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IBRARY OF ^ ^ '»=' UNIVERSAL HISTORY

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CONTAINING A RECORD OF THE HUMAN RACE FROM THE EARLIEST HISTORICAL PERIOD TO THE PRES- ENT TIME B ^ ^ ^ ^ Bi EMBRACING A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PROGRESS OF MANKIND IN NATIONAL AND SOCIAL LIFE, CIVIL GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, LITERA- TURE, SCIENCE AND ART ^ ^ ^

COMPLETE IN EIGHT yOLUMES

.^:.«.r.-:^ ISRAEL SMITH CLARE

Author of " ILLUSTRATED UNIVERSAL HISTORY,' and "COMPLEIE HISTORICAL COMPENDIUM'

REVIEWED, VERIFIED AND ENDORSED BY THE PROFESSORS OF HISTORY IN FIVE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES, WITH AN INTRO- DUCTION ON THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF HISTORICAL STUDY

BY

MOSES COIT TYLER, A.M., L.H.D.

Professor ok American History in Cornell University.

'NOT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE WE WERE BORN IS TO REMAIN ALWAYS A CHILD; FOR WHAT WERE THE LIFE OF MAN DID WE NOT COMBINE PRESENT EVENTS WITH THE RECOLLECTIONS OF PAST AGES ;"—C;C£RO

Vol. IV. — McdicBval History.

Illustrated With Maps, Portraits and Views

NEW YORK R. S. PEALE J. A.

1897

HILL

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1SS9,

By ISRAEL SMITH CLARE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

Entered according to Act of Congress in tlie year 1S93,

By ISRAEL SMITH CLARE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1S96,

By ISRAEL SMITH CLARE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1S97,

By ISRAEL SMITH CLARE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

5_ TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Part ii— iviedi^eval History-— Vol. i\'.

CHAPTER I. THE DARK AGES.

SECTION I. Character of Medieval History,

179

New Races in Europe. — Mediaeval and Modern History. — The Dark Ages. — The Middle Ages. — CharaAer of the Mediaeval Period.

SECTION II.

TiiK Nkvv Races in Europe, 1180-1185

Tlie Arj'an Races in Europe. — Greeks and Lat- ins.— Celts, Teutons and Slavonians. — Civilization of the Barbarians by the Romans. — The Amalga- mation of the Latin and Teutonic Races. — Visi- goths.— Sueves. — Heruli. — Vandals. — Burgundi- aus. — Lombards. — .'Memanni. — Thuringians. — Franks. — Saxons. — Northmen. — Turanian Races in Europe. — Laps, Fins and Basques. — Avars, Bul- garians and Hungarians. — Mongols and Ottoman Turks. — Semitic Races. — Saracens and Moors. — Rise of Modern Languages.

SECTION III.

The Visigothic Kingdom in Spain, . 1186-1190

Migration of the Visigoths to Spain.— .\dolphus. — Sigeric. — Wallia. ;— Theodoric \. — Thorsimund. — Theodoric 11. — Euric. — Alaric II. — Gensaleic. — Theodoric the Ostrogoth. — .\malaric. — Theudis. — Theudisdel. — .\gilan. — Athauagild. — Leuva I. — Leovigild. — Recared I. — Leuva II. — Witeric. — Gundemar. — Sisebert. — Recared II. — Swintila. — Sisenand. — Chiutila. — Tulga. — Chindaswind. — Re- ceswind. — Wamba. — Ervigius. — Egica. — -Witiza. — Roderic. — Saracen Conquest of Spain.

SECTION IV.

The O.strogothic Kingdom in Italy, 1190-1194

Italy under Odoacer. — Ostrogothic Conquest of Italy. — Theodoric. — .\thalaric. — Theodatus. — Viti- ges. — Wars with the Ea.steru Empire. — Invasion of Italy by Belisarius. — .Siege of Rome by Vitiges. — Capture of Ravenna by Belisarius. — Totila. — His Capture of Rome. — Belisarius in Italy. — To- tila's Second Capture of Rome. — Victories of Nar- ses in Italy. — Teias. — His Defeat and Death. — Ger- man Invasion of Italy. — Italy Annexed to the Eastern Empire. — The Exarchs of Ravenna.

SECTION V. The Lombard Kingdom in Italy,

. 1194-1198

The Lombard Migration to the Danube. — Au- doin. — .Mboin. — I,ombard Migration to Italy. — Clcph. — .\utharis. — .-^gilulf. — The Iron Crown of Lombardy. — .\daluald. — .Xriuald. — Rotharis. —

fiii)

Roduald. — Aribert I. — Berlharit and Godebert. — Grimvald. — Bertharit. — Cunibert. — Luitbert. — Ra- gimbert. — Aribert II. — .\nsprand. — Luidpraud. — Wars with the Exarchs of Ravenna and with the Pope. — Hildebrand. — Rachis. — Astolph. — War with the Pope and Pepin the Little, King of the Franks. — Pepin's Invasion of Italy. — Beginning of the Pope's Temporal Power. — Desiderius. — Con- quest of the Lombard Kingdom by Charlemagne.

SECTION VI.

The Franks IN Gaul 1198-1206

Wars of the Franks with the Romans in Gaul.— Ripuarian Franks. — .Salian F'ranks.— Pharamond. — Clodian. — Meroveus. — Childeric. — Clovis. — His Conquest of Northern Gaul. —His Christian Wife Clotilda. — His ViClory over the Alemauni in the Battle of Ziilpich. — His Conversion to Christianity. — His Alliance with the Church. — His Conquest of the Bretons of Armorica. — His Viftory over the Burgundians. — His Victory over the Visigoths near Poitiers. — His Repulse at Aries. — His .Annex- ation of Aquitaine.— Embassy from the Eastern Emperor Anastasius to Clovis. — Extent of the Frank Kingdom. — Characfler of the Govemmeut of Clovis.— His Religion. — His Codes of Laws. — Murders of Other prankish Kings. — Death of Clo- vis.— His Sons and Successors. — Theodoric. — Clo- domir.— Childebert.— Clotaire. — Their Quarrels.— War with the Burgundians. — Clotilda.— Murder of her Sons by Clotaire.— Theodebert.— War with the Visigoths of Spain. — Theodebert's Conquest of Northern Italy. — Theodebald. — Chramnc War with the Bretons.— Clotaire's Four Sons. — Chari- bert, Gontram, Chilperic, Sigebert.— Quarrels and Crimes of Bmneh.aut and Fredegonda. —Childe- bert II.— Clotaire II.— Dagobert I.— His Canoniza- tion.— His Successors, Rois-Fain^ants. — Mayors of the Palace.— Pepin d' Heristal.— His Successes over the Other German Tribes.— Conversion of the Germans to Christianity.— Plectrude and Dago- bert III.— Ch.^rles Martel.— His Victories over the Saxons, Frisians and Burgundians. — His Great Viiflorv over the Saracens at Tours —Its Results.— Carloman and Pepin the Little.— Chilperic III.— St. Boniface, or Winfried.— Carloman's Retire- ment.—Deposition of Chilperic HI., the Last Me- rovingian King, by Pepin the Little, who thus Founded the Carlovingian Dynasty.

SECTION VII. The .Angles and Saxons in Britain, 1206-1218

Britain under the Romans.— The Scots and PiAs. —Their Inroads.— Helplessness of the Britons.— Migration of the Angles and Saxons to Britain.— Their Conquest of Britain.- The Anglo-Saxon

mmm^

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Heptarchy.— The Three Saxon Kiugdoins.— The Three Augle King<loms. — Anglo-Saxon Relig- ion.— Origin of the Names of the Days of the Week. — The Names of the Months. — Anglo-Saxon Government. — Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.— The Monk Austin, or Augustine. — Wars Among the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms in Britain. — Founding of the Kingdom of England by Egbert. — Condition of the Anglo-Saxons. — The Monasteries. — The Venerable Bede. — Caedmon the Poet.— The Irish Missionaries.— Gildas the Wise. — TheWiteuagemote. — Counties, or Shires. — Earls and Aldermen.— Sheriffs. — Earls, Thanes, Churls and Serfs. — Household Serfs and Villains. — Offi- cers of the King's Household. — Criminal Laws of the Auglo-Saxons. — Modes of Trial. — The Ordeal. — Table of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. — Tables of the Sovereigns of the Barbarian Monarchies.

SECTION VIII.

The Eastern Roman Empire 1219-1242

The Eastern Empire under Arcadius. — Theodo- sius II. — Invasion of the Empire by the Huns. — The Empress Pulcheria. — Marcian. — Leo I. — Zeno. ^Anastasius I. — Justin I. — Accession of Justiniau. — War with Persia. — Fadtions at Constantinople. — The Nika Riots. — Conquest of the Vandal King- dom in Africa by Belisarius. — Wars with the Ostro- goths in Italy. — Conquest of the Ostrogoths by Belisarius. — Belisarius Sent against the New Per- sians.— Justinian's I'ngrateful Treatment of Beli- sarius.— The Long War War between the Eastern Roman and New Persian Empires. — Revolts in Africa and Italy. — The Revolt of the Ostrogoths in Italy. — Vicflories of Belisarius over the Ostro- goths.— Recall of Belisarius. — Conquest of the Ostrogoths by Narses. — The Exarchate of Ravenna. — The Gepidffiand the Lombards. — Slavonians and Bulgarians. — .Vvars and Turks — Victories of Bel- isarius over the Bulgarians and Slavonians. — ^Jus- tinian's Ingratitude to Belisarius. — Cathedral of St. Sophia. — Rampart of Gog and Magog. — The Civil Law.— Silk Manufaifture. -Justin II.— Tibe- rius.— Maurice. — War with the Franks. — War with Persia. — Phocas. — Heraclius. — War with Persia. — Persian Conquest of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. — Persian Invasion of Asia Minor. — Victories of Heraclius in Persia. — Saracen Conquest of Syria and Palestine. — Constantine III. and Heracle- onas. — Constans II. — Constantine IV. — First Siege of Constantinople by the Saracens — Justinian II.^Leontius and Absimarus. — Justiniau II. Re- stored.—Philippicus.—Anastasius II. — Theodosius III. — Leo III., the Isaurian. — Iconoduli and Icon- oclasts.— War of Iconoclasm. — Constantine V., Copronymus. — His Persecution of the Iconoduli. — Leo IV. — Constantine VI. — Irene. — Nicephorus. — Stauracius. — Michael I. — Leo V., the Armenian. — Bulgarian Ravages. — Michael II., the Arniorian. — Theophilus.— Michael III., the Drunkard.— End of the Iconoclastic War.— Separation of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. — Basil I. — His Vidlories over the .Saracens. — The Basilica — Leo VI., the Philosopher, and Alexander.— Constantine VII., Poqjhyrogenitus.— Romanus I., Lcucapenus. — Christopher. — Stephen. — Constantine VHI. — Constantine VII. Restored. — Romanus II. — Ni- cephorus II., Phocas. — ^John I.,Zimisces. — His\'icto- ties over the Saracens and the Russians. — Basil II. and Constantine IX. — War with the Bulgarians. — Romanus III. and .iVrgyropulus. — Michael IV., the Paphlagonian. — Michael V., CalAphates. — Con- stantine X., Monomachus and Zoc. — Theodora and Michael VI., Stratiotes. — Isaac Comnenus. — Con-

stantine XI. — Eudocia. — Romanus IV., Diogenes. — His Defeat and Capture by the Seljuk Turks. — His Release and Dethronement. — Michael VII., Pa- rapinaces. — Nicephorus III. — A Large part of Asia Minor Ceded to the Seljuk Turks. — Alexis I., Com- nenus. — Calamities of the Empire. — Empire of the Seljuk Turks. —The First Crusade.— John II.— Manuel I. — Wars with the Seljuk Turks, the Hun- garians, and the Normans of Sicily. — Decline of the Eastern Empire. — Adventures of Andronicus. — Alexis II. — Andronicus. — His Cruelty. — Isaac An- gelus. — Fate of Andronicus. — Alexis HI.— Rival Claimants. — Decline of the Eastern Empire. — Its Reduced Dominions.

SECTION IX.

New Persian Empire of the Sassan-

iD,E 1242-1348

Victories of .\rsaces XXX., the Last Parthian King, over the Romans. — Condition of Persia under the Parthian Dominion. — Revolt of the Per- sians under Artaxerxes. — Defeat and Death of Ar- saces XXX. of Parthia at Hormuz. — End of the Parthian Empire. — Founding of the New Per- sian Empire of the Sassanidae. — Restoration of Zoroastrianism and the Magi. — Extension of the New Persian Empire. — Maxims of Artaxerxes I. — His Zeal for Zoroastrianism. — His War with Chos- roes of Armenia. — His War with the Romans. — Renewal of the War with Armenia. — Government of Artaxerxes I. — His Dying Speech. — Revival of Persian Art. — Sculptures of Artaxerxes I. — Coins. — Bas-Reliefs. — Zoroastrianism and Magism. — Relig- ious Reforms of Artaxerxes I. — Publication of the Zend-Avesta. — Powers Conferred on the Magi. — Sapor I. — War with Hatra. — War with Rome. — Captivity of the Roman Emperor Valerian. — Sapor's Ravages in Syria and Asia Minor. — His War with Odenatus of Palmyra. — Sapor's Great Works. — Bas-Reliefs and Rock-Inscrip- tions.— Great Dyke at Shuster. — Sapor's Coins. — Revival of Zoroastrianism. — Manis, or Manes, and his Religion. — His Ertang. — Charadler of Sapor I. — Chara<Ster of his Successors. — Hor- misdas I. — Varahran I. — His Persecution of the Manichaeans and the Christians. — His Alliance with Zenobia of Palmyra. — His Wars in the East. — War with the Romans. ^Varahan III. — Civil War between Narses and Hormisdas. — Triumph of Narses. — His War with Tiridates of Armenia. — His War with the Romans. — Hormisdas II. — His Chara<5ler and Works. — His Court of Justice. — Afghan Civilization. — Anecdote of Prince Hormis- das.— His Murder by the Nobles. — Sapor II. Pro- claimed King before his Birth, — His Lifelong Reign of Seventy Years.— His Viiflories over the Neighboring Nations.— His Cruelties. — His Cruel Persecution of his Christian Subjecfls. — His War with the Romans. — Civil and Religious War in Ar- menia.— Renewal of the War with Rome. — First Siege of Nisibis. — Armenian Affairs. — Second Siege of Nisibis.— Battle of Singara.— Third Siege of Nisibis.— Invasion of Persia by the Massagetse. — Alliance of Rome and Armenia. — Eastern Wars of Sapor II. — Peace Negotiations between Persia and Rome.— Renewal of Hostilities.— Siege and Capture of Amida by the New Persians.— Of Sin- gara.—Of Bezabde.— Sapor's Repulse at Virta.— Roman Repulse at Bezabde.— Invasion of the New Persian Empire by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate.— Capture of Anathan.— Siege and Capture of Perisabor. — Of Maogamalcha. — Julian's March to Coche.— His Vidory There.— His Sud- den Retreat.— Sapor's Pursuit— Battle of Maranga. —Battle of Samarah and Death of Julian the Apos-

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

tate. — Continued Retreat of the Romans. — Peace of Dura. — Triumph of Sapor II. — Hostile Attitude of Armenia toward R(mie. — Arsaces, King of Ar- menia, Seized and Blinded by Sapor II. — Armenian Resistance to Sapor II. — Sapor's Conquest of Iberia. — His Siege and Capture of Artogerassa. — Ar- menia's Patriotic Stand. — Division of Iberia. — War with the Roman Emperor Valeus. — Death of Sa- por II. — His Coins. — Artaxer.xes II. — His Amiable Character. — Armenia Made Tributary to Persia. — War between Persia and Armenia. — Sapor III. — Division of Armenia between Rome and Persia. — Sculptured Memorial of Sapor III. at Kerman- shah. — Coins of Artaxerxes II. and Sapor III. — Charadler of Sapor III. — Varahran IV. — Revolt of Chosroes of .Armenia. — His Imprisonment and Deposition. — Character of Varahran IV. — Isdigerd I. — His Character and Peaceful Reign. — His Guardianship of the Roman Prince Theodosius. — His Successive Persecutions of the Christians and the Magians. — Isdigerd's Persecution of the Ar- menians.— Coins of Isdigerd I. — His Charadler. — Legend Concerning his Death. — Disputed Succes- sion.— Varahran V. — His Persecution of the Chris- tians.— War with the Eastern Roman Empire. — ■ Siege of Theodosiopolis. — A Single Combat. — Peace. — His Conciliatory Policy toward Armenia. — Religious War in Armenia. — Persarmenia Ab- sorbed by Persia. — Beginning of Wars with the Ephthalites. — Defeats of the Ephthalites. — Peace. — Coins of Varahran V. — His CharaAer. —His Death.— Isdigerd II.— Short War with the Eastern Roman Empire. — War with the Ephtha- lites.— Forcible Effort to Force Zoroastrianism on the Armenians. — Revolt of the Armenians and Iberians.— War with the Ephthalites. — Coins of Isdigerd II. — His Character. — Hormisdas III. — His IJsurpation and Overthrow. — Perozes. — War with Albania. — Era of Prosperity. — Drought and Failure of Crops. — Efficient Measures of Pe- rozes.— Wars with the Ephthalites. — Persecution of the Armenian Christians. — Armenian Revolt. — War with the Ephthalites. — Death of Perozes. — His Character. — His Coins. — Balas. — Peace with the Ephthalites. — Pacification of Armenia. — Char- adler of Balas.— His Coins. — Kobad's First Reign. — War with the Khazars. — Mazdak and his Relig- ious Movemeut. — Kobad's Conversion to the New Religion. — Disorders. — Deposition of Kobad. — Zamasp. — His Overthrow. — His Coins. — Kobad's Second Reign. — Mazdakism Checked. — War with the Eastern Roman Empire. — Siege and Cap- ture of Amida by the New Persians. — Peace. — War with the Ephthalites.— Kobad's Four Sons. — Plot of the Mazdakites. — Massacre of the Mazdak- ites. — Persecution of the Christians of Iberia. — Iberian Revolt. — Its Suppression bj' the New I'er- sians. — War with the Eastern Roman Empire. — First Campaigns of Belisarius. — Persian Alliance with Alamandarus. — Kobad's Death. — His Char- adler. — His Coins. — Khosrou Nushirs-au. — Opposi- tion to His Accession. — His Cruel Persecution of the Mazdakites. — The "Endless Peace." — Re- newal of the War with the Eastern Roman Em- pire.— Khosrou Nushirvau's Invasion of Syria.— His Siege anc' Capture of Antioch. — Peace with the Romans. — Khor.'ou's Spoils. — Renewal of the War with the Eastern Roman Empire. — Khos- rou's New City of Autioch, on the Tigris.— Revolt of Lazica against the Romans. — It Becomes a Per- sian Pro\-ince. — Campaigns of Belisarius and Khos- rou Nushirvan. — Five Years' Truce. — Revolt of Lazica against the New Persians. — It again Be- comes a Roman Pro\-ince. — The Lazic War. — Sieges of Petra. — Its Capture bj- the Romans. — Second Five Years' Truce. — Continuance of the

Lazic War. — Alienation of Lazica from the Ro- mans.— Renewal of its Alliance with the Ro- mans. — Siege of Phasis. — Defeat of the New Persians. — Third Five Years' Truce. — Peace with the Romans. — Khosrou Nushirvau's War with the Ephthalites. — Abyssinian Conquest of Arabia Fe- lix, or Yemen. — New Persian Conquest of Yemen. — Khosrou Nushirvau's Wars with the Turks. — Dizabul, the Turkish Khan. — His Alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire. — Renewal of the War between the New Persian and Eastern Roman Empires. — Persian Invasion of Syria. — Khosrou Nushirvau's Siege and Capture of Daras. — A Year's Truce. — Three Years' Truce. — Renewal of the War. — Negotiations. — Death of Khosrou Nushirvan. —His Vigorous Administration.— His Reforms. — His Patronage of Science and Learn- ing.— His Toleration of Christianity. — His Un- happy Domestic Relations. — His Character. — His Coins. — Hormisdas IV. — His Wars with the East- ern Roman Empire. — His Tyranny. — Invasions of the New Persian Empire by the Arabs, Khazars and Turks.— -Bahram's ViAory over the Turks. — His Defeat by the Romans. — His Quarrel with his King. — His Revolt.— Overthrow and Murder of Hormisdas IV. — His Character. — His Coins. — Khosrou Parviz. — His Difficult Situation. — Bah- ram's Threatening Attitude. — Flight of Khosrou Par\-iz to the Romans. — He is Aided by the East- ern Roman Emperor Maurice. — Bahram's Short Reign. — Bahram's Viftorv. — His Defeat. — His Flight to the Turks. — His Coins. — Second Reign of Khosrou Parviz. — His Situation at his Restoration. — Fate of his Uncles. — Of Bah- ram. — His Partial Conversion to Christianity. — His Christian Wife, Shirin. — His Immense Harem. — His Wars with the Ephthalites and Turks. — His Friendly Relations with the Emperor Maurice. — His War with the Eastern Roman Emperors Pho- cas and Heraclius. — Persian Invasion and Conquest of Syria. — Capture of Antioch, Damascus and Je- rusalem.— Massacre of Jerusalem. — The "True Cross" Carried to Ctesiphon. — Persian Invasion and Conquest of Egypt. — Capture of Alexandria. — Persian Invasion of Asia Minor. — Siege and Capture of Chalcedou and Ancyra. — Conquest of the Island of Rhodes. — Great Extent of the New Per.sian Empire. — Approach of the Avars to Con- stantinople.— Desperate Straits of the Emperor Heraclius. — His Intended Flight to Carthage Pre- vented by the Populace of Constantinople. — His Desperate Resolution. — His Invasion of Persia. — His Victories in Persia. — The Persians Defeated in Asia Minor. — Attack of the .Avars on Constanti- nople Repulsed. — Continued Victories of Heraclius in Persia. — He Plunders the Persian Palaces. — His Retreat. — Tyranny and Cruelty of Khosrou Parviz. — His Overthrow and Murder by his Son and Suc- cessor, Siroes. — Character of Khosrou Parviz. — His Splendid Palaces. — His Vast Number of Animals. — His Nine .Seals of OflRce. — His Moral Defedls. — His Esteem for his Christian Wife. — His Coins. — Siroes. — Peace with the Eastern Roman Empire. — Popularity of Siroes at his Accession. — His Mas- sacre of his Brothers and Half Brothers. — His Re- morse and Death. — His Coins. — Artaxerxes III. — Revolt of Shahr-Barz. — His Alliance with Hera- clius.— His Usurpation of the Persian Throne. — His Overthrow and Murder by his Troops. — Pu- randocht. — Azemiidocht. — Insignificant Kings. — Isdigerd III. — Mohammed and the Arabs. — The Mohammedan Conquest of Persia. — Flight and Assassination of Isdigerd III. — Persia under the Saracen Dominion. — Character of Isdigerd III. — His Coins. — New Persian Civilization. — .Archi- tecture.— Palaces of Khosrou Parviz. — Statue of

VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Sapor I.— Bas-Reliefs of Sapor I.— Other Bas- Reliefs. — Bas-Reliefs of Khosrou Nushir\ati. — Of Khosrou I'arviz. — Zoroastrianism and Wagism under the New Persians. — The Maj;i.— Court of the Sassauidte. — Seven Ranks of Courtiers. — The Royal Harem.— The Great Officials.— Perscpolis, the Early Capital.— Ctcsiphou. the Later Capital. — Dastag'herd.— Costume of the Sassanida;.— Their Armor.— Their Pastimes. — Hunting. — Musical In- struments. — New Persian Warfare. — Elephant Corps. — Cavalry. — Archers. — Ordinary Infantry. — Great National Standard.- The Higher Classes.— All Classes Free from Oppression, Except the Highest. — Justice Honestly Administered. — The King's Tribunal. — The Highest Class Oppressed. — Table of the Kings of Persia.

