- In 1535 the alliance was renewed for ten
gary by force of arms. But Charles left the years. Philip of Hesse undoubtedly took
army for Italy, in order to come to an the lead in political questions, while
understanding with the Pope about the electoral Saxony, under John Frederic, sank
Council, while the licence of the troops more into the background. Philip under-
became the pest of the country. No great stood how to turn to the advantage of the
battle was fought, and the capture of league all interests hostile to the Hapsburgs
some Turkish standards by the Palsgrave both at home and abroad. His greatest
Frederic was of little moment. During the success was the restoration to his duchy in
protracted negotiations which emperor and 1534 of Duke Ulrich, who had been expelled
Pope carried on at Bologna the advantages from Wurtemberg in 1519. This was tanta-
gained through the Peace of Cambray in mount to ousting the Hapsburg Ferdinand
1529 were lost, for the Pope and all other from his position in South Germany.
Italianpowers gradually inclined more and Wurtemberg now adopted the Lutheran
more towards the French side, without doctrine and became a member of the
Charles being quite clear on the point him- Schmalcaldic League, although Ulrich
self. Charles left Italy for Spain before any himself showed little gratitude to the
result had been obtained, and from that landgrave. King Ferdinand was compelled,
country undertook an expedition to Tunis in a treaty at Kaaden on June 29th, 1534,
against the robber Moors, and was after- to consent to the new state of things, and
wards involved in a new war (1536-1538) was unable to prevent Protestantism con-
with King Francis. tinually gaining ground in all parts of
The German princes had meanwhile Germany and even in the crown lands of
been left to themselves, and formed in the Eastern Austria. Besides Pomerania and
League of Schmalcald not only a political Anhalt, the duchy of Saxony and the
representation of evangelical interests, but powerful Brandenburg joined the league
at the same time a union against the in 1539, and the course of the Reformation
4216
THE EMPIRE UNDER CHARLES V.
in England and the northern kingdoms but first the German Protestants were to
resulted in a political union of the rulers be brought back again to the universal
in those parts with the league. Church by peaceful methods, according to
While the new faith made such pro- the emperor's wish.
gress, Pope Clement VII. died. His suc- The Protestants, by the widening of their
cessor, Paul III. (1534-1549), was from the league, had plainly infringed the conditions
outset willing to yield to the imperial of the Religious Peace of Nuremberg. It
request for a council, and on June 2nd, was therefore thoroughly opportune that
1536, consented to summon it to Mantua the Catholics in Nuremberg united them-
for the end of May, 1537. He invited the selves, on June loth, 1538, in a counter
Lutherans to it. Their leader had really league, organised on the model of the
nothing to say against it, but "
composed Schmalcaldic League, with the object of
for this purpose the so-called Schmal- protecting the Peace of Nuremberg while
caldic Articles," the contents of which, excluding foreign powers. Duke Henry
however, demonstrated the impossibility the Younger of Brunswick was the leader
of taking part in the meeting. A of the union. The summons to fight was
national German council would in any welcomed by the members of the Schmal-
case have been acceptable, but no one in caldic League, for the Elector of Saxony,
the circle of the Protestants would consent in the event of a favourable result to the
to the meeting of a general council. war, could make good. his claims to the
Since 1536 the emperor had again been Lower Rhenish Duchy of Cleves against
involved in a war with France, for Francis the emperor. But Charles was now in-
would not yet consent to renounce his clined for peace. He tried, when the
claims in Italy. Charles now invaded possibility of a council disappeared, to
Southern France and ravaged it merci- bring about an agreement by similar con-
lessly. Although the French arms were trivances on a small scale a proof that
supported by a simultaneous movement of even yet he was not aware of the opposi-
the Turks which was aimed against the tion between the old and the new faith.
"
republic of Venice, and by the help of the The Grace of Frankfort" had already
Protestants, yet the success of the war led, on April igth, 1539, to a compact
was trifling, and the exhaustion of the two between both religious parties, from which
antagonists led to a truce for ten years indeed neither side expected much. The
from July i8th, 1538 the Pope negotiated
; emperor had quietly brought about a mutual
it, and it was conducted at Nice. The understanding between Catholic and Pro-
reconciliation of the two sovereigns testant theologians in June at Hagenau,
seemed so complete that they were able and in November, 1540, at Worms and ;
in Alliance 1543, Duke William of J Juliers religious enthusiasm, but was brave
j .> t_ i_-
and politic. An alliance with the em-
.
had his
*k r>v
with Isharles !*., T->
general, von Rossem,
Martin peror held out brilliant prospects, and he
with French help, over an imperial army was therefore not reluctant to accede to
at Sittard. But Charles now obtained this in the diet of Regensburg in June,
Henry VIII. of England as an ally, and in although he did not break off every con-
the summer appeared on the Lower Rhine nection that joined him with the League.
with a splendid army of 40,000 men. The emperor and the Pope were now
Diiren was soon won, and the whole concerned chiefly with the preparations
district was in Charles's hands the duke, ;
for a religious war. But such a declara-
in virtue of his submission made at Venlo tion could not be bluntly made in Germany,
4218
THE EMPIRE UNDER CHARLES V.
if the support of the towns and the history must condemn, the moulding of
knights was to be assured, since they were ecclesiasticalmatters in Germany for many
averse only to the princes, not to the years after the Reformer had passed away.
Lutheran doctrines. The fact that At the beginning of the war the emperor
Protestant princes were allied with the was still holding a diet at Regensburg,
emperor seemed indeed to argue that the and remained there until the first days of
war would not be for religion, but the August, although he had only a small body-
co-operation of the Pope pointed the other guard with him. His troops were still in
way. The emperor had cleverly begun to foreign countries, while the league had
work with both means but it must have
; more than 50,000 men in the field. Had
been doubtful whether he could succeed in they advanced directly on Regensburg they
keeping his word to both parties. The must have succeeded but instead of this,
;
Protestants were long unwilling to believe they split up their forces, took Donau-
that the preparations were made against worth on July 20th, and, when at last
them, although Philip, who now once more they came into conflict with the imperial
adhered to the league, warned them of army before Ingolstadt, were unable to
their danger. The gain any victory.
states were Meanwhile rein-
assembled for the forcements to the
diet of Regens- extent of 20,000
burg. It was men joined
certainly felt that Charles'sarmy,
warlike move- and by the end
ments were im- of autumn the
pending; but position became
there was a re- hopeless, when
luctance to ques- Maurice declared
tion the emperor open hostility to
until the Pro- his cousin, the
testants ventured elector , on
to do so, and October 27th,
received the after he himself
answer that the had been in-
imminent busi- vested with the
ness was the title ofElector of
punishment of Saxony in the
some refractory place of the pro-
princes. This scribed prince. In
only suggested conjunction with
the Landgrave King Ferdinand
Philip, who had he occupied the
not come to the electorate, and
The emperor
diet. THE POPE PAUL III. AND HIS TWO NEPHEWS by this move-
From
wished by his the painting by Titi
ment compelled
declaration to separate Hesse and electoral the forces league stationed in
of the
Saxony, but this he did not succeed in Swabia to withdraw at once to Central
doing. Contrary to expectation, the Germany. The emperor had thus be-
league now held together, and even the come master of the south, for the towns
towns stood loyally by it. surrendered to him, and Duke Ulrich of
The campaign was opened towards the Wiirtemberg was forced to abandon
end of June, 1546. But the man who his resistance.
had always recoiled in horror from a At the beginning of 1547 the Catholic
religious war, although in his later years creed was completely restored in the Arch-
obedience to the emperor did not seem to bishopric of Cologne. Hermann von Wied
him so essentially a Christian duty as resigned on February 25th, and was forced
before, did not live to see this war. Martin to make way for his former coadjutor,
Luther died on February i8th, 1546, at Adolf von Schaumberg, while the army of
Eisleben. But his marvellous personality the league broke up in Central Germany.
influenced, although often in a way which John Frederic's one aim was the
42IQ
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
reconquest of his dominions. But while he in Germany was to be re-established rn
attempted this, Charles returned unmo- conformity with this until a universally
lested from Bohemia to Saxony, and sur- valid decree of the Church council should
prised him on April 24th, 1547, at Miihl- be passed. This system of faith was formu-
berg on the Elbe. Ferdinand and Maurice lated by the middle of March, 1548. It
were with the emperor the Saxons de-
; sufficiently expressed the conquest of the
serted their strong position in the town, and Protestants. Its main requirement was a
were defeated in the pursuit by Duke Alva, reversion to the old Church, and it con-
the
imperial commander-in- ceded only two points, the communion in
*a '
The Saxons were completely for the rest, an attempt was made to
Francis T- j
routed, John Frederic was evade the real dispute by expressions
wounded and captured, and soon after- which admitted of various interpretations.
wards Wittenberg fell into the hands of the But no unity was produced even on this
emperor. In North Germany only Hesse, basis, which was supported by the assent
Bremen, and Oldenburg remained unsub- of the Catholics. The Interim was to be
dued. Philip did not wish to commit binding only on the Protestants, while the
himself to an uncertain struggle, and members of the old faith refused to comply
accepted the mediation of the Elector with it. The emperor's well-meant scheme
Maurice, who made an agreement with accordingly came to nothing. He suc-
the emperor to the effect that the land- ceeded better in strengthening his absolute
grave, if he submitted, should not be power as emperor, for the towns, treated
further punished. with equal unfriendliness by sovereign and
Philip of Hesse came, but, contrary to princes, now lost their political influence.
the spirit of the agreement, though accord- Charles now filled the Imperial Chamber
ing to the letter of it, which excluded only with councillors appointed only by himself,
perpetual imprisonment, was thrown into and the Netherlands were united with the
prison on June igth. Thus the two _
Char es s empire as "a Burgundian
,
The diet at Augsburg of 1550-1551 was not himself attach any credence to the
thinly attended. Much ill-feeling was reports which reached him at Innsbruck,
aroused by the high-handed policy of where he lay sick. He was therefore
Charles and his followers towards Germany, greatly astonished when the storm burst on
especially since Charles, in spite of the him in March. King Henry invaded Lor-
urgent requests of the princes, did not raine with 35,000 men, and the princes
consent to dismiss the Spaniards, who were advanced into South Germany as far as
unconstitutionally kept under arms. In Augsburg. Charles was still unwilling to
addition to this, there was the peculiarly believe in the complicity of Maurice,
severe imprisonment of the Landgrave especially since Maurice had just joined
Philip, which had been felt by all princes Ferdinand in order by his aid to bring about
as a degradation of ,
-.--. an agreement between
their order generally. I
j emperor and princes.
Briefly, there was a | The town of Magdeburg
general tendency towards surrendered to the
rebellion against the em- victors on April 4th.
peror, and the power to The emperor had no
do so seemed ready to resources at his disposal,
hand. Efforts had already and was obliged to win
been made in 1548 to time by negotiations.
form a new alliance in Ferdinand and Maurice
the north-east of the met at Linz on April i8th.
empire, and hopes had A larger meeting was
been raised of French summoned for May 26th
help, and of the co- at Passau, to prosecute
operation of Protestant the negotiations, but
Denmark. Dukes Albert Maurice did not counte-
of Prussia and John nance any lull in hostili-
Albert of Mecklenburg, as ties. He wished to cut off
well as Margrave Hans of the emperor completely,
Kiistrin, formed a league and actually forced him
in February, 1550. And FREDERIC THE MAGNANIMOUS by an advance to the
Fr e r{ .known as the Magnanimous,
when Maurice of Saxony,
. , . / . . - ,
'
J hn .
^ ^ .
who felt himself deeply duced Lutheranism into Saxony, of which whither he was accom-
ininrprl
urea tne Pmr>prr>r
K\7 +>IP country he was elector. The above portrait nanJpH K Dv
Y JTnhn
OJ Frprlprir
in] Dy emperor, is fron^ the paintmg by Titian, at Vienna. ]
Metz, Maurice had already followed King fession of the Catholics and to that of the
Ferdinand to the war against the Turks. adherents to the confession of Augsburg,
In Central Germany the licentious Hohen- not to that of the followers of Zwingli.
zollern Margrave Albert, at any rate not From this time the empire took the
hindered by the emperor, began a wild Lutherans legally under its protection,
career of lawlessness and rapine. The and the princely power of the Catholic
princes of South Germany formed a league princes was at the same time greatly
against him, and the Elector Maurice finally strengthened, since they henceforth super-
conquered him on July gth, at Sievers- intended the property of the Church. The
hausen. Unhappily the elector was death penalty for heresy was abolished,
wounded in the battle, and died on July and all were to have free right to leave the
nth. Albert was again defeated on June country. It was, however, settled at the
i3th, 1554, near Schwarzach, in Lower same time that a spiritual prince might in-
Franconia, and fled to France. deed personally go over from the Catholic
Without the help of the emperor the to the Protestant faith, but in this case his
princes had restored peace and order in the district or his spiritual office must remain
empire in 1554. But Charles was weary Catholic he therefore must be separated
;
king of Aragon. For ages this latter and Ferdinand found it necessary to
kingdom, possessing some of the finest serve Castilian ends before he set about
harbours in the Mediterranean, had compassing his own. First, Granada
looked with yearning eyes towards the had to be conquered and the Castilian
East as the seat of its future influence. realms conciliated, while Spaniards
Already it owned the Balearic Isles, generally had to be welded into a solid
Sicily, and Naples ; and, although the instrument by which the King of Aragon
dream of its greatest king in the might use them all for his own purpose.
thirteenth century of a powerful Aragon- The realms were all jealous and dis-
ese empire, extending from Genoa to similar, and the cohesive power adopted
Valencia, and dominating the Mediter- by Ferdinand to bind them together
ranean, had been frustrated by the was the common bigotry and spiritual
advance of the French southward, Italy pride aroused by the persecution of
and the Levant still beckoned the religious minorities, Jews, Moslems, and
Aragonese onward, and when the wicked, Christian backsliders. The fires of the
4224
Inquisition deliberately lit by Ferdinand strength he needed for his own ends.
and Isabella for a political object Ferdinand, before he died, foresaw the
answered their purpose, and made disaster to Aragon that the merging of
Spaniards of all the realms exalted her crown into that of a world-wide
fanatics, convinced of their spiritual empire would produce, and he tried his
superiority and divine selection to fight best to defraud his elder grandson of
God's battle upon earth fit weapons the Aragonese realms in favour of the
now for Ferdinand's hand. younger brother Ferdinand, who was as
But, in spite of Ferdinand's consum- Spanish as Charles was Flemish.
mate cunning, all his plotting went But fate and Cardinal Ximenez stood
awry. His only son was married to the in the way; and in 1516 the sallow
Emperor Maximilian's daughter, and foreign boy, Charles, with a greedy gang
his second daughter married to the of Flemings, came to Spain to enter
emperor's only son, Philip, sovereign in into his inheritance. Though few
right of his mother of Flanders, Holland, thought it at the time, Charles was
Luxemburg, and the vast domains of the a genius, and he soon saw that Spain
house of Burgundy while his youngest
; must be the centre of his great empire.
daughter was married to the heir of When once he had crushed, at Villalar
England, and his eldest daughter be- in 1520, the Castilian demand for
came Queen-Consort of Portugal. With, Parliamentary
financial control, Castile
as he thought, all the strings of alone of all his realms was powerless to
European policy in his expert hands, resist his demands. Castilians were
Ferdinand saw in prophetic vision haughty and bigoted, and the policy of
France enclosed in a ring of enemies, the emperor, like that of his grand-
impotent to stay the forward march of father, was to inflame their pride to
Aragonese ambitions in Italy and the the utmost. Materially, Spain was poor,
East. But death stepped in, and other and she ruined herself utterly, but her
men with ambitions as strong as those men-at-arms trampled over Europe
of Ferdinand renounced his selfish and America triumphant, the sword in
tutelage. One after the other his one hand, the cross in the other. To
children died, until he found that the the world Spain was a symbol of
heir of the joint crowns of Castile and potency and wealth inexhaustible, but
Aragon was his mad daughter Joanna, the policy upon which she squandered
and, after her, her elder Flemish- her blood and treasure abroad was not
Austrian son Charles, who would inherit her own. She was spent in crushing
an empire extending over Central heterodoxy in Germany and Flanders,
Europe from the North Sea to the in holding back the Turk from Hungary,
Danube, with Spain and part of Italy, and in ousting France from Italy and
;
as well as the vast undefined terri- Spain benefited nothing. The hollow
tories which the Genoese Columbus fame was hers, the apparent power, but
had discovered for Isabella, little to in the day of her glory she ruined her-
Ferdinand's delight, as the drain of self for an idea at the bidding of her
men for America drew from Castile the king and the prompting of her pride.
4225
WESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION
AND AFTER
TO THE
VI
REVOLUTION
united with such difficulty, seemed only struggling for intellectual and religious
too likely to separate. But the fact that freedom. No middle course was possible ;
Philip the Fair survived his mother-in- the ruler was bound to rely on one
law for only a short time, and or other of the two nations. It is not sur-
< c* -
i "that JJoanna was mentally
J in- prising that Spain gained the preference.
of Spanish ., , .
p .
capacitated
,
from governing, A people united under an absolute
made it possible for Ferdi- monarchy, well versed in the arts of war,
nand to act as regent of Castile until his promised to be a much more valuable
death in 1516. Cardinal Ximenes was instrument in the hands of an ambitious
able to preserve quiet for a short time ruler than Germany, divided into a
longer, and the peaceful and prosperous number of petty states, struggling for
development of Spain at that time was intellectual independence. The future of
largely due to him. He was a typical each nation was then definitely decided.
exponent of Spanish policy, which made Spain threw in its lot with the Roman
for absolutism in close alliance with the Church once and for all, and by its opposi-
Church. tion to the Reformation gained a short
Never was a prince, in entering upon period of splendour which was followed
his government, confronted with such by intellectual and material stagnation.
a number of momentous questions and Germany preserved its independence of
problems as was Charles I. of Spain, Rome's thought
,,
after a desperate
,
r-e and
, ,
afterwards Charles V., Emperor of Ger- C St StrU g 16 S ffered f r
Influence in *y. '
J wounds
many. A tremendous movement was
Germany
centuries under the
shaking the
nations of Europe. The which it received, and never
movements of the Renaissance and the succeeded in wholly driving out the in-
revival of learning, originating in Italy, fluence of Rome.
had reached the Germanic peoples in However, for the moment, other ques-
the north, and had there prepared the tions demanded instant solution. Upon
ground for the rise of a national civilisa- the death of Ferdinand I. absolutism was
tion, which was also under the influence by no means firmly rooted in Spanish
4226
SPAIN AND FRANCE IN THE TIME OF CHARLES V.
soil. Its lack of popularity with the for instance, that the nobles be taxed as
industrial portion of the population was the citizens were ;
that the natives of
sufficiently obvious. The towns had America should not be treated as slaves,
readily come forward to help to crush should not be transported to the mines
the nobility, but they were by no means as labourers. To give an appearance of
disposed to sacrifice their own rights to loyalty to their movement, the towns
the Moloch of absolute monarchy and ; opposed the emperor in the name of his
the short-sighted policy of the youthful mother, the mad Joanna.
n king, who brought his Flemish
rs r Unfortunately there was no unity among
,. ~? friends to Spain, and bestowed
, the rebels. The nobles, as a whole,
the Kmg ,,s 5. i t . j- .
F
.
upon them the highest dignities stood aloof from the movement, or
in the land, gave the towns supported the crown, which had more in
the opportunity for resistance which common with them than the citizens had.
they desired. In reality, a far larger ques- The regents therefore found time
tion had to be settled than the question to oppose a small, but well-trained, force
of the privileges of the towns, many of to the army of the people. On April
which were antiquated and void. The 2ist, 1521, a battle was fought at Villalar,
point in dispute was whether a wide- which resulted in the complete defeat of
reaching foreign policy, which could be the citizens and the capture of their chief
carried out only by an absolute monarchy, leaders. In a short time the revolt was
was henceforward to take precedence, at an end ;
the leaders paid for their pre-
or whether this should give way to a sound sumption with their lives, and the towns
domestic policy for the purpose of with the loss of their rights. Spain was
advancing material prosperity, which the henceforward a ready instrument in the
industrial and manufacturing classes could hand of an absolute monarch and the
;
carry out in conjunction with the crown. foreign policy of the emperor, with all the
At the Cortes of Valladolid, in 1518, the glory it was to bring, could now break forth
representatives of the towns assumed Feudal Nobles
in full splendour. risingA
a bold position, while the nobility, who had of the lower classes and
Supported
not yet recovered from their crushing labour guilds in Valencia,
by the Moors
overthrow by the previous king, remained socialistic in nature and hav-
in the background. In Aragon, also, ing nothing to do with the revolt of the
and Catalonia, as in Castile, Charles had Castilian towns, was also suppressed in the
to listen to many bitter truths before course of a few years. The guilds had
the usual oaths of allegiance were taken availed themselves of the universal right
and money-grants made. Charles had, to bear arms, which had been instituted
meanwhile, been elected Emperor of Ger- as a protection against the attacks of
many, and before starting for that country the Algerian pirates, to form germanias,
he made an attempt to procure the or brotherhoods, of their own ;they then
necessary supplies in an irregular way. turned upon the powerful feudal nobles,
Thereupon disturbances began to break who found a support in the Moriscos, the
out, and after the emperor's depar- Moors who had remained in the country.
ture there came a formidable revolt The situation enabled the government to
of the comuneros the Castilian towns. take measures of great importance. It
Toledo, the ancient capital, headed the crushed the germanias with cruel violence,
movement the inhabitants of Segovia
; and thereby shattered the growing pre-
manifested no less zeal for freedom. sumption of the citizens. At the same
de Padilla undertook the time, the intervention of the Moriscos in
Cashlian Juan
leadership of the reyolt and the quarrel gave it an excuse for grinding
Towns in , \ , ,,. . .
_ succeeded in driving out the down this industrious class in the nation
regency which Charles had by restrictive measures, and for obliging a
established in Valladolid, and winning over part of them to emigrate, to the great
most of the Castilian towns to the con- loss of the country and especially of the
federacy. Among the demands of the land-holding nobility. Christianity was
town were several which show that the then made obligatory upon all inhabitants,
revolt was occasioned not merely by and the Inquisition was set to watch the
economic causes, but that the citizens zeal of the new converts with argus eyes.
raised their voices as the representatives The old popular assembly of the Spanish
of a broader enlightenment. They asked, kingdom, the Cortes, was naturally out of
4227
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
place in the new absolute government. on, similar to the experiences of other
The Cortes of Castile were convoked for countries, especially England, a change
the last time in full session at Toledo in which worked most disastrously for the
the year 1538. Once again the nobles labouring portion of the population. Sheep-
ventured to oppose the financial policy of raising made great strides Spanish wool
the crown, and were successful. Hence- had a wide reputation for excellence and
forward only particular orders, chiefly the was taken up by the nobles and extended as
procurators of the towns, were summoned far as possible. The price of corn was kept
to the assembly to vote supplies. down by law the peasants found them-
;
Shattered
There were no further protests selves unable to live by agriculture, and
Dreams of
of any importance against the were bought out of, or expelled from, their
Charles
burden of taxation, which holdings. Where thousands of peasants
increased rapidly under Charles V. had once tilled their boundless
fields,
Charles V.'s dreams of a universal pastures extended, trodden by millions of
monarchy were shattered by the hostility sheep and by the few herdsmen who at-
of France and the religious movement in tended them. But when the peasants were
Germany, notwithstanding the great sacri- once driven from their land, when the
ficeswhich Spain had made in money and elaborate system of irrigation had fallen
men. For the moment, the country into ruin and the villages were deserted,
succeeded in bearing 'up under the it was impossible for a long period to
heavy burdens bring the land
which Charles again under cul-
had laid upon it. tivation. Thus
Here and there Spanish pros-
were traces of perity waslargely
the decay of dependent upon
economic pros- the M.oorish
perity; but, population but;
foundations of national prosperity, agri- his successor, Philip II., Spain shot up
culture and cattle-breeding, were still to a dazzling height of apparent strength
actively carried on. and power and plunged with unutterable
The districts inhabited by the Moriscos, rapidity into ruin. Louis XII. died on the
such as Valencia, Murcia, and Granada, T*
first day of the year 1515, and
were similarly in a most flourishing condi- Francis of Angouleme^succeeded
B ttl
tion, whereas in the old Christian provinces him on the throne. The chival-
Marignano
the lust for adventure and the drain of rous king wished to win back
men in the continual wars had made deep Milan for his crown, crossed the Alps in
gaps in the peasant population. In the summer, and defeated in the sanguinary
Moorish provinces the nobles, to whom battle of Marignano the Swiss of the Duke
most of the land belonged, had a particular of Milan. The Pope now wished to be on
interest in furthering the development of friendly terms with the victorious king, and
agriculture. Upon the high plateaus of the Swiss confederation preferred to make a
the interior a grave change was going treaty of peace with him. The position
4228
SPAIN AND FRANCE IN THE TIME OF CHARLES V.
of the French in Italy grew stronger and inconsistent with the sums lavished on
stronger, especially since, after the death favourites,was partially remedied by the
of Ferdinand of Aragon, on January 23rd, most unworthy transactions, while the
1516, a friendly treaty was effected at king himself sacrificed his oath and his
Noyon between Ferdinand's grandson, the honour in political treaties without any
futureEmperor Charles, and Francis, by thought of keeping his promises. Francis,
which the daughter of Francis was be- and still more his mother, behaved with
trothed to Charles, and the French claims the same faithlessness to the Constable
on Naples were promised her as a marriage Charles of Bourbon as to the
The Faithless
portion. A treaty with the Swiss was Francis emperor, since the former was
concluded in the autumn of 1516, by deprived of the inherit-
of France
which a yearly sum was guaranteed to ance of his wife, and was
every canton that is the treaty, by
; finally driven by this treatment into the
virtue of which the Confederates so long enemy's camp. Nothing perhaps damaged
served under French pay, the same which the king more in the eyes of his contem-
incurred the bitter criticism of the poraries than the fact tha^tfo^reDeatedly
patriotic reformer Zwingli. We know how entered into negotiations With" the Infidels,
the Emperor Maximilian in his latter years the bitterest foes of Christianity, just as,
concluded peace alike with though a good Catholic
King Francis and with and keen opponent of
Venice, and how then, heresy, he did not shrink
under the Emperor from allying himself with
Charles, the fortune of the Protestant princes ;
unprofitable for France. The Concordat the silk industry was introduced at Lyons in
of Bologna settled afresh the relations his reign. He created a national fleet, and
with the supreme head of the Church thus gave opportunity for voyages of
in 1516 ;
the Pragmatic Sanction was discovery in the New World and the founda-
put aside, and the right of the crown to tion of French settlements in Canada. He
appoint bishops and abbots was admitted, perfected the apparatus of war, especially
An Empty
while the Pope recovered his artillery. He liberally supported scholars
right to the annates. The and artists. Leonardo da Vinci was brought
Royal
Treasury country was dissatisfied with by him into the country Raphael is said
;
this innovation, since the clerical to have been his court painter.
posts were now given away merely At his court for the first time accom-
by personal interest. The Parlement for plished ladies played a prominent part, but
a long time withheld its consent, but was at the same time a licence in manners was
obliged finally to yield to the wishes of introduced which was hitherto unknown.
the despotic king. The perpetual empti- The new teaching of the Gospel had soon
ness of the royal treasury, which was spread on French soil. But its followers
4229
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
were immediately subjected to the bitterest the more importance since it found con-
persecution, in which the king, departing siderable support in France, although
from precedent, assigned their persecution Francis's son, Henry II. (1547-1559). per-
and punishment to the temporal courts. The secuted the heretics no less violently than
king himself clung obstinately to the old his father, from whose system of government
faith, although he suggested the opposite he otherwise deviated in many respects.
to the Schmalcaldic princes, and invited The chief power at the court of Henry Was
Melanchthon to his court for the discussion his mistress, Diana of Poitiers after 1548
of religious questions. In January, 1535, Duchess of Valentinois a reckless oppo-
he ordered six Protestants to be burnt at nent of the new Church, which, definitely
the stake, and in 1545 he mercilessly formulated in Calvinism, had a stronger
massacred the remnants of the Waldensian basis than before, when individuals rather
community in Provence. than dogmas were involved in it. And at
Lutheranism had, during the first twenty the same time court intrigue readily
years of the century, found friends every- availed itself of the new confession as a
where, and in all classes, including the pretext for getting rid of objectionable
king's sister, Margaret of Navarre, and persons, since an edict of 1551 made it
the court poet, Clement Marot. But the duty of the judges to search out
persecution, as well as the German origin heretics wherever they might be. Henry's
of the doctrine of justification, may have foreign policy resulted in the recovery
hindered the growth of a sect and any of Calais, which England had held for
dissemination, of the teaching among the 200 years ;
but otherwise his reign is
masses until the Church reform in France important mainly as the time when
received a real head in John Calvin, who, the seeds of the religious discoveries
leaning more, on Zwingli than on Luther, which distracted France for the next
began a work which was in many re- half century were sown.
spects conducted along independent lines. HEINRICH SCHURTZ
His religious system at Geneva acquired ARMIN TILLE
4230
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
VII
REVOLUTION
of the Great
at
gratifying
his masters took the side of Charles as that most accept-
ambition by mediation
skilful able to the king, who never ceased to dream
Wolse
between the continental powers. of emulating Henry V. ; but, after the
Of necessity the cardinal embarked defeat and capture of Francis at Pavia
at times in enterprises for which Eng- in 15 25, all the weight of English influence
land had adequate resources. After he was used to save the French kingdom
had, in 1511, brought England into the from dismemberment.
Holy League which had been formed by But the principle of maintaining the
Spain, the Venetians, and the emperor to balance of power began to weary Henry
expel the French from Italy, Wolsey was VIII. and Wolsey without his master's
;
compelled to find troops and money for confidence was powerless. At home the
useless attacks on the French frontiers cardinal was unpopular he had con-
;
(1512 1513), in which his master reaped cerned himself little with domestic ques-
some trifling laurels by the Battle of the tions, although some have discovered in
Spurs (Guinegate) and the capture of . .
In
one of his measures the germs
Therouanne and Tournay. of a new and fruitful reform,
f . ~
The most brilliant success of the war was
the Standard iu-o.ii
rk *>!
of the Clergy
1 improve the intellectual
won upon English soil in the absence of standard of the clergy he began
the king. James IV. of Scotland, invading at Ipswich and Oxford to build and
England in the interests of France, was de- endow great colleges, the funds for which
feated and slain at Flodden Field in August, were provided by the suppression of small
1513, rather through his own rashness than and depopulated monasteries. He may
from any remarkable skill on the opposing have hoped to forestall those attacks upon
side. Wolsey was fortunate in being able the Church which there were the best
to wind up the war by advantageous reasons for expecting. But his best
269 4231
KING HENRY VIII. OF ENGLAND
From 1509 till his death
in 1547 Henry VIII. occupied the throne of England, and, in spite of his many failing's and
cruelties, held a warm
place in the affections of his people. The King's relations with his wives, whose portraits
appear on the opposite page, were anything but happy, and the whole story of his domestic vagaries reflects very little
credit on him. With but scant sympathy, if any, for the Reformers, Henry made use of the Reformation for his own
ends, but little imagined that his personal policy would have such a far-reaching effect on the destinies of the nation. *
From the painting by Hans Holbein
energies were given to diplomacy, and it nor did he improve matters by attempting
was currently supposed that he thought to browbeat recalcitrant members, and to
of England merely as a treasure house, to raise benevolences when the liberality of
be despoiled for the benefit of his master Parliament proved insufficient.
and himself. He made heavy demands Like all his house, Henry VIII. was sensi-
upon the Commons, which provoked tive to popular discontent. Now, as more
unfavourable comparison between his than once in later years, he resolved to
administration and that of Henry VII.,; make a scapegoat of his Minister and his ;
4232
ENGLAND UNDER HENRY VIII.
plan was brought to a head when Wolsey riage,had been questioned by a French
pressed him to cement an alliance with ambassador was a convenient fiction.
