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diff --git a/old/10151.txt b/old/10151.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75f05e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10151.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15498 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume +5, by Various, Edited by Rossiter Johnson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 5 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: November 20, 2003 [eBook #10151] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS +HISTORIANS, VOLUME 5*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Gwidon Naskrent, David King, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE GREAT EVENTS + +BY + +FAMOUS HISTORIANS + + +A COMPREHENSIVE AND READABLE ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY. EMPHASIZING +THE MORE IMPORTANT EVENTS, AND PRESENTING THESE AS COMPLETE NARRATIVES +IN THE MASTER-WORDS OF THE MOST EMINENT HISTORIANS + + +NON-SECTARIAN NON-PARTISAN NON-SECTIONAL + + +ON THE PLAN EVOLVED FROM A CONSENSUS OF OPINIONS GATHERED FROM THE MOST +DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. INCLUDING BRIEF +INTRODUCTIONS BY SPECIALISTS TO CONNECT AND EXPLAIN THE CELEBRATED +NARRATIVES. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY. WITH THOROUGH INDICES, +BIBLIOGRAPHIES. CHRONOLOGIES, AND COURSES OF READING + + +SUPERVISING EDITOR + +ROSSITER JOHNSON, LL.D. + + +LITERARY EDITORS + +CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. + +JOHN RUDD, LL.D. + + +DIRECTING EDITOR + +WALTER F. AUSTIN, LL.M. + + +With a staff of specialists + + +CONTENTS + +VOLUME V + +An Outline Narrative of the Great Events +CHARLES F. HORNE + +Feudalism: Its Frankish Birth and English Development +(9th to 12th Century) +WILLIAM STUBBS + +Decay of the Frankish Empire +Division into Modern France, Germany, and Italy +(A.D. 843-911) +FRANCOIS P. G. GUIZOT + +Career of Alfred the Great (A.D. 871-901) +THOMAS HUGHES +JOHN R. GREEN + +Henry the Fowler Founds the Saxon Line of German Kings +Origin of the German Burghers or Middle Classes (A.D. 911-936) +WOLFGANG MENZEL + +Conquest of Egypt by the Fatimites (A.D. 969) +STANLEY LANE-POOLE + +Growth and Decadence of Chivalry (10th to 15th Century) +LEON GAUTIER + +Conversion of Vladimir the Great +Introduction of Christianity into Russia (A.D. 988-1015) +A. N. MOURAVIEFF + +Leif Ericson Discovers America (A.D. 1000) +CHARLES C. RAFN +SAGA OF ERIC THE RED + +Mahometans In India +Bloody Invasions under Mahmud (A.D. 1000) +ALEXANDER DOW + +Canute Becomes King of England (A.D. 1017) +DAVID HUME + +Henry III Deposes the Popes (A.D. 1048) +The German Empire Controls the Papacy +FERDINAND GREGOROVIUS +JOSEPH DARRAS + +Dissension and Separation of the Greek and Roman +Churches (A.D. 1054) +HENRY F. TOZER +JOSEPH DEHARBE + +Norman Conquest of England +Battle of Hastings (A.D. 1066) +SIR EDWARD S. CREASY + +Triumphs of Hildebrand +"The Turning-point of the Middle Ages" +Henry IV Begs for Mercy at Canossa (A.D. 1073-1085) +ARTHUR R. PENNINGTON +ARTAUD DE MONTOR + +Completion of the Domesday Book (A.D. 1086) +CHARLES KNIGHT + +Decline of the Moorish Power in Spain +Growth and Decay of the Almoravide and Almohade +Dynasties (A.D. 1086-1214) +S.A. DUNHAM + +The First Crusade (A.D. 1096-1099) +SIR GEORGE W. COX + +Foundation of the Order of Knights Templars (A.D. 1118) +CHARLES G. ADDISON + +Stephen Usurps the English Crown +His Conflicts with Matilda +Decisive Influence of the Church (A.D. 1135-1154) +CHARLES KNIGHT + +Antipapal Democratic Movement +Arnold of Brescia +St. Bernard and the Second Crusade (A.D. 1145-1155) +JOHANN A. W. NEANDER + +Decline of the Byzantine Empire +Ravages of Roger of Sicily (A.D. 1146) +GEORGE FINLAY + +Universal Chronology (A.D. 843-1161) +JOHN RUDD + + + + +AN OUTLINE NARRATIVE + +TRACING BRIEFLY THE CAUSES, CONNECTIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES OF + +THE GREAT EVENTS + +(FROM CHARLEMAGNE TO FREDERICK BARBAROSSA) + +CHARLES F. HORNE + + +The three centuries which follow the downfall of the empire of +Charlemagne laid the foundations of modern Europe, and made of it a +world wholly different, politically, socially, and religiously, from +that which had preceded it. In the careers of Greece and Rome we saw +exemplified the results of two sharply opposing tendencies of the Aryan +mind, the one toward individualism and separation, the other toward +self-subordination and union. + +In the time of Charlemagne's splendid successes it appeared settled that +the second of these tendencies was to guide the Teutonic Aryans, that +the Europe of the future was to be a single empire, ever pushing out its +borders as Rome had done, ever subduing its weaker neighbors, until the +"Teutonic peace" should be substituted for the shattered "Roman peace," +soldiers should be needed only for the duties of police, and a whole +civilized world again obey the rule of a single man. + +Instead of this, the race has since followed a destiny of separation. +Europe is divided into many countries, each of them a vast camp +bristling with armies and arsenals. Civilization has continued +hag-ridden by war even to our own day, and, during at least seven +hundred of the years that followed Charlemagne, mankind made no greater +progress in the arts and sciences than the ancients had sometimes +achieved in a single century. We do indeed believe that at last we have +entered on an age of rapid advance, that individualism has justified +itself. The wider personal liberty of to-day is worth all that the race +has suffered for it. Yet the retardation of wellnigh a thousand years +has surely been a giant price to pay. + + +DOWNFALL OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE + +This mighty change in the course of Teutonic destiny, this breakdown of +the Frankish empire, was wrought by two destroying forces, one from +within, one from without. From within came the insubordination, the +still savage love of combat, the natural turbulence of the race. It is +conceivable that, had Charlemagne been followed on the throne by a son +and then a grandson as mighty as he and his immediate ancestors, the +course of the whole broad earth would have been altered. The Franks +would have grown accustomed to obey; further conquest abroad would have +insured peace at home; the imperial power would have become strong as in +Roman days, when the most feeble emperors could not be shaken. But the +descendants of Charlemagne sank into a decline. He himself had directed +the fighting energy of the Franks against foreign enemies. His son and +successor had no taste for war, and so allowed his idle subjects time to +quarrel with him and with one another. The next generation, under the +grandsons of Charlemagne, devoted their entire lives to repeated and +furious civil wars, in which the empire fell apart, the flower of the +Frankish race perished, and the strength of its dominion was sapped to +nothingness.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See _Decay of Frankish Empire_, page 22.] + +There were three of these grandsons, and, when their struggle had left +them thoroughly exhausted, they divided the empire into three. Their +treaty of Verdun (843) is often quoted as beginning the modern kingdoms +of Germany, France, and Italy. The division was in some sense a natural +one, emphasized by differences of language and of race. Italy was +peopled by descendants of the ancient Italians, with a thin +intermingling of Goths and Lombards; France held half-Romanized Gauls, +with a very considerable percentage of the Frankish blood; while Germany +was far more barbaric than the other regions. Its people, whether Frank +or Saxon, were all pure Teuton, and still spoke in their Teutonic or +German tongue. + +The Franks themselves, however, did not regard this as a breaking of +their empire. They looked on it as merely a family affair, an +arrangement made for the convenience of government among the descendants +of the great Charles. So firm had been that mighty hero's grasp upon the +national imagination, that the Franks accepted as matter of course that +his family should bear rule, and rallied round the various worthless +members of it with rather pathetic loyalty, fighting for them one +against the other, reuniting and redividing the various fragments of the +empire, until the feeble Carlovingian race died out completely. + +It is thus evident that there was a strong tendency toward union among +the Franks. But there was also an outside influence to disrupt their +empire. Charlemagne had not carried far enough their career of conquest. +He subdued the Teutons within the limits of Germany, but he did not +reach their weaker Scandinavian brethren to the north, the Danes and +Norsemen. He chastised the Avars, a vague non-Aryan people east of +Germany, but he could not make provision against future Asiatic swarms. +He humbled the Arabs in Spain, but he did not break their African +dominion. From all these sources, as the Franks grew weaker instead of +stronger, their lands became exposed to new invasion. + + +THE LAST INVADERS + +Let us take a moment to trace the fortunes of these outside races, +though the main destiny of the future still lay with Teutonic Europe. + +In speaking of the followers of Mahomet, we might perhaps at this period +better drop the term Arabs, and call them Saracens. They were thus known +to the Christians; and their conquests had drawn in their train so many +other peoples that in truth there was little pure Arab blood left among +them. The Saracens, then, had begun to lose somewhat of their intense +fanaticism. Feuds broke out among them. Different chiefs established +different kingdoms or "caliphates," whose dominion became political +rather than religious. Spain had one ruler, Egypt[2] another, Asia a +third. In the eleventh century an army of Saracens invaded India[3] and +added that strange and ancient land to their domain. Europe they had +failed to conquer; but their fleets commanded the Mediterranean. They +held all its islands, Sicily, Crete, Sardinia, and Corsica. They +plundered the coast towns of France and Italy. There was a Saracenic +ravaging of Rome. + +[Footnote 2: See _Conquest of Egypt by the Fatimites_, page 94.] + +[Footnote 3: See _Mahometans in India_, page 151.] + +On the whole, however, the wave of Mahometan conquest receded. In Spain +the remnants of the Christian population, Visigoths, Romans, and still +older peoples, pressed their way down from their old-time, secret +mountain retreats and began driving the Saracens southward.[4] The +decaying Roman Empire of the East still resisted the Mahometan attack; +Constantinople remained a splendid city, type and picture of what the +ancient world had been. + +[Footnote 4: See _Decline of the Moorish Power in Spain_, page 296.] + +While the Saracens were thus laying waste the Frankish empire along its +Mediterranean coasts, a more dangerous enemy was assailing it from the +east. Toward the end of the ninth century the Magyars, an Asiatic, +Turanian people, burst on Europe, as the Huns had done five centuries +before. Indeed, the Christians called these later comers Huns also, and +told of them the same extravagant tales of terror. The land which the +Magyars settled was called Hungary. They dwell there and possess it even +to this day, the only instance of a Turanian people having permanently +established themselves in an Aryan continent and at the expense of Aryan +neighbors. + +From Hungary the Magyars soon advanced to the German border line, and +made fierce plundering inroads upon the more civilized regions beyond. +They came on horseback, so that the slower Teutons could never gather +quickly enough to resist them. The marauding parties, as they learned +the wealth and weakness of this new land, grew bigger, until at length +they were armies, and defeated the German Franks in pitched battles, and +spread desolation through all the country. They returned now every year. +Their ravages extended even to the Rhine and to the ancient Gallic land +beyond. The Frankish empire seemed doomed to reenact, in a smaller, far +more savage way, the fate of Rome. + +Yet more widespread in destruction, more important in result than the +raids of either Saracens or Magyars, were those of the Scandinavians or +Northmen. These, the latest, and perhaps therefore the finest, flower of +the Teutonic stock, are closer to us and hence better known than the +early Goths or Franks. Shut off in their cold northern peninsulas and +islands, they had grown more slowly, it may be, than their southern +brethren. Now they burst suddenly on the world with spectacular dramatic +effect, wild, fierce, and splendid conquerors, as keen of intellect and +quick of wit as they were strong of arm and daring of adventure. + +We see them first as sea-robbers, pirates, venturing even in +Charlemagne's time to plunder the German and French coasts. One tribe of +them, the Danes, had already been harrying England and Ireland. Only +Alfred,[5] by heroic exertions, saved a fragment of his kingdom from +them. Later, under Canute,[6] they become its kings. The Northmen +penetrate Russia and appear as rulers of the strange Slavic tribes +there; they settle in Iceland, Greenland, and even distant and unknown +America.[7] + +[Footnote 5: See _Career of Alfred the Great_.] + +[Footnote 6: See _Canute Becomes King of England_.] + +[Footnote 7: _Leif Ericson Discovers America_.] + +Meanwhile, after Charlemagne's death they become a main factor in the +downfall of his empire. Year after year their little ships plunder the +undefended French coast, until it is abandoned to them and becomes a +desert. They build winter camps at the river mouths, so that in the +spring they need lose less time and can hurry inland after their +retreating prey. Sudden in attack, strong in defence, they venture +hundreds of miles up the winding waterways. Paris is twice attacked by +them and must fight for life. They penetrate so far up the Loire as to +burn Orleans. + +It was under stress of all these assaults that the Franks, grown too +feeble to defend themselves as Charlemagne would have done, by marching +out and pursuing the invaders to their own homes, developed instead a +system of defence which made the Middle Ages what they were. All central +authority seemed lost; each little community was left to defend itself +as best it might. So the local chieftain built himself a rude fortress, +which in time became a towered castle; and thither the people fled in +time of danger. Each man looked up to and swore faith to this, his own +chief, his immediate protector, and took little thought of a distant and +feeble king or emperor. Occasionally, of course, a stronger lord or king +bestirred himself, and demanded homage of these various petty +chieftains. They gave him such service as they wished or as they must. +This was the "feudal system."[8] + +[Footnote 8: See _Feudalism: Its Frankish Birth and English +Development_.] + +The inclination of each lesser lord was obviously to assert as much +independence as he could. He naturally objected to paying money or +service without benefit received; and he could see no good that this +"overlord" did for him or for his district. It seemed likely at this +time that instead of being divided into three kingdoms, the Frankish +empire would split into thousands of little castled states. + +That is, it seemed so, after the various marauding nations were disposed +of. The Northmen were pacified by presenting them outright with the +coast lands they had most harried. Their great leader, Rolf, accepted +the territory with some vague and ill-kept promise of vassalage to the +French King, and with a very firmly held determination that he would let +no pirates ravage his land or cross it to reach others. So the French +coast became Normandy, and the Northmen learned the tongue and manners +of their new home, and softened their harsh name to "Norman," even as +they softened their harsh ways, and rapidly became the most able and +most cultured of Frenchmen. + +As for the Saracens, being unprogressive and no longer enthusiastic, +they grew ever feebler, while the Italian cities, being Aryan and left +to themselves, grew strong. At length their fleets met those of the +Saracens on equal terms, and defeated them, and gradually wrested from +them the control of the Mediterranean. Invaders were thus everywhere met +as they came, locally. There was no general gathering of the Frankish +forces against them. + +The repulse of the Huns proved the hardest matter of all. Fortunately +for the Germans, their line of Carlovingian emperors died out. So the +various dukes and counts, practically each an independent sovereign, met +and elected a king from among themselves, not really to rule them, but +to enable them to unite against the Huns. After their first elected king +had been soundly beaten by one of his dukes, he died, and in their next +choice they had the luck to light upon a leader really great. Henry the +Fowler, more honorably known as Henry the City-builder,[9] taught them +how to defeat their foe. + +[Footnote 9: See _Henry the Fowler Founds the Saxon Line of German +Kings_.] + +Much to the disgust of his simple and war-hardened comrades, he first +sent to the Hungarians and purchased peace and paid them tribute. Having +thus secured a temporary respite, Henry encouraged and aided his people +in building walled cities all along the frontier. He also planned to +meet the invaders on equal terms by training his warriors to fight on +horseback. He instituted tournaments and created an order of knighthood, +and is thus generally regarded as the founder of chivalry, that fairest +fruit of mediaeval times, which did so much to preserve honor and +tenderness and respect for womankind.