SECTION X.

ISL.\M's Rise and the Sar.\cen Em- pire, 1348-1420

Geography of Arabia. — Shiekhs. — The Arabs a Semiti^ Race. — Their Nomadic Charafter. — The Horse and Camel. — Arabia Before Mohammed. — Cities. — Commerce. — The Kaaba. — Mecca. — Its Antiquity. — Yatreb, or Medina. — Literature. — Sci- ence.— .\ucient Arabian Religions. — Mohammed. — His Birth. — His Descent. — His Youth. — Omens. — His Caravan Journeys. — His IMarriage with Kadi- jah. — His Religious Meditation. — Visions of An- gels.— Revelations. — Mohammed's First Converts. — His Relatives and Protectors. — The Cardinal Doctrine of his Creed. — His Adopted Children. — His Early Proselytes. — .\li. — Abu Taleb. — Abu Bekr. — Mohammed's Open Avowal of his Mission. — His Slow Progress at First. — Opposition of the Koreish. — Conversion of the Koreish. — Persecu- tion of Mohammed's Followers. — Omar's Conver- sion.— The Hashamites. — Mohammed's Mission to Taif. — His Faith. — Mohammed's Preaching. — Pil- grims from Yatreb. — Mohammed's Celebrated Dream. — The Hegira. — Mohammed's Progress. — His Degeneracy. — The Holy War. — Battle of Bedr. • — Battle of Ohud. — Mohammed's Fanaticism. — Persecution of Jews. — Battles with Syrianij, Jews and the Koreish. — Mohammed's Capture of Mecca. — His Letters to the Emperor Heraclius of Con- stantinople and King Khosrou Parviz of Persia. — Mohammed's Conquest of Arabia. — Spread of Islam. — Mohammed's First Foreign War. — Invasion of Syria. — Forced Entrance into Mecca. — Conversion of the Meccans. — Mohammed the Ruling Sover- eign of Arabia. — The Year of Embassies.— Moham- med's Household. — His Last Days. — His Death. — Grief of his Followers. — His Character. — The Koran. — Its Teachings. — Its Descriptions of the Resurrciftion, the Judgment, Hell and Paradise. — Abn Bekr, the First Khalif. — Khaled, the Sword of God. — Moslem Zeal. — Saracen Invasion of the Eastern Roman and the New Persian Empires. — CoiUjuest of Hira and Oholla by Khaled. — Abu Obeid.ih's Invasion of Syria. — Arab Victories. — Capture of Bosrah.— Battles of Aiznadin and Yer- mnk. — Capture of Damascus. — Death of Abu Bekr. —His Charafter.— Omar, the Next Khalif— His Simple Life. — Capture of Emesa and Baalbec. — Siege and Capture of Jerusalem.— Omar's Entry into Jerusalem. — Capture of Aleppo and Antioch. — Conquest of Syria.— Renewal of Hostilities with the New Persians.— Arab Victories in Irak. — Abu Obeidah's Defeat and Death.— Battle of Ivl Boweib. — Arab Demands Rejected by Isdit^erd III. — Battle of Cadesia. — Great Persian Defeat. — Flight of Is-

digerd HI, — Capture of Ctesiplion by theAraKs.

Their Spoils of Conquest. — Battle of Jalula. — Con- tinued Flight of Isdigerd HI. — More Arab Vidlo-

ries. — Conquest of Persian Provinces. — Recall of Sa'ad. — Battle of Nehavend. — End of the New Persian Empire. — Assassination of Isdigerd III. — Blohammedau Persecution of the Magi. — Am- ru's Invasion of Egj'pt. — Capture of Pelusium, Memphis and Alexandria. — Destrucflion of the Alexandrian Library. — Conquest of Egypt. — Assas- sination of Omar. — His Character. — Othman, the Third Khalif.— Saracen Invasion of Asia Minor and Armenia. — Conquest of Cyprus and Rhodes. — Civil War. — Assassination of Othman. — Ali, the F'ourth Khalif. — Revolts against him. — Battle of Khoraiba. — Moawiyah's Revolt. — His Usurpation of the Khalifate. — Sunuites and Shyites. — Renewal of the Civil War. — Assassination of Ali. — His Char- a(5ler. — Moawiyah, the F'irst of the Ommiyades. — Damascus Made the Saracen Capital. — Internal Tranquillity Restored. — Invasion of North Africa. — Founding of Kairwan. — First Siege of Constanti- nople by the Saracens. — Greek F'ire. — The Khalif Yezid. — Hossein's Revolt. — His Overthrow and Death. — The Day of Hossein. — Extension of the Saracen Dominion and of Islam. — Saracen Con- quest of North Africa. — Conversion of the Moors. — Saracen Invasiou of Spain. — Battle of Xeres de la Froutera.— Conquest of Spain. — Spain Becomes Arab. — Second Siege of Constantinople by the Saracens. — Saracen Invasion of France. — Battle of Tours. — Results of the Saracen Defeat. — Spain under the Saracen Dominion. — Great Extent of the Saracen Empire. — The Khalif's Habits. — Saracen Energy. — The Khalifs and the People. — Overthrow of the Ommiyades. — Accession of the Abbassides. — Abul Abbas al Saffah. — Massacre of the Ommi- 3'ades. — Separation of Spain from the Khalifate. — Al Mansur. — Bagdad Founded and Made the Sara- cen Capital. — Splendor of the Court of the Kha- lifs at Bagdad. — Al Mohdi. — Musa. — Haroun al Raschid. — His Great Reigu. — His Invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire. — Yahia, the Grand Vizier. — His Sons. — Massacre of the Barmecides. — Splen- dor of Haroun al Raschad's Reign. — His Death. — Al Mamoun and Al Amin. — Civil War and Over- throw of Al Amin. — Al Mamoun's Brilliant Reign. — His Patronage of Literature. — Conquest of Crete. — Saracen Invasions of Sicily. — Saracen Rav- ages on the Italian Coast. — Saracen Progress in Science and Literature. — Influence of Saracen Civilization on Christian Europe. — College at Bag- dad.— Mohammedan Colleges and Libraries. — As- tronomy.— Medicine. — Chemistrj-. — Translations from Greek Writers. — Philosophy. — Astrology. — The Arabian Nights. — Arts and Manufactures. — Architecture.— Rebellions, Civil Wars and Relig- ious Dissensions. — Al Jlotassem. — Al Moktador. — • Decline of the Saracen Empire. — The Khalifs of Bagdad and Cordova. — Mohammedan Seels.— The Two Khalifates. — Dismemberment of the Khalif- ates. — The New Mohammedan Kingdoms. — Turkish Mercenaries. — Ascendency of the Turks. — Decay of the Khalifate of Bagda'd. — Mohamme- dan Spain. — Egypt under Saracen Dominion. — New Arab Kingdom in North Africa. — The Khalif- ate of Cairo.— The Three Khalifates.— The Sel- juk Turks.— End of the Khalifate of Bagdad.— Great Characters. — Tabari and Magondi. — Aver- rhoes. — Achmet. — Geber. — A\-icenna. — Abulfeda. —Table of the Saracen Khalifs.

SECTION XI.

The Saracen Kingdom of Cordova, i4-'i-i43o

Spain after the Saracen Conquest. — Introduction of Arabian Customs and Manners. — The Emirs under the Ommiyades. — Condition of Spain. —

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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Spain Becomes Independent under Abderrahman I. — Beginning of the Kingdom of Cordova. — Reign of Abderrabnian I. — His Great Works. — The Great Mosque at Cordova. — Transplanting of the Palm-Tree. — The Christian Kingdom of Astu- rias. — Character of Abderrahman I. — Hixem the Good. — Alhakem the Cruel. — The Spauish March. — Character of Alhakem the Cruel. — His Expen- sive Guard. — Rebellion. — Its Cruel Suppression. — Alhakem's Remorse. — .\bderrahmau II. — Spain Ravaged by the Northmen. — Mohammed I. — .\1- mondhir. — Abdalla. — .\bderrahman III., the First Khalifof Cordova. — His Extermination of Rebels. — Conquest of the African Kingdom of Fez. — Cul- tivation of the Arts of Peace. — Character of Ab- derrahman III. — The Palace and City of Azhara. — Sublime Justice of .Abderrahman III. — His Brill- iant Reign. — Wealth, Power and Prosperity of the Khalifate of Cordova. — ManufaAures. — Agri- culture.— Conmierce. — Palaces and Gardens. — Li- braries and Academies. — Science and Literature. — The Physicians of Cordova. — Alhakem II. — His Character. — His Fondness for Literature. — His Li- brary.— Hixem II. — The Regent Al Mausur.^ Weak Character of Hixem II. — Rivals and Usurp- ers.— Dismemberment of the Khalifate of Cor- dova.— Hixem III., the Last Khalif of Cordova. — His Character. — Revolts. — His Forced Abdication. — End of the Dynasty of the Ommiyades and of the Khalifate of Cordova. — Cause of Its Ruin. — Spain During the Xe.xt Two Centuries. — The Al- moraviiles and the Almohades. — Petty Moham- medan Kingdoms in Spain. — Extent of the King- dom of Cordova. — Intermarriages of Moors and Christian Spaniards. — Jloorish Agriculture and Manufactures. — Splendor of Cordova. — Its Beauti- ful Gardens. — Moorish Manners and Customs. — Dress. — Women. — Moorish Government. — Treat- ment of Christians and Jews.

SECTION xri.

Egypt Under the F.\timites . . . 1430-1432 Rise of the Arab Kingdom of the Fatimites in Northern Africa under Mohammed al Mehdi. — Conquest of Egypt by Muezzedin. — Cairo Founded. — The Fatimite Khalifs. — Al Hakem. — His Perse- cution of the Jews and the Christians. — His New Religion. — Persecution of Mohammedans. — Al Hakem's Crueltv and T3-rannv. — .Assassination of Al Hakem.— Flight of Hamza.— The Sect of the Druses in Syria.^ — Weakness of the Later Fatimite Khalifs. — Their Grand Viziers. — .Adhed. — Contests for Power. — The Grand ^^izier Shiracouh. — Saladin. — End of the Fatimite Khalifate. — Saladin Be- comes Sultan of Egypt and Syria. — Dismember- ment of bis Dominions after his Death. — Malek Sala and the Mamelukes. — Egypt under the Mamelukes.

SECTION XIII.

The W E.STERx Empire Re.stored, . 1432-1452

Pepii) tbe Little, the First Carlovingian King of the Franks. — His Compact with Pope Zachary. — The Pope and the Prankish Sovereign. — Pepin's Aid to the Po{)es against the Lombards. — St. Boni- face, or Winfried. — Conversion of the Germans. — Pepin's Wars with the Saracens in the South. — His Redu<5tion of Aquitaine. — His Death. — Charles and Carloman. — Their Jlutual Jealousy. — Carloman's Death. — Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, Sole Sovereign of tbe Franks. — Charlamagne's Charac- ter.— His Greatness. — .Attitude of the Ix)nibard King Desiderius. — Charlemagne's First War with the Saxous. — His Conquest of the Lombard King-

dom in Northern Italy. — His Second War with the Saxous. — His War with the Saracens of Spain. — Battle of Roncesvalles and Death of Roland. — The Spauish March. — Charlemagne's Third and P'ourth Wars with the Saxons. — Margravate of Branden- burg.— Thassilo, Duke of Bavaria. — ^The Eastern Margravate. — Charlemagne's Conquest of the Avars —His Second Marriage.— Plot against Charlemagne. — Charlemagne Crowned at Rome, as Emperor of the West. — Separation of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. — Charlemagne's Treaty with the Eastern Emperor Nicephorus I. — Revolt of the Saxons. — Their P'inal Conquest by Charlemagne. — Beginning of the Ravages of the Northmen. — Ex- tent of Charlemagne's Empire. — His Capital, Aix la Chapelle. — Organization of his Empire. — Exten- sion of Christianity and Revival of Civilization. — Charlemagne's Government. — His Capitularies or Laws. — Dukes and Counts. — The Marks on the Borders of Germany. — Brandenburg, Austria, and Cariuthia. — Administration of Justice. — Missi Do- minici. — Charlemagne's Friendship for the Church. — His Efforts to Improve the Jloralsof the Clergy. — His Fondness for Learning and Learned Men. — His Encouragement of the .Arts, .Agriculture, Com- merce and Literature. — His Studious Habits. — The .Anglo-Saxon Monk, .Alcuin. — Charlemagne's Sys- tem of Education. — Monastic Schools. — Charle- magne's Personal .Appearance. — His Simple Habits. — His German Character. — His Private CharacSter. —His Will.— His Eldest Son's Death.— Charle- magne's Last Days. — His Death. — His Tomb. — End of the Carlovingian Glory. — Louis le Debon- naire. — His Weak Reign. — His Sons. — Bernard's Revolt. — His Punishment and Death. — Louis le Debonnaire's Remorse. — His Second Marriage. — His Son Charles the Bald.— Revolt of His Other Sons. — Their Triumph and Insolence. — Their Father's .Actions Produce a Second Rebellion. — They are Aided by the Pope. — The Loyal Bishops of France. — Louis le Debonnaire's Ilumiliatiug Surrender. — His Dethronement. — Bishop Ebbo's Iniquitous Scheme. — Louis le Debonnaire's Forced Penance and Written Confession. — His Imprison- ment.— Louis le Debonnaire Restored by a Popular Revolution. — His Imbecility and Subser\-iency to the Pope. — New Division of His Dominions. — Re- volt of his Son Louis. — Death of Louis le Debon- naire.— Quarrels of his Sons. — Battle of Fontenay. — Partition Treaty of Verdun.

SECTION XIV.

The New C.\ri.ovingi.\x Kingdoms, . 1452-1463 Kingdoms of Italy, Germany and France. — Lor- raine, Burgundy and Provence. — Weakness of the Carlo\-ingian Kings of France, Germany and Italy. — Ravages of the Northmen. — Extent of Lo- thaire's Kingdom of Italy, Burgundy and Lorraine. — Germany under Louis the German. — France under Charles the Bald. — Languagesof the Various Carlo\4ngian Kingdoms. — The Saracens in Sicily and Southern Italy. — Defense of Rome by Pope Leo IV. — The Leonine City. — Lothaire's Death. — His Sous and Successors'. — League .Against the Saracens in Southern Italy. — Capture of Bari. — Re\^val of the Greek Power in Southern Italy. — Continued Ravages of the Northmen in Germany. — Louis the German's Wars with the -Slavonians and with Charles the Bald of France. — France under Charles the Bald. — Distracted Condition of the Kingdom. — Ravages of the Northmen. — Their First Capture and Plunder of Paris. — Their Second Capture of Paris and Massacre of the Inhabitants. — Their Third .Attack on Paris and Repulse. — Suf- fering of France from the Ravages of the North-

VUl

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

men. — Lothaire II. of Lorraine and Pope Nicholas the Great. — Lorraine Divided between France and Germany. — Charles the Bald's Quarrel with Pope Adrian II. — His Reconciliation with the Pope.— Charles the Bald Crowned Emperor. — War Be- tween Charles the Bald and Louis the German. — ■ Death of Louis the German. — His Sons. — Renewal of the Saracen Ravages in Southern Italy. — Charles the Bald Goes to the Aid of Pope John VIII.— Death of Charles the Bald.— The Pope Forced to Pay Tribute to the Saracens. — Establishment of the Feudal System. — Beginning of the French Nation and Language. — Charles the Fat Becomes Sole King of Germany. — Louis the Stammerer, King of France. — Louis III. and Carloman. — Founding of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy by Boso. — Charles the Fat of Germany Makes Himself King of Italy. — He is also Made King of France. — His Disgraceful Peace with the Northmen. — The Northmen Under Rollo Ravage France and Be- siege Paris. — Brave Defense of Paris by Count Eudes. — Dethronement of Charles the Fat. — Arnulf Elected King of German}'. — Eudes Made King of France. — Italy Contested Between the Dukes of Friuli and Spoleto. — Insanity and Death of Charles the Fat. — Arnulf s Vittor)' Over the Northmen at Louvain. — He Calls in the Aid of the Magyars, or Hungarians. — Their Settlement in the Valleys of the Theiss and the Danube. — Guido, Duke of Spoleto, Becomes King of Italy and Emperor. — Arnulf Crowned Emperor. — Beranger, Duke of Friuli, Makes Himself King of Italy. — Arnulfs Death. — Louis the Child, King of Germany. — Germany Ravaged by the Hungarians. — End of the Carlovingian Dynasty in Germany. — Italy Ravaged by the Hungarians and the Saracens. — Defeat of the Saracens by Pope John XII. — Italy Distracfled by Frequent Revolutions. — France Divided Between Eudes and Charles the Simple. — Charles the Simple Becomes King of k\\ France. — Settlement of the Northmen Under Duke Rollo in Franc •. — Beginning of the Duchy of Normandy. — Weakness and Incapacity of Charles the Simple. — His Dethronement. — Robert Becomes King of France. — His Victory and Death at Soissons. — Duke Rodolph, of Burgundy, Made King of France. ^Captivity and Death of Charles the Simple. — Hugh the Great, Count of Paris. — Louis d'Outre- mer, King of France.— Power of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris. — Civil War Between Louis d'Outre- mer and Hugh the Great.— Captivity and Death of Louis dOutremer. — Lothaire, King of France. — Count Hugh the Great and St. Bruno.— Hugh Capet, Count of Paris.— Lorraine Seized by Otho the Great of Germany. — Lothaire's Invasion of Germany. — Invasion of France by Otho II. of Ger- many.— His Defeat by Lothaire. — Peace. — Louis le Faineant, the Last Carlovingian King of France. — Hugh Capet Elected K ing of I-'rance.— Table of the Carlovingian Sovereigns.

SECTION XV. The Northmen and TiiiiiR Religion, 146.^-1487 Geography of Scandinavia.— Its Two Peninsulas. — The Scandinavians, or Northmen, an Aryan Race. — Ancient Scandinavia. — The Cimbri and Teutons. — The Jutes. — Comjiarison of the Baltic and iMediterrancan Seas. — Tlie ,\ryan Migration to Europe.- Freedom of the North and Civilization of the South of Europe. — Christianity. — The Danes and Normans in Other Parts of Ivuropc. — Old

Northern Ideas Still Retained. — Days of Week.

Legislative Bodies.— Jury Trials.— teutonic Civil- ization Developed in Scandinavia. — Classes of .Scandinavian Society. — Patriarchal Institutions. —

Respe(fl for Women. — Skalds. — Old Norse Lan. guage. — Maritime Hardihood. — Their Raids. — Vi- kings.— Sagas. — Character of a Viking. — Their Highest Ambition. — Feasting. — Kempe. — Hiorolf and Half — Guunar and Regnald. — • Berserker.— Halfdau and Hartben. — Arngrim's Sons. — Begin- ning of the Raids of the Northmen. — Ragnar Lod- brog. — Raids of the Northmen in Germany and France. — Their Settlement of Normandy. — The Danes in England and Ireland. — Danish and Nor- man Conquests of England. — Raids of the North- men in Spain, Italy and Greece. — Settlement of the Normans in Southern Italy. — Robert Guiscard. — -Harald Fairhair Founds Norway. — Gorin the Old Founds Denmark. — Rurik Founds the Russian Em- pire.— Iceland and Greenland Discovered by North- men.— The Coasts of Labrador, Nova Scotia and New England Discovered by Northmen Five Cen- turies before Christopher Columbus. — Central Idea of the Scandinavian Religion. — Dualism and War in the Natural World. — Courage the Chief Virtue. — Valhalla, or Paradise. — Resemblance of the Scan- dinavian Religion to Zoroastrianism. — The Ice- landic Republic. — Eddas and Sagas. — The Volus- pa. — Song of Hyndla. — The Havamal. — Odin's Song of Runes.— Heimskringla. — Cosmogony of the Eddas. — Legends of the Gods and Valhalla. — The Death of Baldur the Good.— Adventures of Thor. — Battle between the Gods and the Giants. — Restitution of All Things.— The Gods.— Odin.— Thor. — Baldur. — Njord. — Frey and Frigga. — Tyr. — Bragi. — Heimdall. — vEsir. — Vidar. — Vali. — UUur. — Forseti. — Loki and his Progeny. — The Goddesses. — ScandinavianWorship. — Three Great Festivals. — Scandinavian Courage. — Priests and Soothsayers. — Magic and Charms. — Remains of the Scandina- vian Religion. — Sacrifices. — Conversion of the Goths. — Bishop Ulfilas. — Slowness of the Conver- sion of the Scandinavians to Christianity. — Mis- sion in Denmark. — St. Ansgar in Sweden. — The Swedish Diet Allows Christianity to be Preached. — Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark. — .\postacy of his Son, Sweyn — Canute the Great. — Hakon the Good, King of Norway. — His Successors. — Olaf the Saint Cruelly Enforces Christianity in Nor- way.— The All-Tiling of Iceland Adopts Christi- anity.— Scandinavian Development of Christian Life'

SECTION XVI.

Duchy of Normandy 1487-1492

Charadter of the Nations that Invaded Southern Europe, — Rollo's Invasion of France during the Reign of Charles the Simple. — His Settlement in France. — Founding of the Duchy of Normandy. — Reign of Rollo, or Robert I. — Bretagne, or Brit- tany, the Ancient Armonca. — Flight of Britons to Brittany. — Resistance of the Bretons to Duke Robert L, of Normandy — His Conquest of Brit- tan}-. — Government of Duke Robert I. — Tranquil- lity of Normand}- During his Reign — His Abdi- cation— William Long-sword. — His Aid to For- eign Princes. — His Assassination. — Richard the Fearless. — His Captivity in Paris. — His Wars with Louis d'Outrenier, King of France. — Richard the Good. — Events of his Reign. — Richard III. — Robert the Devil, — His Pilgrimage to the Holy Laiul. — William II., the Conqueror of England. — Norman Adventurers in Southern Italy. — William Iron-arm. — Norman Viiftory Over the Forces of Pope Leo IX. — Robert Guiscard. — His ViAories Over the Greeks and the Saracens in Southern Italy and Sicily. — Conquest of Sicily by Count Roger I. — Robert Guiscard's Invasion of the Flast- ern Empire. — His Capture of Durazzo. — Kingdom

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IX

of Naples and Sicily Founded by Roger II. — Wil- liam III., tlie Last Norman King of Naples and Sicily. — Table of the Dukes of Normandy.

SECTION XVII.