France against the empire, by repudiating The divorce was demanded neither by
Catharine of Aragon and marrying a dynastic considerations nor by the foreign
French princess. The king caught at the policy of the king. It threatened, in fact,
first half of the plan. He was weary of to estrange a large proportion of his sub-
Catharine, and mortified that she had jects, and to irritate Charles V. without
borne him no male heir to make the leading to a closer connection with Francis.
future of the dynasty secure. But he had Yet Wolsey, rather than forfeit his
fallen under the spell of Anne Boleyn', a position, undertook to press the king's suit
lady of considerable attractions and doubt- at Rome. Possibly the cardinal counted on
ful reputation, who appeared at his court the Pope's refusal to set aside the dispensa-
about 1522. Wolsey was instructed to tion of his predecessor; and Clement VII.
obtain from Rome a declaration that the did, after much hesitation, insist upon
marriage with Catharine had been null reserving the case for his own decision with
and void ab initio, and he was soon the full intention of deciding against the
allowed to see that his French policy must king. But the Pope's firmness proved the
give way to the wishes of Anne Boleyn. ruin of Wolsey, who incurred the suspicion
The course which Henry desired the of having opposed in private the concession
Pope to take was repugnant both to for which he pressed in public.
ecclesiastical law and to the conscience of The cardinal was suddenly stripped of
the age. The marriage with Katharine all his honours and the greater part of
had been contracted under a dispensation his wealth. Permitted to retain the arch-
from the Pope, the validity of which bishopric of York, he lived for a time in
Henry had never seriously questioned seclusion but he was at length accused
;
during eighteen years of married life. The of treason and summoned to stand his
plea that the legitimacy of Catharine's trial. He died of a broken heart in 1530
daughter, the only offspring of the mar- on his way to answer a charge to which
4233
4334
HOLBEIN'S PICTURE OF KING HENRY VIII. EMBARKING AT DOVER
In 1520 Henry VIII. sailed for France to have an interview with Francis I. Accompanied by Queen Catharine and his
entire court, the king embarked at Dover and was escorted across the Channel by a great fleet of warships.
his whole career gave the lie, and his which a unique importance was assigned
death removed from the scene the last to popular representatives, partly by a
and most skilful exponent of the foreign social system in which there existed no
policy devised by the king's father. The sharp and impassable frontiers between
idea of maintaining the balance lay class and class. But the whole of the
dormant, until the religious struggle on national life was overshadowed, at the
which Germany had already entered and close of the Middle Ages, by an eccle-
siastical system which was framed on
England was entering had divided Europe
into two hostile camps, and dynastic a model common to all the nations of the
ambitions had become inextricably con- West and in matters of the faith England,
;
occurred on English territory, in fields between the towns of Guisnes and Ardres, and was attended by great
So grand, in fact, was the display made by the nobility of both England and France thatI
magnificence.
of Gold," there being no fewer than two
spot where the meeting took place was named "The Field of the Cloth
thousand eight hundred tents, many of them covered with silk and cloth of gold, pitched on the surrounding plain.
4235
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
national character, for the nation left remodelling ecclesiastical institutions.
the Catholic communion without entering Henry VIII. intended that there should
either of those two Protestant Churches be no changes of dogma, or only changes
which rose, in the sixteenth century, to a of the slightest kind. His object was to
position of international importance. bring the courts, the revenues, the
Although highly conservative in tendency, patronage of the Church entirely under
the Anglican communion bears little his own control, to make what confiscations
resemblance to any other. seemed convenient, to
The principle of sub- allow such alterations in
ordination to the state, the forms of service as
which its leaders accepted were imperatively de-
from the first, gave it manded by his subjects.
stability as a national The first effects oif the
Church, but incapacitated Reformation were, there-
it for
any wider sphere fore, constitutional and
of action. Even Scotland legal. The growth of a
after some hesitation re- strong Protestant party,
fused to accept Anglican- attaching paramount im-
ism and threw in her lot portance to certain dog-
with Calvin of Geneva. mas and certain forms of
This peculiar character Church government, was
of Anglicanism is due to a gradual process. The
the circumstances under earnes t changes
~ effected
_riigiiia.iijr uic ai/u \JL a. aiuo.ii icu mci nit virafty
O.H.JT ,
Which the English Re for- Wolsey established himself in the good graces by Henry VIII. Were
r V
mation took place. There g h SSr J? fc3S5 td^inaL S2 indeed
1 L
sanctioned by
were Lutherans and other was disappointed at not being elected Pope. Parliament. But Parlia-
Protestants in England when Henry VIII., ment did little more than register edicts
unable to procure a divorce from the which it did not care, perhaps did not
Pope, decided to deny the authority of dare, to resist. The body which should have
Rome. But the English Protestants were been the chief guardian of liberty became the
then a mere fraction of the nation, and most reliable instrument of despotism.
they were not invited to advise the govern- It must not be supposed that the
ment in the work of destroying and impulse towards ecclesiastical reform was
4236
WOLSEY AFTER HIS FALL SEEKING REFUGE IN LEICESTER ABBEY
Wolsey's star, so long- in the ascendant, waned at last, and the proud cardinal, incurring the displeasure of his sovereign,
was driven from office, all his wealth and estates being- confiscated. On his way from York to London to answer
a charge of treason, the fallen churchman, broken in body and spirit, sought refuge in Leicester Abbey, and it was
there, shortly before his death, on November 29th, 1530, that he gave utterance to the memorable words,
" Had I but
served my God with half the zeal I served my king, He would not in mine age have left me naked to mine enemies."
From the painting by Sir John Gilbert. R.A., in South Kensington Museum
wholly wanting in the nation. The claims between 1520 and 1530 and the sect,
;
of the papacy to of
patronage,
rights though chiefly composed of obscure and
jurisdiction, and taxation had been long humble enthusiasts, had caused anxiety
resented. Even in the fourteenth century to Wolsey before his overthrow. But in
those of the first class were attacked by parliament the Lutherans and the scholars
the statute of Provisors in 1351, those of were practically unrepresented, and the
the second and third by that of Praemunire latter were, almost without exception,
in J 353 ;
and both measures were renewed repelled into extreme conservatism by
with increased severity by the parliament the feeling that the king, acting under
of Richard II. Wycliffe's attacks upon the purely selfish motives, was likely to
abuses of the Curia were the most popular overwhelm the true and false elements
and best-remembered aspects of his teach- of the national faith in a common ruin.
ing. Under the Lancastrians England Among the Lords and Commons Henry
had taken some interest in the conciliary depended for support partly upon those
movement, of which the ultimate object who were irritated by the arbitrary
was to reform the government of the methods of the Church courts, by the
Roman Church. And under the Tudors excessive fees of ordinaries, by the moral
we can distinguish two parties of different censorship of many ecclesiastics ; partly
composition which were profoundly anxi- upon those who looked fora share of the
ous to raise the tone of popular religion. Church's wealth ;
but chiefly on the timid
The Renaissance in England, as in and inexperienced, who believed that the
Germany, was coloured by devotional divorce was essential to save the dynasty,
feeling the great Oxford scholars were
;
and the ecclesiastical revolution, to put
also religious reformers. Nowhere were the legality of the divorce beyond all
the satires of Erasmus on the Church possibility of question.
more eagerly read and discussed than in For seven years Parliament was engaged
the cultured circles of which Warham, in the\ work of reforming the Church.
More, and Colet were the leading spirits. Legislation moved slowly at first, while
Lutheranism secured an English following there was still a hope of intimidating the
423?
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Pope nor, when this hope failed, could
;
The moving spirit in the councils of the
the king secure all that he desired at once. king, the man who
shaped his legislation
Each new step raised new fears of resist- and intimidated Parliament to pass it,
ance, and the momentous work was was the base-born Thomas Cromwell, one
interrupted by a serious rebellion, the
:
of Wolsey's servants, who had not only
Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-1537). The escaped the shipwreck of his master's
chief measures fortunes, but
aimed against had afterwards
the Church were wormed himself
as follows. In into the favour of
1529 popular the king. Im-
sympathy was bued with the
conciliated by lessons of the
legislation Florentine Ma-
against plurali- chiavelli, this
ties, excessive upstart made it
king as. the SU- and was created Earl of Essex in 1540. But his days of honour were ton Cruelty, he
f soon
.-, over, and in July of that year he was beheaded on Tower Hill. j -,,
-
,
appeals before the Roman Curia, and an act Humanists, and Fisher, the most revered of
for submission of the clergy provided that the bishops, for objecting to the royal
no convocation should meet or pass any supremacy. He pacified the rebels of
canons without the royal 1536-1537 by lying promises,
licence. In 1534 the king and removed the fear of future
received the power of nomina- risings by indiscriminate exe-
ting to all archbishoprics cutions. His spy system was
and bishoprics by the congJ perfect he knew everything,
;
d'e'lire ;
and the Act of and forgave nothing. But he
Supremacy made it treason fell at length a victim to
to deny the king's power in the despotism which he had
matters ecclesiastical. In created. He attempted, in his
1536 the work of spoliation fear of a Hapsburg ascend-
was begun by the suppression ancy, to bind Henry VIII.
of the smaller monasteries ; inextricably to the cause
and in spite of the rebellion of the German Protestants.
to which this measure gave The king followed his Minis-
occasion, the greater monas- ter's advice so far as to issue
teries shared the same fate SIR THOMAS MORE the Ten Articles in 1536 and
within the course of a few years when Wolsey fell from place and to marry the sister of the
Sir Thomas More, aganst
me
TVi* ^nnrmrmc
enormous power,{, isownd esire, was appointed Lord
men
TViAn
both land and mov- Chancellor. He was beheaded in drew back, for he had no mind
spoils,
ables, were squandered chiefly to be a heretic in dogma or
upon courtiers, or used as bribes to in foreign policy. The Six Articles, enacted
secure the loyalty of the great families. by Parliament in 1539, announced the
A few new bishoprics were founded and adhesion of the English Church to the
endowed with monastic lands, but this real presence, the communion in one kind,
measure, though loudly advertised, does clerical celibacy, and auricular confession.
not account for a tithe of the confiscations. In 1540, Cromwell was attainted and
4238
THOMAS MORE IMPRISONED IN THE TOWER
There
rA^re^^
is
SIR
here represented an episode in the closing days of Sir Thomas More
;L*
n
f ^ *
8
h p"s n
n h ter
Henry pressed his advantage, harried the But he did not live to realise the folly of
Scottish border, and encouraged the thus a
provoking high-spirited and
Scottish Protestants to murder Beaton patriotic nation. He died early in 1547,
in 1546. The English king hoped by this leaving his own inheritance to a minor,
policy to secure the complete control of and his death was the signal for English
Scotland, and to unite the crowns by a troubles not less acute than those he had
marriage between his son and Mary Stuart. fostered so unscrupulously in Scotland.
4241
V.'ESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION
AND AFTER
TO THE
VIII
REVOLUTION
England ,. r T->- i_ j TT
Duchess of Suffolk, should succeed in pre- the time of Richard II., and
ference to those of Margaret of Scotland. most of the new treasons which had been
More than one rebellion, and a fatal created since 1352. The cancellation of
struggle between a Stuart and a Tudor the 5Six Articles gave relief to Lutheran,
queen, were the outcome of the hopes Zwinglian, and Calvinist alike. A
statute
aroused or disappointed by these dis- was also repealed by which the late king
positions. It availed the king's children had been empowered, under certain restric-
but that he had diligently persecuted
little .
tions, to give his proclamations the force of
and proscribed the families of Yorkist or law. So much the long-suffering Commons
Lancastrian descent. The heirs whom imperatively demanded, and Somerset, if
he recognised were sufficient to provide he did not approve all these concessions,
posterity with war and strife. Under the saw no possibility of denying them.
will of Henry VIII. the government, It was with greater zeal that he
during his son's minority, lent himself to the religious policy of
England
Under a Council
was to be vested in a Ridley, Hooper, Latimer, and the foreign
of Regency
council of which he had preachers who flocked to England on the
fixed the composition. The news of Henry's death. Already, in 1547,
members were chosen apparently with the Regency sanctioned a book of homilies
reference to their religious opinions. Most and a set of injunctions to the clergy by
were committed to Protestant principles, which war was declared on images, the
and Gardiner's name did not figure on worship of the saints, and pilgrimages,
the list. In his later years Henry had while a new statute of confiscation handed
shown himself all but convinced that the over' to the government the endowments
4242
ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD VI. AND MARY
of chantries, and
also those of guild and bone of every English army. The great
other far as they had
corporations so profits of
sheep-farming naturally pro-
been appropriated to religious purposes. duced a rise of rents, which told heavily
A Lutheran communion ritual, issued in against the tenant farmer. The demand
1548, proved but a halfway house to an for agricultural labour decreased and ;
English Book of Common Prayer in 1549 ; the government did everything in its
the universities were subjected to a drastic power to prevent the rate of wages from
visitation, in consequence of which the rising above the standard which had been
adherents of the Henrician settlement were fixed by legislation at a time when prices
for the most part expelled to make room were much lower than they had now be-
for Calvinist divines and teachers. come. The suppression of the monasteries
In religion the Protector, though moving intensified these evils by bringing in a new
fast and renouncing all pretence of com- race of landlords who treated their lands
promise, was cordially sup- as a commercial speculation,
ported by Cranmer, by a and presented, both in their
majority of the bishops, methods of farming and in
and by a large minority of their relations with tenants,
laymen. The conservative a sharp contrast to the con-
majority were stunned by servative and easy-going
the suddenness of the policy of the evicted monks.
attack, and the innovators It is no wonder that the
found it unnecessary to sturdy vagrant became a
apply the severer forms of familiar feature of the high-
persecution. Several mem- ways and a terror to sub-
bers of the Regency, many stantial men, or that the
of the rising class of gentry, problem of the aged and
amassed enormous fortunes impotent poor caused the
by the new confiscations. government profound per-
But there was more difficulty plexity.
when the Protector turned Legislation of terrible
his attention to the social severity was initiated
evils of the day. Here it against the former class by
was scarcely possible to an act of 1531. The latter
suggest any remedies ac- were at first, in 1531, ordered
ceptable to the landowning to beg their bread under
interest, which ruled protection of a royal licence,
supreme in both houses of and afterwards, in 1536,
the legislature, and yet it made a charge upon the
seemed impossible to neglect alms collected by the
complaints and protests churchwardens of their
which were only too well
founded.
^^^ respective parishes. But
the causes producing both
HE YOUNG KING EDWARD vi.
From the beginning of He was only n7ne years of age when his the one class and the other
tVip had father.Henry VIII., died, and, succeeding rnntimipH
Tnrlnr nprinH thprp naa C tn nnprat^ with
Operate W1U1
to the throne,a Council of Regency was
been signs of an impending formed. Before his death, in 1552, he increasing force. Pauperism
settled the crown on Lady Jane Grey
social revolution. They were throve chiefly in the open
early made the subject of remedial legis- country, but the towns also were
lation they are vividly described in the
; suffering from the plague-sore. Changed
preface to the Utopia of Sir Thomas More ;
conditions of trade and the restrictive
they furnished Latimer with copious policy of the guilds had reduced many
material for homilies against the self- once thriving communities to destitution.
seeking of the upper classes. The oldest The debasement of the coinage, begun by
and most extensive cause of suffering was Henry VIII. and continued under the
the substitution of sheep-farming for til- Protectorate, contributed in some degree
lage. To create extensive pastures the to the ruin of doubtful credit and pre-
landlords appropriated common lands and carious speculations. There was a vague
did their best to destroy the old system of but angry feeling that the economic
manorial husbandry to which the country depression was an outcome of the recent
owed the boasted yeoman class, the back- changes in religion. Of those who felt
4243
THE BOY KING EDWARD VI. AND THE COUNCIL OF REGENCY
From the painting by John Pettie, R.A.
themselves aggrieved, some desired reac- for the Scottish reformers whom she had
tion, others preferred todemand that the begun to reduce with the aid of French
rights of property should be revised no troops, and the hope of uniting the two
less summarily than the government and crowns by a marriage between his nephew
the doctrine of the Church. and Mary Stuart, all these were plausible
Somerset failed to understand the com- reasons for interfering in the north.
plicated nature of the economic situation. In conception the policy of the Protector
He thought a few simple measures would had obvious merits, in execution it
and in 1548 appointed
suffice, proved a humiliating failure.
land commissioners with The English victory at Pinkie
orders to enforce the old laws Cleugh, in 1547, na^ worse
against enclosures. The com- consequences than a defeat ;
commission would bring back The Earl of Hertford, on the death the Protestant cause declined
the Golden Age and Somerset C in V I1
m Scotland, and there was a
;
chie f IgSre Tn the ''council* o*
committed the mistake of Regency and was made Duke of danger that the country might
J
encouraging the popular out-
:
more fanatical reformers, and Jiy ioth, 1553, but occupied were warmly encouraged ;
the throne for only nme days "
the excitement
carried to extremes the under cover of
Duke of Northumberland, with an unrolled document in his hand, is kneeling before her.
;
way to London to lay claim to the throne, and she was proclaimed queen in London on July 10th, 1553. The fate of
Lady Jane Grey was thus sealed, and six months later she was beheaded at the Tower, meeting death with calm
fortitude. While on the scaffold she made an affecting speech, telling the bystanders that her offence was not in having
laid her hand to the crown, but in not rejecting it with sufficient firmness. Her husband also died at the scaffold.
From the painting by Paul Delaroche
Those whose opposition Northumberland this way crown for his pos-
to secure the
had reason to fear stood in the greatest terity. Immediately afterwards the
peril. Somerset was brought to the block king's death left it to be decided whether
on unsubstantiated charges in 1552 the ; the new settlement was to prevail
Princess Mary, who obstinately refused to against the old whether Protestantism
;
abjure her mother's faith, would have was to hold the field over the Erastian
shared the same fate if the Council had Catholicism which the legislation of 1530-
not feared the effect of such a crime on 1540 had set up and that of 1547-1553
public feeling. It was plain that her had overthrown.
brother, a sickly and precocious youth, The issue of the struggle was not long
would not live to attain his majority ;
in doubt. Northumberland was detested ;
and Northumberland trembled for his time had cast a halo over the memory of
head if Mary should succeed in accordance Henry VIII., whose opinions it was under-
with the Henry VIII.
will of stood that his elder daughter represented.
To avert the danger the duke pressed his While Jane Grey was solemnly proclaimed
ward to make a will altering the succession. in London, the Princess Mary fled to the
This was done and Edward designated
; eastern counties and appealed to her father's
as heiress of the crown the Lady Jane friends. They responded with enthusi-
Grey, a granddaughter of Mary of Suffolk, asm the supporters of Northumberland
;
the second sister of his father. Jane melted away and befcre many days had
;
Grey had been already married to the passed, he, his son, and the Lady Jane
son of Northumberland, who hoped in were prisoners in the Tower, The Duke's
4246
ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD VI. AND MARY
execution followed as a matter of course,
miniously routed and Mary could afford to
;
and excited no sympathy. But the other treat all but the ringleaders with con-
members of the dynastic conspiracy es- temp tu-ous lenity, though Lady Jane and
caped lightly public apprehensions as to
; her husband were now sent to the block.
a violent reaction were Parliament, meeting a
calmed by the Queen's few weeks later in April,
assurance that she in-
1554 was asked to sanc-
tended to put no force tion the Spanish marriage.
upon men's consciences. It did so upon condition
The promise was ill kept. that England should not
The leading reformers be expected to assist the
Ridley, Coverdale, Hapsburgs in their un-
Hooper, Cranmer were ceasing struggle with the
soon committed to prison, house of Valois. Shortly
though not till they had afterwards Philip went tq
been allowed the oppor-
England and the marriage
tunity of seeking exile ; was celebrated. The
and although the foreign terms of the marriage
Protestants were allowed settlement had been so
to depart unscathed, the framed, by the wish of
queen's coronation was Parliament rather than of
followed by a step which
Mary, as to leave him no
boded ill for the future of influence in the govern-
the new faith. She deter- POLE, ARCHBISHOPOFCANTERBURY merit, and he soon with-
mined to marry Philip, This English cardinal of the Roman Catholic drew in disgust from a
The leader was Sir Thomas Wyatt, who she became a persecutor so far as he was
;
led,; an army of Kentish Protestants to concerned the fears of the Protestants were
London in the hope of seizing the queen unfounded. The advice of his father and
and capital. But the rebels were igno- his own common-sense showed him the
870 4247
HOLBEIN'S PORTRAIT OF QUEEN MARY
The daughter of Henry VIII. by Catharine of Aragon, Mary came to the throne of England in 1553, and once more
re-established the Roman Catholic religion. Part of her reign was taken up with stern prosecution of the reformers,
many of whom perished at the stake. Her marriage to Philip II. of Spain had disastrous consequences. Calais, the
last of England's Continental possessions, was lost in 1 558, and the queen, grieved at this humiliation declared that
when she died the name of Calais would be found stamped upon her heart. Her death occurred in the same year, 1558.
to the stake as quickly as the formalities she allowed England to be drawn at the
of legal procedure would allow but the ; instance of her husband, led to the loss of
inquisitors were soon busy with obscurer Calais in 1558, the last of the Continental
victims. The number of those who possessions. Of this humiliation she said
suffered has been much exaggerated There . that when she died the name of Calais
were rather less than three hundred in four would be found stamped upon her heart.
he is seen entering the Tower through the Traitors' Gate. He was induced by his judges to recant some of the
doctrines he had espoused, but as this did not save him he revoked his recantation. When he came to the stake, on
March 21st, 1556, he thrust his hand into the flames, saying:, ''That unworthy right hand!" thus carrying out the
resolution he had made that the hand which, contrary to the heart, had penned the recantation should be first punished.
years, and these were drawn from a com- For a month or two more she threw her-
paratively narrow area, from London and selfwith increased zeal into the work of
the eastern counties. The sixteenth cen- persecution but at the end of 1558,
;
tury witnessed many epochs of more prematurely aged by disease and grief,
destructive persecution. But the reaction she died. A large minority of her subjects
which the burnings excited was all the received the news with joy. It was
greater because they left the great majority the general hope and expectation that her
of Protestants untouched. The queen's successor, the daughter of Anne Boleyn,
severity was sufficient to exasperate, would sweep away the agents and the
not enough to produce the apathy of apparatus of Mary's propaganda. Eng-
despair. land was not yet Protestant but four ;
of feudal service for a small payment a nature that craves persuasion that
in money or kind as manorial rent, all its deeds are good, whatever they
made the husbandmen prosperous and may be. Concupiscent, passionate, and
free as they had never been before. supremely vain, he was made to be a
THE KING'S HEAVY YOKE ON LABOUR self-deceiving tool of greater men than
It is calculated that at this period ten himself. The vast changes he effected
or twelve weeks of labour in a year in social and religious life, and in the
would enable a workman to provide position of England politically, were not
for himself and family, for while the the result of far-seeing calculation on his
ordinary labourer's wage was 8 cents part, but of circumstances over and
per day, or that of an urban artisan beyond him, of which the effects were
12 cents or 14 cents, wheat fluctuated precipitated by Henry's opportunist
m price between one dollar and $1.25 action, at the bidding of his passions
per quarter. or at the instance of stronger minds.
This happy state of things could of His marriage with Anne Boleyn was
necessity be only transitory. The ser- the result of clever intrigues of the
vileyoke of villeinage had been shaken French party and the reformers his ;
4250
-THE PLACE OF HENRY VIII. IN EUROPEAN HISTORY-
and the confiscation of ecclesiastical commerce, but their freedom
only
wealth were the outcome of his lavish meant enslavement to their need to live.
prodigality and, perhaps, the most
; In less than thirty years the face of
disastrous of all his acts, the successive England changed. Wool and cloth were
debasements of the coinage, were an England's staples, and the wealth made
attempt to disguise the effects of the by traders established a new standard
waste incurred by a vain, showy, but of living for the middle class.
Henry's
ineffective foreign policy. That the ostentatious extravagance had been
final result attained was in some cases copied by the court, and this had to
good for England is incontestable. The be paid for by increase in land rents or
atrophy of feudalism would have passed the sale of estates. Now an
enormously
away in any case but Henry's patron-
; enriched middle class imitated their
age of shipping, and his care for foreign betters, and became luxurious and
commerce, hastened its disappearance, extravagant. This had to be paid
while his breaking up and distribution for by keeping wages down and
raising
of the vast monastic estates, though the prices of commodities.
entailing terrible hardship, enormously WHAT HENRY DID FOR HIS COUNTRY
stimulated the production and circulation
of wealth in the form of wool and cloth. To say that Henry changed the reli-
The new class of landowners created gion of England would be untrue. He
by Henry speedily ousted copyhold himself professed to be a Catholic in all
tenants where they could, and turned but his -political submission to the Pope.
'
arable lands into sheep runs. The But he did, consciously or uncon-
enclosures of commons and limitation sciously, unlock the gates that had im-
of manorial rights by the same class prisoned English commerce for centuries.
of owners increased the dependence of For the gross injustice and cruelty
the rural populations, and sent hus- that accompanied the suppression of
bandmen flocking into the towns to the conventual houses, and the plunder
become weavers and to fight, as they of the Church by Henry and Somerset,
had never fought before, for a living nothing but condemnation is possible
possible, as it had never been before, to respect, too, he builded better than he
enforce by law a maximum wage. The knew, for the tradition which grew up
Quarter Sessions, consisting entirely of in his time that the balance of the great
employers and landlords, fixed the rate continental rivals depended upon one or
of wages to be paid in each district, the other of them gaining the support
and the tradition was thus established of England enabled Henry to appear
that the standard of wage was the as playing a great patriotic national
lowest cost of subsistence. The workers part, and in the days of Henry's
of England in the reign of Henry were forceful daughter became the main
freed from villeinage by the march of factor of England's supremacy.
4251
4252
WESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION
AND AFTER
TO THE
IX
REVOLUTION
Romanism, and her transatlantic settle- upon a Titanic struggle, with no chance
ments, the Austrian inheritance, and the S ain'
^ success ^ u l issue, against the
by a harsh and unfavourable climate and classes, the peasants and the
,
partly by constant warfare against enemies artisans of the town. If we recollect that
at home and abroad, appear in Philip II. these classes had been already demoralised
in their most emphatic form. Hisobstinacy, by the craze for emigration to America,
his unbounded pride, his cold reserve, that, as a result of the spirit of feudalism
and, above all, his religious fanaticism, prevalent in the country, honest toil was
were a legacy from his Castilian ancestors. despised and industry correspondingly
4253
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
hampered, we can understand the disas- above all, in Spain, where Protestantism
trous results of Philip's financial policy. was just beginning to take root among the
Manufactures, trade and agriculture swept most independent minds. The king's chief
downhill with appalling rapidity. weapon was the Inquisition, which had
At first, Philip certainly wielded a been originally instituted to deal with
power which was at that time unequalled. backsliding Moors and Jews, but now
Besides Spain itself, he held the Nether- found a prey more worthy of persecution.
lands, the kingdom of Naples, and, in A large number of the noblest men
The Vast
a certain sense, England also, as of among them high religious
Spain,
hadj marriedj Mary,
* it,
, ,
_ ,he
Realms of -.^
,
,. ,-n
the
i_ i
and dignitaries, who had been in
civil
..,. English queen. Besides his favour with Charles V., met death at the
Philip II. . , j .
Netherlands
.
amity
i
.
fy
with the cheerful
in
*.
, j.u j i
alliance with the French monarch for the Charles V., but they deeply
purpose of stamping out heresy, and distrusted and disliked the cold and
attempted to strengthen the union by gloomy Philip. Perhaps the worst might
establishing ties of relationship. These have been avoided if Protestantism had
facts show that he had at last perfected not rapidly passed over the German
the idea which was to guide his future frontier into the Netherlands, and stirred
policy. War against Protestantism was up Philip to most vigorous opposition.
henceforward the one thought of his Upon the despatch of that inflexible
cold and narrow mind, a thought which fanatic, the Duke of Alva, to the Nether-
utterly blinded him to the evils which he lands, in the year 1567, began that revolt
was bringing upon himself and his people. which ended only in 1648, decades after
Hereafter we see Philip feverishly active Philip's death, in the complete loss of the
wherever there were heretics to be northern provinces, and irretrievably
crushed. weakened the body politic of Spain, like
He lost his influence in England after the an incurable wound. In vain did the king
death of his wife, Queen Mary but he sup- ;
recall thehated Alva after seven years of
ported the claims of the orthodox Mary bloodshed in vain did he endeavour to
;
, Stuart against the Protestant adopt a new policy the evil system of ;
4254
SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS
Philip's reign, was not due to the goodwill remained without decisive result. At
of princes, clergy, or people, but chiefly length, in the year 1576, he was appointed
to the circumstance that the great nobles governor of the Netherlands, and wasted
drew a large portion of their income from his best powers in a useless struggle against
the lands cultivated by the Moors. Even the Protestants of the northern provinces,
in Granada the nobles did their best The collapse of Philip II. 's policy is
to prevent .extreme marked by the de-
measures. But the struction of the Ar-
royal edicts ruthlessly mada. The fanatic
broke all compacts on the Spanish throne
made with the Moors, proposed to make a
and the grinding con- final and mighty
ditions which these attempt to over-
imposed concerning throw Protestant
both their social and England, to deprive
their economic life the Netherlands
of
drove the wretched their best ally, and
people to despair, and thus to put an end
finally brought on the to Protestantism, at
outbreak of that re- any rate in Western
volt which, in spite Europe. The execu-
of all their bravery, tion of Mary Stuart
could result only in in 1587 declared that
the destruction of England had defi-
the Moors. The war nitely broken with
which began in the the Catholic Church,
year 1568 did not and was a bold chal-
end until 1570, after lenge to the power of
Don John of Austria, Spain. Philip's reply
the natural son to this act of defiance
of Charles V., had was what seemed an
assumed the supreme irresistible attack on
command. The In- the English kingdom.
quisition completed He claimed the crown
the task with its as a descendant of
usual zeal and John of Gaunt, on the
thoroughness. pretext that, after
Don John of Au- Mary's death, all
stria is the most claimants with an
brilliant and heroic otherwise superior
figure of the reign of title were barred as
SO tembly Clear as in Netherlands. The overthrow of the Spanish Armada Sank the numberless
the Career Of this by England marked the beginning: of Spain's decline, millions which had
prince, who was so highly endowed by been extorted from miserable Spain.
nature. The mournful laurels he gained in Philip's resources were exhausted, and for
the Moorish War were no real distinction. the last ten years of his life he was reduced
The greatest achievement of his life, the to the condition of acting only on the de-
glorious victory he gained over the Turkish fensive. Spain was not the only country
fleet at Lepanto on October 7th, 1571, that had to bear the consequences of
4255
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Philip's political failures : fate had also conquered and held by the Portuguese
brought Portugal, the last independent state until their great successes in India with-
in the peninsula, in an evil hour, under the drew their attention from Africa. Under
sceptre of the ruler who had shattered the King John III. (1521-1557), and during the
prosperity of Spain. It would indeed be regency of Queen Catharine, who ruled in
false and unjust to make Philip alone behalf of her young grandson, Sebastian,
responsible for the ruin of Portuguese affairs in North Africa fell into the back-
prosperity, since that had been determined ground. Meanwhile, that spirit of fanat-
long before his interference by Portugal's which had risen to such
ical intolerance
erroneous colonial policy. Neither in portentous power in Spain had also become
Spain nor in Portugal had the great truth manifest in Portugal. The Inquisition
been realised that colonies can prove a bene- and the Jesuits had made good their
fit to the mother
country only when they entrance. As fate would have it, side by
give a stimulus to home industry, and when side with Philip, the gloomy and fanatical
colonial commodities can be exchanged king of Spain, ruled Sebastian of Portugal,
for the produce of home manufactures ; a fiery, romantic, and visionary devotee,
and that there could be no benefit when who was even more successful than Philip
mountains of gold, extorted by the ruthless in destroying the political existence of his
oppression of the new possessions, were country. Sebastian's views became utterly
recklessly squan- changed under
dered at home. the influence of
Unfortunately his Jesuit ad-
for Portugal, cir- visers. In the
cumstances had year 1577 the
become so un- king, who, in a
favourable that spirit of ascetic-
even a far- ism, declined to
sighted govern- marry, began a
ment could crusade against
hardly have Morocco. The
checked the in- deficiency in men
ternal corruption and money be-
of a state which came painfully
seemed so pros- apparent in the
perous on the KINGS OF PORTUGAL course of his pre-
JOHN in.
=
Surface. If the Portugal was at the zenith of its fame and prosperity when John III. parationS. The
boundless COlo- ascended the throne in 1521, but the influence of the Jesuits and the adventure Was
I n ^ u i 8 i*i
n controlled the country's development. Sebastian, a grand*
nies Were to be made without
retained, it was
son of John m
was killed while fighting against the Moors in 1678.