[10] + +[Footnote 10: See _Growth and Decadence of Chivalry_.] + +When he felt all prepared, Henry deliberately defied and insulted the +Hungarians, and so provoked from them a combined national invasion, +which he met and completely overthrew in the battle of Merseburg (933). +A generation later the Huns felt themselves strong enough to try again; +but Henry's son, Otto the Great, repeated the chastisement. He then +formed a boundary colony or "East-mark" from which sprang Austria; and +this border kingdom was always able to keep the weakened Huns in check. + +At the same time there was growing up in Russia a Slavic civilization, +which received Christianity[11] from the South as it had received +Teutonic dominion from the North, and so developed along very similar +lines to Western Europe. The Russian states served as a barrier against +later Asiatic hordes; and this, combined with the civilizing of the last +remnants of the Scandinavians in the North, and the fading of Saracenic +power in the South, left the tottering civilization of the West free +from further barbarian invasion. We shall find destruction threatened +again in later ages by Tartar and by Turk; but the intruders never reach +beyond the frontier. The Teutons and the half-Romanized ancients with +whom they had assimilated were left to work out their own problems. All +the ingredients, even to the last, the Northmen, had been poured into +the caldron. There remains to see what the intermingling has brought +forth. + +[Footnote 11: See _Conversion of Vladimir the Great_.] + + +FEUDAL EUROPE + +We have here, then, somewhere about the middle of the tenth century, a +date which may be regarded as marking a distinctly new era. The +ceaseless work of social organization and improvement, which seems so +strong an instinct of the Aryan mind, had been recommenced again and +again from under repeated deluges of barbarism. To-day for nearly a +thousand years it has progressed uninterrupted, except by disturbances +from within; nor does it appear possible, with our present knowledge of +science and of the remoter corners of the globe, that our civilization +will ever again be even menaced by the other races. + +Chronologists frequently adopt as a convenient starting-point for this +modern development the year 962, in which Otto the Great, conqueror of +the Huns, felt himself strong enough to march a German army to Rome and +assume there the title of emperor, which had been long in abeyance. To +be sure, there was still an Emperor of the East in Constantinople, but +nobody thought of him; and, to be sure, the power of Otto and the later +emperors was purely German, with scarce a pretence of extending beyond +their own country and sometimes Italy. Yet here was at least one +restored influence that made toward unity and, by its own devious and +erratic ways, toward peace. + +It must not be supposed, of course, that there was no more war. But, as +it became a private affair between relatives, or at least acquaintances, +its ravages were greatly reduced. It was accepted as the "pastime of +gentlemen," "the sport of kings;" and though we may quote the phrases +to-day with kindling sarcasm, yet they open a very different vision from +that of the older inroads by unknown hordes, frenzied with the passion +and the purpose of the brute. The usefulness of the common people was +recognized, and they were allowed to continue to live and cultivate the +ground; while all the great dukes and even the lesser nobles, having +secured as many castles as possible, intrenched themselves in their +strongholds and defied all comers. + +They asserted their right of "private war" and attacked each other upon +every conceivable provocation, whether it were the disputed succession +to some vast estate or the ravage spread by a reckless cow in a foreign +field. Indeed, it is not always easy to distinguish these private wars +from mere robberies or plundering expeditions; and it is not probable +that the wild barons exercised any very delicate discrimination. Even +Otto the Great had little real influence or authority over such lords as +these. His immediate successors found themselves with even less. + +In short, it was the golden age of feudalism, of the individual feudal +lords. In Italy there was no central authority whatever, nor among the +little Christian states gradually arising in Spain. In France and +England the title of king was but a name. France was really composed of +a dozen or more independent counties and dukedoms. For a while its lords +elected a king as the Germans did; and gradually the title became +hereditary in the Capet family, the counts of Paris, who had fought most +valiantly against the Northmen. But the entire power of these so-called +kings lay in their own estates, in the fact that they were counts of +Paris, and by marriage or by force were slowly adding new possessions to +their old. Any other noble might have been equally fortunate in his +investments, and wrested from them their purely honorary title. In fact, +there was more than once a king of Aquitaine. + +Yet, in 1066, William the Conqueror was able to form for a moment a +strong and centralized monarchy in England.[12] With him we reach the +period of the second Northmen, or now Norman, outbreak. The marauders +had grown polished, but not peaceful, in their French home. They had +become more numerous and more restless, until we find them again taking +to their ships and seeking newer lands to master. Only they go now as a +civilizing as well as a devastating influence. + +[Footnote 12: See _Norman Conquest of England_.] + +Most famed of their undertakings, of course, was William's Conquest of +England. But we find them also sailing along the Spanish coast, entering +the Mediterranean, seizing the Balearic Isles, making out of Sicily and +most of Southern Italy a kingdom which lasted until 1860, and finally +ravaging the Eastern Empire, and entering Constantinople itself.[13] +Last and mightiest of the wandering races, they accomplished what all +their predecessors had failed to do. + +[Footnote 13: See _Decline of the Byzantine Empire_, page 353.] + +In England, William, with the shrewdness of his race, recognized the +tendencies of the age, and erected a state so planned that there could +be no question as to who was master. He gave fiefs liberally to his +followers; but he took care that the gifts should be in small and +scattered parcels. No one man controlled any region sufficiently +extensive to give him the faintest chance of defying the King. William +had the famous _Domesday Book_[14] compiled, that he might know just +what every freeman in his dominions owned and for what he could be held +accountable. The England of the later days of the Conqueror seemed far +advanced upon our modern ways. + +[Footnote 14: See _Completion of the Domesday Book_, page 242.] + +But what can one man, however able and advanced, do against the current +of his age? History shows us constantly that the great reformers have +been those who felt and followed the general feeling of their times, who +became mouthpieces for the great mass of thought and effort behind them, +not those who struggled against the tide. William's successors failed to +comprehend what he had done, or why. By the time of Stephen (1135)[15] +we find the barons of England wellnigh as powerful as those of other +lands. A civil war arises in which Stephen and his rival Matilda are +scarce more than pawns upon the board. The lords shift sides at will, +retreat to safety in their strong castles, plunder the common folk, and +make private war quite as they please. + +[Footnote 15: See _Stephen Usurps the English Crown_, page 317.] + +If any sage before the reign of the Emperor Barbarossa, that is, before +the middle of the twelfth century, had studied to predict the course of +society, he would probably have said that the empire was wholly +destroyed, and that the principle of separation was becoming ever more +insistent, that even kings were mere fading relics of the past, and that +the future world would soon see every lordship an independent state. + + +THE CONDITION OF SOCIETY UNDER FEUDALISM + +Amid all this turmoil of the upper classes, one would like much to know +what was the condition, what the lives, of the common people. +Unfortunately, the data are very slight. We see dimly the peasant +staring from his field as the armed knights ride by; we see him fleeing +to the shelter of the forests before more savage bandits. We see the +people of the cities drawing together, building walls around their +towns, and defying in their turn their so-called "overlords." We see +Henry the City-builder thus become champion of the lower classes, +despite the strenuous warning of his conservative and not wholly +disinterested barons. We see shadowy troops of armed merchants drift +along the unsafe roads. And, most interesting perhaps of all, we see one +Arnold of Brescia,[16] an Italian monk, advocating a democracy, actually +urging a return to what he supposed early Rome to have been, a +government by the masses. Arnold, too, you see, was in advance of his +time. He was executed by the advice of even so good and wise a man as +St. Bernard. But the principle of modern life was there, the germ seems +to have been planted. These humble people of the cities, "citizens," +grow to be rulers of the world. + +[Footnote 16: See _Antipapal Democratic Movement_ page 340.] + +There was a revival, too, of learning in this quieter age. Schools and +universities become clearly visible. Abelard teaches at the great +University of Paris, lectures to "forty thousand students," if one +chooses to believe in such carrying power of his voice, or such +radiating power of his influence at second hand through those who heard. + +The arts spring up, great cathedrals are begun, the wonder and despair +of even twentieth-century resources. Royal ladies work on tapestries, +queer things in their way, but certainly not barbaric. Musical notation +is improved. Manuscripts are gorgeously illumined. Paintings and +mosaics, though of the crudest, reappear on long-barren walls. +Civilization begins to advance with increasing stride. + + +THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY + +Of all the influences that through these wandering and desolate ages had +sustained humanity and helped it onward, the mightiest has been left to +speak of last. It was Christianity, a Christianity which had by now +taken definite form as the Roman Catholic Church. Strongest of all the +institutions bequeathed by the ancient empire to her conquerors was this +Church. Indeed, it has been said that Rome had influenced Christianity +quite as much as Christianity did Rome. The legal-minded Romans insisted +on the laying out of exact doctrines and creeds, on the building of a +definite organization, a priesthood, a hierarchy. They lent the weight +of law to what had been but individual belief and impulse. Thus the +Church grew hard and strong. + +In the same manner that the early emperors had ordered the persecution +of Christianity, so the later ones ordered the persecution of +heathendom, nor had the Church grown civilized or Christian enough to +oppose this method of conversion. Luckily for all parties, however, the +heathen were scarce sufficiently enthusiastic to insist on martyrdom, +and so the persecuting spirit which man ultimately imparted to even the +purest of religions remained latent. + +With the downfall of Rome there came another interval in which the +Church was weak, and was trampled on by barbarians, and was heroic. Then +the bishops of Rome joined forces with Pepin and Charlemagne. +Christianity became physically powerful again. The Saxons were converted +by the sword. So, also, in Henry the Fowler's time, were the Slavic +Wends. These Roman bishops, or "popes," were accepted unquestioned +throughout Western Europe as the leaders of a militant Christianity, a +position never after denied them until the sixteenth century. In the +East, however, the bishops of Constantinople insisted on an equal, if +not higher, authority, and so the two churches broke apart.[17] + +[Footnote 17: See _Dissension and Separation of the Greek and Roman +Churches_.] + +In the West, Christianity undoubtedly did great good. Its teachings, +though applied by often fallible instruments and in blundering ways, yet +never completely lost sight of their own higher meanings of mercy and +peace. From the Abbey of Cluny originated that quaint mediaeval idea of +the "truce of God," by which nobles were very widely persuaded to +restrict their private wars to the middle of the week, and reserve at +least Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as days of brotherly love and +religious devotion. The Church also, from very early days, founded +monasteries, wherein learning and the knowledge of the past were kept +alive, where pity continued to exist, where the oppressed found refuge. +It is from these monasteries that all the arts and scholarship of the +eleventh century begin dimly to emerge. + +Moreover, the fact that the Teutons were all of a common religion +undoubtedly held them much closer together, made them more merciful +among themselves, more nearly a unit against the outside world. Perhaps +in this respect more important even than the religion was the Church; +that is, the hierarchy, the vast army of monks and priests, abbots and +bishops, spread over all kingdoms, yet looking always toward Rome. Here +at least was one common centre for Western civilization, one mighty +influence that all men acknowledged, that all to some faint extent +obeyed. + + +THE GROWTH OF THE PAPACY + +The power thus concentrating in the Roman papacy made the office one to +attract eager ambition. It has a political history of its own. At first +the Christian populace that continued to dwell in Rome despite the +repeated spoliations, elected, from among themselves, their own pope or +bishop, regarding him not only as their spiritual guide, but as their +earthly leader and protector also. Naturally, in their distress, they +chose the very ablest man they could, their wisest and their noblest. It +was no pleasant task being pope in those dark days; and sometimes the +bravest shrank from the position. + +But centuries of war and self-defence developed a Roman populace more +fierce and savage and degenerate, while the growing importance of their +pope beyond the city's walls brought wealth and splendor to his office. +The result was that some very unsaintly popes were elected amid unseemly +squabbles. The conditions surrounding the high office became so bad that +they were felt as a disgrace throughout all Christendom; and in 1046 the +German emperor Henry III took upon himself to depose three fiercely +contending Romans, each claiming to be pope. He appointed in their stead +a candidate of his own, not a dweller in the city at all, but a German. +Henry, therefore, must have considered the duties of the pope as bishop +of the Romans to be far less important than his duties as head of the +Church outside of Rome.[18] + +[Footnote 18: See _Henry III Deposes the Popes_.] + +So necessary had this interference by the Emperor become that it was +everywhere approved. Yet as he continued to appoint pope after pope, +churchmen realized that in the hands of an evil emperor this method of +securing their head might prove quite as dangerous and unsatisfactory as +the former one. So the Church took the matter in hand and declared that +a conclave of its own highest officials should thereafter choose the man +who was to lead them. + +Under this surely more suitable arrangement, the papal office rose at +once in dignity. It was held for a time by true leaders, earnest +prelates of the highest worth and ability. We have said that the rank of +the bishop of Rome as head of the Church had never been seriously +questioned among the Teutons; but now the popes asserted a political +authority as well. They regarded themselves, theoretically, as supreme +heads of the entire Christian world. They claimed and even partly +exercised the right to create and depose kings and emperors. To such a +supremacy as this, however, the Teutons were still too rude and warlike +to submit. Much is made of the fact that the Emperor Henry IV was +compelled to come as a suppliant to Pope Gregory at Canossa, 1077.[19] +But this submission was only forced on him by quarrels with his barons, +who welcomed the Pope as a chance ally. It proved the power of feudalism +rather than that of religion. Still we may trace here the beginnings of +a later day when spirit was really to dominate bodily force, when ideas +should prove stronger than swords. + +[Footnote 19: See _Triumphs of Hildebrand_.] + + +THE FIRST CRUSADE + +Under these aroused and able popes, the Western world was stirred to the +first widespread religious enthusiasm since the ancient days of +persecution. Jerusalem, long in the hands of a tolerant sect of Saracens +who welcomed the coming of Christian worshippers as a source of revenue, +was captured in 1075 by another more fanatic Mahometan sect, and word +came back to Europe that pilgrimage was stopped. + +The crusades followed. A great mass of warriors from every nation of the +West, men who certainly had never intended to go on pilgrimage +themselves, were roused to what seems a somewhat perverse anger of +religious devotion. Under the lead of Godfrey of Bouillon they marched +eastward, saw the wonders of Constantinople, marvellous indeed to their +ruder eyes, defeated the sultans of Asia Minor and of Antioch, and ended +by storming Jerusalem, and erecting there a Christian kingdom where +Mahometanism had ruled for nearly five hundred years.