Danes and Norman.s in England, . 1497-1520 Founding of the Kingdom of England by Eg- bert.— Incursions of the Danes. — Reign of Ethel- wolf — Inroads of the Danes. — Prince Alfred. — Reigns of Ethelbert, Ethelbald and Eihelred I — Continued Raids of the Danes. — .Accession of Al- fred the Great. — His Struggle with the Danes. — His Great Defeat. — His Desperate Situation. — His Seclusion. — His Vi(5lory Over the Danes. — His Be- nevolence.— Defeat of the Danes. — Alfred's Visit to the Danish Camp in Disguise. — His Great Vic- tory Over the Danes. — He Grants Lands to the Danes. — His Power and Glory. — Danish and Saxon England. — The Anglo-Danes. — Civilization and the Arts of Peace. — Education. — Schools Founded by Alfred the Great. — Oxford University — .Alfred's Literary Works. — His Learning. — The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. — .Alfred's Favorite Works — His Ver- sion of the Psalms, the Gospels and the Lord's Prayer. — -His Studious Habits. — His Measurement of Time. — His Code of Laws. — Counties or Shires. — Tithings and Hundreds. — Effective Police Regu- lations — Renewal of Danish Incursions — Foreign Artisans. — English Goldsmiths. — Blacksmiths. — ■ Alfred the Founder of English Institutions. — His Death. — His Greatness and Character. — The Wit- enagemote. — Meaning of Saxon Names. — Reign of Edward the Elder. — Renewal of Danish Inva- sions.— .Athelstan's Great Reign. — Stratagem of the Danish Prince Aulaff. — The Long Battle. — Reign of Ednmnd I. — Revolts of the Danes Set- tled in England — ^Their Defeat. — Assassination of Edmund I. — Reign of Edred. — St. Dunstau and the Monks. — Reign of Edwy — His Quarrel with St. Dunstan and Archbishop Odo.^Murder of Elgiva. — Reign of Edgar the Peaceable. — St. Dunstan and the Monks — Edgar's Good Reign. — St. Dunstau Made Archbishop of Canterbury. — His Ambition and Arrogance. — Wales Rid of Wolves. — Edgar's Fleet. — Edgar's Victories Over the Welsh, Scots and Irish. — The Three Earldoms of Yorkshire, Northumberland and Lothian. — Rise of Edinburgh. — Reign and Assassination of Edward the Martjr. — Reign of Ethelred the Unready. — His Wicked Mother, Elfrida. — Her Remorse. — ^Renewal of the Danish Inroads. — Danegelt. — Massacre of the Danes in England. — Invasion and Conquest of England by Sweyn, King of Denmark. — Canute the Great of Denmark and Edmund Ironside. — Canute the Great, Sole King of England. — His Good and Wise Reign. — His Conversion to Chris- tianity.— His "King's English." — His Stature and Appearance. — His Poetry. — His Rebuke of his Courtiers. — His Four Kingdoms. England, Den- mark, Sweden and Norway. — Reigns of Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute. — Restoration of the Saxon Dynasty. — Reign of Edward the Confess- or.— His Preference for Normandy. — His Norman Favorites. — Hostility between Them and the Eng- lish.— Banishment of Earl Godwin. — Arrogance of the Norman Party. — Visit of Duke William II. of Normandy. — Earl Godwin's Revolt. — The Witen- agemote Sustains Him — Outlawry and Flight of the Norman Bishops, Priests and Knights. — God- win's Son and Successor, Harold. — English Inva- sion of Scotland. — The Succession to the English Throne. — Harold's Ministry. — His Capture and Release by the Normans. — His Agreement with Duke William II. of Normandy.— His Subsequent Influence. — Tostig's Oppression iu Northumber-

land Causes a Revolt. — Edwin and Morcar. — Death of Edward the Confessor. — His Popularity. — King's Evil. — Canonization of Edward the Confessor. — His Tomb in Westminster Abbey. — The Corona- tion Chair. — Coronation of King Harold II. — His Victory Over His Brother Tostig and King Harald Hardrada of Norway at Stamford Bridge. — Inva- sion of England by Duke William II. of Noi^nandy. — Battle of Hastings and Defeat and Death of Har- old.— William the Conqueror Crowned King of England. — The Whole Fate of England Changed by the Norman Conquest. — English Social Life. — — Peaceful and Orderly Habits. — The English Women. — Houses. — Dress. — Feasts. — Illiteracy. — Gleemen. — Backgammon. — Relations Between the Nobles and the Common People.

SECTION XVIII.

Rise of the Germano-Rom.\n Empire, 1520-1546 Germany Made an Eledtive Monarchy. — Reign of Conrad I. of Franconia. — Accession of Henry the Fowler, the First of the Saxon Kings of Ger- many.— Hungarian Inroads. — Nine Years' Truce with the Hungarians. — Seizure of Lorraine by Henry the Fowler. — His Wars with the Slavo- nians.— He Reduces Bohemia to Vassalage. — Con- quers the Wends. — Renewal of the Hungarian Raids. — Their Defeat by Henry the Fowler at Merseburg. — Invasion of Germany by the Danes. — They are Driven Back by Henry the Fowler, Who Wrests Holstein from Them. — Henry's Reorgani- zation of the German Armies — His Fortification of the German Towns. — Rapid Growth of the German Towns in Population and Importance, — Rise of the Burghers. — Otho the Great, King of Germany. — His Coronation. — Prince Henry's Rebellion. — Otho the Great Secures the Duchies of Bavaria, Lorraine and Suabia to His Family. — Power of Otho the Great. — His Alliance with Louis d'Outremer of France Against Duke William Long-sword of Normandy and Count Hugh the Great of Paris. — His War with the Danes. — Mark of Schleswig. — Otho Reduces Denmark and Poland to Vassalage. — Spread of Christianity in Northern Germany. — Marriage of Otho the Great with Queen Adelaide of Lombardy — His Conquest of Lombardy. — Renewal of Hungarian Incursions. — Their Power Destroyed by the Victory of Otho the Great at Lechfeld.— Otho the Great Crowned Emperor at Rome —The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. — Otho's Quarrel with Pope John XII. — Deposition of John XII —Popes Leo VIII. and John XIII.— Otho's War with the Eastern Emperor.— Otho II., King of Germany and Emperor. — He Subdues the Revolts of His Vassals. — His Invasion of France. — Convulsions in Italv.— Defeat of Otho II. in South- ern Italy.— Otho III., King of Germany. — His Charadler. — He is Crowned Emperor. — He Makes Gerbert Pope Sylvester II.— Henry II., the Saint, of Bavaria, the Last of the Saxon Kings of Ger- many.—Revolt of the Duke of Poland Subdued.— Henry II.. King of Italy.— Crowned Emperor. — Conrad II., of Franconia,' the First of Four Succes- sive Frankish Kings of Germany.— His .Able Reign. —Crowned King of Italy and Emperor.— Becomes King of Burgundy.— Suppresses Revolts of Bohe- mia and Poland.— Subdues Several Slavonic Tribes. —Hungarian Invasion Defeated.— The Fiefs of the Empire Made Hereditary.— Henry III., King of Germanv and Burgundy. -^.V Powerful Sovereign.- Extends' His Suzerainty Over Bohemia, Poland and Hungary.- His Great Duchies.— He Abolishes Pri- vate Wars. — Corruption of the Church. — Simony and the Marriage of the Clergy.— Henry III. Seeks to Make the Popes His Dependents.— Three Rival

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Popes. — Henry III, Raises a German Bishop to the Papacy. — Vices of Pope BenediCl IX. — The Monk Hildebiand. — Good Rule of Pope Gregory VI. — Henry III. Crowned Emperor. — Gregory VI. and Hildebrand Driven into Kxile. — Reforms of Pope Leo IX. — Henry III. Reduces the King of Hungary to Homage. — Henry IV., King of Germany. — Troubles of the Regency. — Oppression of the Saxons hy Henry IV. — He Suppresses the Revolt of the Saxons, — Rise and Development of the Papal Power. — Hildebrand Becomes Pope Gregory VII. — His Quarrel with Henry IV. — Beginning of the War of Investitures. — Excommunication of Henry IV. ^His Reverses. — His Journey to Canossa. — His Humiliation by the Pope. — Rudolf of Suabia a Rival Emperor. — Henry IV. Proclaims Guibert Antipope.— Defeat and Death of Rudolf of Suabia. — Capture of Rome by Henry IV, — His Coronation as Emperor, — Recapture of Rome by the Norman Duke, Robert Guiscard, Hildebrand's Ally, — Hilde- brand's Death, — His Character. — His Policy Con- tinued by His Successors. — Prince Henry's Rebell- ion Against Henry IV. — Death of He"nry IV. — Henry V., King of Germany. — His Quarrel with

Pope Paschall II.— He is Crowned Emperor. — The Concordat of Worms. — Lothaire of Saxony, King of Germany and Emperor.

SECTION XIX. Empire of thk vSeljuk Turks, .... 1546-1551 Origin of the Seljuk Turks. — Concjuests and Ele- vation of Togrul. — Victories and Death of Alp Ars- lan. — Administration of Nizam ul Muik — Glory of Malek Shah's Reign. — Anecdote of His Flatterers. — Disgrace and Assassination of Nizam ul Mulk. — Accession of Sultan Sanjar. — His Misfortunes and Death. — Decline of the Seljuk Turkish Empire. — Togrul III, — Tokush. — Mohammed, — Jellal ud Deen — End of the Seljuk Turkish Empire.

SECTION XX. Persia and theGhiznivide Empire, . 1551-1557 Persia under the Saracen Dominion. — Rise of Yakoob ben Leis. — The Samanees and the Dila- mees. — Origin of the Ghiznivide Dynasty. — Rise of Mahmoud of Ghiznee. — His Conquests in India. — Decline and Fall of the Ghiznivide Empire.

CHAPTER II.— MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION.

SECTION I.

The Feudal System and CnrvALRY, 155S-1561 Origin of the Feudal System, — Division of Lands Among the Barbarians, — Ca,stles of the King and Barons, — Allotment of the Lands. — Feuds, or F'iefs. — Vassals and Lord-Paramount. — Conditions of the Allotment. — Sub Fiefs, — Fiefs and Titles Become Hereditary. — Origin of Chivalry. — Devo- tion to the Cause of the Weak and Oppressed, — ■ Virtues Requisite for Knighthood.— Education of a Knight, — Ceremonies of Admission to Knight- hood,-^Dress and Arms of a Knight. — Knights- Errant. — Tournaments. — Good Effects of Chivalry on European Civilization.

SECTION II.

Papacy, Hierarchy and Monachism, 1561-1564 The Papal Power. — Hildebrand. — Interdicft and Excommunication, — The Power and Influence of the Clergv. — Origin of Monachism, or Monasti- cism, — Life of Solitude and Religious Devotion, — The Benedi(ftine Monks, — The Augustinian Monks and Other Monastic Orders. — The Franciscan and Dominican Monks, — Monastic Vows, — Nuns and Nunneries — Relations of Monachism to the Papacy.

— Beneficial Influence of Monachism on Civiliza- tion and the Manners of the Age.

SECTION III. Medi/Eval Learning and Literature, i 565-1 566

Mediaeval European Civilization. — Great Names of the Dark Ages. — Mediaeval European Universi- ties.— Abelard and the Scholastic Philosophy. — • The Schoolmen, — Thomas Aquinas. — Duns Scotus. — Anselm. — Peter Lombard, — Roger Bacon. — Al- bertus Magnus. — The Mystics, — Thomas a Kempis and his Imitation of Christ, — Rise of Modern Euro- pean Languages. — Mediaeval Italian Literature. — Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. — English Litera- ture of the Time of Edward III — Mandeville, Chaucer, Gower, Langland andWickliffe. — French Mediieval Historians, Froissart and Comines.^ Minnesingers, Meistersingers and Troubadours. — Epic Poems.

SECTION IV. Towns, Commerce and Social Life, . 1566-1567

Increase of European Wealth and Power. — Growth of Towns. — Flemish Woolen Manufacture. — English Commerce. — Italian Commerce. — Silk Manufatlure. — The Jews and Moneyed Institutions. — Social Condition of the People.

CHAPTER III.— THE CRUSADES.

SECTION I.

The Fir,st Crusade 1568-1573

Christian Pilgrimages to Jerusalem. — Outrages upon the Pilgrims. — Preaching of Peter the Her- mit,— Enthusiasm of the Peojile of Europe, — Pope Urban 11. and the Council of Clermont — The First Band of Crusaders, under Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless. — Fate of Other Disorderly Bands — The Great .''irmy \inder Godfrey of Bouil- lon.— The Other Chief Leaders. — Siege and Cap- ture of Antioch by the Crusaders. — Their Cruel- ties.— Great Christian Vidlory at Antioch. — Siege and Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders. — Mas- sacre of Mohammedans, — Founding of the Chris- tian Kingdom of Jerusalem, — Founding of the Knights of St, John and the Knights-Templars.

SECTION II.

Second and Third Crusades, . . . 1573-1575 Loss of Christian Fortresses in Palestine — Preaching of St. Bernard. — Second Crusade. — Ex- peditions of Conrad III. of Germany and Louis VII. of France. — Conquest of Palestine and Cap- ture of Jerusalem by Saladin, Sultan of Egypt. — Third Crusade. — Expeditions to the Holy Land. — Frederick Barbarossa's Victory at Iconium. — His Accidental Death. — Siege and Capture of Acre by Richard the Lion-hearted and Philip Augustus. — Quarrel Between Richard the Lion-hearted and Philip Augustus. — Arrogance and Cruelty of Rich- ard the Lion-hearted— His Insult to the German Banner at Acre, — Richard's Captivity in Germa- ny,— His Ransom and Release

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

XI

SECTION III.

The Last Four Crusades, 1575-1578

Fourth Crusade. — Expedition of French and Ital- ian Knights under Count Baldwin of Flanders. — Storming of Constantinople by the Crusaders. — Temporary Subversion of the Greek Empire. — A New Roman or Latin Empire. — Fifth Crusade. — Separate Bands of Crusaders. — The Child's Cru- sade.— Expedition of King Andrew II. of Hungary. Expedition of Frederick II. of Germany to Pales- tine.— His Treaty with Malek Kamel. — Ravages of the Korasmians in Palestine. — Capture and Mas- sacre of Jerusalem. — Sixth Crusade. — Expedition of St. Louis to Egj'pt. — His Capti\dty. — His Ran- som and Release. — Seventh Crusade. — Expedition of St. Louis to Tunis. — His Death. — E-xploits of Prince Edward of England in the Holy Land. — Siege and Capture of Acre by the Turks. — Loss of the Holy Land to the Christians. — Losses of the Christians and Mohammedans During the Two Centuries of the Crusades.

SECTION IV.

Results of the Crusaders 1578-15S1

Influence of the Crusades on Chivalry. — The Knights of St. John.— The Knights-Templars.— The Teutonic Knights. — Influence of the Crusades on the Feudal System.— Diffusion of Knowledge. —Development of Commerce — The Old Man of the Mountain and the Assassins.

SECTION V.

Crusade Againstthe Albigenses, . . 1581-1586 Influence of the Crusades on the Church. — Cru- sade against the Albigenses, in the South of Franch, — Their Creed. — Action of Pope Innocent III. — Defeat of Count Raymond VI. of Toulouse by the Crusaders. — Massacre of the Albigenses. — Desolation of Languedoc. — Campaign of Louis VIII. of France against the Albigenses. — Capture of Avignon. — Conquest of the Albigenses. — Lan- guedoc Annexed to the Possessions of the French Crown.

MAPS IN VOLUME IV.

New Persian Empire of the Sassanidse 1171

Europe, A. D. 500 1174, 1175

Europe, A. D. 800 1434, 1435

Britain under the Saxons , 1493

Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Kingdoms in the British

Isles 1494. 1495

Scotland during the Saxon Period 1496

Europe, A. D. 1000 1522, 1523

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PART SECOND.

MEDIEVAL HISTORY.

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CHAPTER I.

THE DARK AGES.

SECTION I.— CHARACTER OP MEDIEVAL HISTORY.

ilNCIENT historj', as we have already seen, ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire; and new races and a new civilization appeared upon the scene to take the places of the old and worn-out a(5lors in the great drama of the world's history. Ancient history was confined wholly to Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern and Western Europe. W^ith the fall of the Western Roman Empire the historical field becomes enlarged. New na- tions come into view; and the main interest of the historical narrative is transferred to the continent of Europe, which at the time under consideration was divided among four great divisions of the Arj-an branch of the Caucasian race — the Grseco-Latins, the Celts, the Teutons or Germans, and the Slavs or Slavonians. The Grseco-Latins alone belong to ancient history. The Celts, Teutons and Slavs only appear in mediaeval and modern historj-.

Modern writers usually divide the era since the fall of the Western Roman Em- pire into two portions — Medicpval Hisloiy, embracing the period of a thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Em- pire to the Discovery of America; and Modern Histoiy. comprising the epoch from the Disco%-erj' of America to the present time. The first six centuries of Mediaeval Histon,- are generally termed the Dai/: Ajrcs, and the last four centuries are more properly called the Middle Ages. The chief events of the Dark Ages were the migrations of the

(I

Northern or Teutonic nations; the rise, prog- ress and fall of the Saracen Empire; the re- vival of the Western Roman Empire; and the rise of Feudalism and Chivalry. The Middle Ages are marked by greater acflivitj' of the tendencies to order and civilization. During this latter period the various European tribes settle into nations, the last vestiges of the migratory impulse expending them- selves in pilgrimages and crusades. Lan- guages are developed and improved. Chiv- alrj' refines the manners of the warrior, but itself declines, feudal chieftains becoming subje(5t to consolidated monarchies. Learn- ing is diffused, and industry' acquires a con- siderable portion of its proper dignity and importance.

Until recentl}^ the charadler of the medi- aeval period was not corredlly understood. Ancient civilization was regarded as having perished with the extincftion of the Western Roman Empire, and the world was con- sidered as having relapsed into barbarism. But the great facft is that European civiliza- tion survived the breaking up of the domin- ion of Rome, and was taken up and carried forward to a more perfed; development by the great Teutonic portion of the Arj-an branch of the Caucasian race. Thus this epoch, apparently so full of darkness and chaos, was in reality a germinating and de- veloping .season, during which European civilization was being shaped, and during which it was gaining strength for the dis- tinguished part it was to play in the great drama of modern historj-.

79)

ii8o

MEDIAEVAL HISTORY— DARK AGES.

SECTION II.— THE NEW RACES IN EUROPE.

^HE Grseco-Latins, Celts, Teu- tons and Slavs all belonged to the great Arj-an, or Indo- European branch of the Cau- casian race, to which the Hin- doos, Medes and Persians also belonged. The home of the prehistoric Ar>ans — the ancestors of all the Indo-European nations — was in Central Asia, in the region of the ancient Baclria, the modern Balk, in South- ern Turkestan. The Aryan migration west- ward into Europe occurred in prehistoric times, probably as far back as three thou- sand years before Christ.

The evidence of language shows us that the Celts migrated first and established themselves in Central Europe; but after a time they were pressed into Western Europe by the Teutons, whereupon the}' settled in Spain, Gaul and the British Isles. The Teutons thus occupied Central and Eastern Europe. The Latin and Hellenic nations occupied respedlively the two great penin- sulas of Southern Europe — Italy and Greece. The Slavonians — the last of the Ary^an na- tions to enter Europe — overspread the vast steppes of Eastern Europe.

The original civilization of ancient Europe was confined to the two great peninsulas of Southern Europe — Greece and Italy — where a favored portion of the Arj-an branch of the Caucasian race attained a social organ- ization and a high state of development in culture; while their kinsmen — the Celts, Teutons and Slavonians — still continued in an undeveloped condition, without written language or literature, or the useful or fine arts, or the different appliances of civiliza- tion. All of Europe outside of Greece and Italy was a world of barbarians before the rise of the Roman power.

The Greeks exerted no influence whatever in civilizing the barbarians, that work being wholly performed by the Romans. The Celts were the first of the barbarian nations to come in contact with the Romans. We

have observed that the Gauls of Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy), w-ho were Celts, were reduced under the dominion of the Roman Republic, and that they obtained the Roman franchise at the hands of Julius Caesar. The same great conqueror reduced the vast Celtic population of Transalpine Gaul (now France) under the Roman do- minion, and these people were eventually invested with Roman citizenship. The same was the case with the Celtiberians of Spain. The Celts of Britain were likewise clothed with the rights of Roman citizens. The re- sult of the contact of the Celtic populations of Spain, Gaul and Britain with the Romans w'as that they had become thoroughh- Lat- inized and Christianized before the dissolu- tion of the Western Roman Empire.

The leading Germanic or Teutonic tribes were the Goths, the Vandals, the Burgun- dians, the Franks, the Lombards, the Sax- ons, the Angles and the ' Scandinavians. The last played no part in history until the ninth and tenth centuries, wdien they ap- peared as Normans and Danes.

The primitive home of the Goths was in Scandinavia, in that part of modem Sweden still known as Gothland. But the roving spirit so natural to barbarism prompted them to seek homes beyond their native swamps and forests. They began their migrations about A. D. 200; soon after which they ap- peared in Central Europe in three great di- visions— Visigoths (West Goths), Ostro- goths (East Goths), and Gepidae (Lag- gards.) The Goths were the first of the Teutonic nations to embrace Christianity. A considerable time before the fall of the Western Roman Empire they had been con- verted to Arian Christianity.

We have observed how, in the closing period of ancient history, the Northern bar- barians, in their southern and western mi- grations, overran and overthrew the Western Roman Empire and occupied its various provinces. Glancing at the settlement of

Page — Byzantinian Emperor.

Byzantinian Warkior and Major-Domo.

Servant— Byzantinian Empki;ss amj PKiNCKSS.

Deacon— Bvzaxtini AN Bishop— Levite.

BYZANTINE EMPIRE.

THE NEW RACES IN EUROPE.

1183

the Teutonic tribes at the period when Odoacer subverted the empire of the Cae- sars, we find the Germanic race alread)- pre- dominant in Kurope, and the Germaiaic tribes bcsiiniing to press the Celtic nations within more circumscril)ed limits.

The Teutons had no influence upon the progress of history until the series of events ^ connecfled with the overthrow of the Roman dominion in Western Europe. At that period the Germanic or Teutonic race com- menced to play its mighty part in the great drama of the world's history. From its home in Central and Northern Europe the great Teutonic race began immediately, upon the overthrow of the Western Roman Em- pire, to absorb and shape the destiny and character of nearly the whole European con- tinent: and the development of European civilization during the six centuries of the Dark Ages is mainly connected with the wonderful growth and expansion of the Ger- manic race.

The amalgamation of the Teutonic or Germanic tribes of the North with the Latin and Celtic races of the vSouth and West of Europe produced modern society; and medi- aeval history is the history of the blending of Teutonic or Germanic barbarians with the Latin and Celtic elements. Modern so- ciety derives its ingredients from this com- mingling of the.se two ancient .societies — the love of personal liberty and the feeling of independence from the barbarians, and the forms of an old civilization from the Romans. We will now proceed to an account of the settlements of the Teutonic or Germanic tribes at the time of the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. The Visigothic kingdom under Euric embraced all of Spain and that part of Gaul south of the Loire and we.st of the Rhone; and its capital, Aries, was considered the center of Western civilization. The Siicves in North-western S])aiii were tributary to Euric. The Hcriili, the German tribe under Odoacer, who put an end to the Western Empire, held Italy, but were soon conquered by the Ostrogoths, who at this time occupied the region between the Danube and the Adri-

atic. The Gepidce, also a Gothic tribe, as we ha\-e .seen, possessed the region of the modern Roumania and Eastern Hungarj'.

The Vandals, besides their original homes south and east of the Baltic, were now ma.s- ters of Northern Africa, with Corsica, Sar- dinia and the Balearic Lsles. The Burgutt- diaus occupied the valley of the Rhone and the country about the Swiss lakes, the region called Burgundy, whose ruler was a power- ful rival of the French kings for a thousand years.

The Lombards, or Longobards (men with long beards) originally occupied Jutland, whence they migrated to the banks of the Elbe, and afterwards to the region between the Danube and the Vistula, where they were settled at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. A century later they migrated to Northern Italy, where they occupied the region since called Lom- bard}'.

The Alcmanni held Southern Germany, with Alsace and Northern Switzerland. The Tliuringians were settled between the head-waters of the Danube and those of the Elbe. The Franks or Freemen, who originally occupied Belgium and the region of the Lower Rhine, overran Gaul soon after the fall of the Western Roman Em- pire, expelling the Visigoths from the South and conquering the Burgundians in the South-east; and the name q{ France was given to their new countrj' (from Francia, the land of the Franks). The modern French are the descendants of the Latinized Gauls and their Frankish conquerors.