'
foresightj and
necessary to send out unstinted rein- came to a miserable end. At Alcazar,
forcements of troops and sailors from not far from Tangier, the army of Sebastian
the little kingdom until the centres of was overthrown by the onset of the Moors
manufacture and agriculture were made on August 4th, 1578. The king himself
desolate, and prosperity declined on every disappeared in the confusion, and was
hand. The luxuries demanded by the never seen again.
increasing wealth of the great towns had The last male descendant of the Portu-
to be imported from the other industrial guese dynasty, the old Cardinal-Infant,
countries of the time. The prudent mer- Henry, now took the reins of govern-
chants and manufacturers of the Nether- ment. When Henry died, in the year
lands were able to divert to the enrichment 1580, Philip asserted a questionable claim
of their own industries the stream of gold to the crown by inheritance through his
which Spain and Portugal poured forth mother ;
a Spanish army crossed the
likea devastating torrent. frontier, succeeded in establishing itself
The ancient hatred for the Moors, which by treachery, bribery, and force of arms,
had led Spain into various undertakings and compelled Portugal to bow to the
on the north coast of Africa, also roused yoke of Spain whether it would or not.
the Portuguese to action. Petty wars Portugal's immense colonial empire also
were continually raging on the coast of fell into the hands of the Spanish king,
Mauretania, where several fortresses were whose power then reached its zenith, but
4256
SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS
from that great height it was soon to fall The solution of the first-mentioned
in utter ruin and to drag down the Portu- problem would have been the most diffi-
guese nation into the abyss with itself. cult task for the Church twenty years
During the religious dissensions in Ger- previously; but now it was comparatively
many the Emperor Charles had always easy, for in quite a different quarter the
been desirous that another council should Church had found a new ally in the order
be held. The session at Trent of Jesuits, which, on a basis
had at last begun on December similar to that of Protestant-
1 3th. 1545, but was inter- ism, used the teaching of the
rupted several times by the Humanists in order to train
changes in politics (1547- the intellects of the future
1551; 1552-1562), and 'was clergy. The founder of the
reopened for' the last time on order was Inigo Lopez de
January i8th, 1562, and defi- Recalde de
Loyola, better
nitely concluded on December known as Ignatius Loyola
4th, 1563. The course of the (1491-1556), a Spaniard by
assembly had not been alto- birth, who at first had followed
gether a brilliant success. The the profession of arms. Having
object in view had been been severely wounded in 1521
several times changed. Efforts he tried to satisfy his religious
indeed had first been made to cravings by asceticism, wan-
win back the heretics, and for KING HENRY OF PORTUGAL dered over the world, dili-
-
this reason, at the beginning He was the last male descendant of gently studied the theologians,
of 1552, Protestants also had
been from time to
^ s "tesfi^anJwhe'n hedled?fn and finally formed the resolve
time isso, Philip of' Spain laid claim 'to to become the protector and
j ... j , f
admitted to the conferences.
the crown, and seized the country. , t *, ^ ,, ,.
champion of the Catholic
But the effect of the Council of Trent, Church against the new doctrines. As
taken all in ail, was nevertheless much early as 1528 he found in Paris a circle of
more permanent than that of any earlier enthusiastic^ followers Laynez, Salmeron,
council, because the organisation of the Bobadilla, Rodriguez, Lefevre, and Xavier
Church was firmly established, the eccle- who were ready to join him in work
siastical constitution reformed and the and in asceticism, and to throw themselves
contents of the articles of faith body and soul, in a way hitherto un-
authoritatively fixed, so that known, into the service of the
the form assumed by the mediaeval Church.
Catholic Church in the suc- An organisation was neces-
ceeding period was' only the sary in order to carry out
practical result of the resolu- these purposes. This was
tions taken at Trent. It had created by the papal Bull,
already been recognised that which, on September 27th,
"
the unclerical life of so many 1540, instituted the Com-
professed servants of God did pany of Jesus," that is to say,
not harmonise with the re- a community of at most sixty
quirements of the Church but ;
members who promised to
the revival of Catholicism devote themselves to the
provoked by the activities of dissemination of the true
Protestants made educa- faith, under the strictest
tional and moral reform essen- obedience to their superior
tial throughout Christendom, WILLIAM THE SILENT and the Pope. Their chief
and made some energetic steps it wastoWimam, Prince of Orange, duty was missionary work,
seem doubly urgent. Resolu- bSLSSJ^ TSTlSkSrtfe and this they carried out
tions in this direction were Netherlands' opposition to Philip by indefatigable wanderings
, , . , i i_ II-. and was assassinated in 1584.. , i j r> *
adopted at Trent, which were through every land. But it
,
intended to solve this problem The scien- was only after 1543, when the number of
tific and religious education of the clergy was members had begun to grow, that the
specially organised, and at the same time the organisation and its efficiency expanded
plurality of benefices prohibited, so that a beyond the original sphere. Loyola him-
less expensive and luxurious mode of self became, in 1541, the first general, whose
living should for this reason be adopted. will was necessarily obeyed by every
4257
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
member of the order by virtue of the Vienna and Cologne a much stronger
; .
implicit yielding up of all individual will or influence from Rome could thus be
opinion. The hierarchic system was here exercised on the Cathedral Chapters,
developed in the strictest conceivable especially at the election of bishops, than
manner, and the fruits corresponded by the individual legates of the earlier
thoroughly with the exertions of the system.
members of the order. Their numbers and Those who occupied the episcopal
their influence increased with astonishing sees in Germany after the eighth decade
rapidity in every
J country settle- ; of the sixteenth century were in fact
Activity r J 1_
.. ments were formed everywhere, far more zealous Catholics than their
ofr the 1-1
wnicn were u- n
Jesuits geographically predecessors being
; partly younger
grouped intoprovinces, while princes of the families of the Hapsburgs
many individual brothers were busily and Catholic Wittelsbachs, they were also
employed as teachers in grammar schools politically connected with princely houses
and universities. This task was doubly and prepared to carry out the decrees of
important in Germany, since the advanced Trent within their jurisdictions. In this
teaching of the Protestants threatened way a uniformity was again brought into
to gain a complete victory Jesuits ; the policy of the many Catholic princes,
appeared as teachers in the Bavarian while on the Protestant side the continual
university of Ingolstadt as early as 1549, struggle between electoral Saxony and
and gradually made this academy the Palatinate prevented any uniform
entirely subservient to them a Jesuit
; action. The Catholics had always the
college was started at Munich in 1559. majority in the diet both in the college
But even before this Loyola had induced of the electors and in that of the princes.
the Pope to take a most important step In one place only Protestantism gained
for the counter-reformation in Germany, temporarily a fresh success on the Lower
by founding the German College at Rome Rhine, where numerous Protestants,
in 1552, an institution at which successive banished from the Netherlands,
c
groups of German theologians were to be Archbishop
sought , refuge. .
Protestants
,
educated in the Jesuitic spirit. The in the town council
.,
of ^ appeared
. .
Cologne Jit. -^ t A i i
students of this college were to form the of the imperial city of Aix la
flower of the troops in the war against Chapelle in 1574, and a few years later
Protestantism, to hold the foremost posi- they were in the majority. In the arch-
tions in the German Church, and gradually bishopric of Cologne, the archbishop, who
to lead back the lost Germany to the bosom wanted to marry Countess Agnes of
of the Church. Mansfeld, tried to carry his province into
While the Protestant theologians, after the reform but at the same time, while
;
the Peace of Augsburg, began a violent violating the conditions of the clerical
dogmatic struggle with the Swiss Reformed state, he wished to rule as a temporal
Church, and while there was furious prince. He publicly adopted Calvinism
opposition in electoral Saxony to Crypto- in 1582, and married on February 2nd,
Calvinism, German Catholicism gained in 1583. But the states did not follow him,
spiritual strength, and was able to aim a and since the Lutheran princes took little
blow at Protestantism from Bavaria and or no care for the Calvinist, the newly
Austria. It is remarkable that the papal chosen Archbishop Ernest of Bavaria
policy met with approval from these two won a victory with Spanish help and was
temporal princes almost alone, while of recognised as elector, in 1584, by the
-,
German
the numerous spiritual
r , princes
,f .
, ,
empire and even by the Protestant
,,..... , some were openly*. inclined to
Catholicisms .. . .
' princes.
New Life Protestantism, and some were This was a great success for Catholicism,
regarded in Rome at least as and all the more so because now for the
untrustworthy and could only gradually first time the attempt at establishing
be induced to acknowledge the Tridentine Protestantism had failed, and the feeble
confession of faith. Now for the first efforts of the Protestant princes had
time a closer and more regular bond shown that the days of the Schmalcaldic
was drawn between Germany and the League were past. On the north-west
Curia, in which a more earnest spiritual frontier of Germany a great change had
life began to be the rule, by the founding been produced in the Netherlands, where
of so-called Nunciatures, beginning with the fanatics had already found a home,
4258
SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS
and Calvinism began to spread widely. both in the government and among
Charles V. had taken vigorous measures the people ; indeed, the Protestant move-
against the heretics, but without distinct ment became more and more violent, since
success, more especially since the local the stadtholders in the provinces allowed
ruler was unpopular on political as well themselves to be taken unprepared to
as religious grounds. carry out the strict orders of the govern-
Philip, the son of Charles, had taken over ment against the heretics. The Inquisition
the government in 1556 from his father ; had begun its work, but the people and the
but it was inevitable that he should be nobles revolted against it,
Protestant , ,, ,. , , ,
b to
Stand against , ,
his stepsister, Margaret of Parma, to the and the provincial stadtholders refused to
regency, a post she was well qualified to comply with the orders of the government.
fill, especially since she was supported In November, 1565, by the so-called com-
by a central government which Charles promise of Breda, a secret league of the
T R had splendidly organised. But nobility was effected, which meant the
"
WiUi^ir
iain
the Council of State contained, paving of the way toward the revolution
f '0
besides the Spaniards and against Spain and the Inquisition.
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, The first act of the members of the
a most loyal servant of his king, a large league was to send a petition, on April
number of the nobility of the Netherlands 5th, 1566, to Margaret, the regent, with
who were not disposed to submit without the old demands. To this she returned
demur to Spanish ideas, and adhered to an evasive answer, and the petition resulted
the Protestant doctrines. Foremost among in nothing. In the summer, therefore, a
them was to be Prince William I., the Silent, new petition was presented, in which the
" " "
of Orange-Nassau. In order to support Beggars (the Gueux ") the peti-
the Catholic religion Philip formed new tioners had thus styled themselves at the
dioceses, and intended to interfere in the suggestion of Count Henry of Brederode
French religious struggles in the interests demanded the abdication of the regent
of the Catholic party, but he met with the and the appointment of a national
keenest opposition from the leaders of government. Philip of Montmorency-
the nobility. Nivelle, Count of Horn, was for the future
William of Orange, in the struggle with to guide the fortunes of the country in
Philip, sought an alliance with the German conjunction with Egmont and William of
Protestants he was the son-in-law of Orange, and to protect the country by
Augustus, Elector of Saxony and with levying troops. But in August,
the Huguenots of France. The crisis be- 1566, before Margaret had re-
came more and more acute after 1563. The
nobility demanded that the States-General vinists, who were now becoming
should be summoned, but Granvelle would very powerful, began their career of image-
not entertain the idea. The destruction breaking, and then enlisted troops for the
of the political and ecclesiastical supremacy defence of the reformed faith. This riotous
of Spain would have been sealed by expression of religious life appealed but
this Philip gave way once more little to the nobility and the great mer-
step.
to the of the nobility,
urgency and chants. The regency made some con-
recalled Granvelle in the spring of 1564. cessions to them, being alarmed at the
Nevertheless, the old spirit still prevailed rising of the masses, and thus the interests
4259
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
of the nobles and the people were divorced. after he had captured the town of Mons,
Margaret was able, in 1566 and 1567, to in Hainault, that it was possible for him
repress the rebellion in the most important to advance towards the north. Haarlem
places, and, contrary to her former held out for seven months, and was taken
promises, to restore the Inquisition to full only on July I2th, 1573. Other places,
activity. especially Alkmaar, showed defiance. Alva,
She had won a complete victory, but she however, before the end of the year, left
did not reap the fruits of her work, since his post, being thoroughly convinced of
King Philip, in August, 1567, the fruitlessness of his exertions.
sent the Dukeof Alva, equally His successor was the former governor
Wo'rk of"he
..
. renowned as general and of Milan, Luis de Requesens y Zuniga.
statesman, into the Nether- The conduct of the Spaniards was changed
lands in order once more to enforce the on his appearance. Requesens would have
recognition of the absolute government. willingly negotiated "for peace " but it was
;
Such full powers were given to Alva that now too late. The beggars were ready
Margaret abdicated in December, and re- for all emergencies. The war continued, and
signed her post to the duke. The complete not to the disadvantage of the Spaniards ;
restoration of the old faith was the chief they were victorious under d'Avila on
aim of the king and of his stadtholder. A April I4th, 1574, at Mooker Heath, and
specially commissioned board of inquisitors held the town of Leyden closely invested
began their bloody work that same winter. from May 25th to October 3rd.
Counts Egmont and Horn were arrested on But before his death, on March 4th,
September gth, 1567, and executed on 1576, Requesens was fated to see that the
June 5th, 1568, while William of Orange rebels had accomplished a union of Holland
escaped to Germany. His attempts there and Zeeland, and had named William of
to win help for the liberation of his country Orange commander of the forces on sea
were unsuccessful. Alva not only executed and land. This was an important advance
with extreme severity all the king's on the road towards national
measures, and insisted on the Catholic independence,
in r, for the idea of a
Troops T- -^ , ,
Church organisation, but also burdened .... French or English protectorate
Mutiny , .
,
the country with taxes, especially the to take the place of Spam had
"
tenth penny," for the support of the already been mooted. There was now a
army, while he gradually disregarded the long interval before a new stadtholder
States-General as a body on whose vote appeared. Even the partially victorious
national taxation depended. He seemed troops mutinied when their pay was not
to have brought the whole of the Nether- forthcoming. They began to roam through
lands under his heel. the land, plundering on their own account,
A considerable number of Lutherans and and so roused the personal resistance of
Calvinists had escaped execution by flight. the population, which, organised into a
They had gone to the coasts and the sea national guard, took up arms against them
in order to find in a wild, piratical life as at many points.
" "
sea- beggars some compensation for the One thing more was required for the
loss of former prosperity.
their These expulsion of the foreigners the union of
freebooters had already recorded a success the northern and southern provinces. This
"
on April ist, 1572. They captured and was accomplished in the Pacification of
held the town of Brielle, and took pos- Ghent," on November 4th, 1576, by which
session of other places while Alva was thirteen provinces united for the common
busy on the French frontier.
*
peace of the country, to be crowned by an
Become
William of Orange had always equal toleration of the Reformed and the
exercised a cheering influence Catholic religions. The new stadtholder,
* reebooters , , ,, , ,
'
. .
on the rebels from a distance, Don John of Austria, the victor of Lepanto,
and had found means to levy troops in half-brother to the king, was obliged to
Germany. On July i8th, 1572, he was recognise the agreement on February I2th,
nominated by the Dutch provincial states, 1577, and did not enter Brussels until
assembled at Dordrecht, as stadtholder of May i. William of Orange had been
Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht that is to unwilling to negotiate with the governor,
say, as constitutional representative of and soon noticed that John was not
the King of Spain. This action meant sincere in his professions. Indeed, Don
rebellion in Alva's eyes ; but it was only John had in July occupied Namur in order
4260
SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS
once more to show the power of Spain. and the Huguenot section in France, who
But his attempt was useless ;
all the regarded Francis of Anjou, better known
provinces except Luxemburg rose again,
.
4262
THE PLACE OF PHILIP II. OF SPAIN
IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
A Note by Martin Hume, M.A.
DHILIP inherited an impossible task,
II. treasury was empty Flemish subjects
; his
*
which he was too conscientious to were full Protestantism was
of distrust,
shirk. He was reared in a rigid system, daily growing stronger but there was ;
'
.to cope successfully.
,
s
He was changed conditions, and the forces ar-
_ '^
Great
laborious and patient, pro-
dull,
r j -.i_
11 ,1
ranged against him. He was freed from
with
found ly the burden of the empire, but he still
., .,
Failure ./ ,
impressed
/, , ...the
.
magnitude of his sacred mission, considered it his duty to defend it, and to
confident of ultimate victory, and ready to combat Lutheranism in Germany. A
sacrifice himself and others without mercy slight concession to local prejudices and
to the cause for which alone he lived, the religious freedom in Holland and Flanders
unity of Christendom under the hegemony would have saved him the life-long
of Spain. In this life-object he failed struggle which ruined Spain but for ;
utterly, as was inevitable, for at the time Philip surrender of principle, however
that the world was passing through small, was impossible. His cause was
many changes which he was powerless to necessarily the cause of the Almighty, and
prevent, and the only partial success that might not be bought and sold.
crowned the end of a long reign of constant Philip's methods were those of his father's
carnage was that France was prevented old age, though he lacked .his father's
from becoming a Protestant power. celerity of thought and action. It was*the
From the unhappy day when, in 1516, diplomatist-emperor and not the soldier-
the sovereign of Flanders and heir of emperor of whom Phifip was the heir, and
the empire became king of Castile and from the first Philip hoped to win by cun-
Aragon, Spain was cursed with responsi- ning what his father had failed to win by
bilities in Central Europe that brought arms. The religious schism was dividing
her into inimical contact with France Europe by new lines of cleavage, and fresh
at every point, and in 1521, at the national affinities were forming new groups
period when all her resources were of powers. It ihad always been the centre
needed for her interior consolidation, and of Spanish-Flemish policy to maintain
the development of the New World, the friendship with England at any cost in
young emperor threw back the challenge order to divert France on the north when
of Luther and assumed in addition necessary but when Philip
;
Elizabeth , j i_ iVi- u J.L t T* j i
the championship of orthodoxy. Thus ..
dictate a Catholic policy to France. but at least, as a result of his life, he forced
He spared no effort to control England. Henry of Navarre to "go to Mass," thus
Threats, cajolery, bribery, subornation of keeping France Catholic, and by his firm-
murder and rebellion, were tried in turn. ness cleansed his country of all taint of
Elizabeth met them all with deft evasion, heresy. It transpired, however, that Spain,
sure that, when she pleased, a smile or whose glory was his aim, was doomed to a
a hint of marriage would bring France to long future of impotence and ignominy.
4264
WESTERN EUROPE THE
FROM THE REFORMATION
REFORMATION AND AFTER
TO THE X
REVOLUTION
the last resort she invariably passed from and for this end she was prepared to
threats and remonstrances to the language sacrifice veracity, consistency, and honour.
of conciliation. In this wise It was often a sordid policy, and she
The Devoted , > /- ,
Ministers
resolve she was confirmed was sometimes reproached as timorous.
her Ministers. Seldom In reality she was capable of the most
of Elizabeth ^
has any sovereign com- reckless daring. If she balanced, it was
manded the devotion of more able in the manner of a rope-walker, for whom
servants. Sir William Cecil (afterwards a false step means destruction. She
Lord Burleigh), at first her Secretary of showed a supreme faith in the security
State (1558-1572), afterwards Lord Trea- which an insular position and the con-
surer (1572-1598), Sir Nicholas Bacon, flicting ambitions of the continental
the Lord Keeper (1558-1579), Sir Francis powers conferred upon her kingdom ;
Walsingham, Secretary of State (1573- there were times when she staked her own
1590), are the most famous of her advisers, head and the prosperity of England upon
and the flower of that official aristocracy her confidence in this security.
which her father and grandfather had Never was this dexterity more needed
called into existence. than at the beginning of her reign.
None of these men ever acquired a She had to effect a religious settlement
complete control of the queen's policy. Ti ft which would appease the Pro-
,
s
She listened attentively to their views, he. .en testants without irritating the
I act amid ,, .. . , ,
ing as the humour seized her, and not to hold fast by the friend-
lion ;
4265
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
escape the stigma attaching to the form and non-attendance at church was
;
of despotism. The Supremacy Act of still remained a capital offence, but it was
Lord Burleigh, first her Secretary of State and later Lord Treasurer ; and Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State.
Act was passed in 1593 which threatened settlement, maintained that in these
with severe penalties all who neglected to matters each Church has a discretion.
attend at church or persisted in attending But he also regarded uniformity within
conventicles. The Star Chamber, which as each Church as essential he thought that
;
early as 1566 had assumed a censorship the lay power should both prescribe
of the Press, now became the coadjutor uniformity and enforce it by all the
of the High Commission in repressing penalties that might be needful.
Nonconformists and their literature, with It is needless to say that real uni-
the result that severer penalties were made formity was not secured. Hundreds of
possible, while on the other hand the the clergy, thousands of the laity, though
Tudor despotism in secular affairs, of restrained from opposition by patriotism
which the Star Chamber was the symbol and respect for the queen's person,
and expression, became hateful to every waited with impatience for the advent
sectary. of a new sovereign who should introduce
It would be a mistake to regard Eliza- a more liberal system.
beth and her Ministers as fanatical in Elizabeth opposed Puritanism, at first
their adhesion to episcopacy, or to a as something new-fangled and likely to
particular set of forms and ceremonies. offend the majority of her subjects ;
Hooker, who may be regarded as the latterly because the victorious career of
classical apologist for the Elizabethan Calvinism gave her reasons for suspecting
4268
THE SPACIOUS DAYS OF ELIZABETH
that Puritanism spelled democracy in left outside the pale of the state Church
Church and State. Stronger, however, an increasing body of Protestants and
than either of these motives for persecution a body of Catholics which, although
was the hope of keeping in touch with the diminishing, remained, and was to remain,
moderate wing of the Catholic party. considerable. None the less she succeeded
For a year or two she was so far successful in making Anglicanism the creed of the
that even Rome majority. The
hoped for the enormous influ-
speedy reunion ence which the
of the Anglicans Anglican clergy
with the Mother exercised in the
Church. The politics of the
Bull of 1562, seventeenth cen-
which forbade tury is a suffi-
the English cient proof of
Catholics to at- the thorough-
tend the Angli- ness with which
can service, the work of
made a breach Elizabeth had
with the devoted been done. It
adherents of the ARCHBISHOPS PARKER AND WHITGIFT was the Church
The second Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, of her creation
papacy inevit- was appointed to that high office by Elizabeth in 1559, and he proved
able and de- himself a
capable and moderate primate. He died in 1575. John Whit-
which undid the
stroyed the gift, whose portrait is also given, became Archbishop of Canterbury in work of Crom-
middle 1583. He ministered to the queen in her last moments, and died in 1604. well in 1660
party.
Hence the oath supremacy was more
of and expelled the Stuarts in 1688.
stringently applied by an act of 1562. The The queen's religious policy had, more-
rising of the Catholic earls in 1569, and the over, been adapted with great skill to the
ill-judged pronouncement by which, in needs of the international situation. It
1570, Pius V. absolved the subjects of remained ambiguous just as long as
Elizabeth from their allegi- ambiguity was needed to
ance, led to more
drastic prevent attacks from abroad ;
4269
4270
THE SPACIOUS DAYS OF ELIZABETH
The unpopularity of the peace in Scottish Catholics around the throne the ;
France brought the Guises, who had Protestant Ministers, whom Mary had
opposed it, once more into power imme- ;
hitherto been obliged to accept, were dis-
diately afterwards the accession of their missed from power and chased out of
nephew the dauphin, as Francis II., made Scotland. Then, however, the murder of
them doubly dangerous. The obvious Rizzio in 1566, contrived by the Protestant
means of checking the Guises was to form but assisted by J the con-
an alliance with the Protestants of Scot-
Thc Woes lords, 1-1 of
,
Darnley,
.k
of the Queen Jjugal jealousy
r\ c J , .
., .
able because she contrived to forward the Darnley's murder in 1567 atoned for that of
political designs of the Scottish Protest- Rizzio. The queen's part in the crime was
ants without in any way committing her- suspected from the first her marriage ;
self to the support of their religious tenets. with Bothwell, the chief agent in the
With Philip's secret consent an army was murder, turned suspicion to certainty,
sent to assist alienated from
the party of her the hearts of
Knox in expell- all respectable
ing the French Catholics, and
troops of Mary gave the Pro-
of Guise. This testant leaders
was effected the ;
the opportunity
Scottish Reform- of returning
ation was saved ;
and recovering
and it became power. The
certain that queen was im-
Scotland would prisoned at
not supply the Lochleven
Guises with a Castle ;
her half-
base from which brother, Murray,
to menace Eng- became regent
TWO BRAVE SEAMEN : HAWKINS AND FROBISHER
land. for the infant
A; native ofPlymouth, Sir John Hawkins took a prominent part in the
In 1^61 Marv t ne Spanish Armada; he set the example of American
re P u l se f
James .VI. and '
,i r
*
, voyages, and, with Drake, commanded expeditions to the Spanish ~.
Stuart, left a *|*ain.
the Only TCSUlt
Sir Martin Frobisher, another of the hardy type of seamen of
widow bv -j;Jig
Elizabeth'stime.ledPolar expeditions, and fought against the Armada,
of a last effort On
early death of ..Francis II., returned to the part of Mary and her few remaining
Scotland to turn the tide of Protest- supporters was a defeat at Langside in
antism and to watch for an opportunity 1568, which necessitated her flight to
of making good her English claims, either England.
as the opponent or as the heiress-designate She threw herself upon the mercy of
of Elizabeth. Mary would not cease to Elizabeth it was a desperate step, but
;
va j f rom forming a close union not the right to try Mary for the murder
t with the English Catholics or of Darnley nor was she anxious to
to PI-
;
Elizabeth ... , ~ ,, ,. .
with a foreign Catholic power. deprive the English Catholics of the hopes
Philip's jealousy of France was still the which they based upon Mary's claim to the
chief safeguard for England. But the succession. She therefore resolved to
marriage of Mary with her cousin Darnley discredit without formally condemning
in 1565 seemed for a time as though it would Mary, and to keep her as a prisoner without
make the Scottish queen independent of treating her as a criminal. Mary's request
external help. The marriage united the that the complaints against Murray and
4271
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
the Scottish Protestants might have a keeping a strict watch against the in-
hearing was made the excuse for appoint- trigues with foreign enemies and English
ing a committee to sift the charges against malcontents this Elizabeth took. She
;
throne, and if Murray would have con- revived the policy which Henry VII. and
sented to give his sister the shadow without Wolsey had so successfully pursued of
the substance of power. Since both actingas a make-weight between the
remained obdurate there were two alter- evenly balanced factions of the Continent.
natives for Elizabeth. But she effected her object by new methods
She might execute Mary as a murderess ; skilfully adapted to her own situation and
this was the course which the English the circumstances of the Counter-Refor-
Ministers desired, but Elizabeth shrank mation. It is doubtful whether she ever
from the danger of foreign interven- had the intention of taking a husband ;
tion and Catholic rebellion. The other but her hand was offered as a bait at one
possible course was to detain Mary, time or another to nearly all the eligible
4272
THE TOWER OF LONDON AS IT WAS IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH
princes of the Catholic party. It is true uncertainty of the succession was a source
that she declined, without much hesita- of strength as well as of danger. After
tion, an offer from Philip of Spain, who marriage projects her main weapons were
was inseparably, though unjustly, asso- found in intrigues with the Protestants
ciated in the minds of her people with the of the Netherlands and France. The Bull
religious persecutions of her sister's reign. of Pius V. in 1570 caused her to be regarded
But the idea of an Austrian or French as the natural head of the Protestant
marriage was continually mooted ;
and interest ;
and she used this position to
the courtship of Francis, Duke
of Anjou, inspire her co-religionists with courage for
more familiarly known under his earlier the struggle against her actual and poten-
title of Alencon, went far enough to form tial enemies. She gave but small assist-
the basis of important changes in the ance, and she drove hard bargains with
foreign relations of the two countries most her allies. The Huguenots were com-
concerned. pelled to bribe her with the town of
Such projects were allowed to remain Havre in 1563, but received in return no
open so long as they proved useful ; substantial help, and the Massacre of St.
but Elizabeth had no intention of tying ,. Bartholomew in 1572 provoked
Jl r
The Age of,
herself to the Valois and so offending
r
m -r^t-,, ,., -,,
Elizabeth the mildest of
Spain irrevocably, or of provoking remonstrances. Until 1585 she
Mary's adherents to desperation by a allowed the heroic Netherlands
Hapsburg marriage. She was often to conduct their resistance against Philip
pressed by her ministers and Parliament single-handed, except for the support
to solve the problem of the succession which her diplomacy occasionally afforded,
by marrying some one, no matter whom. and the diversions effected by the spon-
But she read the needs of her situation taneous depredations of English priva-
more accurately than her advisers. The teers upon Spanish colonies and shipping,
4273
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
and by English volunteers in the Dutch had saved the crown to the infant Henry
armies. expedition of 1585-
Leicester's III. another had enabled Edward III.
;
1586 was a mere source of expense and to use the Channel without fear or hin-
embarrassment to the Seven Provinces, drance as a highway for the invasion of
and a bitter mortification to English France a third, fought with disastrous
;
_
stances which lay beyond her reign of Henry V. the
"
control that made Elizabeth dominion narrowof the
"
at length the armed defender seas had been and asserted,
of Protestantism and the the value of naval power both
mistress of the seas. As the for military and for com-
true drift of her home policy mercial purposes had been
became apparent, as English fully recognised. Yet the
buccaneering and trade rivalry Tudors, in other respects so
became more formidable, quick to feel and to promote
Philip of Spain drifted from the tendencies of their age,
friendship to a cold neutrality, had been remiss in building
and thence to active enmity. SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE up a navy and a mercantile
His agents fomented the plots A reat commander, Grenviiie mar i n e. Henry VII. is re-
f T? T i_ /- ,1 i- J distinguished himself on land and j j ,, , i i
of English Catholics and sea; off the Azores, in 1 591 ,he made
corded to have built a royal
encouraged the growth of a a heroic but unsuccessful defence ship of war, larger than any
Catholic reaction in Scotland against the whole fleet of Spain,
; which the Crown had hitherto
at length, in 1580, a small body of Spanish possessed. Henry VIII. founded the
troops went to the aid of the Irish Catho- Woolwich and Deptford dockyards, and
lies and Nationalists in Munster It became . collected a fleet which at his death num-
clear that the reduction of the Netherlands bered seventy sail if his
policy had been ;
should not be compli- THE GREATEST ELIZABETHAN SEAMAN for fighting purposes.
_
1 _ were of the first rank
cated by dynastic con- The life and ex P loits of sir Francis Drake read like g u t the defects of the
spiracies
Immediately
at home.
after-
^S^^tt-^t^lS ^
glory in the great struggle with the Spanish
VY
^ere
made good
by the spontaneous
and died, off Porto Beiio, in 1596.
wards Philip set up a Armada, growth of the merchant
claim to the throne of England and marine. The
largest private ships were
began to prepare the mighty Armada. built carry guns, since piracy and
to
On more than one critical occasion smuggling at the expense of the Spanish
England had learned the importance of and other hostile governments had long
maritime supremacy. One naval victory been recognised as legitimate and lucrative
THE SPACIOUS DAYS OF ELIZABETH
forms of enterprise. The Levant and imprudently ventured into the ports of the
Guinea trades, the voyages of exploration south coast of England. Drake, who in
which began with the expedition of 1572 captured the Panama treasure-train,
Chancellor and Willoughby to the White and in 1578 began his circumnavigation of
Sea in 1553, the opening of the Newfound- the globe by a bold raid upon the west
land fisheries about coast of Spanish
1548, the American America, was knighted
voyages of which Haw- by the queen, and she
kins set the example became a partner in his
from 1562 to 1567, the spoils of plunder.