[20] + +[Footnote 20: See _The First Crusade_, page 276.] + +Of course, a great flow of pilgrims followed them. Religious orders of +knighthood were formed[21] to help defend the shrine of Christ and to +extend Christian conquest farther through the surrounding regions. +Travel began again. Europe, after having forgotten Asia for seven +centuries, was introduced once more to its languor, its splendor, and +its vices. The Aryan peoples had at last filled full their little world +of Western Europe. They had reached among themselves a state of law and +union, confused and weak, perhaps, yet secure enough to enable them once +more to overflow their boundaries and become again the aggressive, +intrusive race we have seen them in earlier days. + +[Footnote 21: See _Foundation of the Order of Knights Templars_, page +301.] + + + + +FEUDALISM: ITS FRANKISH BIRTH AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT + +NINTH TO TWELFTH CENTURY + +WILLIAM STUBBS + + +(That social system--however varying in different times and places--in +which ownership of land is the basis of authority is known in history as +feudalism. From the time of Clovis, the Frankish King, who died in A.D. +511, the progress of the Franks in civilization was slow, and for more +than two centuries they spent their energies mainly in useless wars. But +Charles Martel and his son, Pepin the Short--the latter dying in +768--built up a kingdom which Charlemagne erected into a powerful +empire. Under the predecessors of Charlemagne the beginnings of +feudalism, which are very obscure, may be said vaguely to appear. +Charles Martel had to buy the services of his nobles by granting them +lands, and although he and Pepin strengthened the royal power, which +Charlemagne still further increased, under the weak rulers who followed +them the forces of the incipient feudalism again became active, and the +State was divided into petty countships and dukedoms almost independent +of the king. + +The gift of land by the king in return for feudal services was called a +feudal grant, and the land so given was termed a "feud" or "fief." In +the course of time fiefs became hereditary. Lands were also sometimes +usurped or otherwise obtained by subjects, who thereby became feudal +lords. By a process called "subinfeudation," lands were granted in +parcels to other men by those who received them from the king or +otherwise, and by these lower landholders to others again; and as the +first recipient became the vassal of the king and the suzerain of the +man who held next below him, there was created a regular descending +scale of such vassalage and suzerainty, in which each man's allegiance +was directly due to his feudal lord, and not to the king himself. From +the king down to the lowest landholder all were bound together by +obligation of service and defence; the lord to protect his vassal, the +vassal to do service to his lord. + +These are the essential features of the social system which, from its +early growth under the later Carlovingians in the ninth century, spread +over Europe and reached its highest development in the twelfth century. +At a time midway between these periods it was carried by the Norman +Conquest into England. The history of this system of distinctly Frankish +origin--a knowledge of which is absolutely essential to a proper +understanding of history and the evolution of our present social +system--is told by Stubbs with that discernment and thoroughness of +analysis which have given him his rank as one of the few masterly +writers in this field.) + + +Feudalism had grown up from two great sources--the _beneficium_, and the +practice of commendation--and had been specially fostered on Gallic soil +by the existence of a subject population which admitted of any amount of +extension in the methods of dependence. + +The beneficiary system originated partly in gifts of land made by the +kings out of their own estates to their kinsmen and servants, with a +special undertaking to be faithful; partly in the surrender by +land-owners of their estates to churches or powerful men, to be received +back again and held by them as tenants for rent or service. By the +latter arrangement the weaker man obtained the protection of the +stronger, and he who felt himself insecure placed his title under the +defence of the church. + +By the practice of commendation, on the other hand, the inferior put +himself under the personal care of a lord, but without altering his +title or divesting himself of his right to his estate; he became a +vassal and did homage. The placing of his hands between those of his +lord was the typical act by which the connection was formed; and the +oath of fealty was taken at the same time. The union of the beneficiary +tie with that of commendation completed the idea of feudal obligation-- +the twofold engagement: that of the lord, to defend; and that of the +vassal, to be faithful. A third ingredient was supplied by the grants of +immunity by which in the Frank empire, as in England, the possession of +land was united with the right of judicature; the dwellers on a feudal +property were placed under the tribunal of the lord, and the rights +which had belonged to the nation or to its chosen head were devolved +upon the receiver of a fief. The rapid spread of the system thus +originated, and the assimilation of all other tenures to it, may be +regarded as the work of the tenth century; but as early as A.D. 877 +Charles the Bald recognized the hereditary character of all benefices; +and from that year the growth of strictly feudal jurisprudence may be +held to date. + +The system testifies to the country and causes of its birth. The +beneficium is partly of Roman, partly of German origin; in the Roman +system the usufruct--the occupation of land belonging to another +person--involved no diminution of status; in the Germanic system he who +tilled land that was not his own was imperfectly free; the reduction of +a large Roman population to dependence placed the two classes on a +level, and conduced to the wide extension of the institution. + +Commendation, on the other hand, may have had a Gallic or Celtic origin, +and an analogy only with the Roman clientship. The German _comitatus_, +which seems to have ultimately merged its existence in one or other of +these developments, is of course to be carefully distinguished in its +origin from them. The tie of the benefice or of commendation could be +formed between any two persons whatever; none but the king could have +_antrustions_. But the comitatus of Anglo-Saxon history preserved a more +distinct existence, and this perhaps was one of the causes that +distinguished the later Anglo-Saxon system most definitely from the +feudalism of the Frank empire. + +The process by which the machinery of government became feudalized, +although rapid, was gradual. + +The weakness of the Carlovingian kings and emperors gave room for the +speedy development of disruptive tendencies in a territory so extensive +and so little consolidated. The duchies and counties of the eighth and +ninth centuries were still official magistracies, the holders of which +discharged the functions of imperial judges or generals. Such officers +were of course men whom the kings could trust, in most cases Franks, +courtiers or kinsmen, who at an earlier date would have been _comites_ +or antrustions, and who were provided for by feudal benefices. The +official magistracy had in itself the tendency to become hereditary, and +when the benefice was recognized as heritable, the provincial +governorship became so too. But the provincial governor had many +opportunities of improving his position, especially if he could identify +himself with the manners and aspirations of the people he ruled. By +marriage or inheritance he might accumulate in his family not only the +old allodial estates which, especially on German soil, still continued +to subsist, but the traditions and local loyalties which were connected +with the possession of them. So in a few years the Frank magistrate +could unite in his own person the beneficiary endowment, the imperial +deputation, and the headship of the nation over which he presided. And +then it was only necessary for the central power to be a little +weakened, and the independence of duke or count was limited by his +homage and fealty alone, that is, by obligations that depended on +conscience only for their fulfilment. + +It is in Germany that the disruptive tendency most distinctly takes the +political form; Saxony and Bavaria assert their national independence +under Swabian and Saxon dukes who have identified the interests of their +subjects with their own. In France, where the ancient tribal divisions +had been long obsolete, and where the existence of the allod involved +little or no feeling of loyalty, the process was simpler still; the +provincial rulers aimed at practical rather than political sovereignty; +the people were too weak to have any aspirations at all. The disruption +was due more to the abeyance of central attraction than to any +centrifugal force existing in the provinces. But the result was the +same; feudal government, a graduated system of jurisdiction based on +land tenure, in which every lord judged, taxed, and commanded the class +next below him, of which abject slavery formed the lowest, and +irresponsible tyranny the highest grade, and private war, private +coinage, private prisons, took the place of the imperial institutions of +government. + +This was the social system which William the Conqueror and his barons +had been accustomed to see at work in France. One part of it--the feudal +tenure of land--was perhaps the only kind of tenure which they could +understand; the king was the original lord, and every title issued +mediately or immediately from him. The other part, the governmental +system of feudalism, was the point on which sooner or later the duke and +his barons were sure to differ. Already the incompatibility of the +system with the existence of the strong central power had been +exemplified in Normandy, where the strength of the dukes had been tasked +to maintain their hold on the castles and to enforce their own high +justice. Much more difficult would England be to retain in Norman hands +if the new king allowed himself to be fettered by the French system. + +On the other hand the Norman barons would fain rise a step in the social +scale answering to that by which their duke had become a king; and they +aspired to the same independence which they had seen enjoyed by the +counts of Southern and Eastern France. Nor was the aspiration on their +part altogether unreasonable; they had joined in the Conquest rather as +sharers in the great adventure than as mere vassals of the duke, whose +birth they despised as much as they feared his strength. William, +however, was wise and wary as well as strong. While, by the insensible +process of custom, or rather by the mere assumption that feudal tenure +of land was the only lawful and reasonable one, the Frankish system of +tenure was substituted for the Anglo-Saxon, the organization of +government on the same basis was not equally a matter of course. + +The Conqueror himself was too strong to suffer that organization to +become formidable in his reign, but neither the brutal force of William +Rufus nor the heavy and equal pressure of the government of Henry I +could extinguish the tendency toward it. It was only after it had, under +Stephen, broken out into anarchy and plunged the whole nation in misery; +when the great houses founded by the barons of the Conquest had suffered +forfeiture or extinction; when the Normans had become Englishmen under +the legal and constitutional reforms of Henry II--that the royal +authority, in close alliance with the nation, was enabled to put an end +to the evil. + +William the Conqueror claimed the crown of England as the chosen heir of +Edward the Confessor. It was a claim which the English did not admit, +and of which the Normans saw the fallacy, but which he himself +consistently maintained and did his best to justify. In that claim he +saw not only the justification of the Conquest in the eyes of the +church, but his great safeguard against the jealous and aggressive host +by whose aid he had realized it; therefore, immediately after the battle +of Hastings he proceeded to seek the national recognition of its +validity. He obtained it from the divided and dismayed _witan_ with no +great trouble, and was crowned by the archbishop of York--the most +influential and patriotic among them--binding himself by the +constitutional promises of justice and good laws. Standing before the +altar at Westminster, "in the presence of the clergy and people he +promised with an oath that he would defend God's holy churches and their +rulers; that he would, moreover, rule the whole people subject to him +with righteousness and royal providence; would enact and hold fast right +law and utterly forbid rapine and unrighteous judgments." The form of +election and acceptance was regularly observed and the legal position of +the new King completed before he went forth to finish the Conquest. + +Had it not been for this the Norman host might have fairly claimed a +division of the land such as the Danes had made in the ninth century. +But to the people who had recognized William it was but just that the +chance should be given them of retaining what was their own. +Accordingly, when the lands of all those who had fought for Harold were +confiscated, those who were willing to acknowledge William were allowed +to redeem theirs, either paying money at once or giving hostages for the +payment. That under this redemption lay the idea of a new title to the +lands redeemed may be regarded as questionable. The feudal lawyer might +take one view, and the plundered proprietor another. But if charters of +confirmation or regrant were generally issued on the occasion to those +who were willing to redeem, there can be no doubt that, as soon as the +feudal law gained general acceptance, these would be regarded as +conveying a feudal title. What to the English might be a mere payment of +_fyrdwite_, or composition for a recognized offence, might to the +Normans seem equivalent to forfeiture and restoration. + +But however this was, the process of confiscation and redistribution of +lands under the new title began from the moment of the coronation. The +next few years, occupied in the reduction of Western and Northern +England, added largely to the stock of divisible estates. The tyranny of +Odo of Bayeux and William Fitzosbern, which provoked attempts at +rebellion in 1067; the stand made by the house of Godwin in Devonshire +in 1068; the attempts of Mercia and Northumbria to shake off the Normans +in 1069 and 1070; the last struggle for independence in 1071, in which +Edwin and Morcar finally fell; the conspiracy of the Norman earls in +1074, in consequence of which Waltheof perished--all tended to the same +result. + +After each effort the royal hand was laid on more heavily; more and more +land changed owners, and with the change of owners the title changed. +The complicated and unintelligible irregularities of the Anglo-Saxon +tenures were exchanged for the simple and uniform feudal theory. The +fifteen hundred tenants-in-chief of _Domesday Book_ take the place of +the countless land-owners of King Edward's time, and the loose, +unsystematic arrangements which had grown up in the confusion of title, +tenure, and jurisdiction were replaced by systematic custom. The change +was effected without any legislative act, simply by the process of +transfer under circumstances in which simplicity and uniformity were an +absolute necessity. It was not the change from allodial to feudal so +much as from confusion to order. The actual amount of dispossession was +no doubt greatest in the higher ranks; the smaller owners may to a large +extent have remained in a mediatized position on their estates; but even +_Domesday_, with all its fulness and accuracy, cannot be supposed to +enumerate all the changes of the twenty eventful years that followed the +battle of Hastings. It is enough for our purpose to ascertain that a +universal assimilation of title followed the general changes of +ownership. The king of _Domesday_ is the supreme landlord; all the land +of the nation, the old folkland, has become the king's; and all private +land is held mediately or immediately of him; all holders are bound to +their lords by homage and fealty, either actually demanded or understood +to be demandable, in every case of transfer by inheritance or otherwise. + +The result of this process is partly legal and partly constitutional or +political. The legal result is the introduction of an elaborate system +of customs, tenures, rights, duties, profits, and jurisdictions. The +constitutional result is the creation of several intermediate links +between the body of the nation and the king, in the place of or side by +side with the duty of allegiance. + +On the former of these points we have very insufficient data; for we are +quite in the dark as to the development of feudal law in Normandy before +the invasion, and may be reasonably inclined to refer some at least of +the peculiarities of English feudal law to the leaven of the system +which it superseded. Nor is it easy to reduce the organization described +in _Domesday_ to strict conformity with feudal law as it appears later, +especially with the general prevalence of military tenure. + +The growth of knighthood is a subject on which the greatest obscurity +prevails, and the most probable explanation of its existence in +England--the theory that it is a translation into Norman forms of the +_thegnage_ of the Anglo-Saxon law--can only be stated as probable. + +Between the picture drawn in _Domesday_ and the state of affairs which +the charter of Henry I was designed to remedy, there is a difference +which the short interval of time will not account for, and which +testifies to the action of some skilful organizing hand working with +neither justice nor mercy, hardening and sharpening all lines and points +to the perfecting of a strong government. + +It is unnecessary to recapitulate here all the points in which the +Anglo-Saxon institutions were already approaching the feudal model; it +may be assumed that the actual obligation of military service was much +the same in both systems, and that even the amount of land which was +bound to furnish a mounted warrior was the same however the conformity +may have been produced. The _heriot_ of the English earl or _thegn_ was +in close resemblance with the _relief_ of the Norman count or knight. +But however close the resemblance, something was now added that made the +two identical. The change of the heriot to the relief implies a +suspension of ownership, and carries with it the custom of "livery of +seisin." The heriot was the payment of a debt from the dead man to his +lord; his son succeeded him by allodial right. The relief was paid by +the heir before he could obtain his father's lands; between the death of +the father and livery of seisin to the son the right of the "overlord" +had entered; the ownership was to a certain extent resumed, and the +succession of the heir took somewhat of the character of a new grant. +The right of wardship also became in the same way a reentry, by the +lord, on the profits of the estate of the minor, instead of being, as +before, a protection, by the head of the kin, of the indefeasible rights +of the heir, which it was the duty of the whole community to maintain. + +There can be no doubt that the military tenure--the most prominent +feature of historical feudalism--was itself introduced by the same +gradual process which we have assumed in the case of the feudal usages +in general. We have no light on the point from any original grant made +by the Conqueror to a lay follower, but judging by the grants made to +the churches we cannot suppose it probable that such gifts were made on +any expressed condition, or accepted with a