The Saxons (knife-men, from Sacks'), originally occupied the region of the mod- ern Holstein; but about the time of the downfall of the Roman dominion in Western Europe they had o\-erspread the whole of Northern Gennany from the Rhine to the Baltic. Two of the leading vSaxon tribes were the Angles and the Jutes; the first oc- cupying the region of the modem Schles- wig, and the latter the peninsula of Jutland. The Saxons had never come in contact with the Romans, and were therefore unaffedled by Roman influences. They were still pa-

1 184

MEDLKVAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

gans and worshipers of Odin and Thor. Their piratical craft had carried terror along the entire coast of Europe for a century. Many of the Saxons were at this period set- tled among the wooded inlets in the North of Gaul; while roving bands of Saxons, Angles and Jutes had settled in Britain and thus laid the foundations oi England (Angle- land ) and the English language. The modern English are the descendants of tlie savage Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who thus migrated to and conquered Britain in the fifth century of the Christian era.

The Scandinavians, under the name of Northmen or Norsemen, or Normans and Danes, began their piratical voyages in the ninth century, and ravaged and plundered Germany, France, England and Ireland, es- tablishing themselves in Northern Russia late in the ninth century; in that province of North-westeni France to which they gave the name of Ahinnandy late in the tenth centur>-: and in .Southern Italy about the middle of the eleventh century, while bands of Normijns even terrc 'zed the East- ern Roman, or Greek Empue, spreading alarm even to the walls of Constantinople. For two centuries the Normans, under the name of Danes, ravaged Anglo-Saxon En,g- land, which they finalh" conquered early in the tenth century; and in the latter half of the" same century the Normans of France conquered the same country, thus entirely changing its destiny.

Such were the settlements of the Germanic or Teutonic tribes at the time of the over- throw of the Western Roman Emjiire. Col- onies of Britons, who had lieen dri\-en from their native island by the conquering and freebooting Angles and vSaxons, had cros.sed the British Channel and were at this time mingled with their Celtic kinsmen in the North-west of Gaul, in that ])ortion of France afterwards known as Brittany, or Brelagne. Ilibernia (now Ireland), Cale- donia (now Scotland) and Cambria (now Wales) were inhabited liy the original un- conquered Celtic tribes — ancestors of the modern Irish, Highland Scotch and Welsh.

In the vast steppes of Eastern Europe,

beyond the Elbe, was the fourth and last division of the Aryan branch of the Caucas- ian race in Europe — the Slavs or Slavonians — ancestors of the modern Russians, Poles, Bohemians, Servians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, lUyrians and Croatians. The Slavonians were a pastoral people, more numerous but less powerful than the Teutons. Thej' did not play any important part in history until near the close of the Dark Ages. The woes to which they were subjecfled during the long wars of mediaeval times are .sadly sug- gested by the word slave, borrowed from the proper noun Slave, or Slav. Such Slavonic tribes as the .Servians, Bosnians and Croa- tians migrated during the .seventh centur}- from their original seats north of the Car- pathian mountains into the countries south of the Middle Danube bearing their respect- ive names.

In the South-east of Europe, the Eastern Roman, or Greek I^mpire embraced nearly the region comprised by the modern Turkish dominion, and was inhabited by the orig- inal Greek races and the Macedonians, Thracians and Illyrians.

Thus Europe has in all historical times been almost wholh' in pos.session of four great divisions of the Aryan branch of the Caucasian race — the Graeco-Latins.the Celts, the Teutons and the Slavonians. Still there were some remnants of the primitive or pre- historic inhabitants of primeval Europe ; such as the Laps and Fins of the frozen, manshy regions of the extreme North of Europe, and the Basques of Northern Spain — representatives of the Turanian branch of the Mongolian race.

There were some remnants of the fierce Huns — al.so belonging to the Turanian branch of the Mongolian race — who had overrun and terrorized Europe for almost a century during the period preceding the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The.se rem- nants of the Huns, called Avars, finally .set- tled in the hills and vales of what is now Hungary. The Bulgarians, also a Turanian people, migrated in two divisious from their homes near the Caspian Sea — one founding the kinsrdom of Great or White Bulg-aria on

THE NEW RACES L\ EUROPE.

1185

the Volga river ; and the other passing in the fifth century to the west, where they ' established the kingdom of Black Bulgaria in the region between the Carpathians and the Balkans. They were driven south of the Danube, into the region ot the modern Bulgaria, in the ninth centur\' by the Mag- yars; and in that countrj' thej^ mingled with the original Slavonian inhabitants, who then took the name of Bulgaria7is, and from these the modern Bulgarians are de- scended.

About the middle of the ninth ccnturj' the wild nomadic Magyars, or Hungarians — also belonging to the Turanian branch of the Mongolian race — migrated from the Ural mountains to the valleys of the Theiss and the Middle Danube, where they laid the foundations of modern Hungary, driving out the Avars and Bulgarians. These were all of the Turanian nations that entered Europe during the Dark Ages. In the thir- teenth century the Mongols, or Moguls, con- quered Russia, where they remained two and a half centuries. The Otioman Turks, the last Turanian people who entered Europe, late in the Middle Ages established their dominion on the ruins of the Eastern Roman, or Greek Empire.

Early in the eighth century the Moham- medan Saracens and Moors, mingled Semites and Hamites, overran and conquered Spain, in the southern part of which the)- remained until the end of the Middle Ages. In the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries they ravaged vSicily and Southern Italy. The enlightened and cultured Saracens of Spain exerted great influence upon Christian Europe during the Dark and Middle Ages.

The establishment of the Teutonic race in the Celtic and Latin countries of Western and Southern Europe gave rise to new lan- guages. At the time when the Northern barbarians established them.selves in Italy and the provinces of the Western Roman Ivinpire, Latin had become the common speech of Gaul and Spain, as well as of Italy. The old Celtic language of Gaul and the Celtiberian of Spain only lingered in a few remote places, so that a corrupt Latin

was the prevailing speech in those two coun- tries of Western Europe. As the Teutonic settlers were far outnumbered by the native populations, they were obliged to acquire the Latin in order to comnuniicate with the people among whom they had established themselves; but in learning it they still fur- ther corrupted it, thus giving rise to corrupt Latin dialecfts, which by the close of the Dark Ages, had developed into the modem Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

In Britain the Angles, Saxons and Jutes did not mingle with the Celtic Britons; so that the language of Anglo-Saxon England was purely Teutonic or Germanic, and thus remained until England was conquered bj^ the French-.speaking Normans near the close of the Dark Ages. From that time the Anglo-Saxon language of England began to be modified; so that toward the close of the Middle Ages the English language took shape, in con.sequence of the introducflion of many Norman-French words, and the mingling together of the Anglo-Saxon and Nornian-Frer

The new nations of purel)- Teutonic or Germanic origin which arose in German^' and Scandinavia were entirely unaffected in their speech bj- Latin influences, so that the languages of those countries remained purely Teutonic. Such are the modern German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. The Slavonic languages — chief among which are the modern Russian and Polish — are en- tirely different from the Germanic and Latin languages.

While the new languages arose among the Germanic and Latin nations, the pure Latin language of ancient Rome continued to be the learned and written language among those nations during the whole of the Dark and Middle Ages; .so that scholars and writers throughout the whole of Teu- tonic and Latin Europe exclusively u.sed that pure ancient cla.ssical tongue during the entire mediceval period. The ancient Latin has remained a learned language to the present time, though no longer a spoken tongue, and therefore ever since cla.ssed as a dead language.

ii86

MEDIAE VAL HIS TOR V. — DARK' A GES.

SECTION III.— THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM OF SPAIN.

|HE Visigoths first made their appearance in Spain in A. D. 411; that province ha\-ing been offered to them by the Emperor Honorious, wlio thns bribed them to retire from Italy. After es- tablishing their dominion in Southern Gaul, they burst through the passes of the Pyre- nees, under the leadership of their king, Adolphts, and founded a kingdom in »Spain; which for two years had been ravaged with fire and sword by the Sueves under Her- meric, the Alans under Atace, and the \'an- dals under Gunderic, who had entered the country in A. D. 409. The vSueves had es- tablished themselves in Gallicia, in the North-west of Spain; the Alans in Lusi- tania, in the West; and the Vandals in Baetica, in the vSouth.

After establishing themselves in the North- east of Spain, the Visigoths undertook several expeditions against the \'andals. Adolphus, who had married Placidia, the sister of the Emperor Honorius, considered it best to become the ally of the Romans. By this course he incurred the hostility of his chieftains, who despised the Romans; and Adolphus was assassinated within a j-ear after he had entered Spain. His suc- ces.sor, Sighric, was a brutal ruffian; and was speedily put to death by his subjecfs, who had become thoroughly disgusted with his cruelty.

The ne.xt \"isigothic king was W'aijja, who proved himself a worthy .sovereign. He undertook an expedition against the Roman possessions in .\frica, but his fleet was wrecked in a storm. This disaster in- duced Constantius, the Roman commander iu Gaul, to march iti the direc"tit)n of the Pyrenees. Wallia made read\- to ojjjiose him; but a conflicft was averted b\- the sur- render, by Wallia, of Placidia, the widow of Adolphus, to Constantius, who was deeply enamored of her. When Constantius had married Placid'.a; Wallia entered into an

alliance with the Romans against the Van- dals, Alans and vSueves (A. D. 417).

The \'an(lals were driven from the terri- tories which they had occupied, and were obliged to seek refuge among the Sueves in Gallicia. The Alans in Lusitania were almost exterminated, and the remnant of that nation was absorbed bj-the Vandals; so that the Alans then disappeared entirely from the history- of Spain. The Sueves averted a similar fate by placing themselves under Roman protection; and Wallia, who was unprepared to engage in war with Rome, permitted them to remain in undisturbed possession of their territories. The Emperor Honorius regarded Wallia as his ally, and rewarded him by bestowing upon him apart of Southern Gaul, from Toulouse to the Mediterranean. Wallia immediatelj' re- paired to his new dominions; and thence- forth until the reign of Euric, the Visigothic kings remained in Southern Gaul, while still regarding Spain as a portion of their dominions.

Theodoric I. succeeded \\'allia, who died about A. D. 420. During this reign the \'andals made war upon the Sueves, who had received them with kindness during the reign of \A'allia. The Sueves were driven into the mountains of Asturias in the North of the peninsula, and there they suc- cessfully defended themselves against the attacks of the \'andals. The A'andals then abandoned Asturias and fought their waj' southward to their former homes in Bastica, where they maintained themselves against all the efforts of the Roman generals to di.s- lodge them. They gave their territority in Southern Spain the name of J^andaiusia, which in the course of time became cor- rupted into Andalusia.

As the \'andals had conmiand of the .sea, their fleets were able to terrorize the coast of Spain a.id the islands of the Mediterranean. In A. D. 429 they crossed over into Africa, which they conquered from the Romans in

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A. I). 439, after a war of ten years, thus huiny; the foundations of a kingdom which lasted a century-; as already related. The Suevcs then issued from their mountain re- treats in Asturias and soon recovered Gal- licia. They steadily extended their domin- ions, and in A. D. 438 they pushed their conquests into the South of Spain, routing the Romans on the banks of the Xenil, and seizins Merida and Seville; and for the next ten years Richilan, the Suevic king, governed this vast realm with a strong hand.

In the meantime Theodoric I., the reign- ing A'isigothic king, had been humbling the Roman power in the South of Gaul. After achieving this result, he was about to take the field against the Sueves in Spain, when he was called to take part in the struggle against the Huns under Attila, and was slain in the great battle of Chalons, as al- ready related.

Theodoric I. was succeeded b}^ his son, Thorsimund, who was murdered within a year by his two brothers, the elder of whom became his successor under the name of Theodoric II. This new king subdued the vSueves; but when he was obliged to leturn to his dominions in Southern Gaul, his army was cut to pieces bj- the people of Leon, in revenge for the excesses which it had com- mitted. Spain then quickh' fell into a con- dition of anarchy, and the people experi- enced great sufferings. The condition of affairs in Gaul prevented Theodoric' s return to Spain. He had just restored tranquillity to his Gallic dominions, and was about to return to Spain, when he was assassinated by his brother EURIC, who then became his successor (A. D. 466).

Euric was a great monarch. He con- quered the Sueves, restored the Visigothic dominion over Andalusia, and reduced all of Central and North-eastern Spain under his dominion. He allowed the Sueves to retain possession of Gallicia, with a part of the territory of modern Leon and Portugal, inider their own sovereigns; but made the Suevic monarch his vassal. For the next century the vSueves peacefully submitted to the \'isigothic rule.

Euric next drove the Romans from Spain, wresting from them Tarraco (now Tarra- gona), their last stronghold in the country, and made himself master of the whole Span- ish peninsula; after which he enlarged his dominions in the South of Gaul at the ex- pense of the Romans and the Burgundians, and forced Odoacer, the Herulian King of Italy, to relinquish to him all the Roman possessions in Gaul .south of the Loire and in the valley of the Rhone.

Thenceforth the Visigoths considered Gaul and Spain as their proper dominion. Euric made Aries his capital; and that citj' was then regarded as the center of Western civ- ilization, being the cho.sen seat of learning and refinement in Europe; while the Visi- gothic monarch was the most powerful and enlightened of European sovereigns, his preeminence being acknowledged even by the Persians through their embassies. Euric is rightly considered the founder of the Visigothic kingdom in Spain. His prede- cessors had ruled Gaul, but had only a feeble hold on Spain. Euric firmly established his dominion in the peninsula, and gave Spain its first code of laws. lie tarnished his memory by his violent persecutions of the orthodox Catholics, to whom he, as an Arian, was bitterly opposed.

Euric died at Aries in A. D. 483, and was succeeded by his son Ai..\ric II., who was a weak monarch, and reigned twenty-three years. During the latter portion of his reign, Alaric II. became involved in a war with Clovis, King of the Franks, who had conquered Northern Gaul, and who now wrested most of Southern Gaul from the Visigothic sovereign. Alaric II. died A. D. 506, leaving a son who was too young to wield the helm of state.

The Visigoths accordingly placed Gen- SALEiC, the brother of Alaric II., upon the throne. The new sovereign was hard pressed by the Franks and the Burgundians, who besieged him in Carca.ssonne. Theod- oric, the powerful King of the Ostrogoths, the father-in-law of Alaric II., now made war on both the Frankish and Visigothic kings, regarding the latter as having un-

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MEDLEl'AL HISTORY.— DAKK' AGES.

lawfully usurped the throne which rightfully belonged to his nephew, the grand-son of the Ostrogothic monarch. After forcing Clovis, King of the Franks, to make peace, and defeating Gensaleic and putting him to death, Theodoric the Ostrogoth disregard- ed his grandson's rights by making him- self King of Spain, entrusting the govern- ment of that countrj- to Theudis, one of his ablest generals. Theodoric established jus- tice and order in Spain, and protected the orthodox Catholics, though he was himself an Arian.

Four j-ears before his death, Theodoric the Ostrogoth resigned the crown of Spain to his grandson Amalaric, who made Se- ville his capital, thus becoming the first Gothic King of Spain who established his residence in that countr)'. Amalaric re- linquished his Gallic territor\- between the Rhone and the Alps to Athalaric, the suc- cessor of Theodoric as King of the Ostro- goths. He married Clotilda, the daughter of Clovis, King of the Franks; but as this princess was a Catholic, she brought only trouble to her Arian husband. Their quar- rels over their religious opinions were so violent that Amalaric treated his wife with such indignity that .she appealed for pro- tecflion to her brother, Childebert I., one of the sons and successors of Clovis. Childebert accordingly invaded Spain, de- feated and killed Amalaric in a great battle in Catalonia, and returned to France laden with the plunder of the Arian churches (A. D. 530-

Theudis, who had governed Spain for Theodoric the Ostrogoth, now received the Visigothic crown. He was obliged to re- linquish his pos.se.ssions in Gaul, but suc- cessfully defended Spain against the attacks of the Frankish kings. He was a wise and able .sovereign, and his name was long cheri.shed by the Visigothic nation. He was assassinated in A. I). 54S, and was suc- ceeded by THKrDi.sDKi., who had been one of his generals: but this monarch .so mis- governed his subjects that they murdered him the ne.xt year ( A. D. 549). The next king, Agil.\n, had a troubled reign of five

years, as the southern portion of Spain re- fused to recognize him as king; and he w^as defeated and slain in A. D. 554.

Ath.vnagild, the rebel leader, then a.s- cended the throne of Spain. He had called in the forces of the Eastern Roman Em- peror, Justinian, to aid him in his revolt. He now demanded that they .should retire from the countrj-; but they refused to leave, and established themselves in the province of Carthagena, from which they made fre- quent incursions into the neighboring prov- inces. Athanagild was unable to expel them, and they retained pos.session of the places which they had seized until in the progress of time they became ab.sorbed in the Visigothic nation. During this reign the Sueves, who had been converted to Arian Christianity a centurj^ before, adopted the orthodox Catholic faith (A. D. 560). Athan- agild died in A. D. 567, after a peaceful and beneficent reign of fourteen years.

The next king, Liuva I., died after a reign of three 3'ears (A. D. 570), and was succeeded hy his brother Leovigild, w4io was one of the greatest of the Visigothic kings. He drove the troops of the Eastern Roman Empire out of Granada, and sup- pressed several revolts against his authority, firmly establishing his power throughout Spain after ten years of constant effort. In A. D. 5S2 he a.ssociated his oldest son, Er- menigild, with himself in the government, and secured for him as his bride the Frank- i.sh princess Ingunda,who was a Catholic and converted her husband to that religious faith. Soon afterward Ermenigild rebelled against his father, but was subdued after a desperate struggle; and was pardoned, but deprived of his roj-al dignity. He .soon re- volted a second time, but was again reduced to submission, and was this time put to death at his father's order. The Catholic Church has always considered him a martyr for his religion, and has canonized him.

Upon the death of Ermenigild, the Frank- ish monarch, the brother of his widow, took up arms to avenge him; and the Sueves re- noiniced their allegiance and joined the Franks. Aided by his second son, Recared,

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Lf-ovi'gikl drove back the Franks and re- duced the Sneves to submission. He put an end to the Suevic kingdom by annexing the Suevic territories to the possessions of the Visigothic crown. Lcovigild violently persecuted his Catholic subjecfts, and plun- dered their churches, surrounding himself with a brilliant court by means of the wealth which he thus amassed. He did much for the improvement of his dominions, and is the first Visigothic monarch represented in the ancient coins with the royal crown upon his head.

Leovigild died in A. D. 5S7, and his son and succes.sor, Recared I., was promptly acknowledged throughout the entire Span- ish peninsula. Recared was converted from Arianism to Catholicism in A. D. 589, and the whole Msigothic nation followed his example. This result ended the religious dissensions in Spain, and contributed much to the amalgamation of the Visigoths, the Latins and the Celtic Spaniards into one Spanish nationality, with a predominance of the Latin element. Recared L defeated the efforts of the Franks to invade Spain, conquered the Basques, and chastised the Eastern Roman imperialists, whom he con- fined to their fortresses on the coast. Re- cared I. was a liberal and enlightened mon- arch, and his reign was highly beneficial to his subjedts.

Recared L died in A. D. 601, and his three immediate successors, whose reigns were uneventful, were LifVA II., from A. D. 601 to A. D. 603; WiTERic, from A. D. 603 to A. D. 610; and Gundemar, from A. D. 610 to A. D. 612. SiSEBERT, who reigned from A. D. 612 to A. D. 621, achieved sig- nal vicflories over the Basques, wrested many fortresses from the Eastern Roman imperial- ists, and persecuted the Jews. The next king, Rec.\red II., reigned only three months during A. D. 621. Swintila, who reigned from A. D. 621 to A. D. 631, re- duced all the fortresses of the Eastern Ro- man imperialists, thus putting an end to their influence in Spain.

The next four reigns, which were une- ventful, were those of Sisexand, from A.

D. 631 to A. D. 636; Chintila, from A. D. 636 to A. D. 640; Tulga, from A. D. 640 to A. D. 642; and Chindaswind, from A. D. 642 to A. D. 649. Recesv.'ind, who reigned from A. D. 649 to A. D. 672, was a firm and vigorous sovereign, marking his reign b}' the promptness and energy with which he suppressed all oppo.sition to his government, and bj^ the enaeflment of a law requiring future \'isigothic monarchs to transmit their wealth to their successors on the throne, and not to their children.

Upon Receswind's death in A. D. 672, the Visigothic electors chose the virtuous Wamb.\ to the throne. His virtues and wisdom were well known to the entire Visi- gothic nation. For a long time he declined to accept the crown, but w^as finally forced to j'ield to the decision of the eledlors by the threat of being put to death if he per- sisted in his refusal. Revolts broke out in various parts of Spain soon after Wamba's accession in A. D. 673; but the new sov- ereign suppressed these outbreaks with promptness and firmness, forcing the rebels to beg for mercy. He banished from his kingdom all the Jews who refused baptism, thus forcing many to be formally baptized in order to escape exile, but left them highly exasperated against him. He defeated the Saracens, who had conquered all Northern Africa, in an attempt to invade Spain.

Wambawas rigidly just and incorruptible in the exereise of his .sovereign power, uniting moderation with firmness, and he possessed the devoted affedtion of his .sub- jec5ls. He was attacked with a sudden ill- ness on the 14th of Odlober, A. D. 680, and quickly fell into a comatose state. His at- tendants believed him to be dead, and made preparation for his funeral, according to the custom of the times, by .shaving his head and enveloping him in a penitential habit. Being thus transformed from a layman into a member of the monastic order, he was rendered incapable of wearing the crown. W'ithin twenty-four hours he regained con- sciousness; but as his fate had been irrev- ocably decided, he was forced to retire into I a monaster)-, where he died some j-ears later.

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MEDIEVAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

Wamba's successor was Ekvigh'S, a nephew of King Chindaswind. After an uneventful reign, he died A. U. 687 and was succeeded by Egica, \^'amba's brother, whose reign was memorable mainly for the severe laws against the Jews, who were sus- pe(5ted of instigating the Saracens of North- ern Africa to invade Spain. Ergica was succeeded by his son, WiTizA, in A. D. 701. The first portion of Witiza's reign seems to have been just and prosperous, but he ulti- mately degenerated into a cruel and lustful tyrant. His cruelties finally caused a re- bellion against him under the leadership of Roderic, a powerful noble. Witiza's reign ended in A. D. 709; and Roderic, who be- came his successor, was the last Gothic king.

Roderic .seems to have been no better than his predeces,sor. He soon aroused against himself a powerful opposition. AVitiza's relatives, headed by Count Julian, refused to recognize his authority. Some writers tell us that Count Julian was governor of the fortre.sses of Tangier and Ceuta, on the African coast opposite Gibraltar. King Roderic having dishonored the Lady Flo- rinda, Count Julian's only daughter, her father determined to revenge himself upon the Visigothic monarch, and accordingly invited the Saracens to invade Spain, at the same time putting them in possession of the African fortresses connnanding the entrance to that European peninsula. Other author- ities deuy the story of Florinda, and assert that Count Julian was solely iufluenced. in

making his offer to the Saracens, by his loy- alty to the dynasty of Witiza and his ani- mosity to King Roderic, whom he considered a usurper. At any rate, Count Julian placed the African fortres.ses in the possession of the vSaracen general Muza, evidentlj- not calcu- lating upon the ultimate conseqtieuces of his action.