Polar voyages of Fro- When, in consequence
bisher and Davis, all of the Spanish ambas-
contributed to form a sador's complicity in
hardy race of navi- the Throgmorton Plot
gators. A census of in 1584, diplomatic re-
seamen, taken shortly lations were suspended,
before the coming of it was only necessary
the Armada in 1583, for Elizabeth to give
enumerates over 1,400 the signal and Drake
master mariners and with his fellow adven-
11,500 common -sailors turers were in a moment
in the ports of England converted from bucca-
and Wales. England neers to champions of
was still far from being Protestantism and
a maritime nation, but national independence.
no other European A joint-stock expedition
power could show so (1585-1586) carried fire
large a proportion of THE GREAT SIR WALTER RALEIGH and sword through the
Sir Walter Raleigh was another of the distinguished
seamen to population. o-nfc Hafha n Tl*rinH n nH won
Spanish Main' _ in _I ^8?
figures of fthe T71ia
fi Elizabethan
f\f ti*
period, and fa mr> In/ his
\urui fame
by hie ^^^ i-
Religion and com- expe ditions. He introduced potatoes and tobacco Drake entered Cadiz
mercial interest had into England. His later years were clouded with harbour and "singed
"
combined to make the trouble, and he was beheaded at Whitehall in 1618. the beard of Philip
English seaman the enemy of Spain. The by destroying the better part of the
Spaniard claimed a monopoly of trade vessels which had been collected for the
with his colonies in the New World, and purpose of invading England.
treated as pirates the English adventurers English superiority at sea was even
who persisted in providing the West Indies more strikingly demonstrated in 1588. A
and the Main with negro slaves fleet of seventy vessels,
and other necessaries. The collected chiefly from the
captives of the Spaniard were seaport towns, and directed
perhaps no worse treated than by Drake under the nominal
the recognised usages of war- command of Lord Howard of
fare permitted but every
; Effingham, chased the Armada
adventurer hanged or detained through the narrow seas from
for trading beyond the
illicit Plymouth to Gravelines.
line was represented in Eng- Medina Sidonia, the Spanish
land as a victim of the Inqui- admiral, commanded 130
sition. The sailors of the two ships, of which the largest
nations had been long at open were superior in size and
feud before their governments complement to any which
decided on a formal rupture. He became Lord High Admiral in Drake COuld produce. But a
tnree years later was lorcr*
The war virtually began in e-ivfin ana l.>(v>,
the command ao-ainst the
lar g 6 rnimHpr of tViP^P \VPt~P
1
1568, when Hawkins was Spanish Armada, in 1596 he mere transports and ship ;
attacked by the Spanish fleet was created Earl of Nottingham for ship the Spaniard was
in the harbour of Vera Cruz, and Elizabeth inferior both in guns and in seamanship.
had done more than lend a passive coun- The greatest naval victories of Spain had
tenance to the reprisals of her subjects. been won in the Mediterranean neither ;
To avenge Hawkins she seized, in 1569, the ships nor the men of Medina Sidonia
certain Spanish treasure-ships which had were fitted for oceanic warfare. Their one
4275
<s> a
4276
THE SPACIOUS DAYS OF ELIZABETH
hope lay in grappling; but the English, the Revenge offered, off the Azores,
getting the weather gauge from the first to a whole Spanish fleet the death of
;
and holding it throughout, fought at long Drake, in the course of a raid upon the
range, and the issue was decided before the Main in 1596, left England without an
storms by which the ruin of the Spanish admiral of genius. But to such a point had
fleetwas completed had begun. the Spanish power sunk that Howard of
The last hope of Medina Sidonia failed Emngham, Raleigh, and the incompetent
when he found, upon anchoring at Calais, Essex, were able to enter the harbour
that the land army which Parma had and sack the town of Cadiz without
been instructed tocollect in the Nether- encountering serious resistance. Though
lands was not yet collected and that England lived under continual appre-
the commander was unwilling to risk hension of attack, there was not in fact
a descent on England. About one half the slightest danger from Spain after 1588.
of the Spanish fleet never returned The last years of Elizabeth are
had sustained a fatal blow, his resources their political events. The queen persisted
were inadequate to the preparation of blindly in the persecution of Catholics and
a new force, and for the remainder Puritans, although in the year of the
of her reign, Elizabeth, though haunted Armada both had given signal proofs of
by the nightmare of a Spanish invasion, loyalty. The death of Walsingham, in 1590.
had no real cause for fear. Her attempts and the old age of Lord Burleigh left the
to continue the naval war were less supreme direction of affairs in the hands of
successful than might have been expected the latter's son, Sir Robert Cecil, an astute
from this brilliant opening. A disastrous and active politician, but ill-fitted to fill
attack on Lisbon in 1591 was hardly the place which the older counsellors had
balanced by the heroic but unsuccessful vacated. Old age did not make the queen
defence which Sir Richard Grenville of less indifferent to the flatteries of personal
4277
THE MEN WHO ROUTED THE SPANIARDS AND SAVED ENGLAND
inrious storms wnicn arose, i ne elements completed me destruction ui me imgiity /xrmaua, auu 111 ims JJH.LUJO
the broken hulks and wreckage of some of the Spanish ships are seen lying on the rocky coast of Scotland.
From the painting by Albert Goodwin, R.W.S.. in the Manchester Art Gallery
4278
THE SPACIOUS DAYS OF ELIZABETH
favourites ; and although among these mental persecution, was scotched rather
the brilliant Raleigh found a place, he than suppressed by the execution of
was eclipsed by Essex, who aspired to the Penry the arch-pamphleteer.
chief share both in the direction of the The economic situation of England also
Spanish war and in the home administra- left much to be desired. Some flagrant
tion, but proved himself as incompetent evilshad been diminished by the measures
in Ireland as at the sack of Cadiz. of the queen's early years. With the help
From Essex the queen at length freed of Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder of
herself when the proofs of a treasonable the Royal Exchange, she effected the
correspondence with the court of Scotland reformation of the coinage, which had
were laid before her. Smarting under a been debased in an ever-increasing degree
well-merited recall from Ireland, the to relieve the financial exigencies of her
earl had proposed that James VI. should three immediate predecessors. The
enter England at the head of an army, Statute of Apprentices in 1563, though
and insist upon being recognised as Eliza- continuing the policy of regulating wages
beth's successor on the detection of the
;
which the Parliament of the fourteenth
plot he strove to raise London in century had inaugurated by the Statute
Manscll
EXAMPLES OF MEDALS STRUCK IN COMMEMORATION OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE ARMADA
rebellion. For these offences Essex paid of Labourers, vested the power of fixing
with his head in 1601 but other flatterers,
;
the local standard in the justices of the
not less unworthy, remained about the peace for each county, and thus sub-
queen, and national aspirations for stituted a more elastic rule for the cast-
civil and religious liberty found advocates iron maximum of former legislators.
who could not be despised. The House The clauses relating to apprentices,
ofCommons showed themselves, in the from which the statute took its name,
year of Essex's death, outspoken and were an attempt to exercise through the
insistent criticsone flagrant abuse,
of central government those duties of
that of monopolies the queen was com-
; supervision and regulation, as regarded
pelled to satisfy them by the withdrawal technical education and admission to
of the obnoxious patents. The Martin practise the several industries, which
Mar-Prelate controversy proved that the mediaeval trade guilds had performed
the censorship was only half capable of for their own localities.
dealing with the critics of ecclesiastical Foreign trade was promoted by the grant
institutions and the agitation against
;
of privileges to merchant companies, each
episcopacy, after seven years of govern- of which received the monopoly of a
373 4279
THE LAST HOURS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH AT RICHMOND
From the picture by Delaroche in the Louvre
4280
THE SPACIOUS DAYS OF ELIZABETH
is a monument of sound statesmanship, embodied in his life as in his plays the
but illustrates the magnitude of the social revolt ofthe age against measure and
evil against which it was directed. The convention. He lived at the centre of a
wise principles which it embodied were the knot of eager, wrangling wits he died the ;
their head, proved that classical elegance of his intellect and in the utilitarianism
of style could be attained in the verna- of his temperament.
cular languages of Europe while Brantome
;
All three reached the climax of their
and Montaigne continued in prose the work poetic development about the same time.
of Rabelais, and de- The first instalment
"
monstrated that as a of Spenser's Faerie
"
vehicle for wit, fancy, Queene was published
and philosophic reflec- in 1589, the last in 1596.
tion French could hold The great tragedies of
its own with Latin. In Marlowe, Faustus, the
Spain, Calderon, with Jew of Malta, and
his high seriousness of Edward appeared
II.,
profound Confidence in only the greatest English poet, but the supreme poet
HIS VCrSC.
the possibilities Of of the modern world. He was born in 1564 at Strat- the Study of paSSlOn
human nature, the love <i-n-Avon. and died at his native place in 1616. and am bition had an
of country, and the joy of living which the irresistible attraction. Shakespeare, while
great discoveries of the fifteenth, the great he inherits Marlowe's interest in the heights
conflicts and the great victories of the six- and depths of passions, is more impressed
teenth, centuries had inspired in the free by the rich and complex variety of every
Protestant peoples of Northern Europe. individual nature, by the subtle action
No careers could well be more different and reaction of will on will and mind on
than those of the three Elizabethan mind, by the irony of fate and the para-
poets ;
but the three types of life doxical union of opposing traits in the
which they represent are alike charac- same character. There have been litera-
teristic of the age. Spenser was an ardent tures more fertile in abstract ideas, of a
Protestant, with an intellectual leaning more chastened fancy, of greater precision
towards Puritan doctrine he linked his
;
and clarity in expression, than the
fortunes with those of the Elizabethan Elizabethan ;
there is none which deals
conquerors of Ireland, and made his great in a spirit so penetrating and imaginative
epic, the "Faerie Queene," a manifesto with the mysteries of individual passion.
against the unreformed religion. Marlowe H. W. C. DAVIS
4281
WHAT ENGLAND OWES TO QUEEN ELIZABETH
BY MARTIN HUME MA
""THE period covered by the reign of sions of her sympathy for the old
* Elizabeth coincides with the de- she never dared openly to em-
religion,
velopment of a new spirit in the English brace it. The blustering assertion of her
people. Sturdy and independent they independence and power, with which
had always been, esteeming themselves she met anything in the nature of a
personally above the Scots and the threat from abroad, her constant ap-
French, with whom alone they had been peals in extremity to the chivalry of her
brought into inimical contact. But the opponents, and her dexterous use of her
sentiment which began to manifest charms to influence men towards her
itself under Henry VIII., and grew to ends, her ostentatious regard for the
maturity under his younger daughter, loyalty of her people, and the readiness
did not consist so much of a conviction with which she condoned acts of aggres-
of superior individual prowess as of the sion by her subjects, apparently against
certainty that England, as a nation, was her wish, if large profits came from
destined to attain for herself a proud them, all inflamed the sentiment of
and powerful position, free from the national power and solidarity of English-
aid or patronage of other countries. men while at the same time testifying
The birth of this feeling was probably to Elizabeth's consummate statecraft.
owing to the clever diplomacy of Henry SECRET OF THE QUEEN'S SUCCESS
VII., who, mainly in order to strengthen Her success was as much owing to her
his own dynasty, made the most of the weakness as to her strength. In the
ability of England to turn the balance long marriage juggle, her supreme
in favour of one or the other of the rival vanity, her imperiousness, and her
Continental powers, and greatly magni- insatiable thirst for admiration, always
fied the international importance of his stepped in to prevent her from finally
country, especially after his master- surrendering her liberty to any man.
stroke of policy in marrying his elder If she had allowed herself to be captured
4282
"WHAT ENGLAND OWES TO QUEEN ELIZABETH-
by such circumstances would
Spain in army. Elizabeth herself refused the
have brought the strong Huguenot party sovereignty of the states offered to her
in France into the field against him, by the Dutch but, to her fury, again her
;
both in Flanders and on the Channel. hand was forced by Leicester, her com-
Elizabeth knew exactly how far she mander in Holland, who accepted the
copld go with safety, though her nice sovereignty, by implication, in her name.
calculations were constantly being ham- ENGLAND'S TRIUMPH OVER SPAIN
pered by the Puritan party in her court, Nothing could now prevent the long-
whose religious and political principles delayed attack upon England by Spain,
were stronger than their
diplomacy. for France was impotent to interfere,
Burleigh, her wisest Minister, headed a and it was at this crisis that the new
moderate conservative party, desirous of naticvial feeling in England rose to its
avoiding war and holding through thick full height of heroism and valour. The
and thin to the traditional policy of a queen, hoping against hope, almost to
good understanding with Spain while;
the last, stinted the arming and victual-
Leicester in his later years, Walsingham, ling of the defensive forces that her
and afterwards Essex, and their friends, country raised so bounteously until its
were ever clamouring for open hostilities was gravely impaired. But a
efficiency
with Spain and a close community with new school of seamanship had been
the Huguenots and Protestants on the evolved by the ocean rovers. For the
Continent. Her anger when this party first time sailors controlled ships as
forced her into a dangerous position fighting entities. The Spaniards were
passed all bounds, and wise Burleigh outsailed and outmanoeuvred by this
and her own clever sophistry often with new plan of pitting sailors against sol-
difficulty conjured away the peril. diers at sea, and disaster, utter and
So long as Elizabeth had the means to complete, to the Armada secured Eng-
win the friendship of France at will, she land's safety from Spanish attack in
was fairly safe. She could keep prisoner future. Elizabeth's diplomacy and
Mary Stuart against all international Philip's difficulties had avoided war for
usage, she could support the Dutch thirty years but when it came, Eliza-
;
Protestants against Philip, and she could beth's patriotic appeals to her people,
smile at the violation of his territory and and the new spirit of confidence in the
the profitable plunder of his shipping by nation, justified her long cultivation of
her subjects. Her immunity depended popularity and her ceaseless assertion of
mainly upon the French religious divi- England's ability to hold her own.
sions. She ostentatiously respected the Elizabeth's methods in home politics
legitimate government of France, but displayed the same qualities as her
she never lost her hold upon the foreign diplomacy. She would hector
Huguenot party, which kept the and bluster to those of her subjects who
Catholic majority powerless against her. crossed her but she always had re-
;
plots engineered from Spain in favour of she found England poor, weak and
Mary Queen of Scots were answered by divided, and she left it gloriously strong
the execution of Mary and by a more and conscious of illimitable possibilities.
hostile attitude in Holland, where Orange No merely good woman could have
was openly aided by a strong English attained that result.
42S/5
tts
H =
4284
WESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION "AND AFTER
TO THE
XI
REVOLUTION
Bourbons generally, had agreed on December 5th, 1560, and the two persons
(he Guises , , .
, ,.
that the Guises must be dis- who would have gladly overthrown the
lodged from their foremost positions. Guises namely, King Anthony of Navarre
Opinions were divided only as to the best and Admiral Coligny escaped without trial.
way of doing this. The attempt to win As Francis left no children, his brother,
over the queen-mother to the plan failed. Charles IX., a boy aged ten years, suc-
The idea now suggested itself of ceeded to the throne. Under him, Queen
forming, in accordance with the advice of Catharine held the reins of government
Gaspard de Chatillon, lord of Coligny, an more firmly than ever, and now sought to
alliance with the reformed party, which, overthrow the inconvenient supremacy of
notwithstanding all persecutions, com- lt the Guises. To attain this ob-
Catharme with , ., ,
prised more than two thousand congre- iect was necessary for her to
the n
. it
Reins , ,,
gations. This political side of the religious r . secure the the rf
support of
ofr Government -_ , ,
movement was bound to rouse the ruling Bourbons, and after some vain
party to more cruel persecutions. An edict attempts she won their confidence. The
was issued in autumn, 1559, which prohibited prince was acquitted of his crime, and King
the Huguenots from holding public worship Anthony nominated governor-general for
under pain of death. This edict cost the the king, while Catharine claimed for herself
lives of many honourable men. A con- the title of regent, and also assigned to the
spiracy, with which the Bourbons were cardinal the administration of the finances.
indirectly connected, tried to deprive the But this was contrary to the promises
Guises and the queen mother of the govern- which the queen-regent had given to King
4285
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Anthony, for they had stipulated the com- Coligny, encouraged by the queen, made
plete retirement of the Guises and claimed preparations at Orleans to liberate the
full religious liberty for the Huguenots. king, while throughout the country the
Catharine had in probability never
all same feud put weapons into the hands of
contemplated her
fulfilling the peasants. A great part
promise, since by so doing she of the nobility and the towns
would have put herself too stood by the Huguenots, while
completely in the power of the almost the whole peasantry,
Bourbons. All that King excepting that of Normandy,
Anthony obtained was an espoused the Catholic cause.
edict which substituted exile Both parties committed equal
for death as the punishment excesses, ravaging the country
for holding heretical public with fire and sword ; both
worship, and forbade searches courted and obtained help
in the interiors of the houses. from foreign powers, the
A religious conference, which Catholics from Spain and
was held at Catharine's pro- Italy, the Huguenots from
posal naturally did nothing Germany and England.
to clear up the situation, FRANCIS ii. OF FRANCE Francis of Guise was shot by
Married to Mary Stuart, Queen of a
especially since the Catholics fanatical Calvinist during
Scotland, in 1558, when he was ,r r\
now noticedj with -,i_
. i < i
alarm an only fourteen years of age> Francis the siege of Orleans, in
inclination of the queen toward cametothethroneofFranceimsso, February, 1563, and the
the Protestant side, and the but his mother was the real ruler. Catholic party, much shaken
chancellor, Michel de 1'Hopital, zealously by the loss of its leader, consented to a
advocated toleration. The result was a peace at Amboise on March I5th, 1563.
decree promulgated in January, 1562, which By this all feudal tenants of the crown
allowed the Huguenots to hold public acquired for themselves and their subjects
worship outside the the right to exercise their
towns, while it also ex- religion without
cused them from the hindrance the ;
other
restitution of churches members of the nobility
and church property to might do so in their
the Catholics. This was houses, while a similar
distinctly a victory "
for privilege was conceded
the cause of the Re- to the towns The Eng-
"
formed party which was lish were now driven from
p. easing traits of
Amboise, gave the signal for a sanguinary character, had been proclaimed of age
riot, in the course of which the king and his at fourteen, but in reality his mother
mother fell into the power of the Catholic still ruled ; she travelled through the
party, which held Paris. Conde and country with him, and took this oppor-
4286
FRANCE UNDER CATHARINE DE MEDICI
tunity of sounding theof thefeeling again exhausted, and the king wished for
people. Insurrection could
only with peace, because dissensions had long pre-
difficulty be repressed during the four vailed in the Catholic party. The treaty of
years subsequent to the unsatisfactory 1563 was therefore confirmed for the second
conclusion of peace. Even if Coligny ~ time on August 8th, 1570, at
Concessions 0. /~ 'A\\.
appeared outwardly reconciled with the . bt. Germam-en-Laye, and the
brother of the murdered Duke of Guise, validity other decrees
of all
Huguenots n j
both parties had made up their minds that was annulled the Huguenots
;
the Huguenots were pre- throne of France. He was king in name only, action, which might lead
pared tO resist. But He authorised the terrible Massacre of. St. to her OWn expulsion,
Bartholomew in August, 1572, and died in 1574.- desired more
they were completely nothing
defeated on March I3th, 1569, at Jarnac, fervently than the death of the admiral.
and Conde fell. Coligny now rallied all the She hired an assassin, but his shot only
followers of the reformed teaching, although slightly wounded his victim and the ;
he had lost almost all his comrades in excuse of the king that he knew nothing
and was condemned to about it lulled the suspicions of the
The Varying arms,
_,. ..
j v , ,
f >
October 3rd, and Coligny was forced to the leaders of the Huguenots and as many
retreat. The resources of the court were as possible of their followers were to be
4287
AFTER ST. BARTHOLOMEW CATHARINE DE MEDICI VIEWING THE VICTIMS OF THE MASSACRE
:
From a photograph by Braun, Clement & Cie. of the painting by E. Debat-Ponsan, by the artist's permission
new kingdom in 1573. Now, however, the he was cruel and tyrannical, and indulged
question of the succession was being dis- in extravagances and pleasures so long
cussed at home, since Charles's death seemed as his excesses did not sap his strength.
rapidly approaching. A distinct party, The king's brother, as well as Prince
which sympathised with the Huguenots, Conde and Henry of Navarre, very
hoped to be able to raise Catharine's fourth soon left the court, and the three placed
son, the Duke of Alencon, to the throne. themselves at the head of the Huguenots.
A rising was already planned, which When Conde, in the spring of 1576, sup-
was to put the government into the ported by the Palsgrave John Casimir,
hands of the conspirators but the attempt
;
advanced with an army, the Huguenots
failed. The queen, who had noticed the brought forward all their grievances and
threatening danger, recalled Henry from demanded their right. The court had
Poland immediately after Charles's death. certainly not the strength to venture on a
He delayed on the way, bat owing to his war, and in the Treaty of Beaulieu on May
mother's solicitude, the throne was secure 8th, 1576, not only conceded the free
for him upon his arrival in the country. exercise of religion everywhere, with the
KING HENRY III. PLACING HIMSELF AT THE HEAD OF THE "HOLY LEAGUE"
Led by Henry of Guise, the " Holy League," which aimed at the destruction of the Huguenots, spread rapidly
throughout France. Becoming bolder with its increasing strength, the league secretly planned the overthrow of the
royal house and the elevation of Henry of Guise to the throne. Fearing the power of this combination, Henry III.,
who at first had doubted its strength, placed himself at its head, thus obviating the possibility of dethronement.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
single exception of the town of Paris, but Swords were already drawn, and serious
also admission to the offices and judicial resultsthreatened to ensue the king ;
posts. The Duke of Alengon, by the then betook himself to negotiations, and
bestowal of a governorship, was removed was obliged, at Nemours on July 7th, 1585,
to a district which sided with him, and was to promise the powerful League that he
therefore withdrawn from the reformed would consent to the withdrawal of all
party. The Catholic court had, decrees friendly to the Huguenots. This
*f tK however, made these conces- roused the Huguenots to action. The
sions reluctantly. The Catholics eighth war produced, however, no decisive
Holy League f , i j TT r
found a leader in Henry ot results the king continued to allow the
;
Guise, the youthful son of Duke Francis, reins of government to slip from his grasp
who became the head of the " Holy while the reputation of Guise increased.
League." This confederation spread The victory of the Huguenots at Coutras,
throughout France, and aimed at the on October 2Oth, 1587, was without further
annihilation of the Huguenots. Its secret consequences the defeat of Auneau soon
;
plans extended still farther, to the over- followed, and in the spring of 1588, young
throw of the royal family, and the Conde died. The strained relations be-
elevation of the young Henry tween the king and Guise,
of Guise to the throne. whom the Parisians chiefly
The king at first attached favoured, became more and
no credit to this secret league, more marked the king was
;
League wished to choose a new orthodox standing enormous debts, which still had to
king, but no conclusion was reached. But be liquidated, the exchequer gradually grew
Henry soon saw that without a change fuller. The king fell by the dagger of the
of faith he could not look for a
quiet reign, fanatic, Francois Ravaillac, just as he was
and he therefore abjured his religion on
proposing to interfere in the German
July 25th at Saint Denis. A considerable dispute about Cleves, on May i4th, 1610.
4292
WESTERN EUROPE THE
FROM THE REFORMATION
REFORMATION AND AFTER
TO THE XII
REVOLUTION
united, a new dispute arose, since Electoral the other dominions of the
Saxony represented quite different views, Austrian house. The new emperor was
both in religious polity and in dogma, unusually broad-minded in religious mat-
from those of the Palatinate, and both had ters. Before his accession to power he had
supporters among the princes. A conser- inclined towards the reformed doctrines,
vative spirit prevailed on the whole in the and would perhaps have adopted them
native country of Lutheranism, which was entirelyhad not the petty squabbles among
eager to identify itself closely with the the Protestants disgusted him. As sove-
emperor in politics, and in dogma held reign he showed toleration towards the
firmly to Luther. nobles, who were mostly Protestants. In
The Electors Palatine, however, were spite of papal opposition, he gave a special
not only zealous advocates of war against constitutional representation and power
Catholicism, whereby they offended the known as " religious deputation " to the
emperor,
l
the guardian of the Protestant states. In Bohemia, finally,
First Prince r i ,
. . .
religious peace, but also in the Compacts of Prague were set aside in
to Introduce , , , ,,
dogma leaned towards the more 1567, and a of the people pro-
" great part
. .
,
Calvinism y .
, .-, ,
. .
, .
Truce
the Sultan
,
arg 6 y6 tribute ^
II., in return, however, for a
In the "
4294
THE EMPIRE AFTER CHARLES V.
were temporarily excluded. The hope of especially since the Calvinists, under the
eventual success was not indeed yet aban- leadership of the Palatinate, now had the
doned, but it could be accomplished only upper hand, and on May i4th, 1608,
on the basis of a Protestant league. formed a union at Anhausen. This in-
Other events rendered this course urgent. cluded all Protestant territories, with the
The Palatinate party in the diets exception of Electoral Saxony, repre-
had repeatedly coupled the grant of sented a defensive alliance, and maintained
" "
Turk-taxes with the condition that a separate military organisation. The
religious grievances should be remedied, M ... Catholic counter-alliance of
but they had never carried their point, the League was formed on July
League" of the
since the party of Electoral Saxony regu- Catholics fa> 1609, under the leader-
larly held to the emperor. The situation ship of Maximilian, Duke of
was changed when the energetic measures Bavaria, then thirty-six years old for the ;
taken by the Hapsburgs against the Luth- moment it reckoned, with the exception of
erans in their hereditary dominions em- Bavaria, only petty spiritual princes among
bittered the Saxon elector. Christian II., its members, and created for itself a mili-
in 1604, had achieved no success in Vienna tary system modelled after that of their
with his earnest representations, and, opponents. The Hapsburgs, for the time
indignant at this, had threatened to being, kept aloof from this alliance.
withhold the taxes. When the diet met in The Union had the earliest opportunity
Regensburg at the beginning of 1608, the of political action. Duke John William of
Protestants combined, and finally, since Juliers died on March 25th, 1609. The
the emperor would not consent to any princes, John Sigismund of Brandenburg
concessions, left the diet in a body, thus as husband of Anne, a niece of the
sapping its further efficiency. deceased John William and Philip Louis
The Protestants were now united for of Neuburg in the Palatinate as husband
the first time in many years. The hopes of Anne, John William's sister both mem-
Matthias they rested on this
which bers of the Union, were immediately on the
"it.
union were the greater since a
.
spot as candidates for the succession to the
Compensated T ^.
with a Crown
Protestant movement against duchy, while the emperor regarded the
the emperor had just been land as an escheated imperial fief, and
formed in the Hapsburg dominions, intended to have it administered by the
which found a leader in his brother Archduke Leopold. The latter took the
Matthias. At the very beginning of 1608 fortress of Juliers in May, 1609, while
the latter had advanced with hostile intent Brandenburg and Neuburg, in virtue of a
towards the imperial capital of Prague, special treaty of June loth, took joint
and on June 25th, 1608, had received the possession of the district and capital,
crown of Hungary, as well as the here- Diisseldorf, and governed jointly with the
ditary dominions in Austria and Moravia, declared consent of the Protestants united
as compensation from the emperor. It in the Union.
was natural that the Protestant princes This would have been in itself quite
should seek for an alliance with Matthias sufficient to drive theLeague to the side
and with those states in the Hapsburg of the emperor but no other choice was
;
dominions which held to the Protestant left them by consideration for one of their
faith. own members, the Archbishop of Cologne,
Matthias, notwithstanding his opposi- to whom the proximity of the Pro-
tion to the catholicising policy of his testant princes could not be a matter
brother Rudolph, and notwithstanding of indifference. The States-
his support of the Protestant nobility,
War Was General had shortly
J before
, .,, .,
was no sincere adherent of the Evan- A
Averted
. . made ,-,
France
a treatyJ . with .
, , ,
when the Austrian states, before against Spain this was again reason enough
;
doing homage, demanded binding pro- to draw the former to the side of the Union,
mises as to the practice of religion, and and Spain to that of the League. There
he only reluctantly gave them assur- was thus plenty of material for a war
" "
ances in an ambiguous Resolution on involving the whole of Western Europe,
March iqth, 1609. A political union of the and only the murder of the French king,
Protestant princes with Matthias seemed Henry IV., on May I4th, 1610, pre-
under such circumstances very hopeless, vented it from breaking out. With him
273 42Q5
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
disappeared the moving spirit for political Lusatia. Rudolph in his straits turned
actions on a large scale. Instead of the to the electors and asked their financial
great war, a mere feud developed between aid ;
but they held the view that such
Brandenburg and Neuburg, whose mutual questions could be discussed only in an
relations became more and more unsatis- imperial diet. Rudolph felt no disposi-
factory. The new quarrel was confirmed tion to call one, and yet, considering
in 1613 by the conversion of Wolfgang the age of the emperor, it seemed time
William of Neuburg son of Philip Louis to settle the succession. The electors,
to the Catholic religion; therefore, on their own motion, called an
Brandenburg s ,
.
Calvin's Creed
Bavarian princess, Mag- But Rudolph died on January 2Oth.
II.
dalene, followed at the Matthias was now chosen as his
end of 1615. By this, Neuburg had won brother's successor in the empire (1612
the support of the League, while Branden- 1619), as he already was in Bohemia and
burg adopted the Calvinistic creed on Austria. On all sides, even among the
December 1613, and might now
25th, Protestants, great hopes had been formed
look for a more powerful furtherance
still of the new monarch, but it was soon seen,
of his interests by the Union. on the occasion of the first diet, in August,
Dutch troops came to the help of 1613, at Regensburg, how little foundation
Brandenburg, and Spanish troops under there was for these expectations. The
Ambrosio Spinola occupied Wesel. But states were again called upon to grant a
before the close of the year 1614 the two high "Turks-tax"; the Protestants again
parties formed a truce on November i2th demanded in the first place the redress
at Xanten, on the terms that Neuburg of their grievances, but the emperor, who
should have the territories of Juliers showed not the slightest trace of his
and Berg, and Brandenburg should take earlier Protestant proclivities, finally, under
Cleves, Mark, Ravensberg, and Raven- the pressure of a Turkish attack, merely
stein. The Dutch, indeed, as well as the gave permission for the
The Protestants 3- x J.T.
Spaniards occupied some places in the ... . .
Disappomted in
discussion of the gnev-
, ,.
., ,. ,
wished, therefore, to help Archduke Leo- worse than in 1608, since the Turks
pold to the succession in Bohemia, although had actually attacked Hungary, and had
Matthias had already, with Rudolph's made Gabriel Bethlen, of Iktar, lord of
consent, been accepted by the states as Transylvania in 1613. A reconciliation
Another king designate. An attempt between the two religious parties, such as
T, ,
power of Rudolph, and to make into the League, for Matthias now no longer
the states dependent on him, was unsuc- stood above the parties. The chancellor,
cessful the emperor was compelled, in
;
it is true, busied himself even yet with the
" "
the assembly of the states, to make over meeting of a diet for composition and
the crown of Bohemia to Matthias, who settlement, which the Union again de-
was crowned on May 23rd, 1611, and manded in their meeting at Nuremberg in
granted a mere annual payment to his 1615, and all the more so as the Union
imperial brother in return for his resigna- increased its power by closer alliance with
tion of all claim on Bohemia, Silesia, and the States-General and Denmark, as well as
4296
THE EMPIRE AFTER CHARLES V.
by the formation of a league of the towns. The representatives had not received full
These efforts led to no result, for a quite authorisation from their districts, and had,
different question now occupied the im- besides, no inclination for the Turkish
perial policy the succession in the empire war there could therefore be no idea of
;
and in the hereditary dominions. Mat- that for the present, and in the summer of
thias, and with him the chancellor, pre- 1615 a comparatively favourable treaty
ferred to leave the matter unsettled, since was arranged with Gabriel Bethlen as well
the would have acquired
emperor-elect as with the Sultan, Achmed I. The
influence on the government. Archduke questions of internal policy
E ,
By his efforts, which at the same time Upper and Lower Austria, only Bohemia
were aimed at the overthrow of Khlesl, was represented, while Hungary sent no
Ferdinand succeeded in concluding a treaty representative once more the debates
;
or Keligious
a
, / , , ,. A
.
t
.
Libert
T ad distinctly Protestants in the higher posts, but the
acknowledged that he had Catholics were in the majority, and used
been elected King of Bohemia by free their position to crush Protestantism in the
choice, while the Catholic states could crown lands and in the ecclesiastical fiefs,
adduce in support of their view only the although the Letter of Majesty gave per-
fact that for nearly a century a Hapsburg mission for the building of churches there.
had always worn the crown. Matthias in 1612 entrusted the exercise
The nomination of Ferdinand to the of his rights of patronage to the Arch-
throne of Bohemia was certain to lead to bishop of Prague the result naturally
;
war, since the rights of the Protestant was that the benefices were once more
states were far from being firmly estab- filled by Catholics. Since the ecclesiastical
lished. The greatest difficulties had arisen domains were considered as royal fiefs, the
under Rudolph, who had conceded the Protestants, in virtue of the Letter of
"
demands of the Protestants by a Letter Majesty, had begun to build churches as
"
of Majesty in 1609, and promised well, although in 1611 Matthias had
religious liberty only under coercion. rejected, in the case of Braunau, this
Matthias had confirmed the Letter of interpretation of the Letter of Majesty;
Majesty among the Bohemian privileges, the building of churches was undauntedly
but with regard to other demands of the continued. The archbishop
Protestant
states he only held out hopes for the future, ordered the church o f Rloster-
especially in reference to a union of the tO be Cl Sed a d the
Su ress'ed &**> '
states of all the imperial dominions, and emperor approved of the decree.
the creation of a common military system. The Protestant states raised vigorous
In Bohemia ideas of a subordinate remonstrances against such a conception
government were openly entertained by of religious liberty. Being met in no
the Protestant states. The emperor, how- friendly spirit, they openly talked of the
ever, tried to use this idea for his war with election of another king, who should be a
the Turks when he summoned, in August, German in 1614 some party leaders had
;
1614, a committee from his dominions to already treated with the Elector of Saxony
Linz. But the session had no results. as a candidate. After the populace at
4297
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Braunau had prevented the closing of the confession of Augsburg had been taken
their churchby force, and the archbishop in 1593 as the basis of the national Church
had ordered the church of Klostergrab to in opposition to the Catholic Sigismund
be pulled down at the end of 1617, an insur- (1592-1599). The assumption of the title
rection finally broke out. The Protestant of king by the Protestant Charles IX. in
nobles united under the leadership of Henry 1604 signified also a serious war against
Matthias, Count of Thurn and went with a
; Poland, with which the struggle for the
renewed petition first to the stadtholders, Baltic provinces still continued.
and then to the emperor ;
Since Sigismund, a son of King John III.