distinct pledge to provide a +certain contingent of knights for the king's service. The obligation of +national defence was incumbent, as of old, on all land-owners, and the +customary service of one fully armed man for each five hides of land was +probably the rate at which the newly endowed follower of the king would +be expected to discharge his duty. The wording of the _Domesday_ survey +does not imply that in this respect the new military service differed +from the old; the land is marked out, not into knights' fees, but into +hides, and the number of knights to be furnished by a particular +feudatory would be ascertained by inquiring the number of hides that he +held, without apportioning the particular acres that were to support the +particular knight. + +It would undoubtedly be on the estates of the lay vassals that a more +definite usage would first be adopted, and knights bound by feudal +obligations to their lords receive a definite estate from them. Our +earliest information, however, on this as on most points of tenure, is +derived from the notices of ecclesiastical practice. Lanfranc, we are +told, turned the _drengs_, the rent-paying tenants of his archiepiscopal +estates, into knights for the defence of the country; he enfeoffed a +certain number of knights who performed the military service due from +the archiepiscopal barony. This had been done before the _Domesday_ +survey, and almost necessarily implies that a like measure had been +taken by the lay vassals. Lanfranc likewise maintained ten knights to +answer for the military service due from the convent of Christ Church, +which made over to him, in consideration of the relief, land worth two +hundred pounds annually. The value of the knight's fee must already have +been fixed at twenty pounds a year. + +In the reign of William Rufus the abbot of Ramsey obtained a charter +which exempted his monastery from the service of ten knights due from it +on festivals, substituting the obligation to furnish three knights to +perform service on the north of the Thames--a proof that the lands of +that house had not yet been divided into knights' fees. In the next +reign, we may infer--from the favor granted by the King to the knights +who defended their lands _per loricas_ (that is, by the hauberk) that +their demesne lands shall be exempt from pecuniary taxation--that the +process of definite military infeudation had largely advanced. But it +was not even yet forced on the clerical or monastic estates. When, in +1167, the abbot of Milton, in Dorset, was questioned as to the number of +knights' fees for which he had to account, he replied that all the +services due from his monastery were discharged out of the demesne; but +he added that in the reign of Henry I, during a vacancy in the abbacy, +Bishop Roger, of Salisbury, had enfeoffed two knights out of the abbey +lands. He had, however, subsequently reversed the act and had restored +the lands, whose tenure had been thus altered, to their original +condition of rent-paying estate or "socage." + +The very term "the new feoffment," which was applied to the knights' +fees created between the death of Henry I and the year in which the +account preserved in the _Black Book_ of the exchequer was taken, proves +that the process was going on for nearly a hundred years, and that the +form in which the knights' fees appear when called on by Henry II for +"scutage" was most probably the result of a series of compositions by +which the great vassals relieved their lands from a general burden by +carving out particular estates, the holders of which performed the +services due from the whole; it was a matter of convenience and not of +tyrannical pressure. The statement of Ordericus Vitalis that the +Conqueror "distributed lands to his knights in such fashion that the +kingdom of England should have forever sixty thousand knights, and +furnish them at the king's command according to the occasion," must be +regarded as one of the many numerical exaggerations of the early +historians. The officers of the exchequer in the twelfth century were +quite unable to fix the number of existing knights' fees. + +It cannot even be granted that a definite area of land was necessary to +constitute a knight's fee; for although at a later period and in local +computations we may find four or five hides adopted as a basis of +calculation, where the extent of the particular knight's fee is given +exactly, it affords no ground for such a conclusion. In the _Liber +Niger_ we find knights' fees of two hides and a half, of two hides, of +four, five, and six hides. Geoffrey Ridel states that his father held +one hundred and eighty-four _carucates_ and a _virgate_, for which the +service of fifteen knights was due, but that no knights' fees had been +carved out of it, the obligation lying equally on every carucate. The +archbishop of York had far more knights than his tenure required. It is +impossible to avoid the conclusion that the extent of a knight's fee was +determined by rent or valuation rather than acreage, and that the common +quantity was really expressed in the twenty _librates_, the twenty +pounds' worth of annual value which until the reign of Edward I was the +qualification for knighthood. + +It is most probable that no regular account of the knights' fees was +ever taken until they became liable to taxation, either in the form of +_auxilium militum_ under Henry I, or in that of scutage under his +grandson. The facts, however, which are here adduced, preclude the +possibility of referring this portion of the feudal innovations to the +direct legislation of the Conqueror. It may be regarded as a secondary +question whether the knighthood here referred to was completed by the +investiture with knightly arms and the honorable accolade. The +ceremonial of knighthood was practised by the Normans, whereas the +evidence that the English had retained the primitive practice of +investing the youthful warrior is insufficient; yet it would be rash to +infer that so early as this, if indeed it ever was the case, every +possessor of a knight's fee received formal initiation before he assumed +his spurs. But every such analogy would make the process of transition +easier and prevent the necessity of any general legislative act of +change. + +It has been maintained that a formal and definitive act, forming the +initial point of the feudalization of England, is to be found in a +clause of the laws, as they are called, of the Conqueror; which directs +that every freeman shall affirm, by covenant and oath, that "he will be +faithful to King William within England and without, will join him in +preserving his lands and honor with all fidelity, and defend him against +his enemies." But this injunction is little more than the demand of the +oath of allegiance which had been taken to the Anglo-Saxon kings and is +here required not of every feudal dependent of the King, but of every +freeman or freeholder whatsoever. + +In that famous council of Salisbury of 1086, which was summoned +immediately after the making of the _Domesday_ survey, we learn from the +_Chronicle_ that there came to the King "all his witan, and all the +landholders of substance in England whose vassals soever they were, and +they all submitted to him, and became his men and swore oaths of +allegiance that they would be faithful to him against all others." In +this act have been seen the formal acceptance and date of the +introduction of feudalism, but it has a very different meaning. The oath +described is the oath of allegiance, combined with the act of homage, +and obtained from all land-owners, whoever their feudal lord might be. +It is a measure of precaution taken against the disintegrating power of +feudalism, providing a direct tie between the sovereign and all +freeholders which no inferior relation existing between them and the +mesne lords would justify them in breaking. The real importance of the +passage as bearing on the date of the introduction of feudal tenure is +merely that it shows the system to have already become consolidated; all +the land-owners of the kingdom had already become, somehow or other, +vassals, either of the king or of some tenant under him. The lesson may +be learned from the fact of the _Domesday_ survey. + +The introduction of such a system would necessarily have effects far +wider than the mere modification of the law of tenure; it might be +regarded as a means of consolidating and concentrating the whole +machinery of government; legislation, taxation, judicature, and military +defence were all capable of being organized on the feudal principle, and +might have been so had the moral and political results been in harmony +with the legal. But its tendency when applied to governmental machinery +is disruptive. The great feature of the Conqueror's policy is his defeat +of that tendency. Guarding against it he obtained recognition as the +King of the nation and, so far as he could understand them and the +attitude of the nation allowed, he maintained the usages of the nation. +He kept up the popular institutions of the hundred court and the shire +court. He confirmed the laws which had been in use in King Edward's +days, with the additions which he himself made for the benefit, as he +especially tells us, of the English. + +We are told, on what seems to be the highest legal authority of the next +century, that he issued in his fourth year a commission of inquiry into +the national customs, and obtained from sworn representatives of each +county a declaration of the laws under which they wished to live. The +compilation that bears his name is very little more than a reissue of +the code of Canute; and this proceeding helped greatly to reconcile the +English people to his rule. Although the oppressions of his later years +were far heavier than the measures taken to secure the immediate success +of the Conquest, all the troubles of the kingdom after 1075, in his +sons' reigns as well as in his own, proceeded from the insubordination +of the Normans, not from the attempts of the English to dethrone the +king. Very early they learned that, if their interest was not the +king's, at least their enemies were his enemies; hence they are +invariably found on the royal side against the feudatories. + +This accounts for the maintenance of the national force of defence, over +and above the feudal army. The _fyrd_ of the English, the general +armament of the men of the counties and hundreds, was not abolished at +the Conquest, but subsisted even through the reigns of William Rufus and +Henry I, to be reformed and reconstituted under Henry II; and in each +reign it gave proof of its strength and faithfulness. The _witenagemot_ +itself retained the ancient form, the bishops and abbots formed a chief +part of it, instead of being, as in Normandy, so insignificant an +element that their very participation in deliberation has been doubted. +The king sat crowned three times in the year in the old royal towns of +Westminster, Winchester, and Gloucester, hearing the complaints of his +people, and executing such justice as his knowledge of their law and +language and his own imperious will allowed. In all this there is no +violent innovation, only such gradual essential changes as twenty +eventful years of new actors and new principles must bring, however +insensibly the people themselves--passing away and being replaced by +their children--may be educated to endurance. + +It would be wrong to impute to the Conqueror any intention of deceiving +the nation by maintaining its official forms while introducing new +principles and a new race of administrators. What he saw required change +he changed with a high hand. But not the less surely did the change of +administrators involve a change of custom, both in the church and in the +state. The bishops, ealdormen, and sheriffs of English birth were +replaced by Normans; not unreasonably, perhaps, considering the +necessity of preserving the balance of the state. With the change of +officials came a sort of amalgamation or duplication of titles; the +ealdorman or earl became the _comes_ or count; the sheriff became the +_vicecomes_; the office in each case receiving the name of that which +corresponded most closely with it in Normandy itself. With the +amalgamation of titles came an importation of new principles and +possibly new functions; for the Norman count and viscount had not +exactly the same customs as the earls and sheriffs. And this ran up into +the highest grades of organization; the King's court of counsellors was +composed of his feudal tenants; the ownership of land was now the +qualification for the witenagemot, instead of wisdom; the earldoms +became fiefs instead of magistracies, and even the bishops had to accept +the status of barons. There was a very certain danger that the mere +change of persons might bring in the whole machinery of hereditary +magistracies, and that king and people might be edged out of the +administration of justice, taxation, and other functions of supreme or +local independence. + +Against this it was most important to guard; as the Conqueror learned +from the events of the first year of his reign, when the severe rule of +Odo and William Fitzosbern had provoked Herefordshire. Ralph Guader, +Roger Montgomery, and Hugh of Avranches filled the places of Edwin and +Morcar and the brothers of Harold. But the conspiracy of the earls in +1074 opened William's eyes to the danger of this proceeding, and from +that time onward he governed the provinces through sheriffs immediately +dependent on himself, avoiding the foreign plan of appointing hereditary +counts, as well as the English custom of ruling by viceregal ealdormen. +He was, however, very sparing in giving earldoms at all, and inclined to +confine the title to those who were already counts in Normandy or in +France. + +To this plan there were some marked exceptions, which may be accounted +for either on the ground that the arrangements had been completed before +the need of watchfulness was impressed on the King by the treachery of +the Normans, or on that of the exigencies of national defence. In these +cases he created, or suffered the continuance of, great palatine +jurisdictions; earldoms in which the earls were endowed with the +superiority of whole counties, so that all the land-owners held feudally +of them, in which they received the whole profits of the courts and +exercised all the "regalia" or royal rights, nominated the sheriffs, +held their own councils, and acted as independent princes except in the +owing of homage and fealty to the King. Two of these palatinates, the +earldom of Chester and the bishopric of Durham, retained much of their +character to our own days. A third, the palatinate of Bishop Odo in +Kent, if it were really a jurisdiction of the same sort, came to an end +when Odo forfeited the confidence of his brother and nephew. A fourth, +the earldom of Shropshire, which is not commonly counted among the +palatine jurisdictions, but which possessed under the Montgomery earls +all the characteristics of such a dignity, was confiscated after the +treason of Robert of Belesme by Henry I. These had been all founded +before the conspiracy of 1074; they were also, like the later lordships +of the marches, a part of the national defence; Chester and Shropshire +kept the Welsh marches in order, Kent was the frontier exposed to +attacks from Picardy, and Durham, the patrimony of St. Cuthbert, lay as +a sacred boundary between England and Scotland; Northumberland and +Cumberland were still a debatable ground between the two kingdoms. +Chester was held by its earls as freely by the sword as the King held +England by the crown; no lay vassal in the county held of the King, all +of the earl. In Shropshire there were only five lay tenants _in capite_ +besides Roger Montgomery; in Kent, Bishop Odo held an enormous +proportion of the manors, but the nature of his jurisdiction is not very +clear, and its duration is too short to make it of much importance. If +William founded any earldoms at all after 1074 (which may be doubted), +he did it on a very different scale. + +The hereditary sheriffdoms he did not guard against with equal care. The +Norman viscounties were hereditary, and there was some risk that the +English ones would become so too; and with the worst consequences, for +the English counties were much larger than the bailiwicks of the Norman +viscount, and the authority of the sheriff, when he was relieved from +the company of the ealdorman, and was soon to lose that of the bishop, +would have no check except the direct control of the King. If William +perceived this, it was too late to prevent it entirely; some of the +sheriffdoms became hereditary, and continued to be so long after the +abuse had become constitutionally dangerous. + +The independence of the greater feudatories was still further limited by +the principle, which the Conqueror seems to have observed, of avoiding +the accumulation in any one hand of a great number of contiguous +estates. The rule is not without some important exceptions, and it may +have been suggested by the diversity of occasions on which the fiefs +were bestowed, but the result is one which William must have foreseen. +An insubordinate baron whose strength lay in twelve different counties +would have to rouse the suspicions and perhaps to defy the arms of +twelve powerful sheriffs, before he could draw his forces to a head. In +his manorial courts, scattered and unconnected, he could set up no +central tribunal, nor even force a new custom upon his tenants, nor +could he attempt oppression on any extensive scale. By such limitation +the people were protected and the central power secured. + +Yet the changes of ownership, even thus guarded, wrought other changes. +It is not to be supposed that the Norman baron, when he had received his +fief, proceeded to carve it out into demesne and tenants' land as if he +were making a new settlement in an uninhabited country. He might indeed +build his castle and enclose his chase with very little respect to the +rights of his weaker neighbors, but he did not attempt any such radical +change as the legal theory of the creation of manors seems to presume. +The name "manor" is of Norman origin: but the estate to which it was +given existed, in its essential character, long before the Conquest; it +received a new name as the shire also did, but neither the one nor the +other was created by this change. The local jurisdictions of the