Muza acted very cautiously even after he had obtained possession of the African fortres.ses. But after becoming fulh- sat- isfied that the outward splendor of the \'isi- gothic kingdom mereh- concealed an inter- nal rotteimess, he made preparations for the invasion of Spain. On the 30th of April. 711, a formidable Saracen and Moorish army under Tarik, an able and experienced general, effected a landing at Gibraltar, which received its name from him, Gibraltar meaning Gibal- Tarik^ or mountain of Tarik. After overcoming the first resistance of the Visigoths, Tarik advanced northward with great rapidity, and defeated King Roderic in the great battle of Xeres de la Frontera, on the Guadalete not far from Cadiz; Roderic himself being drowned in the Guadalete after the battle (A. D. 711). This decisive conflict put an end to the Visigothic monarchy in Spain, which had lasted three centuries (A. D. 41 1-7 11 ). The Saracens gradualh' conquered the whole of Spain except the mountainous districts of Asturias, Cantabria and Navarre in the North, into which the Christians under King Pelavo retired.

SECTION IV.— THE OSTROGOTHIC KINGDOM IN ITALY.

JPON the ruins of the Western Roman Empire, as already re- lated, the German tribe of the Heruli under Odoacer erecfted the Kingdom of Italy in A. D. 476. Odoacer fixed his capital at Ra- venna, and distributed the lands of Italy among his followers, making the peasants who lived upon the lands their slaves. He, however, allowed the old Roman laws and

institutions to remain, and retained the Ro- man magistrates in their offices.

Odoacer was the first barbarian monarch who reigned over Italy, and was worthy of the high honor to which he had been called. He restored the Consulship of the West within seven years after his accession. He coni]ielled the barbarians of Gaul and Ger- many to respect the Italian frontiers, and devoted himself to the restoration of trail-

THE CATHEDRAL OK .S. APOI.LINARB NUOVA. RAVENNA.

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quillity and good govermnent to his .sub- jecfls. Notwithstanding his exertions, misery and desolation prevailed all over Italy. The population of the country was reduced by famine and pestilence, and the means of sub- sistence were diminishing in the same pro- portion. Under the Roman Empire the tributary harvests of Egypt and Africa fur- nished Italy with an inexhaustible .source of food; but the.se were now withdrawn, and there was no way of supplying the de- ficiency. After reigning over Italy seven- teen years, Odoacer was forced to give way before the superior genius of Theodoric the Ostrogoth; and the Kingdom of the Heruli in Italy ended in A. D. 493.

TiiHODORic was born in A. D. 455, and had been carefully educated in the arts of war at Constantinople, where he had re- sided as a hostage. He disdained the more peaceful part of the Greek training, and was unacquainted with the art of writing to the very end of his life. Theodoric became King of the Ostrogoths upon the death of his father in A. D. 476. The Ostrogoths then occupied the region between the Dan- ube and the Adriatic, where they proved themselves dangerous neighbors to the East- ern Roman Emperor, who sought to rid himself of them by agreeing to Theodoric's propo.sal to march against Odoacer and to restore Italy to the Roman dominion.

The Emperor with great prudence left it doubtful whether the Ostrogothic conqueror of Italy was to govern that country as his vassal or his ally. Theodoric's reputation attracfled an immense host to his standard, from the neighboring nations no less than from his Ostrogothic countrymen, at who.se head he marched for Italy in A. D. 489. The march occurred in midwinter, and the Ostrogoths took their families and all their movable possessions with them. They endured numerous hardships, but at length the Ostrogothic host poured over the Julian Alps and entered Ital)-. Odoacer was de- feated in three battles and .shut up in the impregnable fortress of Ravenna, his capi- tal, w'here he was besieged for three j-ears, at the end of which time peace was made

through the inter\'ention of the Bishop of Ravenna, Odoacer and Theodoric agreeing to divide the dominion of Italy between them (A. D. 493). Theodoric either mur- dered his rival soon afterward, or caused his death at a riotous banquet, in total violation of his plighted word.

By the murder of Odoacer the Kingdom of the Heruli in Italy came to an end, and Theodoric the Ostrogoth thus became sole King of Italy, establishing his capital at Ravenna. He divided one-third of the lands of Italy among his .soldiers. He employed the original inhabitants of Italy in agricul- ture and commerce, while to his Ostrogothic followers he assigned the duty of defending the state. Like Odoacer, Theodoric allowed the ancient Roman laws and institutions to remain, and encouraged agriculture, manu- fadtures and commerce; and Italy enjoyed great prosperity under his dominion, be- coming the most peaceful and flourishing country in the world.

The Ostrogothic kingdom under Theod- oric extended far beyond the limits of Italy to the north, east and west. During the minority of his grandson Amalaric, the King of the Visigothic monarchy in Gaul and Spain, Theodoric governed his king- dom wisely and well. As soon as the other barbarians of the West were satisfied that Theodoric did not intend to include them in his conquests, they universally recognized the Ostrogothic monarch as the leading .sovereign of the West, and sought his alli- ance and mediation.

Though Theodoric was himself an Arian, he protedled his Catholic subjects, thus tol- erating all forms of religious belief in his dominions. The fanatical mob burned the .shops and dwellings of the Jews in .several cities, but the king compelled them to restore the destroyed buildings. This exadl justice brought down upon Theodoric the wrath of

j the Catholics, and he became convinced that his efforts in behalf of his subjects had not been sufficient to overcome their prcju-

I dice against him as an Arian.

Jealous of .so powerful a va.ssal, the East- ern Roman Emperor, Anastasius, attacked

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MEDIEVAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

Theodoric's dominions from the direction of the Danube, but was defeated by the Ostro- gothic monarch at the head of an inferior force. In order to atone for this humihation, the Emperor sent an expedition to plunder the coasts of Apulia and Calabria. The imperial forces won some indecisive suc- cesses, but Theodoric's firmness and energy forced them to retreat, thus in a short time bringing about an honorable peace.

Theodoric's last years presented a striking contrast with the beginning of his reign. The ingratitude of his subjects made him su.spicious and cruel. He caused Boethius, the most celebrated and learned Roman of his time, to be put to death on the charge of plotting to restore the Eastern Roman Emperor's authority; and the execution of Symmachus, his venerable father-in-law, followed soon afterward. The death of The- odorio, which occurred in A. D. 526, was hastened by remorse for these crimes. The- odoric did not appear to have desired a union of the Ostrogoths and the Romans, and did not even claim the title of King of Italy, but merely called himself King of the Os- trogoths.

Theodoric was succeeded on the throne of the Ostrogoths by his grandson Athal.\Ric. As the new sovereign was a boj^ of ten years, his mother, Amalasoutha, Theod- oric's daughter, was made regent and was aided b}^ the wise counsels of her minister, Cassiodorus. Her son did not profit by her care and instrucftion, but abandoned him.self to riotous living and all kinds of excesses. When his mother punished him he appealed to his countrymen to sustain him, and the queen-regent was forced to relinquish her authority to him; l)ut he died soon after- ward, at the age of sixteen years, from the effecfts of intemperance. In violation of the Gothic law and custom, his mother, Amalasoutha, then sought to recover her power by marryiiii? her cousin Theodatus and making him king; but Theodatus, re- fusing to be ruled by a woman, caused his wife to be strangled in her bath (A. D. 535).

Justinian, the illustrious Emperor. of the East, had been eagerly watching for a pre-

text to restore Italy to the Roman domin- ion, and now undertook to avenge Amala- southa, preparing to send an army under his illustrious general, Belisarius, into the Italian peninsula. Belisarius conquered Sicily late in A. D. 535, and in the spring of the following year he passed over into the mainland of Italy. The main strength of the Ostrogoths was in the North of Italy, and the Greek influence was .sufficiently strong in the South to make its conquest by the forces of the Eastern Empire a very ea.sy task. Belisarius was hailed as a deliverer by the vSouthern Italians, but the barbarian garri.son in Naples made a stand against him. The city was taken hy surprise, and its fall placed Apulia and Calabria under the dominion of the Eastern Empire. Beli- sarius marched northward and entered Rome, which joyfully opened its gates to him (A. D. 536).

"ViTiGES, the Ostrogothic king who suc- ceeded Theodatus, assembled a powerful Ostrogothic army and besieged Rome, which Belisarius gallantly defended with an inferior force for over a year. During this siege the sepulcher of the Emperor Adrian, now known as the Castle of St. Angelo, was used as a fortress for the first time. The Ostro- goths suffered heav}' losses in their assaults upon Rome thirty thousand having fallen in the main attack; and Vitiges was obliged to retire to Ravenna with his shattered army, thus leaving Belisarius master of Italy. This renowned general might have easily subdued all Italy had he not been frustrated by the dissensions of the Roman leaders. Valuable time was thus lost, and the Ostro- goths were given a breathing .spell before the final struggle.

Ten thousand Burgundians, allies of the Ostrogothic king, took and destroyed Milan, which had revolted from \'itiges in A. D. 538. In the following spring the Prankish king, Theodebert, the grandson of Clovis, crossed the Alps with one hundred thousand Franks, defeated the armies of both the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths near Pavia, and ravaged Liguria and j^Jmilia until he was obliged to return to his own

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country in consequence of losses from dis- ease and the intemperance of his troops.

Belisarius now devoted himself to the task of completing the conquest of Italy. He besieged Vitiges in Ravenna, and re- duced that impregnable stronghold by fam- ine. Weary of their king, the Ostrogoths proposed to surrender the city to the impe- rial general, if he would make himself king. Belisarius pretended to accept the proposal, but when he obtained possession of Ravenna he threw off the mask, declaring that he held the city only as the servant of the Eastern Emperor.

Only Pavia, which was garrisoned by ten thousand Ostrogoths, made a defense; and these warriors, in accordance with Gothic custom, raised Totila, the nephew of Viti- ges, upon a shield, thus hailing him as king. Before Belisarius was able to under- take any movement against this stronghold, he was recalled to Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian, who had grown jealous of the fame of his celebrated general. To- tila immediately sought to recover all that Vitiges had lost. Manj^ Italian cities which had welcomed Beli-sarius as a deliverer had been so sorely oppressed by the officials of the Eastern Emperor that they now gladly opened their gates to Totila. The Ostro- goths took Rome in A. D. 546 and carried its Senators into captivity, whereupon its population scattered. Totila, b}- his noble charadler, gained friends on every side, and it appeared that he was on the point of re- storing the Ostrogothic kingdom in all its former strength.

Such rapid and marked success forced the Emperor Justinian to restore Belisarius to the imperial command in Italj'; but Justi- nian, unable to overcome his jealousy of his great general, sent him to Italy without troops, and delaj'ed those which were or- dered to follow him. Belisarius .soon per- ceived that he must depend largely upon his own resources, without much encour- agement or assistance from his imperial master. He accordingly crossed from Italj- to the shores of Epirus, where he succeeded by extraordimrj- exertions in as.sembling a 3—3.-' I

small army, with which he started for Italy sailing to the mouth of the Tiber.

Belisarius arrived at Rome in time to wit ness the capture of the city by Totila; and, though he did not have a sufficient force to avert this disaster, he prevented Totila from destroying the city, firmly but temperately remonstrating against .so violent a proceed- ing. When Totila departed for Southern Italy, Belisarius, at the head of a thousand cavalry, seized the deserted cit)- and erecfted the imperial standard upon the Capitol, thus inducing the .scattered inhabitants to return. The fortifications of Rome were repaired, and Totila was repulsed with heavy loss in his efforts to retake the city in A. D. 547.

Belisarius, still hampered by Justinian's jealousy, was unable to follow up his suc- cess. The disobedience and cowardice of his own officers defeated his movements in Southern Italy. As he found it impos.sible to effedl anything against such odds, he sought and obtained permission to return to Constantinople in A. D. 548. Totila again took Rome in A. D. 549, overran Ital}', con- quered Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and in- vaded Greece. These successes of Totila caused the Pope to head a deputation to the Emperor Justinian, imploring his assistance against the Ostrogothic king. Justinian accordingly sent a large army to Italy under the eunuch Narses, a favorite of the Em- peror and a man of great talents. Narses was entrusted with absolute power for the pro.secution of the war, and was liberally supported by his imperial master. He .soon proved himself a great general like Beli- sarius, regaining the territory' which the imperialists had lost. He defeated and killed Totila in a great battle near Tagina, which gave him possession of Rome (A. D. 552), that city having changed masters for the fifth time during Justinian's reign.

Teias, Totila's successor and the last Os- trogothic King of Italy, sought the assist- ance of the Franks. Before he could be able to obtain this aid, he was defeated and killed at Cumse in A. D. 553. In the fol- i lowing autumn an array of seventy-five thousaud Germans crossed the Alps and

1 194

MEDL^VAL lllSrORY.—DARK AGES.

ravaged Italy as far as the extreme southern * point of the peninsula, but were defeated ' ivitli terrible slaughter by Narses at Casi- linuni, on the \"ulturnus.

The defeat and death of Tcias put an end to the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, which had existed sixty years (A. D. 493-553). Italy then became a province of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Emperor Justinian erecft- iiig the conquered country into the Exar-

chate of Ravenna. The Emperor's govern- ors, called Exarchs, ruled the whole penin- sula from their capital, Ravenna. Narses, the conqueror of the Ostrogoths, was the first and greatest of the Exarchs, and ruled Italy from A. D. 554 to A. D. 568. The Ostrogoths either migrated from Italy in quest of new homes, or were absorbed into the mass of the Italian nation, and their his- tory ceased thenceforth.

SECTION v.— THE LOMBARD KINGDOM IN ITALY.

thus brought about the extermination of the Gepidse. Alboin killed Cunimund, the King of the Gepid^, and married his daughter, the beautiful Rosamond (A. D. 566). The Avars obtained the lands of the Gepidae as a reward for their assistance to the Lombards, and the latter were obliged to seek new homes. As the way to Italy stood open to them they determined to mi- grate into that country. Narses having been degraded and removed from the Ex- archate of Ravenna, the Emperor Justinian had no general capable of staying the prog- ress of these fierce warriors from the north.

Alboin crossed the Julian Alps in A. D. 568, and soon came into possession of Italy as far south as Ravenna and Rome. Only Pavia made any resistance, and withstood a three years' siege, but was taken by Alboin in A. D. 571, and became the capital of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, which was di- vided into thirty duchies. The region in Northern Italy still called Lombafdy re- ceived its name from this rude and fierce German tribe. The Lombards treated the conquered people with harshness, and de- prived them of their possessions; but they also commenced to devote themselves to the cultivation of their newly-acquired lands, and began to make some progress in civili- zation.

Alboin lived to enjoy his triumph but two years. He was assassinated by a band of con.spirators in A. D. 573, at the instigation

JIIE overthrow of the Ostrogothic power in Italy produced a re- sult which the Emperor Justin- ian had not foreseen. During the reign of Theodoric and the regency of his daughter Amalasontha, the Ostrogoths had effecflually guarded the great barrier of the Upper Danube against the Gepidae, who, .since the time of Attila, had occupied the country on the opposite side of the Danube, the region now embraced by Hungary and Transylvania. The necessi- ties of the Ostrogoths in Italy had forced them to evacuate Pannonia and Noricum to defend their Italian possessions against the arms of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The evacuated territories were immedi- ately occupied by the Gepidse, who, unsat- i.sfied with these acquisitions, threatened to burst into Italy. To frustrate this design the Emperor Justinian called in the Lom- bards, or Longobards (Long Beards), who had migrated from the eastern banks of the Elbe southward to the Upper Danube. The Lombard king, Audoin, accepting the Em- peror's invitation, accordingly moved into Pannonia with his troops, and commenced a war of thirty years with the Gepidse. Upon Audoin's death, his .son, Alboin, be- came King of the Lombards. Alboin was distinguished for his savage bravery. Find- ing the Gepidae too powerfvil to be con- quered by his own nation, he entered into en alliance with the Avars, or Huns, and

THE LOMBARD KINGDOM IN ITALY.

•195

of his wife, the beautiful Rosamond, in re- venge for compelling her, during a festival, to drink from the goblet which had been fashioned from the skull of her father, Cuni- mund, the King of the Gepidae, whom Al- boin had killed in battle seven years before, as already related. Rosamond and her lover, the latter of whom was the leading assassin, fled to the court of the Exarch of Ravenna. Longinus, the Exarch, became enamored of the beautiful queen, and offered to marrj' her. For the purpose of accepting the Ex- arch's offer, Rosamond endeavored to poison her lover, Helmichis. Discovering her treachery, Helmichis compelled her to drink also of the fatal cup; and she expired a few moments after her lover.

Upon the a.ssa.ssination of Alboin, the Lombard chiefs chose Cleph, or Clepho, the one of their number who was the most distinguished for his bravery, for their sov- ereign. He was assassinated in A. D. 574, and the Lombard kingdom had no regular government for the next ten years. Each Lombard chieftain seized a city for himself, and some of them endeavored to in\'ade the territories of the German tribes north of the Alps. The people of Rome solicited aid of the Emperor Tiberius, who, unable to assist them, bribed Chilperic, the Prankish mon- arch, to invade Italy and drive out the Lom- bards. Thereupon the Lombards bestowed their crown upon Autharis, the son of Cleph, who defeated the Franks and forced them to return to their own countr\^ Au- tharis also withstood two other Frankish invasions. The last of these invasions was led by Childebert, whom the Eastern Em- peror Maurice had encouraged to it. Au- tharis thoroughly baffled the Frankish sov- ereign by his prudence and superior general- ship, avoiding a conflicfl and allowing the summer heat to frustrate his adversary. The triumphant Lombard monarch extended his dominion to the southern extremity of Italy, where he founded the great duchy of Bene- vento.

Autharis established a perfecflly feudal monarchy among the Lombards, a.ssigning to the dukes their duchies in perpetuity, on

condition of their giving one moiety of their revenue to .support the royal dignity. The dukes could not be deprived of their posses- sions except for high-treason, but held poweronly atthe sovereign's will. Although a .similar system appears to have been in force among the Franks almost from the very origin of their monarchy, feudal law first received a complete form among the Lombards; and the rules concerning the succession, acqui.sition and investiture of fiefs among other nations were mostly derived from the Lombard code.

Upon the death of Autharis, in A. D. 590, his widow, Theodolinda, was entrusted by the Lombard nation with the choice of his successor. She bestowed the crown on Agilulf, Duke of Turin, whom she mar- ried, and who reigned until A. D. 615. She converted her husband and many of his subje(5ls from the Arian to the Catholic faith, and was rewarded by Pope Gregory the Great with the famous Iron Croum of Lom- bard)', which was said to have been forged from one of the nails of the True Cross, and which is still preserved in the cathedral of Milan.

Italy was now divided between the Ex- arch of Ravenna and the Lombard king. The Exarch ruled over all the country ea.st of the Apennines from the Po to Ancona, along with Rome and the country between Terracina and Civita Vecchia, the duchy of Naples, the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and the territories of the young re- public of Venice. The duchy of Naples soon became virtually independent, though it still acknowledged a nominal allegiance to the Eastern Emperor. The Lombard kingdom embraced Northern Italy and the two great duchies of Spoletum and Bene- ventum.

The Lombards held themselves aloof from the Italians, whose weakness they despi.sed, though they treated them with justice. Nevertheless the long-bearded barbarians from the north had already made some progress in civilization. The Lombard kingdom in Italy was more peaceful and prosperous than any other which had been

1 196

MEDLEVAL HISTORY.— PARK AGES.

formed from the fragments of the Western Romafti Empire. The code of laws framed by the Lombard king Rotharis, who reigned from A. D. 636 to A. D. 652, is considered the best of the barbarian codes.

Under Adaluald, Agilulf s son and suc- cessor, who ascended the Lombard throne in A. D. 615, the triumph of the orthodox Catholic faith was completed, and this cir- cumstance greatly tended to reconcile the Italians to the Lombard supremacy. Never- theless, the Arian party was sufficiently powerful to elevate Ariuald to the throne, but both rivals died without issue, and the general assembly of the Lombards chose Rotharis for their sovereign (A. D. 636). Rotharis was an Arian, but won the affec- ions of all his subjedts by the wise code of laws which he framed, as stated. Rotharis also wrested some important places from the Exarch of Ravenna and reduced the domin- ion of the Eastern Emp're in Italy to so low a condition that it simply existed upon the sufferance of the Lombards.

On the death of Rotharis in A. D. 652, a scene of weakness and confusion followed, which lasted ten years; Roduald being raised to the Lombard throne in A. D. 652, Aribert I. in A. D. 653, and both Bertharit and Godebert in A. D. 661. This period of dissension and weakness end- ed with the accession of Grimv.ald, Duke of Benevento, in A. D. 662. Grimvald was soon involved in a war with the Franks, who invaded Italy, but were totally defeated. No sooner had the Lombard sovereign re- pelled this Prankish invasion than the Eastern Emperor Constans made bis ap- pearance in Italy at the head of a formida- ble army and besieged Benevento; but the imperialists encountered so fierce a resist- ance from the garrison that they were soon obliged to retreat, and, being overtaken on their march, were routed with terrific slaughter. The Emperor Constans fled to Sicily with the shattered remnant of his forces, and w^as murdered in a bath by some of his own servants. Grimvald died shortly after his triumph, in A. D. 672, univ^ersally lamented by his subje<5ls.

Grimvald 's death was followed by a series of obscure and uninteresting revolutions which deluged Italy with blood, and during vs'hich six sovereigns were successively ele- vated to the throne — Bertharit in A. D. 671, CuNiBERT in A. D. 686, Luitbert in A. D. 700, Ragimbert in A. D. 701, Ari- bert II. in A. D. 701, and Ansprand in A. D. 711.

The prosperity of the Lombards was once more restored upon the accession of Luid- PRAND to the throne in A. D 711 Luid- prand framed several wise laws, recftified the evils which had crept into the administra- tion of justice during the recent disturb- ances, and won the favor of the nobles who had opposed his elevation to the throne by his judicious di.splay of courage and pru- dence. Nevertheless he vi'as actuated by his ambition to undertake the thorough conquest of all Italy, taking advantage of the troubles caused by the edicts of the Eastern Emperor Leo III. for the destruc- tion of images. Luidprand invaded the ter- ritories of the Exarchate and took Ravenna itself; but his success aroused the jealousy of Pope Gregory' II., who, though de- lighted with the chastisement of the Icon- oclasts, or image-breakers, was not pleased with the growth of the Lombard power. The Lombards began to invade the Roman territorj-, whereupon the Pope entered into an alliance with the Venetians, whom he instigated to aid the Exarch in recovering Ravenna.

The Italians evers-where supported the Pope against the Emperor, who had aroused the most determined hostility of the Ital- ians by his championship of Iconoclasm. Still the Pope hesitated to renounce his al- legiance to the Emperor, as he needed an alh- against the Lombards, who were press- ing him very hard. Instead of manifesting any gratitude to Pope Gregor>' II. for his intervention in the Emperor's favor in the war vi'ith the Lombards, Leo III. sent emis- saries to arrest the Pope, who was only saved from imprisonment by the prompt inter- ference of the Lombard king.

Incensed at the Emperor's violent zeal

THE LOMBARD KINGDOM IN ITALY.

IKJ7

against images, the Italians bn)ke out into open revolt against I<eo III., and several cities voluntarilj' submitted to the Lomhanl monarch, who pretended an extravagant zeal for the orthodox Catholic faith. Rut the Pope dreaded Luidprand and sought the protedlion of Charles Martel, the Duke of the Franks, against the Eastern Kmperor, who displayed an equal hostility to the Lombards and the Pope. Italy was thus distracfted with religious and political dis- sensions.