& , everywhere
being re- of Sweden, who had been deposed from the
Rights Asserted by ., , ,
pulsed,
,
they proceeded
J [ throne of Sweden in 1599, but had been
Force of Arms ,, , , ,
to assert their rights by King of Poland also since 1587, entered
force. The emperor, besides his uncompro- into closer relations with Austria, Sweden
misingly unfavourable decree in reference was forced to seek support from the
to Braunau and Klostergrab, had, above Protestant princes of Germany, for
all, strictly forbidden the assembly of the Denmark, which was equally Protestant,
Protestants arranged for May 2ist, 1618. and, under the energetic Christian IV.
But the states, confident in their privileges, (1588-1648), the most important power of
did not allow themselves to be intimidated, the North, was excluded as being a
and assembled on the appointed day. dangerous rival in the Baltic. A war
An imperial decree which repealed the accordingly broke out between the two
prohibition was read to the assembled body ;
countries in 1611, on the question of the
and when the states communicated their tolls in the Sound. The States-General
answer to the stadtholders, such excited and the Hanse towns, which had both
altercations followed that finally two of suffered grievously under the Danish tolls,
the stadtholders, William Slavata subse- took the side of Sweden. However, nothing
quently Count of Chlum and Koschum- came of it but a treaty in 1613 between the
berg and Jaroslav Borita of Martini tz, T * iege States-General and Lubeck,
.
who were universally held to be the guilty while the alliance of December,
parties, and the unoffending secretary *'*,.already mentioned, was
Brunswick 1615, -, , , ,
were thrown by the leaders from the brought about only by the
window into the castle moat. This gross desperate position of the Hanse town,
insult to the foremost imperial officials Brunswick, which the Duke of Brunswick
meant a complete breach with the emperor. was besieging with the help of Denmark.
In the western part of the empire, The common feature of all political
meanwhile, the crisis had become still operations in the decade preceding the
more acute. Apart from the fact that the outbreak of the great war is the tendency
Treaty of Xanten, which had divided the towards alliances, which, increasingly closer
territories of Juliers, Cleves, and Berg and on a wider scale as regards members,
between Neuburg and Brandenburg, objects, and duration, at last divided all
offered sufficient incentive to further Europe into the two hostile camps of the
disputes, the electoral house of Saxony had Union and the League.
since the summer of 1610 been invested The Union had received considerable
with these very territories, in conformity additions since the imperial diet of 1613.
with an earlier promise of the emperor, The military system and its foundation
which rejected the succession of the female stone, the finances of the allies, had been
line. The States-General were also anxious organised to some extent. In the year
w to maintain the position which 1614 the league with the States-General,
th L * they had once won, and Arch- such as had been contemplated by the
Rhine
duke Albert, as the Hapsburg agreement with England as early as 1612,
representative, made the same was really arranged for twelve years.
effort. The petty war on the Lower Rhine Negotiations were opened with the Protes-
therefore continued. The States-General, tants of Lower Saxony, especially Liine-
in order to execute further plans, formed burg and Pomerania, as well as with the
an alliance with the Hanse towns. administrators of the dioceses, who foresaw
And thus, before the end of the year 1615, an uncertain future. Attempts were,
it was clear that the controversies which indeed, made to win the important
were pending in the north would have an Electoral Saxony, which still kept aloof.
influence on German politics. In Sweden In 1615 the important alliance of the Union
4298
THE EMPIRE AFTER CHARLES V.
with the province of Lower Saxony was emperor, without any statement of the
broughflabout. In the next year, a renewal particular object. Khlesl did not wish for
of the confederation, which would expire that, since his heart was set on an agree-
in 1618, was
discussed. The
necessity of ment between the religious parties, and
the continuance of the Union was univer- he hoped to bring about their reconcilia-
sally acknowledged, but Electoral Bran- tion by the very necessity of some under-
denburg withdrew, since the Unionists, standing as to the succession. Both
and especially the towns, were not disposed parties, indeed, made in 1615 a statement
to regard the claims on Juliersas their own. as to the points on which
The Claims ,,
Besides nine princes, the Union now they must insist, but no
of Duke
included seventeen towns, which would meet " for reconciliation
t
Maximilian 8,
hear nothing of a warlike policy, and was held. Archduke Maxi-
bound themselves to the alliance only up milian attempted to force the emperor to
to the year 1621. action, and advised, at any rate according
The League meanwhile had been con- to the ideas of the Protestant side, that
siderably strengthened by the admission an election should be held, and, if
of the emperor and of Wolfgang William necessary, enforced by arms. On the
of Neuburg in the Palatinate. But the other hand, the electors of the Palatinate,
participation of Austria had at the same Brandenburg, and Saxony deliberated
time destroyed the hitherto uncontested over a choice in the summer of 1616, and
position of Maximilian of Bavaria, for the came to the decision that they would defer
emperor must now have a voice in the the 1 business of election until after the
,
management. The Archbishop of Mainz death of the emperor, and would then
was able to overcome the difficulties
.
perhaps elect Duke Maximilian of Bavaria.
and to effect a reorganisation in 1613, By this, it is true, the succession of
according to which the Hapsburg Maxi- Ferdinand in the Austrian dominions
milian received, in addition to Mainz and seemed secured at the beginning of the
Bavaria, a third federal dis- year 1617 but his prospects in the empire
Candidates
.,
r T j
tnct of Ivrol, and since
i
;
,,. , , , ,, .
"
slightly less emphasised, the election in Hungary, finally arrived at
Protestant princes had the option of join- by the states, offered only poor encourage-
ing. This outcome was by no means satis- ment. Now at least the Saxon elector had
factory to the Bavarian. After various been induced to consent to a personal
attempts to find a solution he left the electoral diet for February, 1618, in order
League in January, 1616, and the rest to discuss the election, in which Ferdi-
could do nothing without him. In May, nand's reversion was regarded as obvious.
1617, however, he entered into a new The Elector Palatine, on the other
alliance with four spiritual princes for hand, was in treaty at the same time
four years. with the .Protestant states of Bohemia,
Meantime, the negotiations as to the which, priding themselves on their right
succession in the empire had been carried of election, did not acknowledge Ferdinand
on unceasingly. It was universally ad- as lawful king but there had been no
;
mitted that the future emperor must also talk of his acquiring the crown of Bohemia
be ruler of Austria** ;" and Ferdinand of before the autumn of 1618. During the
Styria seemed, as the youngest Hapsburg, whole of this year the most various plans
to be the most suitable. But since 1613 for the election of an emperor were devised.
the King of Spain also had raised claims, The candidature of Maximilian
Death of T,
although at once with the suggestion r of Bavaria again came up.
the Emperor ~, , ...
!
that he wou d be satisfied with a conces- ...... 1 here was also talk of parcelling
Matthias , TT ,
sion of territory. Since, however, there out the Hapsburg territories
could be no thought of winning over the under an agreement with Savoy. But no
electors of the Palatinate and Branden- results had been arrived at when the
burg after the course of the imperial diet Emperor Matthias died, on March 2Oth,
of 1613, the spiritual electors and the 1619. It rested now with Ferdinand to
Elector of Saxony had proposed the prove whether his statesmanship could
summoning of an electoral diet by the secure him the crown.
4299
4300
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
XIII
REVOLUTION
greatly strengthen position his in his castle, and received the crown
hereditary dominions, and went in July on November 3rd.
to the electoral diet at Frankfort in order Gabriel Bethlen had hitherto, in com*
to represent the Bohemian vote. bination with the Bohemians, attacked the
But the Elector Palatine and Bran- emperor from the side of Transylvania,
denburg had already agreed not to and had stirred up the Protestant Hunga-
choose him. Saxony finally joined the rians to revolt, while the Imperialists
spiritualelectors even Brandenburg
;
were withdrawing to Vienna. Thurn also
changed round, so that the Palatinate appeared there, but had not sufficient
at last stood quite alone. Ferdinand's force to begin a siege. Bethlen, too,
election was now secured, especially since retreated, and an opposing Catholic party
he consented that conciliatory measures arose in Hungary. The Bohemians
should be discussed among the electors maintained their position in the winter of
in November. The election 1619-1620, and even received support
Protestant j u A i i_
from Lower Austria. But the emperor
Insurrection J held on August 2ist.
was duly ,
~,, . ,
. . The
.
empire now once more had induced Spain to invade the Palatinate
in Bohemia A ^ ,. TT
an emperor. As Ferdinand 11.
,
from the side of the Netherlands, revived
(1619-1637) he brought great disasters the League once more, and concluded
upon Germany and Europe, since he a treaty with its head, his friend, Maxi-
transferred into the empire the struggle milian of Bavaria, in which he promised him
with the states in his hereditary dominions, the electoral dignity in the event of a
and laid the ban of the empire on the successful war.
Elector Palatine, Frederic V., after his Maximilian, on his side, obtained the
expulsion from Bohemia. support of the Saxon elector, while the
The insurrection had begun in Bohemia Union did not support their head, but
after the window episode. The Protestant also negotiated with the Bavarian. The
nobles had become masters of the govern- latter marched into Austria in August,
ment and appointed thirty directors. An 1620, and into Bohemia in September,
army under Count Thurn had defeated the found the greatest confusion at Prague,
Imperialists at Budweis, and the mer- _. _ thanks to Tilly', in
The Lost Cause and,
cenary leader, Peter Ernest of Mansfeld, combination with the Im .
had taken Pilsen. While Thurn was trying Protestantism perialists under Buquoy,
to advance into Austria through Moravia, won a decisive victory over
"
Matthias died and a little later the
;
Christian of Anhalt at the White
"
prospects of King Ferdinand seemed Mountain near Prague, on November 8th.
somewhat more favourable. Nevertheless, Frederic's "winter kingdom" was now
about the same time that he was elected at an end he fled to Silesia, and the cause
;
Sweden was also ready to take part in a therefore concluded a treaty at Liibeck
war against the Hapsburgs. ^^^^MHM on May i2th, 1629, by which
Towards the close of 1625 a the king received back all
league was formed between his possessions in exchange
England where Charles I. for a promise to observe
now was king Holland, and neutrality for the future.
Denmark for the restoration The great commander was
of the Pfalsgrave to his now at the zenith of his
hereditary dominions. France fortunes. But the princes
supported the undertaking of the League and the im-
with money the states of
; perial court had long been
Lower Saxony prepared on dissatisfied with him ;
his
their side to expel the army mysterious power seemed
of the League under Tilly, dangerous to them. After
and placed Christian of Den- the Minister, Hans Ulrich,
mark at their head. The Prince of Eggenberg, had
Danish king, supported by FREDERIC v. OF BOHEMIA himself entered into com-
Mansfeld and the Duke of pautine'hf mo h^mlrrfed Eliza-
munications with the general,
Brunswick, advanced into beth, daughter of James i. of in November, 1626, the corn-
Lower Saxony without wait- England. He received the crown of plaints were quieted for some
Bohemia in mo, and died in 1632.
ing for the conclusion of the time But they broke out
negotiations, and succeeded even in again the more loudly among the
strategy in being a match for his opponent. members of the League, since it was seen
The emperor had no means of meeting this that Wallenstein's conduct of the war
unexpected danger. Since, on the other was guided more by political than by
hand, he did not military con-
dare to allow the siderations, and
League and the that his army
Bavarian elector formed a support
to become too for the empire
powerful, he was against the
glad when the princes. A state-
Bohemian noble- ment of griev-
man, Waldstein, ances was drawn
commonly called up at the meeting
Wallenstein, of the League at
forced Mansfeld W ii r z b u r
g in
to disband his 1627, and pre-
mercenaries. He sented to the
started out to emperor, but he
reach Venice, but LEADERS IN THE THIRTY YEARS WAR could not concede
died in Rako- Count Ernest von Mansfeld was a soldier of fortune in the Thirt the wishes of the
Years War; he defeated Tilly in 1022, and afterwards served with ,-...: ,,.,00 A
WltZa in fi^c-^if*
-.
J >OSnia
the United Netherlands. Count Tilly commanded the Catholic army 1
Oil
M, O H,/ T
November, ^
the 2Oth of when the war began, and rose to be commander-in-chief of the imperial ing of the electors
1626.
forces- He was routed by Gustavus Adolphus at Breitenfeld in 1631.
emperor, and had no end in view but to therefore was, and continued to be, an
further his imperialistic plans. The ques- opponent of the Edict of Restitution, and
tion, however, arose whether he might not did not use his power to carry it out. The
become dangerous to Ferdinand should a emperor, once more urged by the League,
difference of opinion occur. Maximilian would now gladly have dismissed Wallen-
of Bavaria, as well as stein but that would
;
princes Of the League, who plotted for his downfall. He was deposed from the Pope, resolved to
his command branded as a traitor and murdered,
issued in the spring of . -
4304
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
king, returned to their country, and seized Prague, Gustavus, passing through
France promised her aid in a treaty with Thuringia, reached the Main. On October
Sweden in January, 1631. While Gustavus 1 8th he captured Wiirzburg, whither the
Adolphus in the north took place after bishop, a member of the League, had fled,
place and secured a strong position for him- and took Mainz in December.
self, Tilly marched with the army of the Here he spent the winter, received
League to Magdeburg in order to force the unfortunate Pfalsgrave Frederic, and,
the town to accept the Edict of Restitu- with Richelieu as mediator, began nego-
tion. The Swedes, through the tiations for peace with the League, from
The Terrible ,,., j r T> j i_ j
attitude of Brandenburg and which he demanded neutrality during
s
the Saxon elector, could neither the continuance of the war against the";
Magdeburg
hasten to its assistance nor emperor. These transactions led to no
effect any change in Tilly's plan of campaign results. Gustavus Adolphus, therefore,
by the capture of Frankfort-on-Oder. The . in March, while securing the Rhine, ad-
town thus fell into the hands of the be- vanced against Bavaria on April I5th, ;
siegers on May 20th, 1631. terrible sack A 1632, at Rain on the Lech, he once
began, during which fire broke out and more defeated Tilly, who was mortally
reduced almost all the houses to ashes. wounded, and made his entry into Munich
The Catholics were triumphant at Tilly's in the middle of May. The League was
success. The Protestants, however, saw shattered, and the emperor would have
too late that the Swedish king alone could been lost if Wallenstein had not for the
stem the flood of disaster. The fate of second time freed him from his difficulties.
Magdeburg might soon befall the other The emperor had offered him a new
episcopal cities. command soon after the battle of Breiten-
Hesse and Weimar on their part now feld, and again since Arnim's advance
made overtures to Sweden. But Gustavus into Bohemia but it was only in Decem-
;
Adolphus, since the Saxon elector and ber, 1631, that Count Eggenberg had per-
Brandenburg held back, was at first com- him,suaded and received the
Wallenstein /, .,,. ,,
pelled to decline an alliance. An agree- c.
Stands by
assurance that within three
,
Tilly was defeated for the firs.t time at separation of Saxony from the Swedish
Burgstall, in the vicinity of Wolmirstedt. cause. The powers of the general were
Fresh reinforcements from Sweden and now so wide that he had the command
England placed the king in a still more of the army and the control of politics
favourable position. entirely in his own hands.
This induced Saxony also, on September The Saxon John George, had at
elector,
I5th, to join his cause, for Tilly was already the beginning of the year entertained
invading the elector's territories, with the the thought of concluding peace with the
object of depriving him of the secularised emperor independently of Sweden, but
bishoprics by virtue of the Edict of Restitu- Brandenburg's attitude prevented him,
tion. A
decisive blow was soon struck, and Wallenstein's appearance in Bohemia
since the elector wished above all to see the completely prevented the conclusion of a
Sweden ,
s
...
King
enemy
,
J driven far from his
^,.,
peace which might have secured to
r 11 j
Hailed-i territory. The arrmes met Saxony the possession of the ecclesiastical
Joyfully , , T .
VOermany
,
,-,
property. The negotiations were, how-
,
at Breitenfeld, near Leipzig, '
in , _.,, , , .
, .
which
Tilly had just occu- ever, continued. When Wallenstein had
pied. The forces of the League were com- cleared Bohemia of the Saxons, he sought
pletely routed, and their leader himself was to unite himself with Maximilian of
wounded. The emperor was left without Bavaria, while Gustavus marched north-
an army, and feared for his hereditary do- ward in order to hasten to the help of
minions, while Protestant Germany began the Saxon elector. The Swedes collected
to hail Gustavus Adolphus as a saviour. in Nuremberg but Wallenstein appeared
;
While, then, the Saxons, under John George before the town and entrenched himself in
of Arnim, marched into Bohemia and a camp near Fiirth without engaging in a
4306
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
battle. At last, on September 3rd, Gus- by France, which contributed subsidies.
tavus attacked the enemy 'scamp unsuccess- Richelieu's aims were especially directed
fully, and after vain attempts to bring about towards the acquisition of German soil.
a peace he retreated on September i8th. But the most important point still was
The Swedes next turned southward to secure the adhesion of the German con-
in order to attack Austria but when ; federates to the Swedes. John George
they heard that Wallenstein was press- _ of Saxony, in the negotia-
Conflicting tions conducted with him
-
Weimar retained the to Pomerania, and for two years, till he fell at burg did not entertain
Lutzen in llj32 fou *ht for Pr<>t estan t liberties. On the
military command of -
his proposa i s .
the orphaned army. The Swedish Council other side, Oxenstierna was treating with
of State entrusted the political representa- the commander-in-chief, and asked him,
tion of Sweden in Germany to the chancellor in accordance with the wishes of the
Oxenstierna, for whom a hard task was in Bohemian emigrants, to let himself be
store. The army especially was no longer the elected king but again there were no
;
old force of true-born Swedes which had results. Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had
_, _ landed; the greater part of it driven the Imperialists completely out of
f
had been levied in Germany, Saxony after the day of Lutzen, and then,
Swedish Army
and even the kingb had been
.
on July loth, 1633, by the favour of
. , ,. .
,.
able to maintain discipline Oxenstierna, had become Duke of Fran-
only with difficulty. Henceforth the Swedish conia, the new duchy formed out of the
army did not differ in the least from the bishoprics of Bamberg and Wiirzburg.
Imperialists in the robberies and murders Wallenste n had defeated Arnim at
it committed it became, like them, the
: Steinau on October 23rd, 1633, and freed
terrible scourge and dread of every district Silesia from the enemy. Since, however,
through which it passed. Politically the he did not relieve Regensburg, which Ber-
prosecution of the war was still influenced nard of Weimar had taken on November
4307
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
by a brilliant feat of arms, but
4th, 1633, of the states of North Germany soon gave
withdrew to Bohemia, the emperor con- their adhesion to this treaty, which at once
ceived great mistrust of his general, who deposed the Swedes from their command-
renewed his overtures to Saxony, France, ing position and threatened to cut off
and Sweden, and made a secret agreement their connection with their home.
with Sweden, which was to effect a union Since the dispute as to religious politics
of the armies at Eger. Wallenstein was between the Catholic and Protestant princes
not unaware of this distrust of him in had been accommodated by the most im-
Vienna. He sent in his resigna- portant representatives, henceforth secular
Wallenstem
n
{ Qn j an J interests determined the conduct of the
Deposed and T , ,,
M
,
stein was publicly declared guilty of Ferdinand III., who had followed his
treason by the emperor, on February i8th, father upon the throne in 1637 as emperor
and was murdered on February 25th, and heir to Austria, always maintained
1634, at Eger, while even his army was the most intimate relations with the
deserting him. Hapsburg dynasty of Spain.
The son of the emperor, afterwards The only course left open to those Pro-
Ferdinand III., and Count Matthias of testants who had not acceded to the Treaty
Gallas were now placed at the head of the of Prague, after the overthrow of the
army. With Wallenstein there went to Swedish power, was to form closer rela-
the grave not merely the man of most tions with France, which, under Richelieu's
marked intellectual ability, the splendid brilliant statesmanship, aimed at depriving
general and diplomatist, butalso the only both lines of the Hapsburgs of their supre-
one of all the leaders who
stood superior macy in Western Europe. The French
R ic e ieu had fought against Spain
to the religious controversy. . in
His death placed the emperor, and j ta jy ancj smce the appearance
Doubly c A j u
i /~
consequently Catholicism, in a more favour- D .
rrotectedj of Gustavus
, ,
Adolphus
r, in Ger-
.
,,
able position than had ever been reached many, had operated against the
before. Now for the first time Ferdinand emperor with his support, had made con-
had an army of his own at his disposal, and quests in Lorraine, and had established
he immediately ordered it to advance to themselves firmly in the electorate of
Regensburg. The town fell into the hands Treves. In the spring of 1635 an imperial
of what had been Wallenstein's army army had fought with success on the right
in July, and on September 6th, Gallas bank of the Rhine, and thereby forced
won at Nordlingen a complete victory over France to an open declaration of war.
Bernard of Weimar and Gustavus Horn. Richelieu protected himself on two sides,
Now that the Swedes were defeated, it since he bound over the States-General
was an easy task for the emperor to con- to a common attack on Spain, and the
duct to a successful close the negotiations Swedes to a conflict with the emperor
with Saxony, for which Wallenstein had which should be terminated only by a joint
already paved the way. peace. The emperor thus had henceforth
The preliminary conditions were settled to reckon with a double opposition, both
by November, 1634, and were confirmed in the battlefield and in any negotiations
in the Treaty of Prague on May 3Oth, 1635. for peace.
c ^
. the two provinces of Lusatia being inexperienced in warfare, did not
p
which had been pledged to John wish to enter Central Germany, and were
George after the dissolution of the
I. with difficulty brought as far as the
"
winter kingdom," and was exempted Rhine, while the Imperialists were masters
for the future from enforcing the Edict of of the situation there in the autumn. In
Restitution in return, all claims for the
;
the north, it is true, the Swedes, John
further representation of Protestant in- Baner and Lennart Torstenson, had won
terests were to be renounced, and a pro- repeated successes and drove out the im-
mise given of help in case of need against perial army, united with the Saxons, from
the Swedes and French. The majority Mecklenburg and Pomerania. Richelieu
4308
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
in emergency, on October 2yth, at
this and acquired a commanding position in
St. Germain -en-Laye, concluded a special the north. Saxony and Brandenburg in
treaty with Bernard of Saxe- Weimar, the particular had now to pay dearly for their
most competent Protestant commander ;
defection from the Protestant cause, by
by its terms an army of 12,000 foot the devastation of their country.
soldiers and 6,000 horsemen was to be One party in the councils of Branden-
raised in Germany with French money burg already inclined to the side of the
four million livres yearly and opposed Swedes, and tried to induce the elector
to the emperor in the war for the liberation once more to change his party, especially
of Germany A rich reward was held out with a view to Pomerania, where the
to the victor in the possession of Alsace, Duke Bogislaus XIV. was likely to die
which still belonged to the Hapsburgs. childless, and give Brandenburg a claim to
END OF THE THIRTY YEARS WAR: THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA
In the town hall of the Prussian town of Minister, on October 24th, 1648, was signed the Peace of Westphalia, which
brought to an end the long and bitter war which for thirty years had waged between Protestants and Catholics.
From the painting by Terbourg in the National Gallery, London
The year 1636 was, however, disastrous the succession. The elector, however,
for the French. The Imperialists ad- continued loyal to the emperor ; imperial
vanced into the heart of the country, subsidies appeared finally in December.
menaced Franche-Comte, and, led by the The claims to Pomerania, it is true, when
cavalry general, John von Werth, threat- the duke died, on March 20th, 1637, had
ened even Paris itself, while Bernard first to be contested by arms, and so
merely held his own in Alsace. It was brought distress into the Mark. BaneY in
only when the French people, recognising the north had a difficult task in facing the
the national danger, took up arms that army of Brandenburg and the emperor ;
Gallas was forced to retire in November. he was for a long time separated from
Shortly before on October 4th, 1636 Hermann Wrangel, and was forced at
Baner had again gained a victory at Witt- length to withdraw to Stettin. The
stock over Saxony and the Imperialists, French, it is true, had won advantages
4309
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
over the Spaniards at widely separated Octavio Piccolomini. But the emperor's
points, but in Germany the Imperialists prospects were again improved by the
during the year 1637 had again been death in France, first of Richelieu, on
victorious in every respect. December 4th, 1642, and soon after-
On March 6th, 1638, France and Sweden wards May I4th, 1643 of King Louis
considered it necessary to renew their XIII., who left his son Louis XIV., not
treaty and to promise that neither party yet five years old; and, moreover, Den-
should open negotiations for peace with- mark was once more involved in a war
out the consent of the other. with the Swedes.
Victory Cheers
g d> campaign was this Cardinal Mazarin now managed the state
the German j j -ii
year attended, with success. affairs of France and followed out the
Protestants ^T ,, ,
.
J won on
'
f .,
,
T
was endeavouring to deprive the victor of March 6th, at Jankau, over
his promised reward. But Bernard died Melchior of Hatzfeldt, abandoned the siege
on July i8th, 1639, before, as a second of Briinn and withdrew to Bohemia.
Gustavus Adolphus, he could achieve But Conde and Turenne advanced in
further successes, and thus the emperor conjunction into Bavaria, and on August
was freed from his most dangerous enemy. 3rd won a victory at Allersheim over
Richelieu, without a moment's delay, Mercy, who was slain. At the same time
availed himself of the favourable oppor- on August 25th Denmark made a truce
tunity to take over the well-disciplined with Sweden at Bromsebro, and Saxony,
troops of Bernard, and to form his plans, in completely in the possession of the Swedes
concert with Baner, for continuing the under HansjtChristopher of Konigsmark,
war against the emperor, especially since, accepted an armistice for six months, in
by skilful use of internal dissensions in which: Brandenburg was included. The
Spain, he might count on favourable Swedes now had a free hand in North
results there without any great expenditure Germany.
of force. Although the French henceforth Charles Gustavus Wrangel, who, since
remained in the closest sympathy with the Torstenson's retirement, on December 25th,
The Milita
Swedes, and produced the 1645, had the supreme command, joined
ary
brilliant commanders Turenne forces with Turenne in order to make a
Supremacy , ,, ~ , , ,,
of the Swedes
andthe Great Conde,
yet combined advance on South Germany ;
the military supremacy rested the whole of Bavaria soon fell into their
with the Swedes. After the death of Baner, hands, and the road to the hereditary
on May loth, 1641, Torstenson obtained domains of the emperor lay open to the
decisive successes in Silesia in 1642, and allied army in September, 1646. Maxi-
in combination with two other Swedish milian of Bavaria now found himself in a
armies, won a complete victory at the criticalposition, which determined him,
second battle of Breitenfeld, near Leipzig, in March, 1647, to form a treaty of neu-
on November 2nd, over the Imperialists trality with Sweden Cologne, Mainz,
;
under Archduke Leopold William and and Hesse joined in it. Wrangel marched
4310
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
into Bohemia, but he found opposition at Munster, and with the Swedes and
from the Imperialists, who had once more German Protestants at Osnabriick the ;
Westphalia
ments
,...
were] ointly ratified at
the imperial and Bavarian army under Munster on October 24th,
Peter Melander, Count of Holzappel. The 1648. The Peace of Westphalia was of the
elector fled, and the country was devas- highest importance in a twofold sense.
tated. The Swedes under Konigsmark It not only concluded the era of war
went Bohemia and captured, on July
to and finally settled the ecclesiastical and
26th, the lower town of Prague. The political disputes which had arisen since
French and Swedish arms met with good 1555, but it also created a basis for
fortune in other places also the position of
;
further political development, since it
the emperor was hopeless. The bombard- confirmed by constitutional law the actual
ment of the Old Town at Prague was about disintegration of the German Empire and
to begin, when the news spread through recognised the territory as the modern
the country that peace had been signed and normal structure of the states which
at Minister on October 24th. were joined in a federation called the
"
The vicissitudes of the great war, for Roman empire of the German nation."
the theatre of which Germany had been The peace negotiations at Munster and
marked out by the law of geographical Osnabriick first of all laid down provisions
position as being the heart of with respect to the religious question
The Four U
.
Europe, present a dismal which went considerably further than
^
picture. It was a perpetual earlier agreements. The Treaty of Passau
Great War
ebb and a
,
to the four chief heroes Tilly, Wallenstein, followers as not only the universal,"
Gustavus Adolphus, and Bernard of Wei- but the only religious community which
mar they were masters of the art of war,
;
could lay claim to this name. No less
men of the modern world, too, and in spite splendid ideal hovered before the re-
of repulsive acts, not devoid of high ideals. formers, and especially before the mighty
The arrangement between France and Luther, than a complete transformation
Sweden, which forbade either to enter of Christianity according to his view ;
alone into negotiations for peace with the his doctrine was 'indeed, in his own con-
emperor, had been the outcome of the fine ception of it, as he declared, nothing more
diplomacy of a Richelieu. All attempts of than the reversion to Augustine. The
the emperor to obtain a separate peace had instruments of the peace itself
What the
failed. He was therefore compelled to con- did not indeed proclaim absolute
Peace
sent that an imperial diet should assemble but limited the power
Provided toleration,
in 1640 at Ratisbon in order to discuss of the territorial lord to determine
the steps which might lead to peace. The the community to which his subjects should
negotiations of the imperial diet were fruit- belong, in so "far that the year 1624 was
less. But the fervent desire for peace which selected as the Normal Year," and anyone
found expression in them was such that the who, in that year, had actually exercised
path once trodden could not again be one or the other religion was to be per.
abandoned. In the year 1641 it was mitted to exercise it on all future occasions.
resolved at Hamburg that the imperial And creed was not to be prejudicial to any-
"
envoys should negotiate with the French one in his occupation as a citizen."
274 4311
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
The co-existence side by side of several dent republics, which had previously been
confessions in the same territory was thus part of the empire, were separated from it.
rendered possible. On the other hand, the For Switzerland this merely implied the
incidental change of faith by a prince was recognition of the conditions prevailing
no longer to force the whole people to take since 1499. The States- General, which now
the same step. It is obvious that this new were entering on great economic pros-
regulation must have introduced a practical perity the East India Company had been
toleration, and have finally led to its founded in 1602 had acquired the right
_... constitutional and universal to political independence in a still higher
Difficulties
in the acceptance
r -
in the rpop ular
TM i j
degree. Their favourable position on the
coast urged the towns to rule the seas by
w f p
consciousness. 1 his happened
in the eighteenth century, means of a trading fleet, and the fall of
and no less a man than Lessing tried to Spain offered at the same time the oppor-
find the philosophical basis for toleration. tunity of entering on the inheritance of
Nothing final and conclusive was their former persecutors.
arranged by the peace instruments. The peace ended the most gloomy
Innumerable disputes arose, both as to section of German history. The mere
the actual conditions in the Normal Year, attempt to picture the sufferings which
and as to the interpretation of all other the German country endured must be
points, and many of them were ended only abandoned. It must suffice to compare
by the complete destruction of the old the condition of the districts before the
empire. But it is clearly recognisable, beginning of the struggle with that at the
from the very fact that the interpretation close of the war if a credible picture of
is disputed, that" the peace-document the effect of the fury of the combatants
really became a Fundamental Law of is to be drawn. The price of food-stuffs
the Holy Roman Empire," such as was was often ten times the ordinary price.
"
demanded by the so-called Last Imperial ' The number of the inhabitants
" Ger an
Recess of 1654, which embodied the full
oteriv Path to
was terribly
,
J diminished; in the
, .
-,-, i \ ,
two instruments.
text of the
Develo ment
case Bohemia calculations
More important than those provisions, have led to the result, which
which only legally confirmed existing may be considered as correct, that instead
conditions, were the answers to the inter- of four millions in 1618, only 800,000 in-
national questions. France obtained habitants were still living at the end of the
considerable portions of the Hapsburg war. In this connection we must reflect
possessions in Alsace with the express that all districts were equally ravaged and
reservation of Strassburg and the equally exhausted by friend and foe. The
bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, conclusion of peace did not immediately
which had been occupied since 1552. end all scenes of violence armies were
;
Sweden established a firm footing on the still stationed everywhere, and individual
mainland, and became a state of the claims had to be proved and sustained by
German Empire, for, together with a the interested parties. The task was, on
war indemnity of five million thalers the whole, discharged at Nuremberg, in the
"
($3,750,000), it received Upper Pomerama course of the year 1649 the Principal
;
"
and Riigen, the smaller portion of Lower Recess for the execution of the Peace was
Pomerania, with Stettin and the mouth finally issued in June, 1650. Even if all
_ of the the town the hopes were not at once fulfilled which
The Compensations ( ,, r Oder,
_,.
.