thegns +who had grants of _sac_ and _soc_, or who exercised judicial functions +among their free neighbors, were identical with the manorial +jurisdictions of the new owners. + +It may be conjectured with great probability that in many cases the +weaker freemen, who had either willingly or under constraint attended +the courts of their great neighbors, were now, under the general +infusion of feudal principle, regarded as holding their lands of them as +lords; it is not less probable that in a great number of grants the +right to suit and service from small land-owners passed from the king to +the receiver of the fief as a matter of course; but it is certain that +even before the Conquest such a proceeding was not uncommon; Edward the +Confessor had transferred to St. Augustine's monastery a number of +allodiaries in Kent, and every such measure in the case of a church must +have had its parallel in similar grants to laymen. The manorial system +brought in a number of new names; and perhaps a duplication of offices. +The _gerefa_ of the old thegn, or of the ancient township, was replaced, +as president of the courts, by a Norman steward or seneschal; and the +_bydel_ of the old system by the bailiff of the new; but the gerefa and +bydel still continued to exist in a subordinate capacity as the _grave_ +or reeve and the _bedell_; and when the lord's steward takes his place +in the county court, the reeve and four men of the township are there +also. The common of the township may be treated as the lord's waste, but +the townsmen do not lose their customary share. + +The changes that take place in the state have their resulting analogies +in every village, but no new England is created; new forms displace but +do not destroy the old, and old rights remain, although changed in title +and forced into symmetry with a new legal and pseudo-historical theory. +The changes may not seem at first sight very oppressive, but they opened +the way for oppression; the forms they had introduced tended, under the +spirit of Norman legality and feudal selfishness, to become hard +realities, and in the profound miseries of Stephen's reign the people +learned how completely the new theory left them at the mercy of their +lords; nor were all the reforms of his successor more stringent or the +struggles of the century that followed a whit more impassioned than were +necessary to protect the English yeoman from the men who lived upon his +strength. + +In attempting thus to estimate the real amount of change introduced by +the feudalism of the Conquest, many points of further interest have been +touched upon, to which it is necessary to recur only so far as to give +them their proper place in a more general view of the reformed +organization. The Norman king is still the king of the nation. He has +become the supreme landlord; all estates are held of him mediately or +immediately, but he still demands the allegiance of all his subjects. +The oath which he exacted at Salisbury in 1086, and which is embodied in +the semi-legal form already quoted, was a modification of the oath taken +to Edmund, and was intended to set the general obligation of obedience +to the king in its proper relation to the new tie of homage and fealty +by which the tenant was bound to his lord. + +All men continued to be primarily the king's men, and the public peace +to be his peace. Their lords might demand their service to fulfil their +own obligations, but the king could call them to the _fyrd_, summon them +to his courts, and tax them without the intervention of their lords; and +to the king they could look for protection against all foes. Accordingly +the king could rely on the help of the bulk of the free people in all +struggles with his feudatories, and the people, finding that their +connection with their lords would be no excuse for unfaithfulness to the +king, had a further inducement to adhere to the more permanent +institutions. + +In the department of law the direct changes introduced by the Conquest +were not great. Much that is regarded as peculiarly Norman was developed +upon English soil, and although originated and systematized by Norman +lawyers, contained elements which would have worked in a very different +way in Normandy. Even the vestiges of Carlovingian practice which appear +in the inquests of the Norman reigns are modified by English usage. The +great inquest of all, the _Domesday_ survey, may owe its principle to a +foreign source; the oath of the reporters may be Norman, but the +machinery that furnishes the jurors is native; "the king's barons +inquire by the oath of the sheriff of the shire, and of all the barons +and their Frenchmen, and of the whole hundred, the priest, the reeve, +and six _ceorls_ of every township." + +The institution of the collective Frank pledge, which recent writers +incline to treat as a Norman innovation, is so distinctly colored by +English custom that it has been generally regarded as purely indigenous. +If it were indeed a precaution taken by the new rulers against the +avoidance of justice by the absconding or harboring of criminals, it +fell with ease into the usages and even the legal terms which had been +common for other similar purposes since the reign of Athelstan. The +trial by battle, which on clearer evidence seems to have been brought in +by the Normans, is a relic of old Teutonic jurisprudence, the absence of +which from the Anglo-Saxon courts is far more curious than its +introduction from abroad. + +The organization of jurisdiction required and underwent no great change +in these respects. The Norman lord who undertook the office of sheriff +had, as we have seen, more unrestricted power than the sheriffs of old. +He was the king's representative in all matters judicial, military, and +financial in his shire, and had many opportunities of tyrannizing in +each of those departments: but he introduced no new machinery. From him, +or from the courts of which he was the presiding officer, appeal lay to +the king alone; but the king was often absent from England and did not +understand the language of his subjects. In his absence the +administration was intrusted to a _judiciar_, a regent, or lieutenant, +of the kingdom; and the convenience being once ascertained of having a +minister who could in the whole kingdom represent the king, as the +sheriff did in the shire, the judiciar became a permanent functionary. +This, however, cannot be certainly affirmed of the reign of the +Conqueror, who, when present at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, held +great courts of justice as well as for other purposes of state; and the +legal importance of the office belongs to a later stage. The royal +court, containing the tenants-in-chief of the crown, both lay and +clerical, and entering into all the functions of the witenagemot, was +the supreme council of the nation, with the advice and consent of which +the King legislated, taxed, and judged. + +In the one authentic monument of William's jurisprudence, the act which +removed the bishops from the secular courts and recognized their +spiritual jurisdictions, he tells us that he acts "with the common +council and counsel of the archbishops, bishops, abbots, and all the +princes of the kingdom." The ancient summary of his laws contained in +the _Textus Roffensis_ is entitled "_What William, King of the English, +with his Princes enacted after the Conquest of England_"; and the same +form is preserved in the tradition of his confirming the ancient laws +reported to him by the representatives of the shires. The _Anglo-Saxon +Chronicle_ enumerates the classes of men who attended his great courts: +"There were with him all the great men over all England, archbishops and +bishops, abbots and earls, thegns and knights." + +The great suit between Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury and Odo as +Earl of Kent, which is perhaps the best reported trial of the reign, was +tried in the county court of Kent before the King's representative, +Gosfrid, bishop of Coutances; whose presence and that of most of the +great men of the kingdom seem to have made it a witenagemot. The +archbishop pleaded the cause of his Church in a session of three days on +Pennenden Heath; the aged South-Saxon bishop, Ethelric, was brought by +the King's command to declare the ancient customs of the laws; and with +him several other Englishmen skilled in ancient laws and customs. All +these good and wise men supported the archbishop's claim, and the +decision was agreed on and determined by the whole county. The sentence +was laid before the King, and confirmed by him. Here we have probably a +good instance of the principle universally adopted; all the lower +machinery of the court was retained entire, but the presence of the +Norman justiciar and barons gave it an additional authority, a more +direct connection with the king, and the appearance at least of a joint +tribunal. + +The principle of amalgamating the two laws and nationalities by +superimposing the better consolidated Norman superstructure on the +better consolidated English substructure, runs through the whole policy. + +The English system was strong in the cohesion of its lower organism, the +association of individuals in the township, in the hundred, and in the +shire; the Norman system was strong in its higher ranges, in the close +relation to the Crown of the tenants-in-chief whom the King had +enriched. On the other hand, the English system was weak in the higher +organization, and the Normans in England had hardly any subordinate +organization at all. The strongest elements of both were brought +together. + + + + +DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE + +DIVISION INTO MODERN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY + +A.D. 843-911 + +FRANCOIS P.G. GUIZOT + + +(The period with which the following article deals may be said to mark +the end of distinctively Frankish history. A striking mixture of races +entered into the formation of this people, and the beginnings of the +great modern nations into which the Frankish empire was divided brought +to them varied elements of strength and a diversity of constituents that +were to be commingled in new national characters and careers. + +In 840 Charles the Bald became King of France, and his reign, both as +king and afterward as emperor, continued for thirty-seven years, during +which he proved himself to be lacking in those qualities which his +responsibilities and the wants of his people demanded. He had great +obstacles to contend against; for besides the ambitions of various +districts for separate nationality, which led to insurrections in many +quarters, Greek pirates ravaged the South, where the Saracens also +wrought havoc, while in the North and West the Northmen burned and +pillaged, laying waste a wide region and leaving many towns in ruins. + +It was an age of turbulence in Europe, and the violence of predatory +invaders brought woes upon many peoples. On the east of Charles' empire +the Hungarians, successors of the Huns, began to threaten. In the midst +of all these distractions and dangers, assailed by enemies without and +within, Charles found it a task far beyond his abilities to construct a +state upon foundations of unity. He bore many titles and held several +crowns, but his actual dominion was narrowly restricted, and his nominal +subjects were in a state of political subdivision almost amounting to +dismemberment. After various futile efforts during his later years to +unify his empire, Charles died from an illness which seized him in 877, +on his return to France from a fruitless campaign of subjugation and +pillage in Italy. In the subsequent division of the empire, according to +the terms of the treaty of Verdun, the several portions included Italy, +the nucleus of France, and that of the present Germany. + +Already suffering from the devastating expeditions of the Norse or +Northmen, the Carlovingian empire, now weakened by division, became an +easier prey for the invaders. Emboldened by success, the Northmen at +length commenced to settle in the regions they invaded, no longer +returning, as formerly, to their northern homes in winter. Among +chieftains of the early Norman invaders who settled in France was +Hastings, who became Count of Chartres; later came Rou, Rolf, or Rollo +the Rover, to whom Charles the Simple of France gave Normandy, whence +sprang the conquerors and rulers of England, who laid the foundation of +the English-speaking nations of today.) + + +The first of Charlemagne's grand designs, the territorial security of +the Gallo-Frankish and Christian dominion, was accomplished. In the East +and the North, the Germanic and Asiatic populations, which had so long +upset it, were partly arrested at its frontiers, partly incorporated +regularly in its midst. In the South, the Mussulman populations which, +in the eighth century, had appeared so near overwhelming it, were +powerless to deal it any heavy blow. Substantially France was founded. +But what had become of Charlemagne's second grand design, the +resuscitation of the Roman Empire at the hands of the barbarians that +had conquered it and become Christians? + +Let us leave Louis the Debonair his traditional name, although it is not +an exact rendering of that which was given him by his contemporaries. +They called him Louis the Pious. And so, indeed, he was, sincerely and +even scrupulously pious; but he was still more weak than pious, as weak +in heart and character as in mind; as destitute of ruling ideas as of +strength of will, fluctuating at the mercy of transitory impressions or +surrounding influences or positional embarrassments. The name of +_Debonnaire_ is suited to him; it expresses his moral worth and his +political incapacity both at once. + +As king of Aquitaine in the time of Charlemagne, Louis made himself +esteemed and loved; his justice, his suavity, his probity, and his piety +were pleasing to the people, and his weaknesses disappeared under the +strong hand of his father. When he became emperor, he began his reign by +a reaction against the excesses, real or supposed, of the preceding +reign. Charlemagne's morals were far from regular, and he troubled +himself but little about the license prevailing in his family or his +palace. At a distance, he ruled with a tight and heavy hand. Louis +established at his court, for his sisters as well as his servants, +austere regulations. He restored to the subjugated Saxons certain of the +rights of which Charlemagne had deprived them. He sent out everywhere +his commissioners with orders to listen to complaints and redress +grievances, and to mitigate his father's rule, which was rigorous in its +application and yet insufficient to repress disturbance, notwithstanding +its preventive purpose and its watchful supervision. + +Almost simultaneously with his accession, Louis committed an act more +serious and compromising. He had, by his wife Hermengarde, three sons, +Lothair, Pepin, and Louis, aged respectively nineteen, eleven, and +eight. In 817, Louis summoned at Aix-la-Chapelle the general assembly of +his dominions; and there, while declaring that "neither to those who +were wisely minded nor to himself did it appear expedient to break up, +for the love he bare his sons and by the will of man, the unity of the +empire, preserved by God himself," he had resolved to share with his +eldest son, Lothair, the imperial throne. Lothair was in fact crowned +emperor; and his two brothers, Pepin and Louis, were crowned king, "in +order that they might reign, after their father's death and under their +brother and lord, Lothair, to wit: Pepin, over Aquitaine and a great +part of Southern Gaul and of Burgundy; Louis, beyond the Rhine, over +Bavaria and the divers peoples in the east of Germany." The rest of Gaul +and of Germany, as well as the kingdom of Italy, was to belong to +Lothair, Emperor and head of the Frankish monarchy, to whom his brothers +would have to repair year by year to come to an understanding with him +and receive his instructions. The last-named kingdom, the most +considerable of the three, remained under the direct government of Louis +the Debonair, and at the same time of his son Lothair, sharing the title +of emperor. The two other sons, Pepin and Louis, entered, +notwithstanding their childhood, upon immediate possession, the one of +Aquitaine and the other of Bavaria, under the superior authority of +their father and their brother, the joint emperors. + +Charlemagne had vigorously maintained the unity of the empire, for all +that he had delegated to two of his sons, Pepin and Louis, the +government of Italy and Aquitaine with the title of king. Louis the +Debonair, while regulating beforehand the division of his dominion, +likewise desired, as he said, to maintain the unity of the empire. But +he forgot that he was no Charlemagne. + +It was not long before numerous mournful experiences showed to what +extent the unity of the empire required personal superiority in the +emperor, and how rapid would be the decay of the fabric when there +remained nothing but the title of the founder. + +In 816 Pope Stephen IV came to France to consecrate Louis the Debonair +emperor. Many a time already the popes had rendered the Frankish kings +this service and honor. The Franks had been proud to see their King, +Charlemagne, protecting Adrian I against the Lombards; then crowned +emperor at Rome by Leo III, and then having his two sons, Pepin and +Louis, crowned at Rome, by the same Pope, kings respectively of Italy +and of Aquitaine. On these different occasions Charlemagne, while +testifying the most profound respect for the Pope, had, in his relations +with him, always taken care to preserve, together with his political +greatness, all his personal dignity. But when, in 816, the Franks saw +Louis the Pious not only go out of Rheims to meet Stephen IV, but +prostrate himself, from head to foot, and rise only when the Pope held +out a hand to him, the spectators felt saddened and humiliated at the +sight of their Emperor in the posture of a penitent monk. + +Several insurrections burst out in the empire; the first among the +Basques of Aquitaine; the next in Italy, where Bernard, son of Pepin, +having, after his father's death, become king in 812, with the consent +of his grandfather Charlemagne, could not quietly see his kingdom pass +into the hands of his cousin Lothair at the orders of his uncle Louis. +These two attempts were easily repressed, but the third was