Pope Gregory II. died in the midst of his negotiations with the Prankish ruler; but his succes-sor, Gregory III., continued the struggle with unabated vigor. Ravenna was then taken from the Exarch, who after- wards fled; and Italy was forever lost to the Eastern Roman Empire, only the Pope and the Lombard king remaining to di.spute its sovereigntj-. As Luidprand was seeking to force Pope Gregory III. to submission, the Pope was under the necessity of appealing to Charles Martel, the leader of the Franks, for aid, as his predecessor had done. The Pope offered the Frankish chieftain the sov- ereignty of the Roman people as a reward for his intervention. Charles Martel pre- pared to accept the Pope's offer, but died before he was able to do so (A. D. 741 ).

Upon the death of Luidprand, in A. D. 743, the Lombards chose Hildebrand for their king. Racitis was chosen as Hilde- brand's successor in A. D. 744, and was succeeded by Astolpii in A. D. 749. Dur- ing Astolph's reign the Lombard kingdom reached the zenith of its greatness. As- tolph conquered the E.xarchate of Ravenna and changed it into a new dukedom; after which he led his forces against Rome, which was pracflically ruled by the Pope, though nominally subject to the Eastern Emperor. Alarmed at the danger which menaced him, Pope Stephen II. applied first to the East- ern Emperor Constantine \'. for aid; but finding that the Emperor manifested little concern for Italy, the Pope appealed to Pe- pin the Little, the son of Charles Martel and the first Carlovingian King of the Franks, whom Pope Zachary had declared king.

Pope Stephen II. crossed the Alps to so- licit the Frankish monarch's protc(5lion, and was received by Pepin with the highest rev- erence. In the autumn of A. D. 754 Pepin led a formidable army into Italy and be- sieged Astolph, the Lombard king, in Pavia, bis capital, and compelled him to purchase peace by ceding to the Pope the places which he had seized in the Roman duke- dom, along with the Exarchate of Ravenna and the marches of Ancona. As .soon as Pepin retired from Italy the Lombard king renewed the war, encamped before Rome, and demanded the Pope's surrender as the condition of sparing the citj'. In response to the Pope's appeal, Pepin again crossed the Alps into Italy and reduced the Lom- bards to such desperate extremities that As- tolph was obliged to purchase peace by re- linquishing all his conquests, including the Exarchate of Ravenna and the Pentapolis.

Pepin declared that he undertook the war for the glory of St. Peter, and bestowed the whole of the restored territory upon the Pope, thus laying the foundations of the Pope's temporal power, which continued until 1 87 1. The districfl thus conferred upon the Pope included Ravenna, Rimini and twenty-three other cities, and comprised the Exarchate and the Pentapolis, which were subsequently known as the States of the Church, or the Papal States; but the Pope was not yet an independent sovereign, as money was still coined and justice admin- istered in the name of the Frankish king, and even the eledlion of the Pope was sub- jecfl to his revision.

The Lombard king Astolph .secretly re- solved to renew the war with the Pope at the first favorable opportunity; but before his preparations were completed he was killed by a fall from his horse, and the Lom- bard kingdom was distradled by a di.sputed succession. By the Pope's assistance, Dk- siDERius succeeded in establishing himself upon the Lombard throne; but as he was afterwards exposed to the Pope's jealousy, he endeavored to secure himself by giving his daughters in marriage to Pepin's sons and successors. Charles and Carloman.

1 19^

MEDL^A'AL J7/S7VKV. — D.lRk' AGES.

The alliatice between the Lombard mon- arch and the Prankish sovereigns did not last very long. Charles divorced his wife; whereupon Desiderius sought revenge b}' endeavoring to induce the Pope to anoint Carloman's children Kings of the Franks. Pope Adrian I. steadily refused the Lombard king's request; whereupon Desiderius in- vaded the Papal territories, laid waste the country and menaced Rome. The Pope, being unable to make any effective resist- ance, placed himself under the protection of Charles, or Charlemagne (Charles the Great). This great Prankish king accord- ingly crossed the Alps into Italy at the head of a powerful army in A. D. 774; took Pavia, the Lombard capital, after a .siege of

two months; made Desiderius a prisoner; and thus put an end to the Lombard kingdom, which had been the great power in Italy for two centuries (A. D. 571-774). Desiderius and his family were sent to Prance, where they died in obscurity, Desiderius himself ending his days in a cloister. Charlemagne, as conqueror, received the Iron Crown of Lombardy.

A few years later Arigiso, the Lombard Duke of Benevento, who had married the daughter of Desiderius, headed a league of the enemies of the Pope and the Prankish king. Charlemagne entered Italy in A. D. 781 to prote(5l the Pope, and promptly re- duced the members of the hostile league to submission.

SECTION VI.— THE FRANKS IN GAUL.

NE of the most important of the Germanic tribes were the Pranks, or Freemen, so called because of their determination to be free. The historj- of these people for several centuries is the his- tory of Prance and Germany. They subdued Gaul and their own kinsmen, and laid the foundations of the kingdoms of Germany and France. They commenced their attacks upon the Roman dominions on the west bank of the Rhine in the third century of the Christian era; and, notwithstanding their frequent repulses, their persistent ef- forts were ev^entually rewarded with perfe(fl success. By the latter portion of the fifth century they had subjugated the entire re- gion between the Middle Rhine and the Meuse, and had established their capital at Cologne. These were the Ripuarian Franks. The Lower Rhine was held by the Salian Pranks, who were mainly descended from the Sicambri, whom the iunperor Tiberius had settled there. These people only sul)- mittcd to the Roman dominion with great relu(5lance, and were ever on the eager watch for an opportunity to recover their

independence. They were severely chas- tised by the Emperor Julian the Apostate, but he permitted them to retain the lands which they had seized west of the Rhine, and which extended west of the Meuse. By the beginning of the fifth century they had become so formidable that they refused any longer to recognize the supremacy of Rome, though they still furnished mercenary sol- diers to the Roman army

At this time the Salian Pranks were gov- erned by their own kings. Among their legendary monarchs at this period was Pharamond, who is said to have died in A. D. 428. His reputed successor was Clodion, celebrated for the beauty of his hair. He extended the limits of his kingdom west- ward to the Somme. He entered into an alliance with the Romans, and gave them important assistance in their efforts against Attila, King of the Huns, in A. D. 451. The institutions of this Prankish kingdom were similar to those of the other German tribes. Clodion's successor was Merowig, as he is called in German (meaning eminent -warrior'), and whose name has been Latin- ized as Meroveiis. He is regarded as the

THE FRANKS IN GAUL.

I '99

founder of the famous Merovingian dj-nasty.

Merowig, or Meroveus, was succeeded hy liis son, Childeric (meaning bold in co»i- bal), who reigned during the latter half of the fifth centur}- of the Christian era, and had his capital at Tournay. Childeric was a gfreat king and a brave warrior, and as- sisted the Romans against the Visigoths. This coime(5lion with Rome prepared the way for the events which soon followed. Childeric was a slave to his passions. An insult which he offered to the wife of one of his oflScers caused a revolt, which led to the dethronement of Childeric. Count Egidius, or Giles, was then proclaimed king. After an exile of eight years, Childeric was re- stored ; and the remainder of his reign seems to have been tranquil.

Upon Childeric's death, in A. D. 481, his son Chlodwig ( meaning famous warrior), who is better known by his L,atin name, Clovis, or Ludovicus, which is equivalent to the modem German Ludivig, the modem Italian Lttdovico and the English Lewis. Clovis was but fifteen years of age when he became King of the Salian Franks. His kingdom at the time of his accession em- braced onh' the island of the Batavians and the ancient dioceses of Tournay and Arras, and he had no more than five thousand warriors. His wonderful talents soon ex- tended his influence over the kindred Prank- ish tribes, which were settled along the Scheldt, the Meuse, the Moselle and the Lower Rhine, and which were ruled by in- dependent kings and attracfled many war- riors to his standard.

The ardor of his youth, along with the circumstances of his position, urged him on to a career of conquest; as the fertility of the Belgic .soil, the purity of its waters and its atmosphere, constantly attrac5led fresh hordes to the Lower Rhine, who endeavored to cast their lot with the subjedts of Clovis. Finding it thus necessarj' to enlarge his do- minions, Clovis invaded the Roman prov- ince in Belgic Gaul. He defeated Syagrius, the son of his father's rival, Egidius, in a decisive battle near Soissons, in A. D. 486. The vanquished Syagrius fled to the Visi-

goths in tlic South of Gaul, to seek an a.sy- lum among that people; but the Visigothic nation had lost much of its martial .spirit, and King Alaric IL sent the fugitive gen- eral bound to Clovis, who beheaded him.

Clovis had now become the most power- ful monarch of his time, and the neighbor- ing princes eagerly sought his alliance. la A. D. 493 he married Chlodohilde, (mean- ing brilliant a7td noble), who is better known as Clotilda, and who was the niece of the King of the Burgundians. Clotilda was a Christian, who had been educated in the orthodox Catholic faith, though reared in an Arian court. She labored earnestly and diligently to convert her husband to Chris- tianity, and particularly urged him when his crown and his life were jeopardized by an invasion of the Alemanni.

Clovis for a time refused to embrace his wife's religion, but allowed their eldest child to be baptized. The great decisive battle in the war against the Alemanni was fought at Tolbiac, or Ziilpich, near Cologne, in A. D. 496. It was a stubbornly contested strug- gle, and for some time the result of the con- flidl was doubtful. In this crisis Clovis raised his hands toward heaven, invoking " the God of Clotilda, " and vowing that if that God would give him the vitftorj' he would embrace the Christian faith and re- ceive Christian baptism. He triumphed in the battle, and when it ended he accepted Christianity; and on Christmas daj' ( A. D. 496) he was baptized with great pomp and splendor, along with three thousand of his subjecfls, by St. Remi, Bishop of Rheims, in the great cathedral in that historic city. Clovis gave the bishop, as a fee, all the land he could ride around while the king slept after dinner — a gift exceedingly chara(5ler- istic of a conqueror who felt that he could acquire new dominions whenever he awoke. The .wrrf</;!'///a/ filled with oil for the con- secration of the king has been preserved to the present day, and the superstitious peo- ple of the time of Clovis believed that the phial and sacred oil were brought from heaven by a dove. The Kings of France have ever since been called ' ' Most Chris-

1200

MEDL^VAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

tian King, " and have been solemnly crown- ed in the great cathedral of Rheims.

By embracing Christianity of the ortho- dox Catholic faith, Clovis obtained the firm support of that Church; and the alliance was of great service to the interests of both parties. In the advancing power of Clovis, the Church found an instrument which might humble the power of the Ariau Visi- goths and Burgundians for persecution, and unite the whole country in dutiful submis- sion to the Bishop of Rome; while Clovis gained in the Church an ally having the complete confidence of the people whose land he designed to conquer, and ready to proclaim him as the chosen of Heaven, whose scepter would be the surest guaranty of a nation's prosperity and greatness. Neither the Prankish monarch nor the Church could have succeeded without the support of the other, but both together were irresistible.

The results of the alliance between Clovis and the Church were soon manifest. In A. D. 497 the Bretons of Annorica ( afterward called Brittany or Bretagne ) entered into a treaty with Clovis by which they acknowl- edged themselves his tributaries. This treaty extended the frontiers of the Prank- ish dominions .southward to the Loire. In A. D. 500 Clovis won a decisive victory over the Burgundians, and forced their king, Gondobald, to acknowledge himself a tribu- tary of the Prankish monarch. This tri- umph of Clovis put an end to the glor\' and greatness of the Burgundian kingdom, which was not, however, definitely annexed to the Prankish dominion until the succeed- ing generation.

Encouraged by the conquest of the Bur- gundians, Clovis undertook the reduction of the Visigothic kingdom south of the Loire. The civil govennnent of this por- tion of ancient Gaul was mainly exercised by the clergy, who now rallied to the sup- port of the Prankish king as the champion of the orthodox Catholic faith. The Ro- manized Gallic subjecfls of Alaric II., the Visigothic monarch, longed for the victory of the Pranks, and made very little resist-

ance to them. Clovis advanced in the di- recftion of the ancient Genabum, the modern Orleans, and crossed the Loire, everywhere .spreading the terror of his name. After en- tering Aquitania, he pillagd the houses, laid waste the fields and plundered the tem- ples; in the language of a contemporary historian, "leaving nothing to the wretched inhabitants but the soil, which the Pranks could not take awaj'."

Clovis defeated the Visigoths in the deci- sive battle of Voille, near Poitiers, in A. D. 507, himself killing the Visigothic king, Alaric II.; after which the vidtorious Prank- ish monarch overran the countrj' between the Loire and the Garonne, passing the winter at Bordeaux. The next spring Clo- vis endeavored to drive the Visigoths be- yond the Pyrenees ; but Theodoric, the great Ostrogothic King of Italy, sent an army to the aid of his Visigothic kinsman, thus compelling the Pranki.sh king to pause. Clovis met with a decisive repul.se before Aries, the Visigothic capital, and left the Visigoths in possession of a small part of their territorj- known as the province of Septimania, of which the capital was Narbo, or Narboinie. The remainder of the Visi- gothic territory in Gaul was permanently annexed to the Prankish dominion.

Upon returning to Tours, Clovis received an embassy from the Eastern Roman Em- peror Anastasius, who congratulated him and invested him with the titles and insig- nia of Consul and Patrician. This was practicallj' very little gain to the Prankish sovereign, who was ab.solute master of most of Gaul; but its moral influence was con- siderable, as this adlion of the Eastern Em- peror cau.sed the Romanized Gallic subjecfls of Clovis to regard the Prankish monarch as the legitimate successor to all the rights and privileges of the Roman Carsars.

Thus the kingdom which Clovis estab- lished extended from the Rhine to the Pyr- enees, and from the Alps to the Atlantic; comprising the whole of ancient Gaul and Roman Germany, or modem Prance and Belgium with the neighboring Dutch and German territorj- west of the Rhine. Al-

CLOVIS RECOVERING THE SACRED VASE.

THE FRANKS IN GAUL.

I20I

though the conquering king had every-vvhere met with submission from the various Ro- manized Celts of Gaul, his nominal subjeifls closed upon his rear. Neither was Clovis absolute over his own Prankish soldiers, his arm}' being composed of freemen, who dis- dained to submit to despotic power. They gave their sovereign no more than his share of the booty; as is shown by a curious an- ecdote related by Gregory of Tours, an em- inent French historian of the sixth century, in h.\s Hisiory of the Franks, in the following words:

'"About this time the army of Clovis pil- laged a great number of churches and houses. His soldiers had taken away, from one of the cathedrals, a vase of surprising size and beauty. The bishop of the diocese sent a messenger to reclaim it. To this man, the king said : ' Follow me to Soissons, where the plunder will be shared, and should chance give me the vase, I will do what your prelate requires. ' When they reached Soissons they went to the place where the plunder was piled, and the king said : ' I entreat you, my brave warriors, to give me this vase in addition to my share.' Upon this, a presumptuous soldier exclaimed : 'You shall have nothing but the portion assigned you by lot.' "

Gregory of Tours also says: "After this, Clotaire and Childebert, sons of Clovis, formed the design of marching against the Burgundians. Their brother, Theodoric, was unwilling to engage in the expedition, but the Franks who followed him said unanimously: 'If j^ou will not join your brothers, we will quit you, and choose an- other leader.' "

The religion of Clovis never restrained him in the course of ambition, as he seized every opportunity for the extension of his dominions either by fraud or violence. Dur- ing the Dark Ages it was believed that all crimes might be atoned for by the erection of churches and the support of monasteries. The priests, blinded by this liberality to themselves, ignored many of these a(5ls of cruelty and treachery in their histories. In order to secure his own authority, Clovis

caused the heads of many of his relatives to be shaved, and afterwards he put them to death, lest time should renew their long hair, the emblem of royalty. Clovis may be regarded as the original founder of the French monarchy, as he reunited the Frank- ish and Romanized Gallic elements into one nation.

Though Clovis was .so cruel, he was a wi.se monarch, and established several just and humane codes. One of these codes was the Ripuarian , derived from the Ripuarian Franks. Another Code was the Salic Law, derived from the Salian Franks. One of the provisions of the Salic Law has ever since remained in force — that which excludes fe- males from the throne of France. The wives of the Kings of France have always been called queens; but, from the time of Clovis to the very last French monarchy, there has never been a sole reigning Queen of France.

During his last years Clovis rid himself of rivals by deliberatel}' murdering the other Frankish chiefs, some of whom were his Merovingian kinsmen ; thus showing that the religion of Christ had no influence in restraining his savage disposition. Clovis finally made Paris the capital of his king- dom, and died in that city in A. D. 511, leaving his dominions to his four sons — Theodoric (meaning brave among the peo- ple'), Childebert (meaning brilliant war- rior'), Clodomir (meaning celebrated chief), and Clotaire (meaning celebrated and ex- cellent).

All the sons of Clovis established their capitals north of the Loire, which is conclu- sive evidence of the insecurity of the tenure by which the conquests made by Clovis south of that great river were thus far held. Theodoric, the eldest son, took for his share the eastern provinces between the Meuse and the Rhine, along with the districts of Auvergne, Limousin and Quercy; and his capital was Metz. Clodomir held sway over the Orleannais, Anjou, Maine and Touraine; with his capital at Orleans. Childebert reigned over the I.sle de France and Armo- rica, his kingdom thus extending from Paris and Rouen on the east to Rennes, Van-

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nes and Nantes on the west; and had Paris for his capital. Clotaire, the youngest son, held dominion over the ancient country of the Salian Franks, along with the maritime district extending from the Somme to the mouth of the ]\Ieuse, together with some territory in the Cevennes and on the Upper Garonne; and had Soissons for his capital.

The dominions of the four brothers thus intersecfled each other in the most confusing manner; and it was frequently necessary for one sovereign to cross another's dominions in order to reach the remote portions of his territories, thus giving rise to many disputes, and none of the brothers was disposed to lived peaceably with the others. Theodoric, though a fierce and violent .sovereign, gave his subjecfls a wise and excellent code of laws, and strenuously endeavored to estab- lish Christianity wherever paganism had previously existed.

Theodoric and Clodomir engaged in a war with Gundumir, King of the Burgundians; and Clodomir was killed in a great battle near Vienne In A. D. 522, but Theodoiic won a decisive Ticlory and annexed the Burgundian kingdom to his own dominions. Gundumir means pacific and great. Gre- gory of Tours gives the following account of this war: "The brothers joined their forces at Veserancia, a place situated in the territory of the city of Vienne, and gave battle to Gundumir. The Burgundian having taken to flight with his army, Clodomir pursued him, and when he was at a distance from his friends, the Burgundians, imitating the signals of the Franks, ex- claimed : ' Come this way, we are thine. ' He believed them, and spurred his horse into the midst of the enemy. They sur- rounded him, cut off his head, and fixing it on a pike, displayed it to their pursuers."

Clotilda took the guardianship of her in- fant grandchildren, but the decided prefer- ence which she exhibited for Clodomir' s three sons aroused the resentment of Childebert, King of Paris, who secretlj' proposed to his youngest brother, Clotaire, King of Soissons, that they should obtain possession of the persons of the young princes, shave their

heads, and divide their possessions. Clo- taire eagerly united in the scheme, and put the two eldest of his nephews to death. The third was saved by faithful ser\'ants, and cut off his own hair and thereafter lived a life of celibacy in a monastery. Shaving the head was the form of dethroning a mon- arch at this period; and among the early Franks the crown of hair was as much an emblem of royalty as a crown of gold.

Gregorj' of Tours gives the following in- teresting account of this transaction : "Clo- taire readily adopted his brother's projedt and came to Paris. Childebert had already spread a report that he and his brother had agreed to invest their nephews with royalty, and they sent a messenger to Clotilda, then residing in the same city, who said : 'Send your grandchildren, that they may be raised to the throne. ' She, joyous, and knowing nothing of the plot, after having made the children eat and drink, sent them to their uncles, saying: ' Go, children, I will believe that my son is not lost, when I see you on the throne. ' When the children came to their uncles, they were taken and separated from their servants and governors. Then they shut them up apart, the children in one place, and the attendants in another. When this was done, Childebert and Clotaire sent Arcadius, one of their officers, to the queen, with a scissors and a drawn sword. When he came into her presence, showing her these, he said : ' Thy sons, our lords, desire to know thy pleasure, gracious queen, re- spedling the manner in which thej- should treat the children. Order either their hair or their throats to be cut. ' Astounded by these words, and enraged at beholding the scissors and the naked sword, the queen gave vent to her wrath, and, scarcel}^ know- ing what she said, so troubled was her mind, imprudently replied: 'If they are not to reign like their father, I would rather see them dead than .sha\-en. ' Then Arcadius returned promptly to those who sent him, and said : 'You may persevere; the queeii approves what you have begun, and her will is, that you complete your project. ' Inv mediately Clotaire, taking the eldest of the

THE FRANKS IN GAUL.

1203

children h^- the arm, threw him on the ground, and stabbing him under the shoul- der, put him cruelly to death. His brother, terrified at the scene, threw himself at the feet of Childebert, and kissing his knees, exclaimed : ' Help me, \\\\ good father, let me not be murdered like my poor brother. ' Then Childebert, melting into tears, said to Clotaire: 'Oh! I entreat you, my very dear brother, have the kindness to spare this child's life; if you consent to spare him, I will give you whatever you may demand.' But Clotaire, overwhelming him with re- proaches, said: 'Thrust the child away, or you shall die in his stead, for you were the first to urge me to this deed, though you now shrink from its completion. ' Then Childebert, alarmed, pu.shed the child over to Clotaire, who struck his dagger into the boy's side, and slew him on the body of his brother. Afterward they murdered the servants and tutors. When they were dead, Clotaire mounted his honse, without show- ing any compuniflion for the murder of his nephews, and retired with Childebert to the suburbs. The queen, Clotilda, having placed the bodies on a bier, conducfled them, with litanies, sacred songs and profound grief, to the church of St. Peter's, where they were buried together. One was ten years old, and the other six. The third son, named Clodoald, was saved by the interference of some brave men, called barons. Renouncing his earthly kingdom, he became a clerk, and, persisting in good works, finally received priest's orders. The two kings shared among them the inheri- tance of Clodomir. ' '

Ten years after the murder of Clodomir's sons, Theodoric died, and was succeeded by his son Theodebert (meaning very bril- lianl among the people'), who called himself King of Austrasia (Eastern kingdom). His uncles, Childebert and Clotaire, endeavored to deprive him of his dominions; but, as thej- were daunted by the display of his power, they turned their arms against Spain, laid waste Aragon, Biscay and Catalonia, stormed Pampeluna, besieged Sarago.ssa, and were oiil\- induced to withdraw from

the country bj- a present of the tunic of St. Vincent, a relic which was highly prized in that superstitious age.

Theodebert' s fame extended to Constan- tinople. The Emperor Justinian sought to gain his friendship by ceding to him the nominal claims of the Eastern limpire over Provence; but Theodebert formed an alli- ance with Totila, the reigning king of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Emperor's enemy. The Austrasian king crossed the Alps jnto Italy at the head of a formidable army and speedily conquered the greater portion of Northern Italy. After Theodebert's return to his dominions, the anny which he left behind him in Italy suffered some reverses; and Justinian's exorbitant vanity induced him to issue a medal on which he styled him.self ' ' Conqueror of the Franks. ' ' This arrogance so enraged Theodebert that he made preparations to lead an army through Hungarj- into Thrace and attack Justinian in his capital ; but this bold design was thwarted by Theodebert's sudden death in A. D. 548, he being killed by the fall of a tree while hunting the wild buffalo — a dan- gerous sport to which he was most passion- ately addi(5led.