,, ,
~FI.
of ~..i
Electoral
of Wismar, and the inspired German hearts on the news of the
bishopric of Bremen, conclusion of peace, even if Germany still
Brandenburg
excluding the town, as suffered from its wounds for centuries, yet,
well as the bishopric of Verdun. Electoral on the other hand, it must not be forgotten
Brandenburg, which had claims on the that only through such hard trials has it
whole of Pomerania in virtue of hereditary been possible for the empire to shatter the
rights, had to be content with the larger old forms of the constitution, and thus to
portion of Lower Pomerania, but was com- open the road for the modern development
pensated by the bishoprics of Halberstadt, of the state which finally in the nineteenth
Minden, and the reversion to Magdeburg. century led to the new German Empire.
On the borders of the empire two indepen- ARMIN TILLE
4312
WESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION AND AFTER
TO THE
XIV
REVOLUTION
r
of r ranee
accordance with the general mitted to return to court.
A ,
.
,
district to safeguard the rights of the were soon subdued, but in the south the
people against the absolute monarchy, but struggle lasted until October, 1622, when
seldom indeed with success. the Edict of Nantes was once more ratified
Owing to the suppression of the Hugue- in essential points. The queen-mother,
nots planned by Marie, it was not long . however, used her newly-
ic e ieu
before new hostilities broke out between ac q u re(j influence less in her
i
at the Helm
the religious parties. Prince Henry of
f St
own P riva * e interests than
, ,
m
Conde allied himself, in July, 1615, with support of Cardinal Richelieu,
the Protestants, who took up arms, whose admission into the Council of State
but a peace in May, 1616 temporarily was due to her. After 1624 Richelieu
quieted men's minds, after the prince had alone guided the affairs of the state.
been drawn over to the royalist party. With this began the prosperity of
The trusted agent of Marie in all her action the French policy, which henceforth
was the Italian Concino Concini, Marechal influenced and finally governed European
4313
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
diplomacy. Richelieu's goal was that of finally to the scaffold. The attack of the
Kenry weakening of the power
IV., the Duke of Orleans was connected with that
of the Hapsburgs in Austria and Spain. of Duke Charles of Lorraine, his father-in-
The Dutch Republic, the German Pro- law, who supported the emperor and was
testants and the Swedes were supported therefore forced to open Nancy to the
by France the War of Succession in
;
French until the conclusion of peace ;
in
Mantua ended on April 6th, 1631, to the fact, the whole country remained occupied
advantage of France, and Spain thus lost a by them for almost three decades until
Richelieu strong support to her influence 1659 while Duke Charles vainly fought
in Italy. The government at on the side of the emperor for the recovery
at the Siege of
La Rochelle
home was, under Richelieu, in- of his country.
spired wholly by state con- The Duke of Orleans, taken into favour
siderations the representation of private
; again in 1634, attempted nevertheless a
interests ceased, and therefore the cardinal new plot against Richelieu. This time also
found intense opposition at court. In the plan failed. His hope of succession
order to prevent further disturbances, to the throne was shortly afterwards
which for the last century had always been in 1638 destroyed by the birth of an heir
caused with the help of the Huguenots, the to the crown, the subsequent Louis XIV.
cardinal, in 1626, resolved on their sub- He attempted, however, once more to
jection and conquest. Even the aid of overthrow Richelieu in conjunction with
Spain was welcomed for ~~ Cinq -Mars, whom Louis XIII.
this end, while England I had made Grand Master of
supported the Reformed the Horse, and in concert
party. The strongest place of with Spain. Once more all
the Huguenots, La Rochelle, was useless. But Richelieu's
was besieged in 1627 under end was near; he died on
Richelieu's personal com- December 4th, 1642, and on
mand. It was not until May I4th, 1643, the king
October 28th, 1628, when followed him. Although the
the expected English relief cardinal had not been fated
did not appear, that the town to co-operate in the con-
surrendered. Famine had clusion of peace at Miinster,
made terrible ravages among the weight which France
still
the inhabitants. Richelieu was able there to put into the
promised the survivors se- LOUIS XIII. OF FRANCE balance was incontestably the
curity of life and property The son of Henry IV., Louis was result of his unresting activity.
as well as free exercise of their only nine years old when, in 1610,
he succeeded to the throne on the
The guardianship of the
religion ;the fortifications assassination of his father. He infant prince was, contrary
was a weak ruler, and died in 1643.
were, however, dismantled, to the wish of the father,
and the privileges of the town declared undertaken by the queen, Anne of Austria,
void. By the treaty of the summer of with whom Louis had spent an unhappy
1629 the fortifications of all the Huguenot married life. The supporters of Richelieu
places of refuge were destroyed but feared an immediate reversal in the system
;
religious liberty was retained, .although of government. The queen then chose for
the political representation of the Hugue- her trusted servant the Italian Guilio
nots was abolished. Mazarini, who had been in the French
The respect formerly entertained by service as Jules Mazarin since 1639 a
the queen-mother for Richelieu was mean-
M man who, lacking Richelieu's
time changed into dislike. She had long ~ and energy, was yet, like
in a Position spirit
intrigued against the Minister, but in of Power
.
m
anxious to work for the
'
vain ;she had herself been forced to leave greatness of France. At home
the court. The king's brother, Duke the discontent at the burden of taxation,
Gaston of Orleans, began in her stead to which was always increasing through the
agitate against the Minister, and in 1632 continuous war, led to the serious riots
ventured with the support of Henry de of the Fronde at Paris in the summer of
Montmorency to risk a war, but was 1648 and they ended with a victory of
;
compelled to surrender after the defeat of the Parlement, since it compelled the
Castelnaudary, on September ist, which queen to acknowledge its influence on the
brought Montmorency to prison and most important business of government.
43H
Any attempts of the queen to annul her the French nation had apparently never
concessions were frustrated. She had to lost sight. The programme of Guilbert
give way in the Peace of Rueil, on April ist, of Metz, of 1434, had not yet been com-
1649 but Mazarin retained provisionally
;
pleted. He had laid upon the French
his commanding position. But when, king the duty of acquiring Liege, Flanders,
in concert with the queen, he arrested, Hainault, Brabant, Guelders, Juliers,
,
LOUIS XIV.
on January i8th, 1650, Prince
T c r- j ji j ' i
Upper and Lower Burgundy, Provence,
Louis of Conde, the leader of Savoy, Lorraine, Luxemburg, Metz, Toul,
(h Throne
^e
opposition, and his kins-
~ J
Verdun, Treves, Cologne, Mainz, and
men, Armand of Conde and Strassburg but some part of this project
;
Henry of Longueville, he brought down on had been realised. The districts mcluded
his head a storm' which banished him for a in the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Ver-
time from France, although he supported dun, which had been French possessions
his queen with counsel from Liege and for all practical purposes for- the last
Briihl. When he wished to return, Conde hundred years from 1552 were now
rose again and it was only when the
; formally separated from the German con-
latter had been defeated by Turenne in federacy, and the old Hapsburg posses-
1652 that Mazarin was able to. come home sions and rights in Alsace and Sundgau,
as victor on February 3rd, the town of Breisach, and
1653. Two years before, the jurisdiction over the
Louis XIV. had techni- Alsatian imperial towns,
cally come and
,of age, now devolved upon the
had formally entered on crown of France. The
the government; in boundary of the Rhine
reality his mother still was attained. The dis-
remained the sovereign. puted boundaries upon
The picture of the home the north, the Pyrenees,
affairs in France during and the Western Alps still
the great war could not prolonged the struggle
be called attractive. Yet with Spain, and war went
French policy had turned on for years on these
the scale in the Peace oi great issues. The great
Westphalia. It is due to cardinal, who had clung
this alone that the .em- with wonderful tenacity
peror consented to allow to the acquisitions which
princes to attend the Henry IV. had handed
negotiations as repre- CARDINAL RICHELIEU down, had not been so
sentatives O me empire. fortunate as to live to "see
Becoming cardinal in 1622 and Minister of :~ .
It mUSt be
Said, no State to Louis XIII. two years later, Richelieu the recognition of the
"
doubt, that the efforts of ^^y^f^^^^&Fi^
France were directed not of the nobility. He died in the year 1642.
"
national rights
which he had spent the
for
Protestants as towards her own aggran- time when he laid down his life's work
disement, and that her only concern was the victory of France had been certainly
that an uncompromising opponent to the assured. Mazarin never wavered in this
Hapsburg emperor might be permanently policy, a policy which was eminently
established in the German prince system, national. It was the natural outcome of
irrespective of all question of creed. the just claims of the French, the suc-
This object was attained. cessors and heirs of the Gauls, who
"
The dreams and longings of Philip created the old Austrasia. It
Mazarin's
Augustus, the aims and intentions of Philip National is, however, not so easy to
the Fair, the traditions of Henry IV.," retrace the conditions which
were almost, though not entirely, realised Policy made the " revindications "
by the Peace of Westphalia. That peace possible to an origin in the force of
merely gave France and the French their public opinion in France.
due, and made valid their natural right of It is to see the connection
difficult
inheritance to the Frankish kingdom of between people's desires and the
the
Charlemagne. " Much was still wanting to circumstances which led to the imperial
complete the revindications," of which concentration of the original dukedoms
THE FRANCE OF RICHELIEU AND MAZARIN
and counties composing the whole of it was by no 'means certain that the young
France. The extinction of the house of king, in whose name the cardinal Jules
Burgundy in the fourth generation, the Mazarin tried to save France from her
acquisition of Brittany and Berry, Anjou fate, would enjoy all those advantages
and Provence, by the French kings which had been won for him by German
through marriage and inheritance, the regiments in French pay during the war now
death, without heirs, of the three royal ended. The state power, the centralrsa- ;
support the so-called logical and inevit- that the result of this action was merely
able character of national development, to provoke a vigorous resistance, and to
France had to learn from her .own experi- excite the population of Paris in favour
ence at the very moment when she took of the demands of the official spokesmen.
that first step towards the The government gave in, and on that same
The Great
acquisition ofthe European October 24th made concessions which
Ambition
of France supremacy which she was
for contributed chiefly to the advantage of
striving, a step most important the manufacturing classes.
and most pregnant of results. The couriers However, the government did not attain
saddled their horses in Miinster 6n Octo- its object. The landed nobility, whom
ber 24th, 1648, to carry to the world the Richelieu had stripped of almost all its
news that Germany had at last complied privileges, was excited with the hope of
with all 'the demands of the foreign regaining the old dominant position in
mediators, and had saved, at any rate, the state, and this through an alliance
"
the sovereignty of her princes from with the Noblesse des robes," which had
1
general ruin and misery. None' the less, gained possession of the highest official
4317
THE FRANCE OF RICHELIEU AND MAZARIN
positions by purchase and inheritance. Spirit of opposition to an absolute mon-
Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, best known archy was not immediately broken. It
as the Cardinal de Retz, and coadjutor to manifested itself among the manufacturing
his uncle Henry, the Archbishop of Paris, citizens of the capital, in the provincial
gathered round himself some of the most Parlements, and in the great families
distinguished peers, who demanded the which considered that the foundation of a
dismissal of Mazarin and the creation of political power lay in the government of
a council of regency, in which they were the old duchies entrusted to their own
themselves to have place and voice. The Mazarin
The great Conde himself.
chiefs.
.
, ,
,
,
opposition called itself, seized the power. royal cousin alone, placed him-
However, the Duke of Orleans remained self at the head of the relatives of the
on the side of the government, as also did royal house, who were not inclined to see
the Duke Louis of Conde, who had already themselves reduced to the position of
won a great military reputation as Prince mere officials. The preponderance of the
d'Enghien, and had beaten the Spaniards princes of royal blood threatened danger
at Lens a short time before on August to the opposing alliance, inasmuch as it
2Oth, 1648. But Conde's implied a loss of prestige
younger brother, Armand to the other great feudal
Conti, his sister Anne lords. Mazarin recognised
Genevieve, Duchess of this fact, and made over-
Longueville, Vendome, tures to the party of the
Beaufort, Bouillon, had coadjutor Retz, with the
become allies of Gondi. view of dividing them
The brother of Bouillon, from the Fronde. As he
Henri de Latour had succeeded with the
d'Auvergne, Viscount of leaders of the Parisian
Turenne, placed his sword Parlement, so here he
at their service, and brought their old allies
would have marched on to obedience and when
;
At that time there were in France later Louis XIV., who had marched into
too many official bodies whose sphere of Paris at the head of his guards, brought
action was not coincident with the terri- him back with the greatest splendour, and
torial departments, too many forces sub- received him on February 3rd, 1653,
serving the central power, too many into the town by which he had been so
interests which could be forwarded by passionately hated and persecuted.
bureaucratic government, and very few The unity of the kingdom was saved.
which rested on the foundation of terri- The royal government could not look for-
torial rule. Consequently, the ward without anxiety to the future as long
The Court 3
D state of parties during the as the war with Spain continued and
Removes ....
.
p .
military period was continually Conde was fighting on the enemy's side.
changing every week new
; They were obliged to keep a careful eye on
groups were formed, fresh conditions the individualist movements in Normandy,
were arranged for convenience of par- Guienne, and Burgundy, and upon the
ticipation in this or the other under- fresh intrigues of Retz, who was laying
taking. Conde nearly succeeded in coming claims to the archbishopric of Paris after
to an arrangement with the queen and his uncle's death. But there was no
uniting the position of Prime Minister longer any necessity to fear that the unity
to that of first prince of the blood of the provinces composing the kingdom
royal but Mazarin threw his influence
; was liable to dissolution. Conde had gone
into .the opposite scale, and warned the over to the side of Spain but his defection
;
queen from Bonn that a compact with did not imply that of some province of the
Conde would imperil the future of her kingdom bound to himself, as was the case
son, who had just attained his majority. when Bavaria or Brandenburg allied them-
The negotiations then came to a point at selves with France against the Holy Roman
which open war against Conde was the emperor. Foreign powers had received
only remaining alternative. The members the most striking proofs that the royal
of the old Fronde left him, and agreed to government was again in full consciousness
the recall of Mazarin, and to the removal _, of its strength. Upon the death
of the court from Paris, where it could of Ferdinand III., Mazarin was
on the Side , ,
.
,,
have been best watched and influenced. ., "
able to propose the candidature
ofr France , T ^/i,,
Conde's greatest loss, which perhaps of Louis XIV. to the German
decided the result of the now unavoidable electors, and to reply to their preference
civil war, was the desertion of Turenne, for the Hapsburg by the foundation
whose action was determined by personal of the first Rhine confederacy under a
desires and hopes rather than by political French protectorate. Moreover, the
considerations. The beautiful Duchess English Commonwealth, in accordance
of Longueville might have succeeded in with Elizabethan tradition, took the side
keeping him under her brother's standard ;
of France in the quarrel of the two Rom-
but she rejected the advances of the only ance kingdoms of Western Europe, and
4321
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
helped the impoverished resources of the renunciation of her rights of succession to
court with the offer of some brigades the Spanish-Hapsburg territories.
of English infantry at its own cost. The To Mazarin the Florentine France is
price paid for this assistance Dunkirk no less indebted than to the national
was certainly very high but after this
; leader, who had taken up the inheritance
undertaking the military resistance of the of Henry IV. he had left the affairs of
;
4323
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
REVOLUTION XV
4323
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
hopeless task of sub- avoided, was accepted
duing the Dutch by Spain with haughty
Protestaftfef^he per- alacrity, and the nation,
sistence in the fatal at the bidding of its
tradition inherited from king and his favourite
Charles V. of the hege- Olivares, took the last
mony in Christendom fatal step upon the
of thehouse of Austria slope of ruin.
under the a^gis of Spain For years the wars
precipitated the final went on in Flanders,
catastrophe. Francis I. in Germany, in Italy,
had fought against such France always leading
a consummation in the foes of Spain. The
the days when Spain attempt to levy un-
and the empire were constitutional taxation
strongest, and now with in Aragon and Portugal
powerful Richelieu con- gave Richelieu the
trolling a homogeneous opportunity of pro-
France, the opportunity moting revolt in Spain
of crushing a weak and itself. Portugal threw
disillusioned, corrupt off the yoke in 1640,
and disunited Spain KING PHILIP iv. Catalonia transferred
was too good to be A royal pauper, lacking necessary food, "his its allegiance to France,
armies starved and in rags," while his "fleet was
lost. Philip IV. and rotting and useless "- such is the picture given to
and the overburdened
his advisers would king, who claimed the
still us of Philip IV. and his once powerful kingdom of
565 '
largely responsible both for the peculiar L . used to remodel the Scottish
lines on which English Nonconformity Kirk upon Elizabethan lines.
developed and for the programme which The second half of the plan was accom-
the Presbyterian section of the Noncon- plished when, in 1606, a Parliament,
formists adopted, Scottish Protestantism assembled at Perth, accepted an act for the
having developed on Calvinistic and restitution of bishops the measure was
;
r . to treat with some respect the were Presbyterians in disguise, and dis-
Lpiscopacy , . . .
degrees formulated a policy of absolutism king had identified himself with practices
which had the support of moderate men and forms of government which a large pro-
and of many who sighed for a return to portion of his subjects condemned on con-
the old religion. But his only prospect scientious grounds. The Catholics, at the
of success lay in dividing the Protestants beginning of the reign, had hopes that the
among themselves in 1587 he renounced
;
new ruler would feel it politic to make large
all hope of establishing a strong episcopate concessions to them but finding that hope
;
but the ministers abused their op- trayed several of the conspirators suffered
;
portunity and the weakness of the the extreme penalty, and the popular pre-
Crown Their insolence fostered in the judice against Romanism was intensified
mind of James a belief that Puritanism a hundredfold. The lines "of the coming
was necessarily connected with demo- struggle between Crown and Parliament
cratic and theocratic principles which in England were largely determined by
could not fail to subvert all government the fact that James had been actually
4327
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
King of Scotland five and twenty years The Commons, on the other hand, were
before he ascended the English throne. In not disposed to treat him with the for-
England other causes of friction soon arose. bearance which had always characterised
James was at variance with his parliaments their attitude towards his predecessor. He
from first to last. Sometimes the quarrel won a remarkable triumph over them in
was due to his superior 1606 when the judges
enlightenment, as when ruled that he could im-
he concluded peace with pose new customs duties
Spain, when he projected a without the consent of
legislative union between Parliament ;
and he used
England and Scotland, this permission to make
when, being balked in good the deficit in his
the plan, he procured a budget which resulted
judicial decision that from the reluctance of
Scots living in England the Commons to vote
were entitled to all the him adequate supplies.
private rights of native But they took their
Englishmen, when, finally, revenge by refusing his
he framed plans for an in- request for a fixed income
creased measure of tolera- in lieu of his feudal dues
tion to the Catholics. and privileges. They
But even when his views opposed his scheme for
were sound he showed marrying his son Charles
no tact in his m
inner to a Spanish princess, and
of unfolding them and;
JAMES I., KING OF ENGLAND made a hero of Sir Walter
there were cases in which The only son of Mary Queen of Scots and Raleigh, whom he caused
Viic
nis -r>it>/-tc imrnlwprl
involved Darnley, he was proclaimed King 5 of Scotland, fr> K
to L P Y p>riTrprl in -rf\rR for
p,
pro] ects as James VI in f567 being then only one year
a serious menace to con- old; mieos.he ascended the a descent upon a Spanish
English throne,
thus uniting the crowns of the two countries
stitutional liberty. He '
4328
ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES L
exponent of autocratic principles, with a laid. On the other hand, the glories of the
heavy fine and dismissal from all offices. Elizabethan epoch, the great explorers, the
The ostensible charge against Bacon great dramatists and men of letters, the
was one of bribery and corruption the ; seamen who had made our naval supremacy,
real offence was his criticism of parlia- passed from the stage without leaving
mentary government and his hostility to successors to fill their places.
Coke, the greatest of living lawyers and a Most of the new developments which
staunch defender of constitutional prin- marked the age foreboded strife and unrest
ciples. James and civil war.
abandoned the I Peace was the
monopolists and I
object which
Bacon to their James most
fate he
;
was I cherished after
always on the I that ol his own
verge of a serious I
ag grandise -
scale, by settling? six counties party, William Laud, Archbishop in the Thirty Years War.
in Ulster with. Scots and of Canterbury, attempted in vain Charles found in Henrietta
1
an expedition to the relief of the Huguenots imprisoning the leaders of the opposition,
in La Rochelle in 1627. The government and for the next eleven years 1629-40
was obliged to meet the expenses of the did his best to govern without Parliament.
campaign by a forced loan, and to pro- In this policy he had able supporters.
vide for the new levies of soldiers by Strafford (Lord Wentworth), originally a
means of billeting. Buckingham at first member of the opposition, but converted
bore the blame for these arbitrary mea- to the side of prerogative by his
sures. But the assassination of Bucking- indignation at the impracticable and
ham in 1628 produced no improvement in obstructive tactics of the Commons, proved
the policy of Charles ; and the Commons himself a vigorous and resourceful adminis-
were reluctantly forced to the conclusion trator. He was first appointed President
that the king, rather than his Ministers, of the Council of the North, a local Star
should be held responsible for all the short - Chamber, which Henry VIII. had created
comings and after the Pilgrim-
excesses of the age of Grace ;
administration. subsequently he
Even before went to Ireland
the death of with a commis-
Buckingham the sion to continue
opposition the work of colo-
secured a signal nisati on ,
to
triumph, and manage the Irish
gave the country Parliament, and
a foretaste of to make the
their programme island a profit-
by extorting the able possession
king's assent to for the Crown.
the Petition of In all these
Right in 1628. objects he was
This celebrated signally success-
statute forbade ful, the more so
the billeting of because he paid
soldiers on no attention to
private house- laws which would
holders, made it have imposed in-
illegal to enforce convenient
martial law in checks upon his
time of
peace, action and the
;
George Villiers, Duke Buckingham, was a court favourite of James I. and also of Charles I negotiating the marriage
of .,
of the latter to Henrietta Maria of France. He was assassinated in 1628. After the death of Buckingham, Sir Thomas
Wentworth, afterwards Earl of Strafford, became the adviser of the king, but fell from power and ended his life on the
scaffold. A patriot of high character, John Hampden opposed the king's policy, and was one of the members of Parlia-
ment whom Charles attempted to arrest in 1642. He died from a wound received while opposing Prince Rupert.
4332
CHARLES I., KING OF ENGLAND
From the painting by Anthony Vandyke in the Louvre
4333
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
down to Scotland. A riot began in the the moment all that they asked. Charles
church of St. Giles in Edinburgh on the could not acquiesce in this humiliation.
firstSunday morning when the new liturgy He called a Parliament in 1640, expecting
was used. Then followed the subscription that national pride would induce the
of the National Covenant by Commons to postpone domes-
all classes the Scottish
of j>
tic difficulties until the Scots
nation and
;
a General had been chastised. But the
Assembly of the Church, Commons were obdurate.
which was so largely reinforced They informed the king that
by laymen as to resemble a redress must precede supply,
national parliament, declared and were dismissed within
in favour of a return to the three weeks of their first
strict Presbyterian system. meeting. A second attempt
The king ordered the to raise an army without
assembly to dissolve. But it taxation failed. The Scots
defied him, as its prede- entered England and forced
cessors had so often defied Charles to make terms. Pend-
his father and when Charles,
;
JOHN PYM in
& a definite settlement, he
in 1639, advanced to the He was another of the five mem- Was obliged to make himself
bers of Parliament whom Charles I. i; a Kl p f nr nav
border with a hastily raised attempted to arrest, and was also llaDI fV,~
tne P a Y nf trip
and iii.Lyi.wv
diivj.
ill-provided
ivj.*_.\j. ai iii y
army, he *conspicuous
uv
-
" the j--
- ~^.. &
proceedings Scottish
_r*^,\j u 11011 army.
ui 1.11 y The
.*. xi\_ i_/\^v^. Oj
peers,
*
found himself confronted by agrail whom he asked to help him in
a force stronger than his own, under the his financial straits, insisted that he should
command of David Leslie. The only have recourse to Parliament. Accordingly
possible course was to grant the Scots for the Long Parliament was convened at the
close of 1640, and the new members their body, the Commons at once took
Ministers
began the work of criticising the execu- vigorous measures against the
tive, with the knowledge that the of Charles. They impeached Strafford
them and Laud and upon discovering that it
king could not afford to dismiss ;
success for the autocratic designs of king's forest rights were restricted and ;
Charles ;
Com-
and the r
_
r
--- -., Parliament reasserted
mons , rightly or i
\ its exclusive right of
wrongly, were con- controlling all customs
vinced of Strafford's duties, thus setting
intention govern to aside the judgment in
England with an Irish virtue of which James
army. Charles might had settled these
have saved his Minister imposts at his plea-
by. refusing to sign the sure. The general result
attainder, but yielded of these sweeping
.to the pressure of the measures was a return
opposition it is some ;
from the Tudor to
excuse for this viola- the Lancastrian con-
tion of the express ception of the preroga-
promises which he had tive. Of this fact the
given to Strafford that Commons showed full
the London mob was consciousness. Their
clamouring for the debates abounded in
head of the queen, appeals to the parlia-
on whom, as a mentary precedents of
Catholic, the blame for the fourteenth and
OLIVER CROMWELL centuries.
Laud's ecclesiastical
Cromwell came to his country's rescue at a time
fifteenth
policywas thrown. when the rights of the people and their Parliament 1 hey Were del] berately
were finding a bitter and resolute enemy in the king. rpv v incr a nnlitv whirri
Meanwhile Parlia- He built
up a strong fabric of government, which, reviving
a polity wmcft ;
ment proceeded, by however, did not endure after the death of its founder, had been discarded
legislation of less after the Wars of
disputable cha- the Roses.
racter, to make It remained to
the restoration be seen whether
of' absolutism the Commons
i'lii possible. had made a suf-
A Triennial Act ficient advance in
4337
SCENES FROM THE TROUBLED LIFE OF CHARLES I.
Riding- roughshod over all the rights and liberties of the nation, Charles I. aroused the indignation and the opposition
of his people, and they rose up in revolt. In this picture we see the king raising his standard at
Nottingham, where
the Civil War had its beginning. This ceremony had not taken place in England since the battle of Bosworth Field.
The artist depicts in this picture the scene at Westminster when Charles I.
attempted to arrest the five members
of Parliament, and shows Speaker Lenthal, on his knees, asserting the
privileges of the Commons against the king.
From the frescoes in the House of I.ords by C. W. Cope, R.A.
4338
THE KING WHO DEFIED HIS PARLIAMENT AND HIS PEOPLE
Brought to trial in Westminster Hall on January 20th, 164!l, Charles was accused of high treason, and sentence ot
death was pronounced against him. Throughout the proceedings the king bore himself with great dignity, and
refused to submit himself to the jurisdiction of the court, but many witnesses were examined, and he was condemned.
4339
*'$ 1
s
g|i .
"Ill*
^ i^*so
SiS^a
fc
/ OK c5, Vs -v5 g-s^l
*r4$&*
^
Nel *
>"> ^.
^ J *
oj-e. | ^| ^. ^g
i^ fH^^ii 1^
lUlHiIBJ^
W ^^
cs_ 5 /^
5
*
4340
ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES I.
reaction. He resolved to sacrifice his most with a fanatical hatred of the English
cherished convictions in order to regain Protestants, who lorded it in the most
the support of the friends of the Covenant ; flourishing districts of the island. Charles
for he believed, with some justice, that was prepared, in the last resort, to leave
these, if satisfied on the religious issue, were Ireland at the mercy of the rebels. He
unlikely to sympathise, with the political knew that he could count on their undying
aspirations of the English opposition. hatred of a Puritan and English Parlia-
He travelled northward to confirm ment ; he shut his eyes to the probable
the Presbyterian settlement in a fate of the English colonists. In 1641 a
Parliament at Edinburgh, and used the terrible massacre more than decimated the
who, on the fatal day, walked on the king's right in the procession to the scaffold administering spiritual solace.
4342
ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES I.
4343
276
THE BURIAL IN WINDSOR CASTLE
For seven days after the execution of Charles, the coffin remained at Whitehall exposed to public view. On February
8th, the remains of the ill-fated king were laid to rest in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.' Snow fell heavily
as the body was being removed 'fro'm the interior of the castle to the chapel, "and the servants of the king were
pleased to see, in the sudden whiteness', that covered their unfortunate master's coffin, a symbol. of his innocence."
From the painting by C. W. Cope, R.A.
But the real question layjbetweemPuritan- operations were various and widely
ism and the Elizabethan Church"'. . scattered despite the fact;- that' the head-
The War -lasted rfrorh 1642 till
first Civil quarters of the king were- fixed at Oxford,
1646. divided every social class and
It at no great distance from London, where
many households, but the're were certain the Parliament was sitting. Besides main-
districts in which one or the other of the taining several armies simultaneously in
co n t e n d i n g different parts of
parties enjoyed England, the
a lasting pre- king relied upon
dominance. East the diversions
of a line from effected by his
Hull to Arundel supporters in
lay the head- Ireland and
quarters of Scotland. The
Par liament- campaigns of
ary influence, the Mont rose in
wealthiest and Scotland (1644-
most progressive 1645) were, from
part of the CAREY AND RUPERT.: FRIENDS OF THE KING a military point
COUntry. Corn- Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland, ind, was an eloquent advocate
advocate of, of view, One of
constitutional liberty he stood by the king when the Civil War broke
wall, Oxford- ;
out, and was killed at the battle of Newbury in HJ43. Known as the the most strik-
" Mad
and North
shire, Cavalier," Prince Rupert was a leading spirit in the Royalist features in
ing
cause, and fought with great courage in its battles. He .died -in 1682.
Wales were con- the war. The
sistently Royalist. The Midlands contin- Parliament .acted more wisely when it
,
ually changed hands; the country resolved to concentrate the bulk of its
between Cornwall and Sussex was first available forces on the conquest of
Parliamentary, then Royalist, then recon- England. In 1643 it purchased Scottish
quered by Parliament. The north was at aid by accepting Presbyterianism, though
first held for the king, but was lost to his with reservation, under the Solemn League
cause in 1644. The theatres of military and Covenant ; a Scottish army thereupon
4344
CROMWELL DISSOLVING THE LONG PARLIAMENT
Cromwell dismissed the Long Parliament, which had sat for twelve years and had supported the nation's rights
against the king. The members of the Council were also dispersed. The historic scene when Cromwell, pointing
to the mace, exclaimed, "Take away that bauble " is shown in this picture from the painting by Benjamin West
!
4345
THE DEATH OF OLIVER CROMWELL AT WHITEHALL ON SEPTEMBER 3RD, 1658
From the painting by D. W. Wynfield in South Kensington Museum
marched across the border and proved ment in giving occupation to their Royalist
invaluable in the northern operations. neighbours. Another useful outpost was
The military movements in England acquired in Gloucester in the eastern ;
may be briefly summarised. In 1642 the counties a local association organised and
king made Oxford his headquarters and put under the command of Oliver Cromwell
attempted a direct attack upon London, a Huntingdonshire squire, hitherto known
from which, however, he was deterred only as a member of the Parliamentary
when he found a Parlia- opposition the famous
"
mentary force drawn up force of the Iron-
at Brentford to oppose sides," who soon
his advance. In 1643, became the terror of
Charles again made Royalist commanders.
London his
objective, In 1644 York was
but resolved to make besieged by the com-
the attack with three bined forces of Parlia-
converging armies, of ment and the Scots ;
ment and the army might be set at variance as the Rump resolved to establish a
by Royalist intrigue, for the Parliament republic, in which there should be neither
was pledged to the enforcement of Presby- king nor House of Lords. Thus was in-
terianism, while the army was composed augurated the Commonwealth, which lasted
of many sects and Cromwell, now the
;
until 1660. Time' had effaced
Inauguration
acknowledged leader of the soldiers, of the
from the memories of men
showed his loyalty to the Independent Commonwealth most of the objects with
creed by demanding liberty of belief and which Parliament had em-
worship for all honest men. The king barked upon the great rebellion. Moreover,
might still win over the army by promises the victory had been already gained, so far
of toleration, or the Parliament by accept- as constitutional principles were concerned,
ing Presbyterianism. In 1647 the feud before the war began. The feud with
of Presbyterian and Independent ran high, Charles had been in part religious, and
and Parliament proposed to disband the" still more of a personal character. He
army. The soldiers there- had been attacked as the
upon took the law into champion of Anglicanism,
their own hands. They and because he would not
seized the king's person, submit to the extra-
to prevent him from ordinary restraints which
coming to terms with the shiftiness of his
their opponents, and character seemed to make
offered to restore him on imperative. Anglicanism
condition of toleration was now a beaten cause.
and a remodelling of A new religious question
Parliament on a more had arisen whether
democratic basis. there should or should
But the flight of the not be a State Church and
king to Carisbrooke came enforced uniformity. In
as a proof that he in- politics, too, there was a
tended to play off one new issue whether the
party against the other. JOHN MILTON relations of legislature
He was in communication The greatest English poet after Shakespeare, and executive should
John Milton was born in Bread Street, Cheap-
, , .