more +serious. It took place in Brittany among those populations of Armorica +who were still buried in their woods, and were excessively jealous of +their independence. In 818 they took for king one of their principal +chieftains, named Morvan; and, not confining themselves to a refusal of +all tribute to the King of the Franks, they renewed their ravages upon +the Frankish territories bordering on their frontier. Louis was at that +time holding a general assembly of his dominions at Aix-la-Chapelle; and +Count Lantbert, commandant of the marches of Brittany, came and reported +to him what was going on. A Frankish monk, named Ditcar, happened to be +at the assembly: he was a man of piety and sense, a friend of peace, +and, moreover, with some knowledge of the Breton king Morvan, as his +monastery had property in the neighborhood. Him the Emperor commissioned +to convey to the King his grievances and his demands. After some days' +journey the monk passed the frontier and arrived at a vast space +enclosed on one side by a noble river, and on all the others by forests +and swamps, hedges and ditches. In the middle of this space was a large +dwelling, which was Morvan's. Ditcar found it full of warriors, the King +having, no doubt, some expedition on hand. The monk announced himself as +a messenger from the Emperor of the Franks. The style of announcement +caused some confusion at first, to the Briton, who, however, hastened to +conceal his emotion under an air of good-will and joyousness, to impose +upon his comrades. The latter were got rid of; and the King remained +alone with the monk, who explained the object of his mission. He +descanted upon the power of the emperor Louis, recounted his complaints, +and warned the Briton, kindly and in a private capacity, of the danger +of his situation, a danger so much the greater in that he and his people +would meet with the less consideration, seeing that they kept up the +religion of their pagan forefathers. Morvan gave attentive ear to this +sermon, with his eyes fixed on the ground, and his foot tapping it from +time to time. Ditcar thought he had succeeded; but an incident +supervened. It was the hour when Morvan's wife was accustomed to come +and look for him ere they retired to the nuptial couch. She appeared, +eager to know who the stranger was, what he had come for, what he had +said, what answer he had received. She preluded her questions with +oglings and caresses; she kissed the knees, the hands, the beard, and +the face of the King, testifying her desire to be alone with him. "O +King and glory of the mighty Britons, dear spouse of mine! what tidings +bringeth this stranger? Is it peace, or is it war?" + +"This stranger," answered Morvan, with a smile, "is an envoy of the +Franks; but bring he peace or bring he war is the affair of men alone; +as for thee, content thee with thy woman's duties." Thereupon Ditcar, +perceiving that he was countered, said to Morvan: "Sir King, 'tis time +that I return; tell me what answer I am to take back to my sovereign." + +"Leave me this night to take thought thereon," replied the Breton chief, +with a wavering air. When the morning came, Ditcar presented himself +once more to Morvan, whom he found up, but still half drunk and full of +very different sentiments from those of the night before. It required +some effort, stupefied and tottering as he was with the effects of wine +and the pleasures of the night, to say to Ditcar: "Go back to thy King, +and tell him from me that my land was never his, and that I owe him +naught of tribute or submission. Let him reign over the Franks; as for +me, I reign over the Britons. If he will bring war on me, he will find +me ready to pay him back." + +The monk returned to Louis the Debonair and rendered account of his +mission. War was resolved upon, and the Emperor collected his +troops--Alemannians, Saxons, Thuringians, Burgundians, and Aquitanians, +without counting Franks or Gallo-Romans. They began their march, moving +upon Vannes; Louis was at their head, and the Empress accompanied him, +but he left her, already ill and fatigued, at Angers. The Franks entered +the country of the Britons, searched the woods and morasses, found no +armed men in the open country, but encountered them in scattered and +scanty companies, at the entrance of all the defiles, on the heights +commanding pathways, and wherever men could hide themselves and await +the moment for appearing unexpectedly. The Franks heard them, from amid +the heather and the brushwood, uttering shrill cries, to give warning +one to another or to alarm the enemy. The Franks advanced cautiously, +and at last arrived at the entrance of the thick wood which surrounded +Morvan's abode. He had not yet set out with the pick of the warriors he +had about him; but, at the approach of the Franks, he summoned his wife +and his domestics, and said to them: "Defend ye well this house and +these woods; as for me, I am going to march forward to collect my +people; after which to return, but not without booty and spoils." He put +on his armor, took a javelin in each hand, and mounted his horse. "Thou +seest," said he to his wife, "these javelins I brandish: I will bring +them back to thee this very day dyed with the blood of Franks. +Farewell." Setting out he pierced, followed by his men, through the +thickness of the forest, and advanced to meet the Franks. + +The battle began. The large numbers of the Franks who covered the ground +for some distance dismayed the Britons, and many of them fled, seeking +where they might hide themselves. Morvan, beside himself with rage and +at the head of his most devoted followers, rushed down upon the Franks +as if to demolish them at a single stroke; and many fell beneath his +blows. He singled out a warrior of inferior grade, toward whom he made +at a gallop, and, insulting him by word of mouth, after the ancient +fashion of the Celtic warriors, cried: "Frank, I am going to give thee +my first present, a present which I have been keeping for thee a long +while, and which I hope thou wilt bear in mind;" and launched at him a +javelin which the other received on his shield. "Proud Briton," replied +the Frank, "I have received thy present, and I am going to give thee +mine." He dug both spurs into his horse's sides and galloped down upon +Morvan, who, clad though he was in a coat of mail, fell pierced by the +thrust of a lance. The Frank had but time to dismount and cut off his +head when he fell himself, mortally wounded by one of Morvan's young +warriors, but not without having, in his turn, dealt the other his +deathblow. It spreads on all sides that Morvan is dead; and the Franks +come thronging to the scene of the encounter. There is picked up and +passed from hand to hand a head all bloody and fearfully disfigured. +Ditcar the monk is called to see it, and to say whether it is that of +Morvan; but he has to wash the mass of disfigurement, and to partially +adjust the hair, before he can pronounce that it is really Morvan's. +There is then no more doubt; resistance is now impossible; the widow, +the family and the servants of Morvan arrive, are brought before Louis +the Debonair, accept all the conditions imposed upon them, and the +Franks withdraw with the boast that Brittany is henceforth their +tributary. + +On arriving at Angers, Louis found the empress Hermengarde dying; and +two days afterward she was dead. He had a tender heart which was not +proof against sorrow; and he testified a desire to abdicate and turn +monk. But he was dissuaded from his purpose; for it was easy to +influence his resolutions. A little later, he was advised to marry +again, and he yielded. Several princesses were introduced; and he chose +Judith of Bavaria, daughter of Count Welf (Guelf), a family already +powerful and in later times celebrated. Judith was young, beautiful, +witty, ambitious, and skilled in the art of making the gift of pleasing +subserve the passion for ruling. Louis, during his expedition into +Brittany, had just witnessed the fatal result of a woman's empire over +her husband; he was destined himself to offer a more striking and more +long-lived example of it. In 823, he had, by his new empress Judith, a +son, whom he called Charles, and who was hereafter to be known as +Charles the Bald. This son became his mother's ruling, if not exclusive, +passion, and the source of his father's woes. His birth could not fail +to cause ill-temper and mistrust in Louis' three sons by Hermengarde, +who were already kings. They had but a short time previously received +the first proof of their father's weakness. In 822, Louis, repenting of +his severity toward his nephew, Bernard of Italy, whose eyes he had +caused to be put out as a punishment for rebellion, and who had died in +consequence, considered himself bound to perform at Attigny, in the +church and before the people, a solemn act of penance; which was +creditable to his honesty and piety, but the details left upon the minds +of the beholders an impression unfavorable to the Emperor's dignity and +authority. In 829, during an assembly held at Worms, he, yielding to his +wife's entreaties, and doubtless also to his own yearnings toward his +youngest son, set at naught the solemn act whereby, in 817, he had +shared his dominions among his three elder sons; and took away from two +of them, in Burgundy and Alemannia, some of the territories he had +assigned to them, and gave them to the boy Charles for his share. +Lothair, Pepin, and Louis thereupon revolted. Court rivalries were added +to family differences. The Emperor had summoned to his side a young +southron, Bernard by name, duke of Septimania and son of Count William +of Toulouse, who had gallantly fought the Saracens. He made him his +chief chamberlain and his favorite counsellor. Bernard was bold, +ambitious, vain, imperious, and restless. He removed his rivals from +court, and put in their places his own creatures. He was accused not +only of abusing the Emperor's favor, but even of carrying on a guilty +intrigue with the empress Judith. There grew up against him, and, by +consequence, against the Emperor, the Empress, and their youngest son, a +powerful opposition, in which certain ecclesiastics, and, among them, +Wala, abbot of Corbie, cousin-german and but lately one of the privy +counsellors of Charlemagne, joined eagerly. Some had at heart the unity +of the empire, which Louis was breaking up more and more; others were +concerned for the spiritual interests of the Church, which Louis, in +spite of his piety and by reason of his weakness, often permitted to be +attacked. Thus strengthened, the conspirators considered themselves +certain of success. They had the empress Judith carried off and shut up +in the convent of St. Radegonde at Poitiers; and Louis in person came to +deliver himself up to them at Compiegne, where they were assembled. +There they passed a decree to the effect that the power and title of +emperor were transferred from Louis to Lothair, his eldest son; that the +act whereby a share of the empire had but lately been assigned to +Charles was annulled; and that the act of 817, which had regulated the +partition of Louis' dominions after his death, was once more in force. +But soon there was a burst of reaction in favor of the Emperor; +Lothair's two brothers, jealous of his late elevation, made overtures to +their father; the ecclesiastics were a little ashamed at being mixed up +in a revolt; the people felt pity for the poor, honest Emperor; and a +general assembly, meeting at Nimeguen, abolished the acts of Compiegne, +and restored to Louis his title and his power. But it was not long +before there was revolt again, originating this time with Pepin, King of +Aquitaine. Louis fought him, and gave Aquitaine to Charles the Bald. The +alliance between the three sons of Hermengarde was at once renewed; they +raised an army; the Emperor marched against them with his; and the two +hosts met between Colmar and Bale, in a place called _le Champ rouge_ +("the Field of Red"). Negotiations were set on foot; and Louis was +called upon to leave his wife Judith and his son Charles, and put +himself under the guardianship of his elder sons. He refused; but, just +when the conflict was about to commence, desertion took place in Louis' +army; most of the prelates, laics, and men-at-arms who had accompanied +him passed over to the camp of Lothair; and the "Field of Red" became +the "Field of Falsehood" (_le Champ du Mensonge_). Louis, left almost +alone, ordered his attendants to withdraw, "being unwilling," he said, +"that any one of them should lose life or limb on his account," and +surrendered to his sons. They received him with great demonstrations of +respect, but without relinquishing the prosecution of their enterprise. +Lothair hastily collected an assembly, which proclaimed him Emperor, +with the addition of divers territories to the kingdoms of Aquitaine and +Bavaria: and, three months afterward, another assembly, meeting at +Compiegne, declared the emperor Louis to have forfeited the crown, "for +having, by his faults and incapacity, suffered to sink so sadly low the +empire which had been raised to grandeur and brought into unity by +Charlemagne and his predecessors." Louis submitted to this decision; +himself read out aloud, in the Church of St. Medard at Soissons, but not +quite unresistingly, a confession, in eight articles, of his faults, +and, laying his baldric upon the altar, stripped off his royal robe, and +received from the hands of Ebbo, archbishop of Rheims, the gray vestment +of a penitent. + +Lothair considered his father dethroned for good, and himself henceforth +sole Emperor; but he was mistaken. For years longer the scenes which +have just been described kept repeating themselves again and again; +rivalries and secret plots began once more between the three victorious +brothers and their partisans; popular feeling revived in favor of Louis; +a large portion of the clergy shared it; several counts of Neustria and +Burgundy appeared in arms, in the name of the deposed Emperor; and the +seductive and able Judith came afresh upon the scene, and gained over to +the cause of her husband and her son a multitude of friends. In 834, two +assemblies, one meeting at St. Denis and the other at Thionville, +annulled all the acts of the assembly of Compiegne, and for the third +time put Louis in possession of the imperial title and power. He +displayed no violence in his use of it; but he was growing more and more +irresolute and weak, when, in 838, the second of his rebellious sons, +Pepin, king of Aquitaine, died suddenly. Louis, ever under the sway of +Judith, speedily convoked at Worms, in 839, once more and for the last +time, a general assembly, whereat, leaving his son Louis of Bavaria +reduced to his kingdom in Eastern Europe, he divided the rest of his +dominions into two nearly equal parts, separated by the course of the +Meuse and the Rhone. Between these two parts he left the choice to +Lothair, who took the eastern portion, promising at the same time to +guarantee the western portion to his younger brother Charles. Louis the +Germanic protested against this partition, and took up arms to resist +it. His father, the Emperor, set himself in motion toward the Rhine, to +reduce him to submission; but, on arriving close to Mayence, he caught a +violent fever, and died on the 20th of June, 840, at the castle +Ingelheim, on a little island in the river. His last acts were a fresh +proof of his goodness toward even his rebellious sons and of his +solicitude for his last-born. He sent to Louis the Germanic his pardon, +and to Lothair the golden crown and sword, at the same time bidding him +fulfil his father's wishes on behalf of Charles and Judith. + +There is no telling whether, in the credulousness of his good nature, +Louis had, at his dying hour, any great confidence in the appeal he made +to his son Lothair, and in the impression which would be produced on his +other son, Louis of Bavaria, by the pardon bestowed. The prayers of the +dying are of little avail against violent passions and barbaric manners. +Scarcely was Louis the Debonair dead, when Lothair was already +conspiring against young Charles, and was in secret alliance, for his +despoilment, with Pepin II, the late King of Aquitaine's son, who had +taken up arms for the purpose of seizing his father's kingdom, in the +possession of which his grandfather Louis had not been pleased to +confirm him. Charles suddenly learned that his mother Judith was on the +point of being besieged in Poitiers by the Aquitanians; and, in spite of +the friendly protestations sent to him by Lothair, it was not long +before he discovered the plot formed against him. He was not wanting in +shrewdness or energy; and, having first provided for his mother's +safety, he set about forming an alliance, in the cause of their common +interests, with his other brother, Louis the Germanic, who was equally +in danger from the ambition of Lothair. The historians of the period do +not say what negotiator was employed by Charles on this distant and +delicate mission; but several circumstances indicate that the empress +Judith herself undertook it; that she went in quest of the King of +Bavaria; and that it was she who, with her accustomed grace and address, +determined him to make common cause with his youngest against their +eldest brother. Divers incidents retarded for a whole year the outburst +of this family plot, and of the war of which it was the precursor. The +position of the young king Charles appeared for some time a very bad +one; but "certain chieftains," says the historian Nithard, "faithful to +his mother and to him, and having nothing more to lose than life or +limb, chose rather to die gloriously than to betray their King." The +arrival of Louis the Germanic with his troops helped to swell the forces +and increase the confidence of Charles; and it was on the 21st of June, +841, exactly a year after the death of Louis the Debonair, that the two +armies, that of Lothair and Pepin on the one side, and that of Charles +the Bald and Louis the Germanic on the other, stood face to face in the +neighborhood of the village of Fontenailles, six leagues from Auxerre, +on the rivulet of Audries. Never, according to such evidence as is +forthcoming, since the battle on the plains of Chalons against the Huns, +and that of Poitiers against the Saracens, had so great masses of men +been engaged. "There would be nothing untruthlike," says that