Theodebert was succeeded as King of Austrasia by Theodebald (meaning vig- orous above all), who died after a glorious reign of seven years (A. U. 555). Childe- bert soon followed him to the grave, so that Clotaire obtained sole but not quiet posses- sion of Austrasia and Neustria — the former being the countrj- between the Rhine, the Meuse and the Moselle; and the latter the region between the Meuse, the Loire and the ocean. Aquitaine, or the country .south of the Loire, was at this time independent of Prankish sway. Clotaire's own son, Chramne (meaning warlike), headed a re- volt of the turbulent Bretons, but he was defeated, and suffered a cruel death with his whole family by order of his father. The old chroniclers tell us that Clotaire died the next year (A. D. 561) at Compeigne, on the amiiversary of his son's ileath, and at the exact hour oue year after the shocking tragedy.

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MEDI.iiVAL IIISrORY.—DARK AGES.

Gret^orj- of Tours gives the following ac- count of this defeat of the Bretons: "The two armies having come to an engagement, the Count of the Bretons ran away, and was slain in flight ; after which Ilram (Chramne) began to fl\- toward the ships he had prepared on the sea; but, while he was endeavoring to save his wife and children, he was overtaken by his father's armj-, made prisoner and bound. When the news was brought to Clotaire, he ordered that the prince, together with his wife and daughters, should be burned. They shut them up in a poor hut, where Hram, extended on a bench, was strangled. They then set fire to the house, and it was consumed with all its in- mates. ' '

Clotaire' s four sons — Ch,\ribert (mean- ing ^^/(?w«.f in Ihc army), GonTR.VM (mean- ing generous man), Chilperic (meaning brave in combat), and Sigebert (meaning glorious conqueror) — divided his dominions among them. Sigebert, King of Austrasia, married Brunilda, or Brunehaut; and Chil- peric, King of Neustria, married Galeswin- tha — both women being sisters, the daugh- ters of Athanagild, the reigning Visigothic King of Spain. Brunehaut was a woman of great beauty and accomplishments, but of violent passions. Galeswintha was the younger sister, and was murdered by Chil- peric soon after their marriage, at the insti- gation of his low-born mistress, Fredegonda, whom he then married. Brunehaut became the bitter enemy of Fredegonda; and, though she accei)ted the .settlement of the quarrel, she was thenceforth determined upon re- venge on her sister's murderers.

The turbulent period which followed was chiefly remarkalile for the crimes of Brune- haut and Fredegonda. The mutual jealousy between these two ambitious and unprinci- pled women was aggravated by Brune- haut's desire for revenge and by Frede- gonda's difficulty of maintaining her dig- nit3' when .she was changed from the mis- tress to the wife of Chilperic. During the period over which their mutual resentments spread, it is difficult to distinguish any- thing but murders and assas.siuations.

The personal quarrels between these two infamous women was further aggiavated by the rivalry between the Kingdoms of Au strasia and Neustria ; the Franki.sh or German population almost entirely prevail- ing in Austrasia, and the Romanized Gallic population being very largely predominant in Neustria. Fredegonda, who abandoned her.self to a life of crime, caused the assassi- nation of Sigebert, and to escape puni.sh- nient she also procured the murder of her husband, Chilperic. She also caused Chil- peric's two sons to be murdered, being en- raged at Merovee (meaning eminent warrior), who had married Brunehaut.

Sigebert was succeeded as King of Au- strasia by Childebert II., who also inher- ited the kingdom of his uncle Gontram, who died A. D. 593. The widowed Brunehaut continued to rule in Austrasia as the guar- dian of her son. She was almost as wicked as Fredegonda. She enjoyed the friend- ship of Pope Gregory the Great and other good and learned men, and was the patron- ess and protestor of Christianity and learn- ing, notwithstanding her infamous crimes.

Brunehaut and her son, Childebert II., maintained a long and sanguinary war with Fredegonda and her young son, CLOT.A.IRE II., King of Neustria. Childebert II. died young, leaving two children to divide his distracfled dominions ; both of whom were murdered by Brunehaut, whose ani- mosity thej' had aroused by remonstrating against her crimes. Brunehaut endeavored to crush the power of the Au.strasian nobles; but they proved too powerful for her, and, with the aid of the forces of Neustria and Burgundy, they finally defeated her, took her prisoner and delivered her to Clotaire II., who, in revenge and punishment for her enmity to his mother and him.self, exhibited her fcT three days, mounted on a camel, to the derision of his army, subjec5led her to the most cruel tortures, and finally fastened her to the tail of a wild horse, which tore the wretched queen to pieces before the eyes of the .soldiers.

All the Franki.sh dominions were now united under Clotaire II., who reigned as

THH DEATH uV ilRrXKHAlT

THE FRANKS IN GAUL.

1 205

sole king from A. D. 613 to A. D. 628. Clotaire II. published a code of laws, wliicli enjoys some reputation; but his administra- tion lacked vigor, and the ambitious nobles made encroachments on the royal power. On the death of Clotaire II., in A. D. 628, his son Dagobert I. (meaning brilliant as the day) became King of the Franks. Dagobert I. made Paris the capital of his dominions, which e-x:tended from the Weser to the Pyrenees, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the frontiers of Bohemia, thus em- bracing all of France and most of Germany. Although the Merovingian dynasty reached its greatest extent of dominion under Dago- bert I., that king had the mortification to see the royal authorit}- enfeebled by the in- creasing power of the Mayors of the Palace. He died A. D. 638, after a weak and disso- lute reign; but, singularly enough, he was canonized as a saint.

The cause of the canonization of Dagobert I. singularlj' illustrates the superstitions of the age. Audoald, Bishop of Poitiers, while on an embassy to Sicily, according to his own statement, was miraculously in- formed of the king's death by a holy hermit named John, who said : ' 'While I was asleep last night, an old man with a long beard bade me get up and pray for the soul of King Dagobert, who was on the point of death. I arose, and looking through the window of my hermitage, I saw, in the middle of the sea, a host of devils carrying the king's soul to hell. The unfortunate soul, grievou.sly tormented, invoked the aid of St. Martin, St. Maurice and St. Denis. At his cries, the spirits of these holy mar- tyrs descended from heaven, in the midst of thunders and lightnings, delivered the king's soul and bore it up with them through the air, singing the canticle of David, ' O Lord, how happy is the man that thoti hast chosen.' " Audoald related this to the king's chancel- lor on his return to France; and the chan- cellor entered the relation of the affair in the archives of the kingdom, and enrolled Da- gobert I. among the saints.

The Merovingian successors of Dagobert I were weak and insignificant, being mere

phantoms of roj'alty. They were called " Rois-faineants" (Do-nothing kings) — a designation fully expressing their charadler for the next century. The real power in the kingdom was exercised by the bishops and nobles, and particularly by the king's minister, the Mayor of the Palace. The Mayor of the Palace was a noble chosen by his order to be the king's advi.ser in peace and the commander of the royal army in war, for the purpose of aiding the nobles in their efforts for the restridlion of the royal power. ,

Under the feeble Merovingian kings who succeeded Dagobert I., the Mayors of the Palace were the real sovereigns of France. One of the greatest of these rulers was the famous Pepin d' Heristal, grandson of Pepin of Landen. After becoming the real ruler of half the kingdom as Duke of Austrasia, and suffering some reverses, Pepin d' Her- istal vanquished the Neustrian nobilitj' in the decisive battle of Testry in A. D. 687; and thus having inflicfled the death-blow upon Merovingian royalty, he made the office of Maj'or of the Palace hereditary in his family, and made himself master of France, which he governed for twenty -.seven years with great vigor, prudence and success.

The victory of Pepin d' Heristal was al.so important in another sense, as it established the supremacy of the Teutonic or Germanic element over the Latin-Celtic element in Gaul. Pepin assumed the title of Duke of the Franks. The Merovingian king, "the long-haired shadow of royalty," was shown to the people once a )'ear at the Champ de Mars (Field of March); but was kept in a kind of mild captivity at other times.

Pepin d' Heristal pa.ssed the remaining portion of the seventh century and the first years of the eighth in reestabli.shing the old Prankish supremacy in Germany; forcing the F'risians, the Saxons, the Alemanni, the Suabians, the Thuringians and the Bavari- ans to acknowledge the Prankish dominion. These successes led to the introduclion of Christianity among the German tribes; as bands of monks, mostly Anglo-Saxon from Britain, followed in the rear of the Prankish

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MEDL-EVAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

armies, and converted multitudes of the pagan Germans to Christianity. One of these Anglo-Saxon monks, St. Willibrord, was consecrated Archbishop of the Frisians by Pope Sergius I. in A. D. 696.

Pepin d' Heristal died in December, A. D. 714. After his death his widow, Pledlrude, endeavored to govern the Prankish kingdom as regent for her infant grandson, Dago- BERT III.; but was opposed by the Austra- sian nobles led by Charles Martel, an illegit- imate son of Pepin, and was finally forced to yield. Charles Martel, as Mayor of the Palace, then came into undisputed posses- sion of his father's authority and dominions (A. D. 719), and ruled with wisdom and vigor for twenty-three years.

Charles Martel's many vicflories over the Saxons, the Frisians and the Burgundians rendered his name illustrious, but the great- est of all his e.xploits was his brilliant tri- umph over the Saracen invaders of France. In accordance with a deliberate plan of con- quest, the Saracens of Spain crossed the Pyrenees and overran the Frankish domin- ions as far north as the Loire. Charles Martel led his Christian Franks against them and in fl idled upon them so overwhelming a defeat near Tours in A. D. 732 that the remnants of their immense host fled south- ward, thus freeing Christian Europe from the danger of Mohammedan conquest. Charles Martel followed up his vidtorj'; but was unable to drive the vSaracens entirelj' from France, as they lingered in Septimania, in the extreme South of France, until A. D. 759, when they were driven back into Spain by Pepin the Little, the .son and successor of Charles Martel.

By his great viclpry over the Saracens, Charles Martel acquired the extensive dis- trict of Aquitaine, south of the Loire, under its own rulers. Like his father, Charles Martel did not assume the royal title, but ruled as Duke of the Franks. Upon the death of King Thierry IV., in A. D. 737, Charles Martel felt his power so firmly es- tablished that he negledled appointing a successor to the deceased monarch, and the Merovinginian throne remained without even a figure-head.

The valiant Charles Martel died in A. D. 741, leaving the Frankish dominions to his I two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Little: ' Carloman receiving Austrasia and the Frankish territories in Germany, and Pepin obtaining Neustria, Burgundy and Provence. Carloman and Pepin sought out the last of the Merovingian dynasty and proclaimed him King of the Franks under the name of Chilperic III. With the assistance of St. Boniface, or Winfried, the Anglo-Saxon missionary, who was about this time conse- crated Archbishop of Mayence, Carloman and Pepin effecfled many reforms in the Church and won the hearty support of the priesthood by their liberal concessions. In A. D. 747 Carloman relinquished his share in the government to his brother and be- came a Benedieftine monk. F'inally, in A. D. 752, Pepin, with the sanation of the Pope and the support of the nobles, dethroned the feeble Chilperic III., the la.st Merovin- gian king, condemned him to the seclusion of a cloister, and made himself King of the Franks; thus founding the famous Carlovin- gian dynasty, which governed FVance and Germany for several centuries.

SECTION VII.— THE ANGLES AND SAXONS IN BRITAIN.

RITAIN, under the Roman do- minion, had become civilized and Christianized, but enfee- bled and utterly helpless. Roads and bridges were built, which have survived to this day the ravages

of time. Under the pavements of London, York and Chester are the remains of cities more finely built and more richly orna- mented than those which have risen upon their ruins. But with the increase of com- merce and luxury, Britain was slowly losing

THE ANGLES AND SAXONS IN DRITAIN.

1207

her strength. Her young men were drafted into the Roman armies and shed tlieir life- blood upon Italian or Asiatic battle-fields. The few remaining at home were corrupted by the pleasures, more than they were en- nobled by the arts, of civilized life. The perfedl peace and order maintained in Brit- ain by the presence of Roman legions did not educate the Britons how to defend or govern themselves.

Early in the fourth century a change oc- curred in the northern portion of the island of Britain, which now for the first time be- gan to be called Scotland. The Scots, a fierce and savage tribe, crossed from their original home in Ireland, and established themselves in that portion of modern Scot- land known as Argjleshire, soon reducing the native Caledonians under their suprem- acy. The Caledonians were thenceforth known as Picts. The walls of Adrian, An- toninus Pius and Septimius Severus were no barriers against the Scots, who swarmed into Roman Britain and spread their de- strudlive ravages over its fertile harvest- fields.

When the Roman Emperors were obliged to recall their legions from Britain in order to defend theircontinental dominions against the inroads of the Northern barbarians, the Pidls and Scots embraced the opportunity to renew their incursions into the .southern part of the island. In A. D. 368 they pene- trated as far southward as London, but were driven back by Theodosius, the father of the great Roman Emperor of that name. In A. D. 396 they again ravaged Roman Britain, but were beaten back by .Stilicho, the valiant general under the Emperor Ho- norius.

As the Western Roman Empire itself was now tottering to its ruin under the attacks of the Northern or Germanic barbarians, the Emperor Honorius was obliged to with- draw the Roman legions from Britain for the defense of Gaul; and the Britons, ut- terly helpless, were exposed to the destruc- tive ravages of the Saxon pirates from Ger- many and the Pidls and Scots of Caledonia. In A. D. 418 the Emperor Honorius re-

sponded to the appeals of the Britons for help by .sending the Roman legions back into Britain. The Pi(5ls and vScots were driven back into Caledonia, and the Romans repaired the fortresses of Britain and in- stru(5led the Britons in the nianufadlure and u.se of arms for their own defense.

The Romans then withdrew from Britain forever, leaving the helpless natives once more to the mercy of the Saxon pirates from the east and the Scots and Pi<5ts from the north, while the Britons were further weakened by dissensions among themselves. The national party under Vortigern desired a return to the old Celtic customs which had prevailed among the Britons before the Roman conquest, while the Roman party headed by Ambrosius upheld the law and order which Britain had derived from its re- cent Roman rulers.

The Roman party in Britain again ap- pealed for Roman aid against the inroads of the Piifls and Scots, writing a piteous let- ter to Aetius, the Roman commander in Gaul, as follows: "To Aetius, thrice Con- sul. The Groans of the Britons. The bar- barians drive us into the sea: the sea throws us back upon the barbarians; and we have only the hard choice of peri.shing by the sword or by the waves." But Aetius was unable to afford any aid to the Britons, as the nece.ssities of his struggle with Attila the Hun required the presence of all his available forces in Gaul for the defense of that Roman province.

The national party in Britain had recourse to the piratical Saxons from the North of Germany. These pagan barbarians had already made themselves masters of lands on the coasts of the present Yorkshire and Durhamshire, but they were still glad to obtain a .settlement on the fertile plains of Kent. In A. D. 448 three ship-loads of Jutes, a vSaxon tribe from the penin.sula of Jutland, which derived its name from them, came to the assistance of Vortigern. the British prince, and were led by two brother- chieftains named Hengist and Horsa. These Jutes received the i.sle of Thanet, then sep- arated from the mainland by a wide chan-

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nel, as a reward for their assistance. Six- teen more vessels laden with Jutes followed the first band under Hengist and Horsa, and after landing in Kent they defeated and drove back the invading Scots, receiving from the grateful Britons fertile lands in Kent as a reward for this vidlory.

No sooner had the Jutes assisted the Brit- ons in driving back the Picfts and Scots than they coveted the beautiful islatid of Britain for themselves. They accordingly turned their vidtorious arms against the helpless Britons. Swarms of Angles and Saxons from the region of the modem Schleswig-Holstein — kindred Teutonic tribes with the Jutes — were continually arriving in Britain, to follow the example of their kinsmen. The Anglo-Saxon invaders fell mercilessly upon the defenseless Britons and defeated them in many battles, in one of which the Jutish leader Horsa was killed. Hengist then became leader of the Anglo- Saxon hordes, and assumed the title of King of Kent in A. D. 457, thus founding the first Germanic or Teutonic kingdom in what is now England.

Forced to fight in defense of their homes and their firesides, the Britons gradually re- covered their ancient valor. The struggle lasted a century and a half, from the first inva.sion of the Jutes under Hengist and Horsa in A. D. 448, to the battle of Chester in A. D. 607, which established the suprem- acy of the Anglo-Saxon invaders. The districts still occupied by the native Britons were severed from one another, and were therefore no longer able to a<5l in concert; and the lingering struggle ceased to have a national charadler. Beaten on every side and pursued with fire and sword, the help- less Britons were either exterminated or forced to seek a safe retreat among the mountain fastnesses of Wales and Cornwall, while many fled acrcss the British Channel and settled in that part of Western France which received from them the name of Brittany or Brctaffnc. The present inhabi- tants of Wales, Cornwall and Britanny are the descendants of these ancient Celtic Britons, who fled from their homes before

the conquering arms of the barbarous An- glo-Saxon invaders from Germany.

In the mountain fastnesses of Wales, the Britons, animated by a burning love of lib- erty, maintained an unbroken war of six centuries against the whole power of Eng- land; and in that country their descendants, the modern Welsh, now live — a hardy, vigor- ous race, who have for the last eight cen- turies shared with the English, the descend- ants of their Anglo-Saxon conquerors, the blessings of a common country.

The most renowned of the valiant British heroes who struggled against the Anglo- Saxon conquest was the celebrated King Arthur, the chief of one of the British tribes in the West of the island; but so much of fable and romance has been interwoven with the story of this Briti.sh patriot and his sixty " Knights of the Round Table" that all we really know about that renowned prince is that he lived and bravely defended his country against its Germanic invaders and conquerors.

Each of the conquering Anglo-Saxon chieftains seized for himself what he had conquered; and in the course of a century seven or eight Germanic kingdoms arose in Britain, and these are commonly known as the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The first of these Teutonic kingdoms was Cantia, or Kent, founded by the Jutes under Hengist in A. D. 457; embracing the region of the present county of Kent, and having Canter- bury for its capital.

The three Saxon kingdoms were Sussex, or South Saxony; Essex, or East Saxony; and Wcssc.v, or West Saxony. Sussex was founded by the Saxon chief Ella in A. D. 490, and compri.sed the distridl included in the present counties of Surrey and Sussex; and had Chichester for its capital. Wessex was founded by Cerdic in A. D. 519, and included the territorj^ of the pre.sent coun- ties of Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire and the eastern part of Devonshire; and its capital was Win- chester. Essex was founded by Ercewin in A. D. 527, and embraced the country in- cluded in the present counties of Essex,

THE ANGLES AND SAXONS IN BRITAIN.

1209

Middlesex ajid part of Hertfordshire; and its capital was London.

The tliree Angle or Engle kingdoms were Northuiiibria, or Northumberland (the land north of the Humber); East Anglia, or East Kngle; and Mcrcia, or Myrcna (Marchmen, or people on the march or frontier). North- innbria was founded by Ida in A. D. 547, and embraced the present counties of Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, along with the south-eastern part of Scotland, comprising the present counties of Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Berwick- .shire. East Lothian or Haddingtonshire, Mid Lothian or Edinburghshire, and West Lothian or Linlithgow.shire; and its capital was York. Northumbria was frequently di- vided into the two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira — the former north of the Tyne, and the latter south of that river.

East Anglia was founded by Uffa in A. D. 575, and embraced the present counties of Norfolk (Northfolk), Suffolk (vSouth- folk ) and Camljridgeshire; and its capital was Dunwich, on the coast of Norfolk. Mer- cia was founded by Cridda in A. D. 582, and comprised the present midland counties of Chester or Cheshire, Derbyshire, Notting- hamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Rut- land, Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, the western half of Hertfordshire, Bucks or Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, all of Glou- cestershire east of the vSevern, Warwick- shire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shrop- shire or Salop, and Staffordshire; and its capital was Tamworth, in Stafford.shire.

The present counties of Lancaster or Lancashire, Westmoreland and Cumberland, along with wSouth- western vScotland, embrac- ing the present counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Wigtonshire, Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Peeblesshire, formed the Celtic or Scotti.sh kingdom of Stralhclyde. The present county of Corn- wall, all of Devonshire except that portion east of the river Ex, all of Gloucestershire west of the Severn, and all of Monmouth- shire, along with the whole of Wales, wa.s occupied by the Britons. The celebrated King Arthur's kingdom was chiefly in 3-4.-1 . H.

Somersetshire, where was his capital, Came- lot, or Cadbnry.

While Britain was thus yielding to the Anglo-Saxon conquest, Ireland remained the peaceful abode of piety and learning. Scholars fled from the tumults of Britain and continental Europe in quest of a quiet retreat at Armagh or Durrow, to add to the fame of the Irish universities at those two places, then celebrated throughout Western Europe. Irish missionaries preached the Go.spel in the British Isles, in Italy, Switzerland and Eastern France. St. Co- lumba, an Irish refugee, founded the mon- astery of lona; and Aidan.one of its monks, founded the yet more celebrated bishopric and seminary at LindLsfame, which sent missionaries into all the heathen kingdoms. Cuthbert, the Apostle of the Lowlands, from his mission-station at Melro.se, traveled over bogs and moors and rough mountain sides, preaching the religion of Christ to the pagan peasants of Scotland and North- umberland.

The Britons had become Christians long before the Anglo-Saxon invasion. The Anglo-Saxons were pagans and worshipers of Odin, or Woden, and Thor, and so con- tinued for a century after their conquest of Britain. Roman law, the Latin and Celtic languages, and Christianit}' disappeared in the path of the Germanic conquerors; and the pagan religion and customs of the Teu- tonic tnbes, along with their language, pre- vailed instead.

Like other barbarous nations, the Anglo- Saxons made the future existence a realiza- tion of their highest ideal of the present life; and, like the other Germanic tribes, they filled Valhalla, their heaven, with scenes of war, where happy Saxons would live forever, passing the days in the slaugh- ter of their enemies, and the nights in sitting with Odin drinking beer from the skulls of their slaughtered foes ; the cowards who died a natural death away from the battle- field being excluded from this paradise.

From the chief of the Germanic deities the names of the seven days of the week have lx;en derived. The idol which repre-

1210

MKDL^ VAl. JIISTOR Y — DARK A GES.

seuted the sun was the chief objeefl of Anglo- Saxon adoration, and is described like the bust of a man with outstretched arms hav- ing a burning wheel before his breast. The first day of the week was especially dedi- cated to his worship, and was called Sun's daeg: whence our word Simday. The idol of the moon was designed to represent a woman, attired in a short coat and a hood with two long ears, and the moon which she held in her hand designated the quality. The idol of the moon was worshiped on the second day of the week, and was called Moon' s daeg; whence our word Monday.

Tuisca was at first deified as the father and ruler of the Teutonic race, but in the progress of time he was worshiped as the son of the earth; and he is represented stand- ing on a pedestal as an old venerable sage, clothed with the skin of an animal, holding a scepter in his right hand. As this god was particularly worshiped on the third day of the week, that day was called Tuisca' s daeg: whence our word Tuesday.

Odin, or Woden, the war-god, was the supreme deity of all the Germanic or Teu- tonic nations. He was a very ancient hero, supposed to have emigrated from the East in an unknown age and from an unknown land. His exploits constituted the leading portion of the mythological creed of the Scandinavian nations, and his achievements were magnified beyond all credibility. Wo- den was represented in a bold and martial attitude, clad in armor, with a broad sword uplifted in his right hand. As he was es- pecially worshiped on the fourth day of the week, that day was called Woden's daeg; whence our word Wednesday.