8ide) on L^^
Decem ber 9th, ieoe. His remain as settled in 1642,
offered, if he would grant sight failed Mm in 1652, but this calamity did or whether the executive,
their terms, to invade not stem the flow of his immortal verse, as the resting on the support of
England. The bargain Picture on Pa&e 435 show8 He died in 1074. the army and i n de pen-
-
Pride's Purge, when Colonel Pride and his this body he expected to obtain a satisfac-
troop admitted to the House only the pliant tory settlement. The reluctance of the
members, the Commons was cleared of Rump to abdicate was, however, invincible.
those who refused toleration ;
the remaining Cromwell therefore expelled it by armed
members, under the influence of the army, force in 1653, and, with the help of his
appointed an extraordinary court of justice, officers, framed a list of members for a
4348
ENGLAND PREPARING "A WHIP FOR VAN TROMP"
and the Dutch was attended by many
The struggle for the supremacy of the seas waged between the English
is said to have hoisted a broom
encounters between the fleets of the two nations. Van Tromp, the Dutch admiral,
at the masthead of his ship to suggest that he would sweep the English
from the seas, to which the Englisl
admiral replied by hoisting a whip at his masthead. In this picture a naval architect is seen exhibiting to the
be " a whip for Van Tromp."
assembled lords and gentlemen the model of a new warship, which was meant to
From the picture by Seymour Lucas, R.A., by permission of the Leicester Art Gallery.
4349
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
nominated Parliament. This assembly, elected under the influence of major-
proving both unpopular and incapable of a generals whom the Protector had appointed
constructive policy, was soon dismissed ; as local viceroys, proved equally unaccom-
and at the end of 1653 Cromwell, at the modating (1656-1658). England for the
wish of the army, assumed the title of whole period of the Protectorate remained
Protector. A new constitution, the Instru- under arbitrary rule. It is for this
ment Government, was published,
of reason that the brilliant success of Crom-
denning his position and the unalterable well in foreign policy, the restoration of
principles which were to be respected by internal order, and the toleration which
all future legislation. He was to be he established could not make himself
assisted in executive duties by a council of popular or his system permanent He
state. The chie part in legislation and averted a Presbyterian tyranny, but he
taxation was assigned to a Parliament, in was endured as the less of two evils.
which representatives of Scotland and With his home government posterity can
Ireland were to take their places by the sympathise to some extent, and he may
side of the English and Welsh members. fairly be praised as the first ruler who
Parliament was to meet every three effectually united all the British Isles
it would have been generous to forget Yet in other respects the foreign policy
the massacres and act of treachery with of Cromwell was governed by Protestant
which the Irish rising had begun, and feeling he had not learned the lesson con-
;
to consider the best means of remedying veyed in the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
the grievances to which it had been due. He regarded Spain as the arch-enemy,
Cromwell, however, could not, where and attacked her colonies in the New
Ireland was concerned, rise above the World with the same mixture of cru-
prejudices of the ordinary Englishman. sading and mercantile enthusiasm which
Instead of mitigating the unjust system ^ ac* animated Drake and
The Forei
r "
n
of plantations, he extended it. His Act of Hawkins. To France, as the
PoHc C3
Settlement in 1652 proscribed one-half natural
J .,of Spain, he
enemy
offr< L
Cromwell
ii
, , , . .
of the Irish nation, and left the majority attached himself by a treaty
of Irish landowners liable to eviction at with Mazarin in 1655, through which Eng-
a moment's notice. His plan was to land acquired Dunkirk. From this base
resettle the whole of the Keltic population the Protector hoped to use the New Model
in the remote west of the island, and for the succour of oppressed Protestants. '
although the literal execution of the plan The Puritan was no mean man of busi-
was abandoned as impossible, a large pro- ness. But the growth of commerce wais
portion of the soldiers of the New Model only one of the many causes which com-
army received their arrears of pay in the bined under the Protectorate to exhaust
form of Irish land. In practice tolerant the Puritan spirit. In Cromwell's later years
of Catholics, Cromwell refused to give them all England, with the exception of a few
crushed by the victories which Cromwell of Puritans were faithful. The strength of
won over David Leslie's army at Dunbar the Puritans lay in destruction and in
in 1650 and over Charles at Worcester in protest victory corrupted them, and they
;
1651. Scotland lay at England's mercy tended to become tyrants in their turn.
and was placed under a military govern- Yet no temper less robust than that of
ment. Monk, the commander of the Puritanism would have sufficed to break
English garrison, proved a stern and the chains of obsolete tradition and author-
resolute enemy of law-breakers and ity, to free England for the process of
conspirators, but he gave the country intellectual development which Bacon had
peace and a measure of prosperity. imagined. And in Milton the religious
His foreign policy was spirited, though movement made a contribution of the
wanting in far-sighted sagacity. With highest worth to
"England's
" spiritual
Blake for a subordinate, he was not likejy heritage. The Areopagitica is the final
to forget the ambitions of the Elizabethan
e A P^ea ^or liberty f conscience
"
seamen. The Navigation Act (1651), . and discussion Samson
;
met Tromp, and the honours remained expressed with extreme force the con-
with the Englishman. Such a conflict ception of a world in which God and the
between the two greatest of Protestant individual are the sole realities, and the
powers was a proof that a new era had divine service, the sole liberty and the
dawned, in which religious sympathies highest good of all created beings.
counted for less than commercial rivalries. H. W. C. DAVIS
4351
THE FIRST MEETING OF QUEEN MARY AND RIZZIO, THE ITALIAN MUSICIAN
An Italian musician of many accomplishments, David Rizzio ingratiated himself into the good graces of Queen Mary,
occupying- a position of honour at her court and becoming her chief Minister after Moray's rebellion. His great
influence with the young queen excited the jealousy of the nobles, who at last murdered him, almost before Mary's eyes.
From the painting by David Neal by permission of the Berlin Photographic Co.
4352
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
XVII
REVOLUTION
rival nobles, a state of affairs carefully hand, they were eager to profit by a spolia-
encouraged by Henry and Wolsey. In tion of the Church like that which was
spite of Margaret, who, however, was not going on in England, and, on the other, the
consistently favourable to her brother's king, like many of his forebears, was bent
views, the partisans of the French alliance on strengthening the central government
kept, on the whole, the upper hand. As by breaking the power of his great semi-
had always been the case, the clergy were independent feudatories.
especially antagonistic to English interests ;
The marriage of James to Mary of Guise,
and James Beaton. Arch- or Lorraine, a member of the
bishop of St. Andrews, can most powerful family in
claim more credit for con- France and the most hostile
sistency and statesmanship to England, virtually ensured
than any of the lay nobility. that the old policy of the
The young James V. was French alliance would be
still a boy when he assumed adhered to, and the relations
the reins of government in between the Scots king and
1528. Henry was now on the his uncle became more
verge of his ecclesiastical strained than ever. Finally,
reconstruction. For some a raid into Scotland was
years he periodically suggested followed by preparations for
conferences, to be held in a counter-invasion of England ;
'
as h * s ne ' r *^e * n ^ ant daughter
WOUld find themselves Caught throw the reformed faith in Scot- who was to become famous as
of his land He was assassinated
in 154
Mary, Queen of Scots.
- -
in a trap. Distrust
uncle strengthened his inclination to Once more, and not even now for the
maintain his alliance with the Churchmen, last time, Scotland was to suffer the dis-
while Henry would have persuaded him tractions of a regency. Both in character
to follow the example of his own anti- and ability, the queen-mother, Mary of
4353
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Guise, stands high among the many The Scots at Pinkie Cleugh met with
able women rulers of the sixteenth century. disaster hardly less crushing than Flodden
It was her misfortune that she stood for or Solway Moss but they shipped little
;
and tried to effect it by fire and sword. French by birth, wholly French by training,
4354
QUEEN MARY'S FAREWELL TO FRANCE
No longer Queen of France after the death of her husband in lf>(!0, Mary's thoughts turned to her native land, where
she was urgently required, her mother's death having left the country without a government. She sailed from Calais
on August 14th, 1501, arriving at Leith five days later. At night Mary had her couch spread in the open air that
she might have a parting view of the shores of the country which she loved so well, on awaking in the morning.
i-'ruin the picture by Robert Herdman, R.S.A.
4355
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
and an orthodox Catholic by religion. Mary, left practically friendless, felt
Also, on the theory that Elizabeth confidence in no one but her Italian
was illegitimate, she was incontestably secretary, Rizzio, who was consequently
the legitimate claimant to the English assassinated almost before her eyes, Darnley
throne. These conditions made her participating in the murder. Before a
relations with England sufficiently com- twelvemonth had passed, Darnley himself
plicated :while in Scotland she had perished, the victim of another plot, in
to deal with a people among whom the 1567. When Mary, almost immediately
rigid John Knox was already regarded afterwards, allowed herself to be abducted
almost as an inspired prophet, and with a and married by James Hepburn of
nobility as turbulent as any to be found in Bothwell, whom everyone knew to have
Europe. Nevertheless, being just eighteen, taken the leading part in Darnley 's
she determined to embark on these stormy murder, the world believed that she had
waters, and returned to Scotland in 1561. been steeped in the guilt of the crime from
Sympathy between Queen Mary and its beginning. A rebellion followed ;
Knox was out of the question. Neither of Bothwell was put to flight at Carberry
them ever had the faintest chance of under- Hill, and the queen was compelled to
standing the other's point of view. The surrender. She was imprisoned at Loch
Queen's illegitimate half-brother. Lord Leven, and forced to sign an act of abdica-
James Stuart, better known as the Earl of tion in favour of her infant son James VI.,
Moray, tried to the government
carry out a of the country
policy by which passing in effect
conce ss ion into -the hands
should not be all of Moray who
on one side but ;
had been in
the Reformation France when
party were as Darnley was
intolerant in murdered with
their power as other lords,
the Catholic some of whom
prelates had had certainly
been. Mary was been implicated
eternally sus- in the murder.
pected of aiming JOHN KNOX AND LORD DARNLEY In the following
at the overthrow The leader of the reform party in Scotland, John Knox, who was born year Mary
about 1505, did more for Protestantism and education in his native
of Protestant- land than
any other man before or since. His life came to an-end in
effected an
ism. Her cousin 1572. Lord Darnley married Queen Mary, who conferred on him the escape from
On the English title of King of Scotland. He lost hislife in 15C7 as the result of a plot.
Loch Leven, but
throne professed the utmost friendliness the forces which gathered to her standard
but invariably urged the young queen were routed at Langside she herself fled
;
to follow a course which would have south, crossed the Solway, and threw
made her thoroughly dependent on her herself on the hospitality of the Queen of
loving sister's goodwill. Above all, she England. Elizabeth made characteristic
must not marry anyone who would use of the situation. To hand Mary back
strengthen her position. to the subjects who had driven her from
Mary ignored Elizabeth's advice and the throne would be a dangerous admission
married her cousin, Henry Stewart, Lord of the right of subjects to rebel. To restore
Darnley, a grandson of Margaret Tudor by her to her throne by force of arms would
her second marriage, who stood near the upset the loyalty of English Protestants.
English succession through his mother, and To give her passage to France and permit
near the Scottish through his father. He her restoration by French assistance would
was a Catholic, and had he been a man revive the French ascendancy in Scotland.
of tolerable intelligence or character, To put her to death on her own responsi-
the marriage might have proved a bility would at the best give a very
brilliant stroke of policy. As he proved dangerous handle to her own enemies.
to be both fool and knave, its result was So Elizabeth contented herself with hold-
disastrous, while its immediate effect was ing a commission of inquiry, which
to drive Moray into unsuccessful rebellion. received and published the evidence
4356
THE STATE ENTRY OF QUEEN MARY INFO EDINBURGH IN THE YEAR 1561
From the painting by Wm. Hole, R.S.A., in the National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, by the artist's permission
against Mary in the Darnley affair, and which aimed at placing her on the throne
then stopped its proceedings. But she of England. Only when Elizabeth had at
last made up her mind no longer to evade
kept Mary a prisoner in her own hands, for
the life-and-death struggle with Spain did
eighteen years threatening now to release
her, now to replace her on the throne, now she give Walsingham the chance ot carry-
to hand her over to the Lords of the Con- ing the last alternative into execution. Mary
gregation, and now to bring
her to trial was found guilty of complicity in Anthony
and execution for complicity in one or Babington's conspiracy, and was beheaded.
another of the various Catholic conspiracies Both now and in the previous inquiry of
4357
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
1568 the damning evidence lay in letters The essentially theocratic conceptions
whose complete authenticity has never been of Knox
gripped the Scottish people, by
" "
conclusively either proved or disproved. whom theministry was looked upon
The dramatic and psychological interest of as discharging the functions not so
the tragedy of Mary Stuart has impressed much of a priesthood as of the prophets
the world so deeply that it cannot be passed of Israel, the channel, not of Divine
over but it is entirely out of proportion
; grace, but of Divine instruction. The
to her political importance. She had a governing classes, on the other hand,
losing battle to fight from the beginning. tended to take the extreme Erastian
She neither hastened nor retarded the view that the clerical organisation should
union of the English and Scottish crowns, be an instrument in the hands of the
or the development of the peculiarly temporal rulers. But the temporal rulers
Scottish type of Protestantism. The former were far too much at variance among
followed naturally and inevitably on the themselves to let continuous power remain
death of Elizabeth, seeing that there was for any long time in any one set of hands.
then no other candidate for the English Moray was assassinated in 1570. Two
throne to whose support any party in the more regents arose and disappeared before
nation could rally solidly. The latter was Knox died, in 1572 the vigorous Morton,
;
the work primarily of John Knox and his who held the reins from 1527 to 1578, ended
successor, Andrew Melville. From 1559 to his life on the block in 1580. The boy
1572, Knox was "
the acknowledged religious
" king, tossed from pillar to post, very early
leader of the reformed party in Scot- acquired the conviction that statesmanship
land, as distinct from the lay nobles whose consists in cunning. The years did not
zeal for religion grew from a political root, diminish the intensity of his hate for the
and did not in most cases temper their clerical domination, which did not hesitate
morals, which were latitudinarian. to impress upon him that he was but
From the picture by Sir David Wilkic, R.A., in the National Gallery
4358
JOHN KNOX ADMONISHING MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Carlyle has said that John Knox could not have been true to his country and tender
with his queen. The fact that
Mary was a Roman Catholic led to prayers being offered up in the churches that God would turn her heart, and the
Reformer made public references to the queen's religious beliefs, which stirred her indignation and led her to summon
him to her presence. The interview was stormy, as Knox's outspoken words brought tears to the eyes of the queen.
From the picture by J. Burnet
"
God's vassal."
silly A turn of the wheel developing the popular intelligence under
made possible in 1584 to establish the
it a powerful theological influence. The
ecclesiastical constitution was, however,
episcopal system but in 1592 the posi-
;
tions were reversed, and the Presbyterian again modified in 1600 by the appoint-
Church polity democratic
essentially ment of a few bishops. James intended
was formally with powers
instituted, to turn the hybrid thus created into
"
of enforcing discipline," which made a revived episcopal system.
the Church of the future a decisive On the death of Elizabeth, James VI.
force in moulding the character of the of Scotland ascended the throne of
Scottish The energy which England as the heir of Henry VII. and
people.
Knox had at an earlier stage devoted Elizabeth of York through their eldest
to laying the foundations of educational daughter Margaret, their son's issue
4300
'THE IMPRISONED QUEEN ABDICATING THE THRONE
The popular suspicio n that the queen had been
privy to ^
mufder rf ^
husband Lord Darnlev seemed : ustified
when, after th ar 4uit , , of the Earl of Bothwell on a charge of
Profligate nobleman. The nobles rose against hef an(J she wajj
complidty in Darnley s murder
-
.
M
imprisoned n the casde of Loch Leven whftre on
mu ^^
July 24th, lot}/, she wdS compelled to sign an act of abdication in favour of her son, then
scarcely twelve months old.
4362
SCOTLAND FROM FLODDEN TO THE RESTORATION
There was no serious opposition, and thus simultaneously with the people of each
the crowns, but not the governments, of of his kingdoms.
the two countries were united. The way In both, the extreme attitude of the
was paved for a closer union in the future ; opposition tended to detach and drive
the perpetual menace of actual hostilities over to the king's party men who had at
was ended, and it was rendered impossible firstfigured as leaders in the resistance
for the two nations to follow antagonistic to his arbitrary proceedings. Of these the
foreign policies. But in domestic affairs most prominent in Scotland was James
they remained separate, though the king's Graham, Marquess of Montrose. The
accession to the English throne greatly outbreak of the civil war brought about an
strengthened his hands in his dealings with alliance between the Scottish Covenanters
his northern kingdom. Within a decade and the English Parliament, ratified in
he had re-established an episcopal system, the .Solemn League and Covenant at the
which, without destroying the Presbyterian close of 1643 the invasion of the North of
;
coercing except by the aid of the English Covenant, they handed him over to the
Parliament. Thus the attitude of Scot- Parliament and retired from England on
In the
land forced him to bring to an end the receipt of the pay promised.
of the a distinct
period of absolute rule in England and ; subsequent fate king
when the English Parliament met, it violation the Solemn League and
of
at once attacked the king and his Covenant the Scots had no part or lot.
Minister, Straff ord, and manifested com- In a last attempt to rally Royalism to a
Charles restoration independent of the Covenant,
plete sympathy with the
Scots.
found himself involved in a quarrel Montrose was captured and hanged. The
4363
THE EXECUTION OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AT FOTHERINGAY
After suffering- imprisonment for eighteen years, Mary Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringay, on February 8th,
1587, her fate being sealed in consequence of her alleged endeavour to bring about her own freedom by the assassina-
tion of Elizabeth. Dressed as for a festival, Mary walked to the scaffold with a firm step and bravely met her fate.
From the painting bv Robert Herclman. R.S.A.
4364
SCOTLAND FROM FLODDEN TO THE RESTORATION
young Charles thereupon accepted the at Worcester on September 3rd, 1651. In
Covenant, and was recalled to the throne Scotland itself parties had so broken
of Scotland. Such a situation could not up
that Cromwell had no
difficulty in imposing
be accepted by the English '
4365
WESTERN EUROPE
THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION
REFORMATION
AND AFTER
TO THE
XVIII
REVOLUTION
S1On tO
/. , .,
the
En g hsh
.
native aver-
Hlle, which
but
Bellingham
regulating the system of English control was never continuously effec-
under Poynings' Law, and trying, by tive outside the
English Pale. Yet,
conciliatory methods, to enlist the great although after Bellingham, the distracted
chiefs on the side of the government. state of England would have made
At the close of Henry's reign, the great organised defiance of her rule compara-
Earl of Kildare was virtually the ruler tively easy, the capacity for organised
of Ireland. But on his death, his son, co-operation was what the Irish chiefs
who succeeded him in the office of deputy, lacked.
lacked the capacity his father had shown, The reign of Elizabeth twice saw the
and disorder soon broke out again. The English domination seriously threatened
theory that every chief might do what as it never had been in the past, each
was right in his own eyes was too deeply time by the head of the O'Neills of Ulster.
ingrained to be held in check except by a During Elizabeth's early years, Shan
very vigorous personality. The O'Neill was recognised by the Irish as
C
i ,!"
of,.. Silken
Earl of Surrey, heir and suc-
-
"The O'Neill," the head of the clan,
,, A-J.IJ t vr 11
TK cessor to the title of Noriolk, though another scion of the family was
was sent over by Henry VIII. recognised by the government as Earl of
and Wolsey to report, and pronounced Tyrone. Shan made himself practically
that the only way to establish order was master of Ulster the efforts of the
;
to provide a competent force of not less deputy, Sussex, to coerce him were
than 6,000 men, and enforce English law. entirely unsuccessful. Shan ruled with
The king and his Minister were disinclined an unscrupulous rigour which crushed
to this course, while a continued policy rivalry, but with an administrative capa-
of conciliation appeared only to convince city which gave the farming population a
the chiefs that they could go their own way. greater sense of security than they enjoyed
However, when Kildare was summoned within the Pale itself. He even began
to England and sent to the Tower, intrigues which point to a serious design of
his son, known as Silken Thomas, raised challenging the English dominion and pos-
a rebellion. Henry was occupied with his TV M t- *n as a Catholic champion ;
The National
ecclesiastical reconstruction. The revolt
Champion , , ...
was dealt with at first feebly, but was _. in a brawl. I here was no
Dies in a Brawl, .
would have accounted atrocities any- in method, was even-handed. Also he was
where else. The rebellion was finally vigorous in his encouragement of native
stamped out with merciless severity, and industries, and material prosperity made
"
order reigned in Warsaw." manifest progress under his rule.
By this time, English dominion and But Wentworth was summoned to try
English garrisons had extended into every and save his master in England, and to
quarter of Ireland ;
but Elizabeth's policy meet his own doom. When the iron hand
of parsimony was nowhere so disastrous, was withdrawn, there was first a sudden
because it kept the troops insufficient in
Cromwell's
and a PP allin g uprising of
quantity and vile in quality. Still, even
the coming of the Armada found Ireland
incapable of creating a diversion. It
Iron Hand
in Ireland ,,
the ^
the dispossessed Irish against
settlers in the
north, then a rising of the
remained for Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone Eaglishry in the Pale, who were for the
in the last years of Elizabeth, to organise most part Catholics explained by the
rebellion with a skill exceeding that of attitude of the Puritan parliament at
Shan. Ireland was thoroughly establish- Westminster. Civil war broke out in
ing itself as the grave of English reputa- England, and the combinations of parties
tions. Tyrone drew rivals to his side, and in Ireland became chaotic, with the .
was consistently able to justify his own insurgent groups claiming to be Royalist,
proceedings, and to prove breaches of and the Puritan element finding itself
faith on the part of the English authorities friendless. Hence the first measure of the
until the time came for open rebellion. Commonwealth, when the King's head had
Success attended his arms ; Essex, sent been cut off, was to despatch Cromwell
to suppress him with a force enormously to subjugate Ireland. The work was
superior to any which had been previously accomplished with swift and ruthless
5u 1!
employed, fared no better severity. Ireton was left to give the
than his predecessors. But no finishing touches, and a fresh plantation
J*
efficient f rei ^ n a WaS f r th : of Puritan soldiery intensified the Puritan
Eng.fsh Rule
coming;
^
even I y rone had
,
characteristics of the northern province.
failed to accomplish a real union of the As with Scotland, so with Ireland, Crom-
Irish chiefs,and the rebellion was at well established a temporary legislative
" "
last broken by Mount joy. Tyrone was union, though the Irish representatives
admitted to the Queen's grace, but early represented only the fraction of the popu-
in the next reign he withdrew from lation which the Cromwellian conquest
Ireland, and active resistance to the Eng- recognised as loyal. And as with Scotland
lish rule was terminated for a long period. so again with Ireland, the Restoration
It fell to King James I. to complete the brought a return to the old order.
4368
WESTERN EUROPE THE
FROM THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
REVOLUTION XIX
eighteenth century. Thus, for the present, and b alster, tied to the soil ;
we have to trace Scandinavian history they were bound to pay to their overlords
while it flows in two channels those of the various dues fines on succession and land
Danish and Swedish kingdoms. In the tax and in addition to render labour
present chapter we shall follow the for- service. The towns fared better, for the
tunes, first of Denmark, and then of kings recognised that the privileges
Sweden, down to the middle of the seven- enjoyed by the Hanseatic League were
teenth century. injurious to the Danish merchants, and
During the rule of the three first therefore, without exception, did all in
Oldenburg kings the power of the Danish their power to put an end to the supre-
crown, which had been consolidated by macy of the League they curtailed its
;
4370
THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES: DENMARK AND NORWAY
from Liibeck, after whose general, Count united to Denmark from that time till 1814.
Christopher of Oldenburg, this war has In this war the burgesses and the
"
been named the Count's War." Almost peasantry suffered a defeat from which the
the whole of Denmark submitted to Count latter especially took long to recover. It
Christopher, who accepted homage in all ended Liibeck 's role as the chief power in
directions in the name of Christian II. the north ; and another result of it was
In this extremity the bishops were forced that the Reformation won the day in
to give way, and Christian III. was chosen Denmark and Norway. At a meeting of
as king. Soon after the fortune of war the Rigsraad, or parliament, to which repre-
turned the forces of Liibeck were de-
; sentatives of the nobles, the burgesses,
feated both on land and on sea, and within and the peasantry were summoned, the
a short time Christian III. was master of Catholic Church was abolished in 1536,
allDenmark in 1536. Norway, too, which Lutheranism and the Protestant form of
had supported the party of Christian II., Church government were introduced, the
was compelled to submit, and remained king was made supreme head of the Church,
4371
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
and the possessions of the bishops and handed down by means of oral tradition,
monasteries were confiscated, thus enor- and a vigorous popular poetry grew up ;
mously increasing the crown revenues. but it, too, lived only orally among the
The position of the Church and the clergy common people. There was, in fact, no
thus underwent a complete change. The national literature until the foundations
bishops lost their seats in the Rigsraad, for one had been laid during the Reforma-
and, as a consequence, their political tion period.
influence, besides being deprived of their The father of Danish literature was
estates. The episcopal office, having lost Christian Pedersen, who raised his mother
many of its previous attractions, was no tongue to the level of a literary language by
longer an object of desire to the nobility, his translation of the Bible and other works.
and came to be filled by men of lower He died in 1554. The literature of this
birth. The bishops were chosen by the period is, in the main, of a religious character ;
priests, and the priests by their parish- the poems are hymns, for the most part
ioners, though some livings remained in the translated from German or Latin originals.
the crown or of the nobles, to whom
gift of The duchies of Schleswig and Holstein,
the churches belonged. The nobles, like which Christian III. had inherited from
the king, though to a less degree, profited his father, he shared with his brothers,
by the confiscation of the monastic estates. one of whom, Adolphus, was the founder
They now strove to consolidate their scat- of the Gottorp line of dukes, who later
tered possessions, and, their importance as endeavoured to make themselves inde-
a military class having ended with the pendent sovereigns, and frequently allied
introduction of the new methods of warfare, themselves to that end with Denmark's
settled on their estates as landed pro- enemies, more especially with Sweden.
prietors. Many of them entered the ser- Frederic I. and Christian III. had peaceful
vice of the state, and some engaged, not relations with the Swedes but after the
;
without success, in the pursuit of science. latter's death, in 1559, disputes soon arose,
In Denmark, as elsewhere, the Reforma- and resulted in the Scandinavian Seven
tion supplied the first impulse to the rapid Years War (1563-1570). Christian's son,
growth of a vernacular literature. Except Frederic II., wished to renew the Union of
during the reigns of the Waldemars, there Kalmar, and had, moreover, come into
had been butlittle literary activity through- conflict with the Swedish king, Eric XIV.,
out the Middle Ages, and the majority of over the Baltic provinces for the Order
;
the works produced were written in Latin. of the Sword was in process of dissolution
Old legends and poems, it is true, were a fact of which Sweden, Russia, Poland,
4373
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
and Denmark wished to avail themselves result that the wars in which he became
in order to seize the possessions of the involved, with the exception of the first,
order for themselves. But Frederic failed ended in disaster, in spite of his personal
to achieve his purpose, and at the Peace of bravery and courage. At his death he
Stettin had to be content with a money left his kingdoms reduced in extent and
R cspec e d by
Scandinavian peoples a did, indeed, succeed in occupying some
mu ^ ua h a t re d that was con-
]
portions of Sweden, he was unable to carry
stantly kept alive by new feuds. out his plans, and was forced to give back
After the war
Frederic gave up his his conquests in return for a money
schemes of conquest and devoted himself indemnity in 1613. Then followed several
to works of peace. In these he was suc- years of peace, but in the meanwhile the
cessful, and during the later years of his Thirty Years War had broken out in
reign Denmark enjoyed the respect of all Germany. When it spread to North
Europe. The fortress of Kronberg was Germany the North German Protestants
built during the years 1574 to 1585, to sought Christian's help, and. he was elected
command the entrance to the Sound, and chief of the circle of Lower Saxony. He
the Danish king was looked on as the ruler had been waiting for an opportunity to
of the northern seas. But Denmark was make his influence felt in Germany and
not able to maintain this supremacy for long, took the field in 1625 5
Du t being com-
since even under Frederic's son, Christian pletely defeated by Tilly at Lutter, near
IV. (1588-1648), it began to decline. the Barenberg, on August 27th, 1626, he
Christian had the advantage of a care- was forced to withdraw into Denmark.
ful education, and was especially well The imperial troops followed in pursuit and
versed in mathematics and technical overran the peninsula of Jutland, which
sciences he was, moreover, intelligent they laid waste without
;
The Swedes
arid an untiring worker, taking a personal
interest in affairs of all kinds, and inces-
as Defender, of
Protestantism
P16 ^' ^ were prevented
bv the Damsl fleet fr m
.
J.
santly striving to promote the weal and gaining a footing on the
increase the power of his two kingdoms. islands. Disappointed in his expectations
He improved the administration of jus- of help from England and the Netherlands,
tice, assisted the schools, kept the fleet in Christian decided to make peace with the
a thoroughly effective condition, raised, in invaders, the more readily as the emperor,
addition, a standing army, and in various being anxious to keep him from an
ways fostered commerce and shipping, alliance with Sweden, offered favourable
manufacture and mining. He founded terms. The conquered provinces were
towns in both Denmark and Norway, and restored to him at Liibeck on May I2th,
improved Copenhagen by the erection of 1629 but he was forced to promise that
>
M ..
National , the first half of
,
his reign
.
retaliate by attacking Denmark, and in
wa * a time f Prosperity for 1643 one Swedish army entered Holstein,
Prosperity .
both Denmark and Norway. though war had not been declared, while
But Christian IV. endeavoured also to another invaded Scania. At the same
increase his own and Denmark's power by time the Netherlands, exasperated by the
interfering in the politics of Central Europe, raising of the tolls levied in the Sound
and in this domain he was unsuccessful. and by Christian's claim to supremacy
He was not himself a brilliant statesman, in the North Atlantic, despatched a fleet
nor was he surrounded by capable advisers. to the help of .the Swedes. Christian's
Moreover, Denmark lacked the necessary courage and resolution did, indeed, save
strength to play a leading part, withjhe Denmark from complete humiliation, but
4374
THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES: DENMARK AND NORWAY
at the Peace of Bromsebro on August by forced marches to Denmark, and
23rd, 1645, ne had to surrender Halland, occupied, almost unopposed, the whole
Oesel, Gothland, Herjedalen, and Jemtland peninsula, where he was joined by his
to Sweden. In addition tolls were no father-in-law, the Duke of Gottorp.
longer to be levied on Swedish vessels Then followed a severe winter. The Great
passing through the Sound, and the and Little Belts froze, and in February,
tollto be paid by Dutch vessels was 1658, he was able to march across the ice
reduced a serious with his troops into Zealand. No pro-
'
loss of revenue.
Three years later, on February 28th, vision had been made for the
Tk L
1648, Christian died. His want of success defence of the island, and the
Possessions , , , ^
was no doubt chiefly due. to himself Denmark Swedes advanced
on
but much the blame must be laid
of
;
of* i* L.
.
hagen.
1^1-11,1 Copen-
Frederic had thus no
upon the nobles. Their selfish conduct em- alternative but to sue for peace, which
bittered the other classes of the population was concluded at Roskilde on March 8th,
and was destined before long to bring 1658. Denmark lost all her possessions
about their fall. During the later years east of the Sound Scania, Halland,
of Christian IV. 's reign his sons-in-law, Blekinge as well as the island of Born-
especially the Lord High Steward, holm. Norway had to give up Trondhjems
Korsitz Ulfeldt, exercised the greatest Len and Bohuslen, and the Duke
district
influence on the government. of Gottorp was released from
On the death of the good vassalage to the Danish crown.
king he aimed at securing Before long Charles regretted
the chief power for himself that he had not acquired the
and the Rigsraad, and whole of Denmark. He soon
Christian's son, Frederic III. found a pretext for renewing
(1648-1670), was compelled, the war, and again advanced
before being elected, to on Copenhagen in the summer
of the same year. But mean-
'
Deeply offended, he did not await the Charles was obliged to raise the siege in
result, but left Denmark in 1651 and 1659. He was also unfortunate in other
betook himself first to Holland and then directions the people of Trondhjem and
;
to Sweden, whose government he at- Bornholm drove out the Swedes, while they
tempted to incite against Denmark. In were expelled from Jutland by an army
this he was not successful but he had
;
sent to the help of the Danes by Poland
not long to wait for a rupture between and Brandenburg. Charles proposed to
the two states, and with it his opportunity recompense himself for his losses by the
to revenge himself on his conquest of Norway, but died suddenly
Denmark s on February 23rd, 1660.
country and Fre deric. Charles
t
X Gus t avus of Sweden was at
' Peace was then concluded at Copen-
this time campaigning in hagen on May 27th through the good
Poland, where his position was critical. offices of England and Holland, Trondh-
Frederic thought that he could take and Bornholm being restored
jems^Len
of these circumstances to to Denmark. In all other essential
advantage
respects the terms of the Peace
of
regain the lost provinces, and was
foolish enough to fling down the gauntlet Roskilde were retained, the two mari-
to Sweden. On receiving the declara- time powers being unwilling that both
tion of war Charles immediately left sides of the Sound should be in the
Poland, in the summer of 1657, hastened possession of one and the same state.