scrupulous +authority, M. Fauriel, "in putting the whole number of combatants at +three hundred thousand; and there is nothing to show that either of the +two armies was much less numerous than the other." However that may be, +the leaders hesitated for four days to come to blows; and while they +were hesitating, the old favorite, not only of Louis the Debonair, but +also, according to several chroniclers, of the empress Judith, held +himself aloof with his troops in the vicinity, having made equal promise +of assistance to both sides, and waiting, to govern his decision, for +the prospect afforded by the first conflict. The battle began on the +25th of June, at daybreak, and was at first in favor of Lothair; but the +troops of Charles the Bald recovered the advantage which had been lost +by those of Louis the Germanic, and the action was soon nothing but a +terribly simple scene of carnage between enormous masses of men, +charging hand to hand, again and again, with a front extending over a +couple of leagues. Before midday the slaughter, the plunder, the +spoliation of the dead--all was over; the victory of Charles and Louis +was complete; the victors had retired to their camp, and there remained +nothing on the field of battle but corpses in thick heaps or a long +line, according as they had fallen in the disorder of flight or steadily +fighting in their ranks.... "Accursed be this day!" cries Angilbert, one +of Lothair's officers, in rough Latin verse; "be it unnumbered in the +return of the year, but wiped out of all remembrance! Be it unlit by the +light of the sun! Be it without either dawn or twilight! Accursed, also, +be this night, this awful night in which fell the brave, the most expert +in battle! Eye ne'er hath seen more fearful slaughter: in streams of +blood fell Christian men; the linen vestments of the dead did whiten the +champaign even as it is whitened by the birds of autumn!" + +In spite of this battle, which appeared a decisive one, Lothair made +zealous efforts to continue the struggle; he scoured the countries +wherein he hoped to find partisans; to the Saxons he promised the +unrestricted reestablishment of their pagan worship, and several of the +Saxon tribes responded to his appeal. Louis the Germanic and Charles the +Bald, having information of these preliminaries, resolved to solemnly +renew their alliance and, seven months after their victory at +Fontenailles, in February, 842, they repaired both of them, each with +his army, to Argentaria, on the right bank of the Rhine, between Bale +and Strasburg, and there, at an open-air meeting, Louis first, +addressing the chieftains about him in the German tongue, said: "Ye all +know how often, since our father's death, Lothair hath attacked us, in +order to destroy us, this my brother and me. Having never been able, as +brothers and Christians, or in any just way, to obtain peace from him, +we were constrained to appeal to the judgment of God. Lothair was beaten +and retired, whither he could, with his following; for we, restrained by +paternal affection and moved with compassion for Christian people, were +unwilling to pursue them to extermination. Neither then nor aforetime +did we demand aught else save that each of us should be maintained in +his rights. But he, rebelling against the judgment of God, ceaseth not +to attack us as enemies, this my brother and me; and he destroyeth our +peoples with fire and pillage and the sword. That is the cause which +hath united us afresh; and, as we trow that ye doubt the soundness of +our alliance and our fraternal union, we have resolved to bind ourselves +afresh by this oath in your presence, being led thereto by no prompting +of wicked covetousness, but only that we may secure our common advantage +in case that, by your aid, God should cause us to obtain peace. If, +then, I violate--which God forbid--this oath that I am about to take to +my brother, I hold you all quit of submission to me and of the faith ye +have sworn to me." + +Charles repeated this speech, word for word, to his own troops, in the +Romance language, in that idiom derived from a mixture of Latin and of +the tongues of ancient Gaul, and spoken, thenceforth, with varieties of +dialect and pronunciation, in nearly all parts of Frankish Gaul. After +this address, Louis pronounced and Charles repeated after him, each in +his own tongue, the oath couched in these terms: "For the love of God, +for the Christian people and for our common weal, from this day forth +and so long as God shall grant me power and knowledge, I will defend +this my brother and will be an aid to him in everything, as one ought to +defend his brother, provided that he do likewise unto me; and I will +never make with Lothair any covenant which may be, to my knowledge, to +the damage of this my brother." + +When the two brothers had thus sworn, the two armies, officers and men, +took, in their turn, a similar oath, going bail, in a mass, for the +engagements of their kings. Then they took up their quarters, all of +them, for some time, between Worms and Mayence, and followed up their +political proceeding with military fetes, precursors of the knightly +tournaments of the Middle Ages. "A place of meeting was fixed," says the +contemporary historian Nithard, "at a spot suitable for this kind of +exercises. Here were drawn up, on one side, a certain number of +combatants, Saxons, Vasconians, Austrasians, or Britons; there were +ranged, on the opposite side, an equal number of warriors, and the two +divisions advanced, each against the other, as if to attack. One of +them, with their bucklers at their backs, took to flight as if to seek, +in the main body, shelter against those who were pursuing them; then +suddenly, facing about, they dashed out in pursuit of those before whom +they had just been flying. This sport lasted until the two kings, +appearing with all the youth of their suites, rode up at a gallop, +brandishing their spears and chasing first one lot and then the other. +It was a fine sight to see so much temper among so many valiant folk, +for, great as was the number and the mixture of different nationalities, +no one was insulted or maltreated, though the contrary is often the case +among men in small numbers and known one to another." + +After four or five months of tentative measures or of incidents which +taught both parties that they could not, either of them, hope to +completely destroy their opponents, the two allied brothers received at +Verdun, whither they had repaired to concert their next movement, a +messenger from Lothair, with peaceful proposals which they were +unwilling to reject. The principal was that, with the exception of +Italy, Aquitaine, and Bavaria, to be secured without dispute to their +then possessors, the Frankish empire should be divided into three +portions, that the arbiters elected to preside over the partition should +swear to make it as equal as possible, and that Lothair should have his +choice, with the title of emperor. About mid-June, 842, the three +brothers met on an island of the Saone, near Chalons, where they began +to discuss the questions which divided them; but it was not till more +than a year after, in August, 843, that assembling, all three of them, +with their umpires, at Verdun, they at last came to an agreement about +the partition of the Frankish empire, save the three countries which it +had been beforehand agreed to accept. Louis kept all the provinces of +Germany of which he was already in possession, and received besides, on +the left bank of the Rhine, the towns of Mayence, Worms, and Spire, with +the territory appertaining to them. Lothair, for his part, had the +eastern belt of Gaul, bounded on one side by the Rhine and the Alps, on +the other by the courses of the Meuse, the Saone, and the Rhone, +starting from the confluence of the two latter rivers, and, further, the +country comprised between the Meuse and the Scheldt, together with +certain countships lying to the west of that river. To Charles fell all +the rest of Gaul: Vasconia or Biscaye, Septimania, the marshes of Spain, +beyond the Pyrenees; and the other countries of Southern Gaul which had +enjoyed hitherto, under the title of the kingdom of Aquitaine, a special +government subordinated to the general government of the empire, but +distinct from it, lost this last remnant of their Gallo-Roman +nationality, and became integral portions of Frankish Gaul, which fell +by partition to Charles the Bald, and formed one and the same kingdom +under one and the same king. + +Thus fell through and disappeared, in 843, by virtue of the treaty of +Verdun, the second of Charlemagne's grand designs, the resuscitation of +the Roman Empire by means of the Frankish and Christian masters of Gaul. +The name of _emperor_ still retained a certain value in the minds of the +people, and still remained an object of ambition to princes; but the +empire was completely abolished, and, in its stead, sprang up three +kingdoms, independent one of another, without any necessary connection +or relation. One of the three was thenceforth France. + +In this great event are comprehended two facts: the disappearance of the +empire and the formation of the three kingdoms which took its place. The +first is easily explained. The resuscitation of the Roman Empire had +been a dream of ambition and ignorance on the part of a great man, but a +barbarian. Political unity and central, absolute power had been the +essential characteristics of that empire. They became introduced and +established, through a long succession of ages, on the ruins of the +splendid Roman Republic destroyed by its own dissensions, under favor of +the still great influence of the old Roman senate though fallen from its +high estate, and beneath the guardianship of the Roman legions and +Imperial praetorians. Not one of these conditions, not one of these +forces, was to be met with in the Roman world reigned over by +Charlemagne. The nation of the Franks and Charlemagne himself were but +of yesterday; the new Emperor had neither ancient senate to hedge at the +same time that it obeyed him, nor old bodies of troops to support him. +Political unity and absolute power were repugnant alike to the +intellectual and the social condition, to the national manners and +personal sentiments of the victorious barbarians. The necessity of +placing their conquests beyond the reach of a new swarm of barbarians +and the personal ascendency of Charlemagne were the only things which +gave his government a momentary gleam of success in the way of unity and +of factitious despotism under the name of empire. In 814 Charlemagne had +made territorial security an accomplished fact; but the personal power +he had exercised disappeared with him. The new Gallo-Frankish community +recovered, under the mighty but gradual influence of Christianity, its +proper and natural course, producing disruption into different local +communities and bold struggles for individual liberties, either one with +another, or against whosoever tried to become their master. + +As for the second fact, the formation of the three kingdoms which were +the issue of the treaty of Verdun, various explanations have been given +of it. This distribution of certain peoples of Western Europe into three +distinct and independent groups, Italians, Germans, and French, has been +attributed at one time to a diversity of histories and manners; at +another to geographical causes and to what is called the rule of natural +frontiers; and oftener still to a spirit of nationality and to +differences of language. Let none of these causes be gainsaid; they all +exercised some sort of influence, but they are all incomplete in +themselves and far too redolent of theoretical system. It is true that +Germany, France, and Italy began at that time to emerge from the chaos +into which they had been plunged by barbaric invasion and the conquests +of Charlemagne, and to form themselves into quite distinct nations; but +there were, in each of the kingdoms of Lothair, of Louis the Germanic, +and of Charles the Bald, populations widely differing in race, language, +manners, and geographical affinity, and it required many great events +and the lapse of many centuries to bring about the degree of national +unity they now possess. To say nothing touching the agency of individual +and independent forces, which is always considerable, although so many +men of intellect ignore it in the present day, what would have happened, +had any one of the three new kings, Lothair, or Louis the Germanic, or +Charles the Bald, been a second Charlemagne, as Charlemagne had been a +second Charles Martel? Who can say that, in such a case, the three +kingdoms would have taken the form they took in 843? + +Happily or unhappily, it was not so; none of Charlemagne's successors +was capable of exercising on the events of his time, by virtue of his +brain and his own will, any notable influence. + +Attempts at foreign invasion of France were renewed very often and in +many parts of Gallo-Frankish territory during the whole duration of the +Carlovingian dynasty, and, even though they failed, they caused the +population of the kingdom to suffer from cruel ravages. Charlemagne, +even after his successes against the different barbaric invaders, had +foreseen the evils which would be inflicted on France by the most +formidable and most determined of them, the Northmen, coming by sea and +landing on the coast. The most closely contemporaneous and most given to +detail of his chroniclers, the monk of St. Gall, tells in prolix and +pompous but evidently heartfelt and sincere terms the tale of the great +Emperor's farsightedness. + +"Charles, who was ever astir," says he, "arrived by mere hap and +unexpectedly in a certain town of Narbonnese Gaul. While he was at +dinner and was as yet unrecognized of any, some corsairs of the Northmen +came to ply their piracies in the very port. When their vessels were +descried, they were supposed to be Jewish traders according to some, +African according to others, and British in the opinion of others; but +the gifted monarch, perceiving by the build and lightness of the craft, +that they bare not merchandise but foes, said to his own folk, 'These +vessels be not laden with merchandise, but manned with cruel foes.' At +these words all the Franks, in rivalry one with another, run to their +ships, but uselessly; for the Northmen, indeed, hearing that yonder was +he whom it was still their wont to call Charles the 'Hammer,'[22] feared +lest all their fleet should be taken or destroyed in the port, and they +avoided, by a flight of inconceivable rapidity, not only the glaives, +but even the eyes of those who were pursuing them. + +"Pious Charles, however, a prey to well-grounded fear, rose up from +table, stationed himself at a window looking eastward, and there +remained a long while, and his eyes were filled with tears. As none +durst question him, this warlike prince explained to the grandees who +were about his person the cause of his movement and of his tears: 'Know +ye, my lieges, wherefore I weep so bitterly? Of a surety I fear not lest +these fellows should succeed in injuring me by their miserable piracies; +but it grieveth me deeply that, while I live, they should have been nigh +to touching at this shore, and I am a prey to violent sorrow when I +foresee what evils they will heap upon my descendants and their +people.'" + +[Footnote 22: After his grandfather, Charles Martel.] + +The forecast and the dejection of Charles were not unreasonable. It will +be found that there is special mention made, in the chronicles of the +ninth and tenth centuries, of forty-seven incursions into France of +Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and Irish pirates, all comprised under the +name of Northmen; and doubtless many other incursions of less gravity +have left no trace in history. "The Northmen," says Fauriel, "descended +from the north to the south by a sort of natural gradation or ladder. +The Scheldt was the first river by the mouth of which they penetrated +inland; the Seine was the second; the Loire the third. The advance was +threatening for the countries traversed by the Garonne; and it was in +844 that vessels freighted with Northmen for the first time ascended +this last river to a considerable distance inland, and there took +immense booty. The following year they pillaged and burnt Saintes. In +846 they got as far as Limoges. The inhabitants, finding themselves +unable to make head against the dauntless pirates, abandoned their +hearths, together with all they had not time to carry away. Encouraged +by these successes the Northmen reappeared next year upon the coasts and +in the rivers of Aquitaine, and they attempted to take Bordeaux, whence +they were valorously repulsed by the inhabitants; but in 848, having +once more laid siege to that city, they were admitted into it at night +by the Jews, who were there in great force; the city was given up to +plunder and conflagration; a portion of the people was scattered abroad, +and the rest put to the sword." + +The monasteries and churches, wherein they hoped to find treasures, were +the favorite object of the Northmen's enterprises; in particular, they +plundered, at the gates of Paris, the abbey of St. Germain des Pres and +that of St. Denis, whence they carried off the abbot, who could not +purchase his freedom save by a heavy ransom. They penetrated more than +once into Paris itself, and subjected many of its quarters to +contributions or pillage. The populations grew into the habit of +suffering and fleeing; and the local lords, and even the kings, made +arrangement sometimes with the pirates either for saving the royal +domains from the ravages, or for having their own share therein. In 850 +Pepin, King of Aquitaine, and brother of Charles the Bald, came to an +understanding with the Northmen who had ascended the Garonne and were +threatening Toulouse. "They arrived under his guidance," says Fauriel, +"they laid siege to it, took it and plundered it, not halfwise, not +hastily, as folks who feared to be surprised, but leisurely, with all +security, by virtue of a treaty of alliance with one of the kings of the +country. Throughout Aquitaine there was but one cry of indignation +against Pepin, and the popularity of Charles was increased in proportion +to all the horror inspired by the ineffable misdeed of his adversary. +Charles the Bald himself, if he did not ally himself, as Pepin did, with +the invaders, took