Thor, the god of stonns and thunder, was the eldest and the bravest of the sons of Odin, or Woden, and his wife, Freya, or Frigga; and was, next to his parents, re- garded as the greatest of the Germanic or Teutonic deities. Thor is represented as sitting on a throne, with a golden crown upon his head, adorned with a circle in front, wherein were .set twelve bright bur- nished gold stars, and with a regal scepter in his right hand. As he was particularly

worshiped on the fifth day of the week, that day was named Thor' s daeg; whence our word Thursday.

Freya, or Frigga, the wife of Odin, or Woden, was, next to that supreme god, the most highly revered divinity among the Gennanic nations; and in the most an- cient times she was the same as the goddess Hertha, or Earth. Frigga is represented with a drawn sword in her right hand and a bow in her left. As the sixth day of the week was especially devoted to her adora- tion, that day was designated as Frigga' s daeg; whence our word Friday.

The god Seater was represented by an idol standing on a pedestal, whereon was placed a perch, on the sharp prickled back of which he stood, his head being uncovered and his vi.sage lean. He held up a wheel in his left hand and a pail of water in his right, and in this water were fruits and flowers. He was dressed in a long coat, girded with linen. As the seventh and last day of the week was especially consecrated to the worship of Seater, that day was called Scaler's daeg; whence our word Saturday.

The Anglo-Saxon names of the months were singularly descriptive of the seasons. The first month — which we call January, from the Roman god Janus — was called by the Saxons Aefter Yula, or after Christmas. The second month — which we call Februan.^ — was named by the Saxons Sol Monath, because of the returning of the sun. The third month — which we call March, after Mars, the Roman God of war — was desig- nated by the Saxons as Rethe Monalh, meaning rugged month. The fourth month • — which we call April — was named by the Saxons Easter Monalh, from a Saxon goddess whose name we preserve to this day. The fifth month — which is known to us as May — was styled by the Saxons Trimilchi, be- cause the cows were then milked thrice a day. The sixth month — which we call June, after the Roman goddess Juno — was known to the vSaxons v.^ Sere Monalh, mean- ing dry month. The .seventh month — named by us July, after Julius Caesar — was designated by the Saxons as Meed Monalh,

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because the meads were then in bloom. The eighth month — called by us August, after Augustus Ctesar — was known to the vSaxons as Woed Mo»a(/i, because of the luxuriance of weeds. The ninth month — which we call September, from the Latin word scplcm, meaning seven, because it was the seventh month of the Roman year — was known to the Saxons as llu-fest Moiiat/i, meaning harvest month. The tenth month — which we call Ocflober, from the Latin word oilo, meaning eight, becau.se it was the eighth month of the Roman year — was known to the Saxons by the name Winter Fyllish, becau.se winter approached with the full moon of that month. The eleventh month — which we call November, from the Latin word novcin, meaning nine, because it was the ninth month of the Roman year — was known to the Saxons imder the ap- pellation of Blot Monath, because of the blood of cattle slain that month and stored for winter provision. The twelfth and last month of the year — which we call Decem- ber, from the Latin word decent, meaning ten, because it was the tenth month of the Roman j'ear — was known to the Saxons under the designation of Midwinter Monath, whose meaning it is unnecessary to explain. Each of the Anglo-Saxon tribes had a royal family regarded as being descended from Odin, or Woden, their chief god; and from this family the king was cho.sen by the votes of all the freemen, in accordance with the German customs described by Tacitus. The custom of stridl hereditary succes.sion was entirely unknown to these barbarous Teutonic tribes. No king's son could claim his father's crown until the votes of the nation had duly conferred it upon him; and if he was young, or his valor was not yet proven, his father's brother was generally chcsen instead. The seven or eight Ger- manic kingdoms in Britain sometimes ac- knowledged a common head known as the Bretwalda (Wielder of Britain), who.se au- thority in this island .somewhat resembled that of the IJmperor on the European con- tinent over the various nations owning alle- giance to Rome. Mercia and Northumbria

for a while struggled for the supremacy, but We.ssex gained it at last, as we .shall pres- ently see.

Ethelbert, the fourth King of Kent, was the third of the Bretwaldas, and the finst Christian king in Anglo-Saxon I'ingland. He married the Prankish princess Bertha, daughter of Charibert; and his relations with her countrymen introduced many civil- izing influences into his kingdom. His sub- jecfts were the first of the English people to enjoy the benefits of a written code of laws; and his long reign of fifty years was pro- dutflive of honor to himself and lile.ssings to his kingdom, but its most important event was the introdudlion of Christianity.

The "Venerable Bede, " the celebrated Anglo-Saxon church historian, who is our chief authority for early English history, informs us as to what led to the introduc- tion of Christianity into Anglo-Saxon Brit- ain. Several years previous a good Chris- tian priest visited the slave market of Rome, where he saw three beautiful children ex- posed for sale. Their faces attracted his at- tention, and he inquired where they were from. Being told that they were Angles, he quickly replied: "Not Angles, but angels. They ought to be made fellow- heirs of the angels in heaven. But of what tribe of Angles are they ? " "Of Deira," was the reply. Thereupon the good priest exclaimed : ' ' Deira ! then they are called from the wrath of God to his mercy ! And what is the name of their king?" " ^lla," was the response. Then the priest ex- claimed: " iElla. yElla .' then Alleluia shall be sung in his land. "

Besides being pleased with his puns, this good man was excited by true missionary zeal, and he obtained the Pope's sandion to start instantly to England to preach the Gospel of Christ in that distant heathen land; but his flock in Rome would not let him go, and on the death of Pope Pelagius II. he was ele(5led Pope with the title of Gregory- I. and is known in history as Greg- ory the Great. Still remembering his desire for the conversion of the heathen Anglo- Saxons in Britain, the new Pope commis-

I2I2

iMEDl.F. \ : / /. HIS TOR Y.— nARf< A GES.

sioiied the Benedictine monk, St. Augustine, or Austin, and forty other monks of Rome to go to that remote island and preach the religion of the crucified Jesus to its benighted pagan population (A. D. 596).

When these missionaries reached France, whose people had alreadj- been converted to Christianity, they heard such dreadful ac- counts of the savage manners of the Anglo- Saxons that they were afraid to proceed to England, and thej' sent Augustine back to Rome to ask the Pope's sancftion to relin- quish the enterprise. But Gregory the Great exhorted them to persevere, and advised them to take some of the Franks with them as interpreters, because the language of the Franks and that of the Anglo-Saxons were almost identical. Augustine and his band of monks proceeded on their mission and found the danger less than the^- had antici- pated.

Bertha, the wife of King Ethelbert of Kent, was already a Christian: and through her influence Ethelbert received the good missionaries with kindness and gave them a cordial hearing. After hearing what the}^ had to say, he told them that he could not, without due deliberation, abandon the re- ligion of his ancestors; but, as they had come so far on a friendlj- errand, thej- might remain in peace and exert themselves to their best to convert his subjects. The monks at once entered upon their missionary task, and their labors were crowned with perfedt success, as King Ethelbert and many of his subjedls were .soon converted.

Augustine baptized the king and ten thousand of his subjecfts on Christmas day, A. D. 597; and was soon afterwards made the first Archbishop of Canterbury-, being at the same time endowed by Pope Gregory the Great with authority over all the churches yet to be founded in Anglo-Saxon Britain. Augustine introduced the Roman liturgj' in Latin, which was then an un- known tongue in England, though under- stood in other parts of Europe. Canterbun,- Cathedral, founded by Augustine, is still the mother church or nietropolitan of all England.

The new religion was .soon embraced by the people of Essex, and a Bishop of Lon- don was consecrated, and churches were erected in that city, respedtivelj- to St. Peter and St. Paul, on the sites still occu- pied bj- tho,se great historic edifices, West- minster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral.

A daughter of Ethelbert and Bertha be- came the bride of King Edwin of Deira, and had the honor of introducing the Christian religion into that remote northern Angle kingdom. Edwin was baptized at York, his capital ; and on the site thus consecrated arose a church which was the humble pre- deces.sor of that grand and stately edifice, the famous cathedral now known as York Minster. Paulinus, who had accompanied the young queen of King Edwin of Deira in her journey from Kent, became the first Archbishop of York. Ever since that period the Archbi-shops of Canterbur>' and York have been at the head of the ecclesias- tical establishment of England, the Arch- bishop of Canterbury being styled the Pri- mate.

The Christians of Wales and Cornwall, being the conquered Britons, refused obedi- ence either to a Pope at Rome or to a Pri- mate at Canterbury; but their independent spirit was punished by a massacre of two hundred of their priests. Churches and monasteries were in a short time scattered throughout England, and the fierce super- stitions of Germanic paganism j-ielded to the purer and gentler faith of the great Nazarene.

Christianity made rapid progress in Eng- land during the seventh century. For a while , Kent relap.sed into paganism in consequence of the apo.stasy of Eadbald, who married his mother-in-law — a union forbidden by the Church. By the exertions of Lauren- tius, Augustine's succe.s.sor, Eadbald was brought back into the Church, and all his subjects with him; he having first re- nounced his marriage with his mother-in- law.

At first Northumbria held the ascendency among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Then Mercia obtained the supremacy under King

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121

Offa, who reigned from A. 1). 757 to A. D. 796. He was the friend and allj- of Charle- magne, at whose request he sent Alcuin, a Saxon clergyman renowned for his learning, to the court of the great Prankish monarch,

ing from the Wye to the Dee, to protedl the Saxon colonists against the attacks of the Britons. But Offa was cruel and treacher- ous, and his glory was clouded by crime. He caused the East Anglian king who was

iirSSl "T&S^3,iSifoEn's AA.n« •

YORK MIXSTER.

whose most trusted friend and counselor he a guest at his court to be murdered, and

was for many years, and whom he instruci- seized his kingdom by violence ( A. D.

ed in the sciences. 792 ). Like many other monarchs of that

Offa achieved great vic'tories over the time, Offa sought to relieve his conscience

Britons in Wales, and erecled a vast mound l)y liberal gifts to the Church. He bestowed

of earth still known as Offa's Dyke, extend- one-tenth of all his goods on the clergj-,

I2I4

MEDIEVAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

and followed the example of King Ina in Wessex by imposing a tax of a penii}' on every household in his dominions, in order to support an English college at Rome. He did not find it so easy a matter to recall what he had granted, and the Pope's claim for "Peter's Pence" continued to be en- forced almost a thousand years after the first imposition of the tax.

In the wars between the Germanic king- doms in England resulting from their con- stant feuds and jealousies, all the Anglo- Saxon royal fimilies became extindl, except one. The sole remaining dynasty was that of Cerdic, the founder of Wessex; and it was at this time represented only by Brih- tric, the reigning .sovereign of that kingdom, and Egbert, iiis young cousin, whom many regarded as having a better claim to the crown. Perceiving that he had incurred the enmit}' of Brihtric, Egbert retired to continental Europe, passing his j^ears of ex- ile and probation in studying the arts of war and government vi'ith the greatest warrior and statesman then living — the great King of the Franks, who afterwards came to be known as Cliarlemagne, or Charles the Great, the first sovereign of the newly- re- stored Western Empire.

Brihtric's wife was Eadburga, daughter of Offa, a woman notorious even in that dark age for her crimes and misfortunes. She had determined to poi.son a nobleman who was her husband's friend, but the poi- son was accidentally taken by the king. Eadburga fled in a passion of shame and remorse, and Egbert was called to the throne of We.ssex by the people in A. D. 802. Eg- bert now put in pracflice the lessons which he had learned in Charlemagne's camp and court, devoting himself to the vigorous gov- ernment of his dominions and the conquest of the Britons of Cornwall and Wales.

After Egbert had thus spent twenty-five years, the King of Mercia invaded Wessex, thus bringing on a series of wars which made Egbert over-lord of almo.st the entire i.sland. Kent, Sus.sex and East Anglia, which had been unwilling tributaries of Mercia, gladly transferred their allegiance

to the wisest and best of Englishmen of that day; and their example was followed by Northumbria, while Mercia was conquered by Egbert. Thus the Heptarchy ended in a united English monarchy within four centuries of the first Germanic invasion of Britain. Thus was founded the Kingdom of Angle-land, or England, in the year A. D. 827; and Egbert was thus the first king who reigned over the entire country. Never- theless, Egbert's immediate dominion still ended at the Thames, and he still styled himself as before, "King of the West Saxons." It was his great-grandson, Ed- ward the Elder, who fir.st assumed the title of " King of the English."

In the meantime the Anglo-Saxons had lost much of their original ferocity, and their customs and institutions had become more civilized. Our knowledge of them is rather obscure; as none except the clergy made any pretensions to learning, and few of these were able to do more than read their prayer-books and write their names, while there were many even among the high clergy who were unable to do this. There are deeds yet in existence, made by lord-bishops, which are signed by some other persons in their names, because the lord-bi.shops could not write their own names.

The monasteries were the only schools during the period of the Heptarchy. They were not as gloomy as the Benedidtine insti- tutions which St. Dnnstan afterwards intro- duced into the country; but were more like great families assembled under a single roof, in a colledlion of adjoining buildings, for study and devotion. Bede — usually called the "Venerable Bede" — the first great English scholar and the father of English learning, passed his long life in instruifling the monks of Jarrow and the boys sent there by their parents to be taught. He put into familiar Eatin text-books all that was then known in Western Europe, of science, liter- ature and the rules of music, for the benefit of his pupils. His mo.st famous work is his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, written in Latin. He died just when he

THE ANGLES AND SAXONS IN BRITAIN.

1215

had completed a translation of the Gospel of St. John into his own Anglo-Saxon tongue.

The abbess Hilda, a woman of royal birth, had charge of a seminary of bishops and priests, and also a convent of nuns, on the high cliffs of Whitby, commanding a view of the ocean. She was so celebrated for her wisdom that kings sought lier advice in matters of state. Her monastery is also famous as the home of Csedmon, the dis- tinguished Anglo-Saxon poet, who was sim- ply a poor cowherd. The Anglo-Saxons had a great taste for music and the rough ver.ses which recounted the heroic deeds of their warlike ancestors on .sea and land. After their evening meals it was their cus- tom to pass the harp from hand to hand, so that each might have his turn in singing for the entertainment of the re.st. Caedmon the cowherd was unable to sing, and was there- fore in the habit of slipping away when the harp was passed to him.

One night when Caedmon had taken refuge in the stables, he is said to have .seen a heavenly vision which said: "Sing, Caedmon, come sing to me." Caedmon replied: "I can not sing." To this the vision responded: "However that may be, you shall sing to me." Thereupon Caedmon murmured: "What shall I sing?" Then the vision an- swered : ' ' The beginning of created things. ' ' The extravagant story is told that a noble song of the Creation then flowed from Caed- mon's lips. He is .said to have awoke and to have found that new jiower had been given him. The abbess Hilda and brethren then bade the poet relinquish his humble toil and enter their order; and he is said to have passed the remainder of his life in re- hearsing in Saxon verse the entire sacred history as recorded in the Bible.

The zeal of the Irish missionaries had the effedl of making the North of England su- perior to the other portions of the island in means of education. The first English li- brary was kept in the cathedral of York, and there was the celebrated school under the charge of Archbishop Egbert, and afterwards of Alcuin, the friend and tutor of Charle-

magne, the illustrious Prankish monarch.

Our sources concerning the early history of the Anglo-Saxons and their .social condi- tion are the writings of Gildas, the earliest Saxon historian, and the great ecclesiastical historian, the Venerable Bede. Gildas lived in the sixth century, and was .so much ad- mired by his countrymen as to be called by them "Gildas the Wise." The Venerable Bede lived in the seventh century, and his fame spread all over Europe, although he was but a simple monk. The Pope courted his society, and sought his counsel in the administration of the affairs of the Church.

From these sources we are able to learn that the Anglo-Saxons were governed by kings, whose powers were very much re- stri(5ted and controlled by a great council called Witenagemote, or "A.ssembly of the Wise Men," consisting of the great nobles, the Ealdormen or Earls, all freemen who pos- se.ssed a certain portion of land, and, after the introducflion of Christianity, the bishops and abbots. All of these were, of right, members of this great national assembly. This council assembled regularly at Christ- mas, Easter and Whitsuntide, and on special occasions when summoned. At the death of the king, this great national council was convened to eledl his successor, who was taken from the royal family, though not always the next in line. Thus the crown was elecflive, but the choice was generally restri<5led to one faniilj\

Before the Germanic tribes had settled into highly organized nations, every free- man was entitled to appear in anns at the council of his chief; and the affairs of the entire people were transadled in the March or May fields, under the open canopy of heaven. In continental Europe these mar- tial assemblies were superseded by diets, in which the clergy participated; while in England these same kind of assemblies were succeeded by the a.ssemblies of the ]Vilc>i- agcmotc, or "Meeting of the Wi.se." Al- though, in strict law, every freeman had the right to be present at the Witenagemote, the difficulties of travel and communication rendered the presence of all freemen impos-

I2l6

MEDIAEVAL HISTORY.— DARK AGES.

sible; and the assembly came to consist principally of bishops, abbots and ealdormen.

Under the Romans, Britain was divided into colonies and governments; but the Anglo-Saxons parcelled the country out into counties, or shires. The government of a shire was entrusted to an Ea?i, or Ealdor- man, whence the present terms earl and alderman. The earl usually exercised this government by his deputy, who was called the shire-reeve, or sheriff, meaning £-ua>-(lia3i of a shire.

The Anglo-Saxons consisted of four ranks or orders — Earls, Thanes, Churls and Serfs. Originally all high offices were re- served for men of noble blood. The earls atfled as judges and rulers in their respective shires. The ealdormen, or chief rulers in cities and villages, were chosen from among the earls; and everj' churl was required to choose some earl as his lord and protedlor. The "lordless man" was an outlaw.

The churls embraced the great mass of the freemen, and were chiefly employed in hus- bandry, whence a husbandman and a churl came to be synonymous terms. A churl could raise himself in rank in various ways. Agricultural success might furnish him with the means of obtaining the requisite amount of land, with buildings essential to the dig- nity. If a churl acquired sufficient learning and became a priest, he was considered a thane. If he was successful in trade or in war, he was elevated to the same rank. The only professions of a freeman were agricul- ture, commerce, arms or the church. In this way the rank of thanes gradually grew up between the earls and the churls, and these thanes were ennobled by services ren- dered to the king or the state.

The serfs, or slaves, were the lowest class among the Anglo-vSaxons, and composed about two-thirds of the inhabitants. An Englishman could only become a serf by crime or voluntary sale. Parents sometimes sold their own children, and any person over thirteen years of age might sell him.self. The Church constantly antagonized the in- stitution of serfdom, and .several good bish- ops set the example of emancipating the

serfs found by them on the lands attached to their sees. The clergy made great exer- tions to improve the condition of the serfs and to secure the rights which their influ- ence had procured for them. In spite of all these efforts, the greater portion of the com- mon people remained in abjecfl slavery dur- ing the whole Anglo-Saxon period of Eng- lish history.

There were two kinds of serfs among the Anglo-Saxons — household serfs, who lived in the family and discharged the ordinary du- ties of domestic Servian ts; and rustic serfs, or villains, who were attached to particular es- tates and transferred with the soil. The villains were so called because they dwelt in the villages belonging to their masters, and performed all the servile labors required upon the land.

We now come to the officers of the king's household. The first in dignity was the Mayor of the Palace, who was always a prince of the royal family. The second in rank was the priest, who sat at the roj'al table to bless the meat and to chant the Lord's Prayer. The third was the steward, who had a variety of perquisites, and was entitled to a large portion of every barrel of good ale and everj' ca.sk of mead. The fourth w-as the judge, who was distinguished for his learning and by his long beard. The last, and perhaps the most useful, of these officials of the royal household was the king's feet-bearer, who was a young gentle- man that was a.ssigned the duty of sitting on the floor and holding the king's feet in his bosom while the king sat at table, to keep the feet warm and comfortable.

The criminal laws of the Anglo-Saxons were very mild, and every crime might be compensated for in money. The value of a man's life or limb depended upon his rank or office, and a price was fixed accordingly, which was to be paid by the person who .should deprive him of either. The Anglo- Saxons had singular modes of proving crimes. They did not do this by the evi- dence of witnesses, but referred the decision to the "Judgment of God," as they called it. One of the methods of doing this was

TlIK ANCLES AXD SAXONS IN BRITAIN.

1217

by the ordeal, and was practiced by boiling water or a red-hot iron.

The water or iron was consecrated by many prayers and fastings, and the accused individual then took up with his naked hand a stone sunk in the boiling water, or carried the heated iron to a certain distance. After this the hand was wrapped up, and the covering was sealed for three days. If no marks of burning or scalding appeared at the end of these three days the accused person was declared innocent, but if there were marks he was pronounced guiltj-. An- other mode of performing the ordeal of hot iron was by making the person who was to be tried walk blindfolded over nine hot plowshares placed at certain distances. If he was able to do this without being burned he was acquitted; if not, he was found guilty.

The whole fierj- ordeal was conducted under the direction of the priests, and the ceremony was performed in a church. No person except the priest and the accused were admitted until the iron was heated, when twelve friends of the accu.sed and twelve of the accuser were allowed to enter, and were ranged along the wall on each side of the church, at a respectful distance. After the iron was taken from the fire several prayers were said, and man\- forms were gone through, all of which took consider- able time if the priest was indulgent. It was always remarked that no good friend of the Church ever suffered the slightest injury from the ordeal; but if any one who had wronged the Church appealed to this method of trial he was sure to burn his fin- gers or his feet, and so lose his cause.

THE ANGLO-SAXON	HEPTARCHY
KINGDOMS.	FOUNDED BV	BEGAN. ENDED.	CAPITALS.
Kent, or Cantia. Sussex, or South Saxony. Wessex, or West Saxony. Essex, or East Saxony. Northumberland. East Anglia. Mercia.	Ilenspst. Ella'. Cerdic. Ercewin. Ida. UfFa. Cridda.	A. D. 457 490 519 527 547 575 582	A. D. 823 600 1066 746 792 783 847	Canterbury. Chichester. Winchester. London. York. Dunwich. Tarn worth.

SOVEREIGNS OF THE BARBARIAN MONARCHIES.

A. D. 409 GUNDERIC.

VANDAL KINGS IN SPAIN.

A. D. 425

Genseric (passed into Africa in 529).

SUEVIC KINGS IN SPAIN.

A.	D. 409	Hermaxric.		550	Carriaric.
	43S	Rechii.a.		559	TlIKODO.MIR.
1	44S	Rechiaru-.s.		569	Mir.
	457	Maldras.		582	Eboric.
	460	Frumarius.		583	Axdeca.
	464	Remismund.		584	Visigothic conquest of Sueves.
	VANDAL KING	rS OF	aT^rica.
1 A	D. 429	Genseric.	A. D.	523	HILDERIC.
	477	HUXXKRIC.		5,31	Gki.imer.
!	4S4	Guxdamuxd.		s.^.s	Byzantine conquest of Africa.
1 1	496	Thrasimund.

I2l8

MEDIAiVAL HISTORY. — DARK AGES.

VISIGOTHIC KINGS OF SPAIN.
A	D. 411	Adolphus, or ATAULFUS.	A. D. 601	1 Leuva II.
	415	SiGERIC.	603	WiTERIC.
	415	\Vai,li.\.	610	Gundemar.
	420	Thkodoric I.	612	Slsebert.
	45'	Thor.simiind.	621	Recared II.
	452	Theodoric II.	621	SWINTILA.
	466	EURIC.	631	Sisenand.
	4«3	Alaric II.	636	Chintila.
	506	Gensaleic.	640	TULGA.
	511	Theodoric III.	642	Chindaswind.
	522	Amalaric.	649	Receswind.
	53'	Theudis.	672	Wamba.
	548