278 4375
4376
THE
REFORMATION
AND AFTER
XX
revolted in coasts
Masters of
1521. The Danes were driven out and the n
...
Baltic
masters of the Baltic. The king
the Swedes elected their deliverer, Gus- worked indefatigably for the
tavus, as their king, on June 6th, 1523. welfare of the lower classes, so that old
In this way Sweden was freed from branches of industry were revived. In
Danish domination. this, as in everything else, the king took
From without there was no immediate the lead, and thus set the people a good
cause for fear, a fact which emphasises example. He busied himself with agricul-
the painful contrast afforded by the ture, mining and commerce, and in order
internal condition of the country. Con- to promote industrial pursuits, invited
tinuous warfare and strife had put an mechanics and artisans of other nation-
end to order and undermined all respect alities into the country. The first thing
for the laws, so that every man did as necessary for the furtherance of trade was
he pleased. The administration was in the overthrow of the power of Liibeck.
confusion, the Church in a state of decay, The commercial privileges of this "city had
Sweden
and the country impoverished ;
been greatly restricted by the War of
* s
commerce andjf manuiactures the Counts," in which Gustavus allied
, n languished. Since the demesnes himself with the party of Christian III.
of Decay , , , ,
of the crown had been given The Swedes began to transact business
away as fiefs, there was hardly any revenue, with other countries, including England,
and at the same time the crown was heavily France, Spain, and the trade with Liibeck
in debt to the Hanseatic towns, to which gradually ceased. Thus, on every side
it accordingly was obliged to grant impor- Sweden was regaining her former pros-
tant commercial privileges. Strength and perity. Although Gustavus often acted
ability were necessary to restore the with severity and arbitrariness, and the
country to its former position. people were burdened with heavy taxes,
Gustavus' first and most important his work was still appreciated. In the
task was the adjustment of finance. In imperial diet of 1544 it was decided by
order to increase both the public revenue the Estates that the crown should descend
and his own power he attached himself to his male heirs according to the law of
to the Lutheran Reformation the new
; primogeniture, while the younger sons
doctrine was introduced at two successive should receive appanages. Gus-
Reichstags at Westeras, in 1527 and 1544. f tavus was very cautious in
The king was made supreme head of the
Church, and had the disposal of the con-
Succeeds
^
little
^^ ^^
part in
.
the complica-
he t(K)k
fiscated revenues of the bishops, the tions in which Central Europe was then
churches, and the monasteries. The involved, and his constant aim was
bishops were compelled to deliver up their to preserve peace in the north. This
castles to him, and were excluded from the cautious policy was not followed by his
Council of State the clergy were no longer
; son Erik XIV., who succeeded him in
equal in rank to the nobility, but were 1560; he wished to make conquests.
4377
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
When the Order of the Knights of the and then returned to Poland. The people
Sword was abolished, Poland, Russia, refused to obey those who had been set in
Sweden and Denmark contended for the authority by Sigismund, and elected Duke
land of the order Esthonia, Livonia, and Charles as vice-regent in 1595.
Courland. In consequence of this there Sigismund landed with a Polish army
was war for almost a hundred years by ;
in Sweden, and several councillors and
this war Sweden gained the supremacy of other nobles attached themselves to him ;
the Baltic provinces with the exception of he was, however, defeated by Charles at
Courland. War broke out in the Stangebro, September 25th. and left the
Th K'ing
e.
year
J 1J
56 1,'
when Re val, together country, which he was destined never
Deposed by ... ., . , , <$, ,,
with the knights , of North to see again. The National Assembly pro-
his Brothers . ,- .
1599, and
, t
listen to overtures ot peace, the he allowed his army to rest for a few weeks.
war was continued till 1626, and the In the spring of 1632 he pressed forward
Swedes showed their superiority over the to Bavaria and marched to the Lech,
Poles by conquering Riga and Livonia and behind which Tilly had taken up a strong
establishing themselves in West Prussia. position. Gustavus forced a crossing,
In the meantime the Thirty Years War Tilly was mortally wounded, and the
had broken out. Gustavus, who had Swedish king entered Munich as a con-
entered into friendly relations with Eng- queror. In the meantime the emperor had
land, Holland, and the Protestant states appointed Wallenstein his commander-in-
of Germany, conceived the plan of uniting chief. Wallenstein collected a large army
all the Protestant powers of Europe in a in a short space of time, and pitched his
great alliance against the emperor and camp not far from Nuremberg, where
Spain, as a means of protecting the op- Gustavus had taken up his position.
pressed German Protestants. He was Gustavus, who wished to free the country
forestalled by Christian IV., who placed from the burden of war, attempted in vain
himself at/the head of the Protestant party to force a battle ;
equally fruitless were his
and declared war against the emperor attempts
r to take Wallgnstein's
Catholic Joy , A , ,
but also Sweden if the emperor acquired Gustavus, who had first advanced towards
the supremacy on the Baltic, offered his Bavaria, altered his plan and proceeded
alliance to the Danish king, and declared northwards by forced marches. The two
that he was prepared to advance from armies met at Liitzen on November i6th,
Poland into Germany. The emperor, 1632. The Swedes were victorious, but
however, who wished to prevent such an their king fell in the battle. The death of
alliance at all costs, promised favourable Gustavus threw the whole of Protestant
conditions to Denmark, and persuaded Germany into deep mourning. The
Christian to conclude peace in 1629. Gus- Emperor Ferdinand II., however, ordered
tavus then decided to declare war against a Te Deum to be sung, since with Gus-
the emperor, although he was entirely tavus' death the greatest danger for the
dependent on his own resources. It was Catholics had disappeared.
first of all necessary to make terms with Since the accession of Gustavus, Sweden
Poland. By the mediation of Richelieu had enjoyed hardly a single year of peace,
a truce for six years was arranged on and the king himself had spent most of his
26th, 1620, by which time on the battlefield. He still found
Sweden s September
c we J J T
^ d *.
en retained Livonia, to- time, however, to continue his father's
WI'th
gether with Riga and several work in improving the internal condition of
Prussian towns. When his pre- his country. He showed himself just as
parations were completed he bade a touch- capable in this as on the battlefield, and
ing farewell to the Estates, to whose care neglected nothing which affected either
he commended his daughter and heiress, the state or the people. The powers and
as if he felt a foreboding of his death. He the privileges of the National Assembly
took ship in June, 1630, for Pomerania, and of the council were more definitely
where he published a manifesto in justi- determined, and the National Assembly,
fication of his proceedings and invited which had hitherto possessed no settled
the co-operation of the North German constitution, was regulated so that in
4380
Ill
?'
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
future each of the four Estates of the realm and Admiral. The country was divided up
should transact its own affairs. The most into districts, Lan, as at present, at the
" "
important class was the nobility, which also head of which were the
landshofdingar ;
',,
of the government which had been begun
War attempted to prevent them
by Charles IX. and Gustavus. The council, . V^A
at an JL.nd
fr orn advancing further
..
into
, ,
, ,
as the central point of the administration,
Germany, but was obliged by
was settled permanently at Stockholm. the Peace of Bromsebro in 1645 to cede
Executive functions were divided between Oesel. Gotland, Halland, and. the Nor-
five ministerial committees; over which
wegian provinces of Herjedalen and
presided the five highest officers of Jemtland. The war was finally concluded
the empire Chancellor, " Drost " (High by the Peace of Westphalia, under the
" "
Steward), Treasurer, Marsk (Marshal), terms of which Sweden retained the whole
4382
THE BATTLE OF NORDLINGEN IN 1634, IN WHICH THE SWEDES WERE DEFEATED
of Nearer Pomerania, with the island of people with arrogance and superciliousness.
Riigen, part of Furtner Pomerania, Wis- During the war Christina had assumed
mar, and the bishoprics of Bremen and personal control of the government in 1644.
Verden, as temporal duchies under the She possessed rare talents, was vivacious
suzerainty of the empire, and received a and witty, and her attainments, especially
large sum of money. in history and in ancient and modern
Sweden had risen to the rank of a languages, were of a striking order. She
great power and had acquired considerable had been trained in politics by Oxenstierna.
possessions on the Baltic. Her army had She was a generous patron of literature and
gained the reputation of being invincible ;
art;
savants of other nationalities, such as
the dauntlessness and courage of the Hugo Grotius and Rene Descartes, were
people were strengthened. At the same always welcome at her court. On the
time, however, their morals and habits other hand, she was capricious, vain, and
were becoming corrupt, inasmuch as fond of pleasure. She was extravagant
peaceful occupations were despised and in her use of public money, and bestowed
luxury and extravagance were increasing. landed property, patents of nobility, and
The power and wealth of the upper other favours with a lavish hand on men
nobility had become so great that the who were not worthy of such honour. The
nobles became despotic and treated the lower classes, who were groaning under
crown lands in order to restrict the Holland and Austria were inciting Den-
threatening power of the nobility. Ex- mark and Russia to war. The Poles
travagance increased rather than dimin- rebelled ;
their king returned from exile,
ished dissatisfaction
; spread, and a and although Charles Gustavus obtained
revolution was actually feared. Christina, a brilliant victory at Warsaw on July
who in the meantime had grown tired of 28th-3Oth, 1656, he found himself in a
decided on June critical position, and in order to ensure
The Queen governing,
, ,,
i6th, 1654, to resign the crown the fidelity of Brandenburg was obliged,
m
^ avour f a distant relative, on November 25th, at Labian, to ac-
Charles Gustavus. She left her knowledge the independence of Prussia.
country, embraced the Roman Catholic At the same time a commercial treaty
faith, and went to live at Rome here she;
was concluded with Holland. Then
died in 1689. Denmark declared war against him, and
Charles X. Gustavus, the son of the the Austrians advanced into Poland.
Count Palatine John Casimir and of Upon this Charles Gustavus relinquished
Katharine, a half-sister of Gustavus Poland, proceeded by forced marches
Adolphus, was educated in Sweden, and through North Germany, and within a
was in language, ideas, and manners a short time conquered the peninsula of
Swede he had a keen intellect and a
; Jutland. At the beginning of 1658 .he
powerful will, and was quick in decision crossed over the ice of the Belts to Zealand
and In addition he possessed
in action. and compelled the king, Frederic III., by
that higher education and culture which the Peace of Roskilde, to cede the Scanian
result from study and travel. He was provinces, together with the island of
specially distinguished as a general, for Bornholm, and from Norway Trondhjems
he had studied military tactics under Len and Bohuslen. This makes the
Torstenson and had fought with distinc- zenith of Sweden's inter-
tion in the Thirty Years War. When he " national power. At that time
ascended the throne in 1654 ne found the she k 3-^ contr l over almost the
Au*ustus
country in a most unsettled and deplorable whole coast line of the Baltic.
condition. The finances were in confusion But Charles Gustavus was not satisfied ;
the revenue, the Riksdag, or National but this time he did not meet with
Assembly, decided to confiscate the crown the same success. Copenhagen withstood
lands which had been given away by his attacks, and was succoured by the
Christina, and in fact almost three Dutch, who, since they did not approve of
thousand estates were seized. his plans, had attached themselves to
These measures were, however, shortly his other enemies, among whom was
discontinued, as the attention of the Brandenburg. An army
of Branden-
king was directed to foreign politics.
His burgers, Poles,and Austrians under the
relations with Poland and Denmark were Great Elector drove the Swedes out of
not of the most friendly kind. Since Jutland; the inhabitants of the provinces
John II. Casimir of Poland, the son of which had been ceded rose in revolt.
Sigismund, refused to acknowledge Charles After an unsuccessful attack on Copen-
s
. Gustavus as king of Sweden,
,
hagen, Charles Gustavus abandoned the
*^ e latter decided to declare siege of the capital in 1659, and returned
^ e Stacked Poland from
wan to Sweden. He still hoped for assistance
Pomerania, conquered Warsaw from England, but the English, in alliance
and Cracow, received the homage of the with France and Holland, remained
Polish nobles, and compelled the Great faithful to the Peace of Roskilde. Charles,
Elector of Brandenburg to place the duchy however, intended to carry on the war,
of Prussia under the feudal supremacy of and aimed at the conquest of Norway.
Sweden and to promise to furnish auxiliary He accordingly marched with his army
troops. The idea of Charles was to divide into Southern Norway, but died suddenly
Poland, to retain the coast provinces for at Goteburg on February 23rd, 1660.
himself, and thus to make the Baltic a HANS SCHJOTH
4384
WESTERN EUROPE
FROM THE THE
REFORMATION REFORMATION
TO THE AND AFTER
XXI
REVOLUTION
favourable turn only upon the condition of the Peace of Westphalia to the outbreak
that a body politic should arise in Germany of the French Revolution, Europe had seen
comprising a considerable portion of the no event of greater importance than the
nation and capable of rousing the forces growth of that Prussian monarchy which
slumbering within them to independent was called to take over the inheritance of
energy. The idea of a vigorous living the German monarchy when it had been
confederacy was in direct opposition to freed from the burden of international
the dynastic interests, which were sup- family interests, and was destined to
ported in many ways by religious differ- apply its youthful strength to the task
ences, and coincided with the separatist of restoring German influence to its high
tendencies of the population. A voluntary place in the councils of European states
renunciation of individual rights in favour and peoples.
. ,of the central power was not to The foundation of this Prussian
rl a s
Need of
. be expected of the several states, monarchy is the work of Frederic
German Aid w ^ ose existence was even yet ex-
,
"" ee *
,
Pursue his
opportunities as came in her way. She own pleasure in his own way
had neither inclination nor capacity to at Konigsberg. Upon the death of the
found a German state. last Duke of Pomerania, George William
The rise of a German great power was, had been called to succeed him by in-
however, not one of the pressing problems heritance. He had thrown himself wholly
of the seventeenth century that from
; into the emperor's arms in the hope of
one of those imperial provinces which getting his rights, while Sweden had
were struggling for a share in the privilege remained for a long period in possession
4385
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
of Pomerania, and had laughed the claims simple and compound interest upon a
of the House of Brandenburg to scorn. debt of 100,000 thalers incurred in 1614
The Catholic count, John of Schwarzen- had already led to the mortgage of all the
berg, governed the electoral district, and Cleves district and to distraint upon the
the garrisons sent out by the emperor ducal chest.
robbed the barns and stables of the At the peace negotiations in Osnabriick
inhabitants of such poor property as yet the ambassadors of Brandenburg laid
remained to them. Frederic William's claim to every right which could be
had been
special talents deduced from the elector's privileged
11 *
Hand of Frederic
.
,, J developed by
highly a stay
TT n / position. They offered a most vigorous
,....
William
of four years
,.
J .
in Holland,
,. .,,
opposition to the Swedes and the imperial
party, who considered that the Swedish
.
rights and determined to exercise them. with a foreign power, and worked zealously
After the affairs of Prussia had been to bring about an understanding between
reduced to order and his position at home the reformed states of the empire and to
" "
had been secured, he devoted himself to unite them into a third party. Of
the care of the marches and to his posses- this policy a partisan was found in the
sions on the Rhine, which had come down patriotic Elector of Mainz, John Philip
to him from the Dukes of Juliers and of Schonborn. The
self-seeking attitude
T,.
The _,
Elector s
Cleves., The conclusion of
.
adopted by Saxony, which had so often
.,, _,
,
. ,-.
4387
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
and Kammin, and the reversion of the arch- and sagacious adviser in all diplomatic
bishopric of Magdeburg upon the death of controversies and also throughout the
its administrator. Duke Augustus of Saxony, Augean task which was the necessary
on June 4th, 1680. It became necessary prelude to any internal reform. He was,
to wage war with the Palatinate of Neuburg perhaps, the first man in Germany who
for the possession of Cleves in 1651.- 'The had any suspicion that the Hohenzollern
several orders of that district desired to kingdom was capable of becoming a
escape the electoral government, 'and v great power in Germany and in Europe.
_ threatened to become At an early period Sweden had obtained
P osi 1 01
l
to the r
. .
|
Electoral
j'
Dutch in preference to- ''be-
i
a position upon the North Sea and the
Z m % to
.
, , ,
l Baltic. It was eminently fitted for the
Government Brandenburg.
Ihey were deterred from foundation of a dominant power which
open revolt only by the timely arrest of their would entirely overshadow the efforts of
spokesman, Herr Wylich of Winnenthal. the neighbouring Germans. Sweden
Between the Memel and the Rhine there possessed the duchies of Bremen and
was a number of splendid
. districts, Verden at the mouth of the Weser, arfd
destined to form the basis of the elector's the coasts of Pomerania and Riigen with
political power. But there was no inter- their admirable harbours and thus this
;
dependence among them, and an entire maritime and commercial nation had found
lack of the sense of political unity. There means and opportunity to monopolise the
was not even the personal dependence of entire carrying trade of the Baltic Sea,
the self-seeking nobility upon their feudal and the commerce with England and
overlord. To the Prussians imperial Holland on the one hand and North Ger-
affairswere a matter of indifference. They many on the other. It is only from this
were anxious to obtain the freedom and point of view that the acquisitions of
the privileges of the Polish magnates. Sweden under the Peace of Westphalia
The margraves demanded additional can be considered as important gains and a
rights over their vassals and serfs in return veritable extension of power. However, the
for the smallest additional impost. In
Sweden s
Swedish nationality J was not
,
Cleves the people insisted upon the terms '
capable of carrying on trade or
S l S
of their contract with the late ruling house, maritime pursuits upon any
ohaken i .1 c .1
and looked upon the Brandenburger as a large scale the Swedes are a
;
usurper, of whom they would gladly be rid peasant people, clinging closely to that soil
at the earliest possible opportunity. Never which Nature has adorned and richly
for a moment was the thought entertained endowed, and desiring nothing more than
that the union of the Hohenzollern pos- to be left in possession of it in freedom and
sessions under an energetic prince was an in moderate prosperity. There was no su-
event of importance to any nation of perfluity of national strength forcing them
*'
evangelical faith. f .
voluntarily or involuntarily to emigrate
Frederic William created the bure|Ptt- v ,.
t
and throw out branches nor is there now.
;
cracy, which for a long pe'riod was the only, The long war had shaken the social
visible sign of the political unity of his system of Sweden to its very foundations ;
and stopped the squandering of their formation of trade, guilds the sole results
;
produce, while facilitating the lease of them. were increased friction between great and
~. Wherever he could, he intro- small landowners, a deterioration of
The Reforms , ,
of Frederic
duced monetary exchange in morality, and a decrease in the power of
William pl ace f barter, and assured a the crown. The nobility had enriched
revenue to himself with which themselves in the course of the war, for
he could free his household from the those of them who commanded regiments
disgrace of debt and pay for some military and fortresses had found occasion to enter
force which might at any rate be able to into business relations with friend and
repel a sudden attack on the part of one foe alike they had also gained possession
;
of his envious neighbours. The direction of many crown lands which were
of the
of the Brandenburg military powers was given to them instead of pay when they
handed over to Count George Frederic presented their endless accounts of arrears,
of Waldeck, who was the elector's faithful in the composition of which the regimental
4388
THE FOUNDING OF PRUSSIA
clerks and quartermasters of the seven- calves and butter." In the Rigsdag of
teenth century were extraordinarily clever. 1650 it was stated that the territories
The retired infantry and cavalry leaders which the people had made the greatest
and officials wasted their Pomeranian sacrifices to acquire benefited a few
estates in riotous living, or squandered individuals, and were of no advantage to
such treasure as they had brought home the state ;that, on the contrary, the
in extravagant feasts and drinking bouts crown and the kingdom had been weakened
with their friends, while they regarded and diminished by these illegal grants.
with coarse scorn the piety and self-restraint The queen had every sympathy
The Queen'.
which King Gustavus Adolphus had suc-
Weak w oppressed who had
cessfully maintained among his warriors. Character
lost their ri g hts she reCO 8'
'
All that Sweden had taken from Ger- nised that the state was in its
many disappeared in gluttony and drunk- decline but she was of too weak a character
;
enness. As regards the increase of pros- to make a stand against the nobles, whom
perity and national wealth, it was of no she herself had permitted to grow too
service to the northern kingdom. The powerful. However, her resolution to
ability and the experience of Sweden's abdicate and to hand over the kingdom to
diplomatists, the bravery of her officers her cousin, Charles Gustavus of the Palati-
and admirable soldiers were unable to spur nate Zweibriicken, who had in vain
the nation to reach a higher state of solicited her hand in marriage, brought no
economic development, or to suggest new decisive change in the circumstances of
objects for the efforts of far-sighted the country.
individuals. Queen Christina (1632-1654), Charles Gustavus X. (1654-1660) was
who died in 1689, was totally unfitted to a capable soldier. He was well aware of
exercise a beneficent influence in this direc- the forces which were at work among the
tion. Government, in her opinion, was a European powers, and he was prepared
crushing burden, and practical views of life to devote his entire knowledge and power
had no attraction for her. The generosity to the welfare of the state. But the
of her caprices proved a serious qualities of which Sweden stood in need
detriment to the State ex ' were exactly those which the king did
f Queen
U en
chequer, which was constantly not possess. She yearned for peace and
Ch -
t'
in low water, and as constantly healing statesmanship not for conquests
replenished by additional sacrifices of state and glory. But Charles Gustavus thought
property. This treatment of the state lands he could restore the power of the crown
dealt a heavy blow to the freedom of the by fresh acquisitions of power and wealth.
peasants, for they passed, with the lands He turned his attention to that portion
which they had cultivated, into the posess- of the Baltic coast which was under Polish
sion of the noble families whose money rule, seeing that its highly developed
% had been poured into the royal exchequer. commerce afforded an opportunity for the
"
The whole population of the country imposition of those licences," or harbour
was thoroughly aroused. The small landed duties and import customs, which had
nobility, the free peasantry and the clergy already proved so productive in Pomerania.
made common cause against the great The warlike intentions of Charles
families and the bishops, who had got Gustavus X. placed the Elector of Bran-
possession of all the lands and were forcing denburg and Duke of Prussia in the
the serfs to till them for their benefit. position of politically holding the casting
A manifesto to the people of Central vote, and no one knew better than he how
Sweden of the year 1649 complains that to turn that advantage to
Sweden's
the queen's mildness was abused, and that Relations with
account. A campaign against
the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus would Poland was a practical im-
the Elector
soon have nothing but the title to the possibility for Sweden, if her
crown and the kingdom to call her own. troops were to be continually outflanked and
" her lines of communication broken from the
The grants of land upon feudal tenure
marches or from the principality. If she
were often fraudulently obtained, the
recipients being undeserving of any such
could not ensure the co-operation of the
reward subordinate officials distributed
;
elector, she must at least ensure his
such grants in return for pecuniary con- neutrality, and for this she had to offer
siderations, and in the exercise of their him certain advantages in return. On the
rights would rob the poor widow of her other hand, it was to be expected that when
4389
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
Poland found herself hard pressed, she A compact was arranged at Marienburg
would attempt to bring over her neighbour on June 25th, wherein the objects desired
to her side, and offer political concessions by the two parties were more clearly and
by way of remuneration. Therefore, the distinctly specified. The elector promised
characteristic course of policy was for to help the king during this summer
Prussia to join Sweden at the outset of the with the whole of his military power, in
struggle,to inspire her Polish overlord return for which the king promised him
with the fear of her power, and then to full sovereignty over the Palatinate, Posen,
brought liberation from a crushing and the charge of the cavalry, led
degrading subjection or aggrandisement to by the elector in person, was so decisive,
Brandenburg. that Charles Gustavus stopped the pur-
At the outset of the war between suit out of Prussian astuteness, lest his
Sweden and Poland the elector's success allies should reap too rich a harvest of
was very unimportant, and hardly appre- trophies. The compilers of the official
ciable to contemporaries. In November, Swedish reports have done their best to
1655, the Swedish troops occupied a large minimise Frederic William's services
portion of the duchy of Prussia, meeting in gaining the victor}', and the elector
with little or no opposition from the himself modestly refrained from proffering
elector. In the compact of Konigsberg on any correction of their misstatements,
January iyth, 1656, Charles Gustavus X. caring only for material gains. But, none
undertook to evacuate the duchy, which the less, his allies could not shut their eyes
the Brandenburger now held as a fief from to the facts, and the whole world was pro-
Sweden. Poland had surrendered her foundly surprised to learn how quickly
feudal territoryand had consequently a German electorate of no previous repu-
her right to it
given up
*r the ;
tation had acquired so admirable an army.
Factors , ,,'. ', ,,
. . victor seized the position of the This army is indissolubly bound up with
conc uere(l- However, the mili- the foundation of the State of Prussia ;
Strug le l
tary position soon underwent a being the special creation of its general, it
change. Charles Gustavus began to find has henceforward nothing in common with
that he could remain in the Polish lands the composite forces of feudal and knightly
which he had conquered only under times. On the contrary, it is a state army ;
very dangerous conditions. He was more not a militia, but none the less a national
than ever dependent upon the support of power, in which were fully displayed
his new vassal, who was not bound to the admirable capabilities of the North
furnish more than 1,000 infantry and German for warfare, when incorporated
500 cavalry to serve as auxiliary troops. in well trained and disciplined troops.
4390
THE FOUNDING OF PRUSSIA
Frederic William had shown what he to the electoral government, and had
could do when he put out his full strength, praised their fidelity to their old feudal
but he had no inclination to place that lord. But neither the king nor the
strength gratuitously at Sweden's disposal. Reichstag had any thought of beginning
He was obliged to retire to protect his duchy war with Frederic William, who was
against a possible invasion by Russia, and more than their superior, even without
to guard his own territory against the the help of Sweden. In 1663 the dissolu-
attack of a Lithuanian-Polish army. tion of the Landtag was decided and the
In his absence the Swedes were _. _ of Prussia was re-
The Growing sovereignty
S , ,,
defeated by the Poles, and on November cognised, the oath of allegiance
Power of
I5th, 1656, King John Casimir marched the Elector
^ em S taken on October i8th,
into Dantzig with 12,000 men. The 1663 the Polish emissaries also
;
elector received proposals from both took the oath, and contented themselves
parties he accepted that which promised
;
with the stipulation that the duchy should
hjm the ireedom of Prussia from feudal revert to the Polish crown in the event of the
subjection, a concession which brought House of Hohenzollern becoming extinct.
with it no increase of territory, but was After the elector had established his
of importance his position in the
for supremacy in the state, he was confronted
political In the convention of
world. with the more difficult task of reorganising
Labiau on November 2Oth, 1656, Charles the civil administration and the economic
Gustavus recognised his ally as sovereign conditions of the duchy, and also of the
Duke of Prussia, with the sole limitation electorate and He was obliged
of Cleves.
that as such he was to keep no ships of war. to make numerous concessions in the
Shortly afterwards relations with Sweden matter of taxation before he could obtain
were broken off, because Charles Gus- the rights of enlistment and free passage
tavus X. was devoting his entire power for his troops, which were points of
to the war with Denmark and had tem- supreme importance to him, as may easily
porarily given up his designs upon Poland ;
be conceived. His timely realisation of the
, a reconciliation with Poland royal demesnes brought an increasing
was then brought about through annual income to the electoral exchequer,
the mediation of Holland. The and enabled Brandenburg- Prussia to keep
price which Poland had to an army which commanded the respect of
pay was the recognition of Prussian in- the powers at every European crisis in
dependence in the convention of Wehlau constant readiness. France was speedily
on September 29th, 1657, an(i the feudal obliged to recognise the existence of this
relations which had subsisted between force Sweden in particular felt that her
;
the countries since the unhappy day of sphere of operations was largely con-
Tannenberg were dissolved. tracted by the military power of the
It now became necessary to break down energetic Brandenburger.
the resistance of the Prussian orders and Not only had Frederic William made
of the Konigsberg patriciate, which exer- peace with Poland at the imperial elec-
;
cised an almost unlimited domination over tion he had espoused the cause of Austria,
"
the town in the so-called Kneiphof." and had thus freed himself from the
The opposition, which had almost broken difficulties of his isolated position. Charles
out into open revolt against the elector, Gustavus X. had already humiliated
lost power as soon as Frederic William Denmark on March 8th, 1658, and had
arrived in person in the duchy in the reduced her almost to total impotency by
autumn of 1662, with the object of the Peace of Roskilde. He
" uenmar
restoring order. The mildness and cle- educed to p rO pOS ed to administer a second
mency which marked his arrival, as impres- blow> whh the j ntention o{
sive as the appearance of his dragoons, leaving her entirely defenceless
calmed the heated spirits of the citizen and preventing any alliance between Bran-
heroes, who had been vainly expecting denburg and Denmark, when the elector
the invasion of Prussia by their Polish con- averted the blow by placing himself at the
"
federates." Poland had observed with head of the cavalcade to Hoist ein," for
great satisfaction the difficulties which which undertaking he put into the field
the unruliness of the Prussians had placed 16,000 men and forty-two guns, while
in the way of the elector, had supported Austria sent 10,000 to 12,000 men and
the Prussians in their attitude of hostility twenty guns, and Poland 4,000 to 5,000
4391
HISTORY OF THE WORLD
men. Frederic William penetrated as far the possession of the most important of
as Alsen, and said he was ready to give the Baltic coasts, and upon a naval force
battle to the Swedish troops blockading which should upon any occasion be more
Copenhagen if the Dutch admiral, De than the equal of all the other maritime
Ruyter, who was entrusted with the states. In any appreciation of the value
defence of the Danish capital on the sea, of a vigorous and ambitious prince to the
had been able to place at his disposal the development of the state, the fact that
ships requested for the transport of his both Gustavus Adolphus II. and Charles
_ troops, which De Ruyter Gustavus X. were carried off in the midst
, could not do. The connection of important political undertakings must
the Bulwark of r ., .
this
entanglement upon
f not be considered as matters of importance
Protestantism
the north with the struggle in the struggle for Baltic supremacy.
between France and Hapsburg is seen in In the nature of things there was no
the share taken by Louis XIV. in the sufficient reason for a Swedish hegemony
attempt to free Charles Gustavus from his in North Germany, which would not in any
encircling toils. Sweden was still con- case have lasted beyond the reign of
sidered as the great opponent of Catholic Gustavus Adolphus. Equally impossible
imperialism, and as the chief support was it, even by the strongest efforts of a
of Protestantism against Catholicism. dominating personality, to make Sweden
Frederic William declined to join the a maritime power, because the Swedes
"
Concert of the Hague," which was set have no inclination for maritime pursuits,
on foot by Mazarin, unless a universal and are never likely to be driven by lack
peace was thereby to be assured for he ;
_ of suitable land to get a living
would have to expect a further attack Charles
A r
^ TOm ^
6 SCa ' ^ T Can ^ ^ e
from Sweden as soon as the intervention Q . affirmed with any certainty that
of France and England had freed her from German supremacy on the Baltic
her desperate position on the Danish would have been established, or the rise of
islands and the Jutland mainland. Brandenburg power have been accelerated,
This danger, which had become the more by the marriage of Frederic William with
imminent owing to the withdrawal of the Christina, and the long-discussed, desired,
Austrian troops from the Baltic coast and dreaded union of Brandenburg and
after the conclusion of the Peace of the Sweden. Certainly the Poles would have
Pyrenees in 1649, was lessened by the been driven from the coast forthwith, and
sudden and unexpected death of Charles Dantzic would have been made a Branden-
Gustavus on February 23rd, 1660. A burg-Prussian harbour town in the seven-
deadly between Sweden and
struggle teenth century ; but we have no certain
Brandenburg would have been no un- grounds upon which to base an answer to
pleasing prospect to Austria ; the question whether any constitutional
Sweden s ij v. i j i i
she would have merely looked form could have been devised for the
Unrealised
Ambitions <l uietl y on until the oppor- equalisation of Swedish and North German
tunity arrived for her to give interests, and the unification of the sources
the casting vote to her 'own advantage. of strength possessed by the two parties.
The Peace of Oliva, on May 3rd, 1660, The advance of Sweden under Charles
marks an important point in the history of Gustavus was a serious matter for
the development of the maritime powers Brandenburg, and the death of Charles can
upon and within the Baltic. Sweden's power therefore be considered only as a fortunate
had risen and fallen, leaving no permanent occurrence in view of the task which lay
results ; she was obliged to relinquish her before the Great Elector.
idea of founding a great power based upon HANS VON ZwiEDINECK-SiJDENHORST
4392
University of California
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library
from which it was borrowed.
MAR 05 1999
SR
SWEEK LOAN
A 000 046 833
BHB