scarce any interest in the fate of the populations +and scarcely more trouble to protect them, for Hincmar, archbishop of +Rheims, wrote to him in 859: 'Many folks say that you are incessantly +repeating that it is not for you to mix yourself up with these +depredations and robberies, and that everyone has but to defend himself +as best he may.'" + +In the middle and during the last half of the ninth century, a chief of +the Northmen, named Hastenc or Hastings, appeared several times over on +the coasts and in the rivers of France, with numerous vessels and a +following. He had also with him, say the chronicles, a young Norwegian +or Danish prince, Bioern, called "Ironsides," whom he had educated, and +who had preferred sharing the fortunes of his governor to living quietly +with the King, his father. After several expeditions into Western +France, Hastings became the theme of terrible and very probably fabulous +stories. He extended his cruises, they say, to the Mediterranean, and, +having arrived at the coasts of Tuscany, within sight of a city which in +his ignorance he took for Rome, he resolved to pillage it; but, not +feeling strong enough to attack it by assault, he sent to the bishop to +say he was very ill, felt a wish to become a Christian, and begged to be +baptized. Some days afterward his comrades spread a report that he was +dead, and claimed for him the honors of a solemn burial. The bishop +consented; the coffin of Hastings was carried into the church, attended +by a large number of his followers, without visible weapons; but, in the +middle of the ceremony, Hastings suddenly leaped up, sword in hand, from +his coffin; his followers displayed the weapons they had concealed, +closed the doors, slew the priests, pillaged the ecclesiastical +treasures, and reembarked before the very eyes of the stupefied +population, to go and resume, on the coasts of France, their incursions +and their ravages. + +Whether they were true or false, these rumors of bold artifices and +distant expeditions on the part of Hastings aggravated the dismay +inspired by his appearance. He penetrated into the interior of the +country, took possession of Chartres, and appeared before Paris, where +Charles the Bald, intrenched at St. Denis, was deliberating with his +prelates and barons as to how he might resist the Northmen or treat with +them. The chronicle says that the barons advised resistance, but that +the King preferred negotiation, and sent the abbot of St. Denis, "the +which was an exceeding wise man," to Hastings, who, "after long parley +and by reason of large gifts and promises," consented to stop his +cruisings, to become a Christian, and to settle in the countship of +Chartres, "which the King gave him as an hereditary possession, with all +its appurtenances." According to other accounts, it was only some years +later, under the young king Louis III, grandson of Charles the Bald, +that Hastings was induced, either by reverses or by payment of money, to +cease from his piracies and accept in recompense the countship of +Chartres. Whatever may have been the date, he was, it is believed, the +first chieftain of the Northmen who renounced a life of adventure and +plunder, to become, in France, a great landed proprietor and a count of +the King's. + +A greater chieftain of the Northmen than Hastings was soon to follow his +example, and found Normandy in France; but before Rolf, that is, Rollo, +came and gave the name of his race to a French province, the piratical +Northmen were again to attempt a greater blow against France and to +suffer a great reverse. + +In November, 885, under the reign of Charles the Fat, after having, for +more than forty years, irregularly ravaged France, they resolved to +unite their forces in order at length to obtain possession of Paris, +whose outskirts they had so often pillaged without having been able to +enter the heart of the place. Two bodies of troops were set in motion: +one, under the command of Rollo, who was already famous among his +comrades, marched on Rouen; the other went right up the course of the +Seine, under the orders of Siegfried, whom the Northmen called their +king. Rollo took Rouen, and pushed on at once for Paris. Duke Renaud, +general of the Gallo-Frankish troops, went to encounter him on the banks +of the Eure, and sent to him, to sound his intentions, Hastings, the +newly made count of Chartres. "Valiant warriors," said Hastings to +Rollo, "whence come ye? What seek ye here? What is the name of your lord +and master? Tell us this; for we be sent unto you by the King of the +Franks." "We be Danes," answered Rollo, "and all be equally masters +among us. We be come to drive out the inhabitants of this land, and to +subject it as our own country. But who art thou, thou who speakest so +glibly?" "Ye have sometime heard tell of one Hastings, who, issuing +forth from among you, came hither with much shipping and made desert a +great part of the kingdom of the Franks?" "Yes," said Rollo, "we have +heard tell of him; Hastings began well and ended ill." "Will ye yield +you to King Charles?" asked Hastings. "We yield," was the answer, "to +none; all that we shall take by our arms we will keep as our right. Go +and tell this, if thou wilt, to the King, whose envoy thou boastest to +be." + +Hastings returned to the Gallo-Frankish army, and Rollo prepared to +march on Paris. Hastings had gone back somewhat troubled in mind. Now +there was among the Franks one Count Tetbold (Thibault), who greatly +coveted the countship of Chartres, and he said to Hastings: "Why +slumberest thou softly? Knowest thou not that King Charles doth purpose +thy death by cause of all the Christian blood that thou didst aforetime +unjustly shed? Bethink thee of all the evil thou hast done him, by +reason whereof he purposeth to drive thee from his land. Take heed to +thyself that thou be not smitten unawares." Hastings, dismayed, at once +sold to Tetbold the town of Chartres, and, removing all that belonged to +him, departed to go and resume, for all that appears, his old course of +life. + +On the 25th of November, 885, all the forces of the Northmen formed a +junction before Paris; seven hundred huge barks covered two leagues of +the Seine, bringing, it is said, more than thirty thousand men. The +chieftains were astonished at sight of the new fortifications of the +city, a double wall of circumvallation, the bridges crowned with towers, +and in the environs the ramparts of the abbeys of St. Denis and St. +Germain solidly rebuilt. Siegfried hesitated to attack a town so well +defended. He demanded to enter alone and have an interview with the +bishop, Gozlin. "Take pity on thyself and thy flock," said he to him; +"let us pass through the city; we will in no wise touch the town; we +will do our best to preserve, for thee and Count Eudes, all your +possessions." "This city," replied the bishop, "hath been confided unto +us by the emperor Charles, king and ruler, under God, of the powers of +the earth. He hath confided it unto us, not that it should cause the +ruin but the salvation of the kingdom. If peradventure these walls had +been confided to thy keeping as they have been to mine, wouldst thou do +as thou biddest me?" + +"If ever I do so," answered Siegfried, "may my head be condemned to fall +by the sword and serve as food to the dogs! But if thou yield not to our +prayers, so soon as the sun shall commence his course our armies will +launch upon thee their poisoned arrows; and when the sun shall end his +course, they will give thee over to all the horrors of famine; and this +will they do from year to year." + +The bishop, however, persisted, without further discussion; being as +certain of Count Eudes as he was of himself. Eudes, who was young and +but recently made Count of Paris, was the eldest son of Robert the +Strong, Count of Anjou, of the same line as Charlemagne, and but lately +slain in battle against the Northmen. Paris had for defenders two +heroes, one of the Church and the other of the empire: the faith of the +Christian and the fealty of the vassal; the conscientiousness of the +priest and the honor of the warrior. + +The siege lasted thirteen months, whiles pushed vigorously forward with +eight several assaults, whiles maintained by close investment, and with +all the alternations of success and reverse, all the intermixture of +brilliant daring and obscure sufferings that can occur when the +assailants are determined and the defenders devoted. Not only a +contemporary but an eye-witness, Abbo, a monk of St. Germain des Pres, +has recounted the details in a long poem, wherein the writer, devoid of +talent, adds nothing to the simple representation of events; it is +history itself which gives to Abbo's poem a high degree of interest. We +do not possess, in reference to these continual struggles of the +Northmen with the Gallo-Frankish populations, any other document which +is equally precise and complete, or which could make us so well +acquainted with all the incidents, all the phases of this irregular +warfare between two peoples, one without a government, the other without +a country. The bishop, Gozlin, died during the siege. Count Eudes +quitted Paris for a time to go and beg aid of the Emperor; but the +Parisians soon saw him reappear on the heights of Montmartre with three +battalions of troops, and he reentered the town, spurring on his horse +and striking right and left with his battle-axe through the ranks of the +dumfounded besiegers. The struggle was prolonged throughout the summer; +and when, in November, 886, Charles the Fat at last appeared before +Paris, "with a large army of all nations," it was to purchase the +retreat of the Northmen at the cost of a heavy ransom, and by allowing +them to go and winter in Burgundy, "whereof the inhabitants obeyed not +the Emperor." + +Some months afterward, in 887, Charles the Fat was deposed, at a diet +held on the banks of the Rhine, by the grandees of Germanic France; and +Arnulf, a natural son of Carloman, the brother of Louis III, was +proclaimed emperor in his stead. At the same time Count Eudes, the +gallant defender of Paris, was elected King at Compiegne, and crowned by +the archbishop of Sens. Guy, Duke of Spoleto, descended from Charlemagne +in the female line, hastened to France and was declared king at Langres +by the bishop of that town, but returned with precipitation to Italy, +seeing no chance of maintaining himself in his French kingship. +Elsewhere Boso, Duke of Arles, became King of Provence, and the +Burgundian Count Rudolph had himself crowned at St. Maurice, in the +Valais, King of transjuran Burgundy. There was still in France a +legitimate Carlovingian, a son of Louis the Stutterer, who was hereafter +to become Charles the Simple; but being only a child, he had been +rejected or completely forgotten, and, in the interval that was to +elapse ere his time should arrive, kings were being made in all +directions. + +In the midst of this confusion the Northmen, though they kept at a +distance from Paris, pursued in Western France their cruising and +plundering. In Rollo they had a chieftain far superior to his vagabond +predecessors. Though he still led the same life that they had, he +displayed therein other faculties, other inclinations, other views. In +his youth he had made an expedition to England, and had there contracted +a real friendship with the wise king Alfred the Great. During a campaign +in Friesland he had taken prisoner Rainier, Count of Hainault; and +Alberade, Countess of Brabant, made a request to Rollo for her husband's +release, offering in return to set free twelve captains of the Northmen, +her prisoners, and to give up all the gold she possessed. Rollo took +only half the gold, and restored to the countess her husband. When, in +885, he became master of Rouen, instead of devastating the city after +the fashion of his kind, he respected the buildings, had the walls +repaired, and humored the inhabitants. In spite of his violent and +extortionate practices where he met with obstinate resistance, there +were to be discerned in him symptoms of more noble sentiments and of an +instinctive leaning toward order, civilization, and government. After +the deposition of Charles the Fat and during the reign of Eudes, a +lively struggle was maintained between the Frankish King and the +chieftain of the Northmen, who had neither of them forgotten their early +encounters. They strove, one against the other, with varied fortunes; +Eudes succeeded in beating the Northmen at Montfaucon, but was beaten in +Vermandois by another band, commanded, it is said, by the veteran +Hastings, sometime Count of Chartres. + +Rollo, too, had his share at one time of success, at another of reverse; +but he made himself master of several important towns, showed a +disposition to treat the quiet populations gently, and made a fresh trip +to England, during which he renewed friendly relations with her King, +Athelstan, the successor of Alfred the Great. He thus became, from day +to day, more reputable as well as more formidable in France, insomuch +that Eudes himself was obliged to have recourse, in dealing with him, to +negotiations and presents. When, in 898, Eudes was dead, and Charles the +Simple, at hardly nineteen years of age, had been recognized sole King +of France, the ascendency of Rollo became such that the necessity of +treating with him was clear. In 911 Charles, by the advice of his +councillors and, among them, of Robert, brother of the late king Eudes, +who had himself become Count of Paris and Duke of France, sent to the +chieftain of the Northmen Franco, Archbishop of Rouen, with orders to +offer him the cession of a considerable portion of Neustria and the hand +of his young daughter Gisele, on condition that he became a Christian +and acknowledged himself the King's vassal. Rollo, by the advice of his +comrades, received these overtures with a good grace and agreed to a +truce for three months, during which they might treat about peace. On +the day fixed Charles, accompanied by Duke Robert, and Rollo, surrounded +by his warriors, repaired to St. Clair-sur-Epte, on the opposite banks +of the river, and exchanged numerous messages. Charles offered Rollo +Flanders, which the Northman refused, considering it too swampy; as to +the maritime portion of Neustria he would not be contented with it; it +was, he said, covered with forests, and had become quite a stranger to +the ploughshare by reason of the Northmen's incessant incursions. He +demanded the addition of territories taken from Brittany, and that the +princes of that province, Berenger and Alan, lords, respectively, of +Redon and Dol, should take the oath of fidelity to him. When matters had +been arranged on this basis, "the bishops told Rollo that he who +received such a gift as the duchy of Normandy was bound to kiss the +King's foot. 'Never,' quoth Rollo, 'will I bend the knee before the +knees of any, and I will kiss the foot of none.' At the solicitation of +the Franks he then ordered one of his warriors to kiss the King's foot. +The Northman, remaining bolt upright, took hold of the King's foot, +raised it to his mouth, and so made the King fall backward, which caused +great bursts of laughter and much disturbance among the throng. Then the +King and all the grandees who were about him, prelates, abbots, dukes, +and counts, swore, in the name of the Catholic faith, that they would +protect the patrician Rollo in his life, his members, and his folk, and +would guarantee to him the possession of the aforesaid land, to him and +his descendants forever; after which the King, well satisfied, returned +to his domains; and Rollo departed with Duke Robert for the town of +Rouen." + +The dignity of Charles the Simple had no reason to be well satisfied; +but the great political question which, a century before, caused +Charlemagne such lively anxiety was solved; the most dangerous, the most +incessantly renewed of all foreign invasions, those of the Northmen, +ceased to threaten France. The vagabond pirates had a country to +cultivate and defend; the Northmen were becoming French. + + + + +CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT + +A.D. 871-901 + +T. HUGHES + +J.R. GREEN + + +(Alfred the Great was the grandson of Egbert, King of the West Saxons, +who during a reign of thirty-seven years consolidated in the Saxon +heptarchy the seven Teutonic kingdoms into which Anglia or England had +been divided, since the expulsion of the Britons by the Saxons about +585. In the latter part of Egbert's reign the Danish Northmen appeared +in the estuaries and rivers of England, sacking and burning the towns +along their banks. Ethelwulf who had been made King of Kent in 828, and +succeeded his father Egbert as King of Anglia in 837, was early occupied +in resisting and repelling attacks along his coasts, and by several +successful pitched battles with the Danish invaders obtained comparative +freedom from their visits for eight years. Ethelwulf had married +Osburga, the daughter of Oslac his cup-bearer, and had a daughter and +five sons, of whom Alfred, the youngest, was born in 849. Part of +Alfred's childhood was spent in Rome. At Compiegne and Verberie among +his playmates were Charles, the boy king of Aquitaine, and Judith, +children of the French king Charles the Bald. Judith at fourteen years +of age became Ethelwulf's second wife, and when the old King died two +years later, to the amazement and scandal of the nation married her +stepson Ethelbald. + +According to Ethelwulf's will, Ethelbald became King of Wessex, +Ethelbert, the second son, King of Kent, while Ethelred and Alfred were +to be in the line of succession to Ethelbald. Ethelbald died in 860, and +Judith returned to France, subsequently marrying Baldwin, Count of +Flanders. Ethelbert as successor joined the kingdoms of Wessex and Kent. +Alfred lived at the court of Ethelbert, and became noted for the +intelligence and studious activities which were to make his future reign +the conspicuous epoch in English history, so brilliantly commemorated a +thousand years after his death in 901, in the millenary celebrated in +Winchester and its neighborhood in 1901. + +Ethelbert died in 866 and was succeeded by Ethelred. In 868 Alfred +married Elswitha, the daughter of Ethelred Mucil of Mercia. Meanwhile +the Danes had resumed their predatory excursions, and in the winter of +870-871 Ethelred accompanied by Alfred attacked them at Reading, but +after an initial victory was repulsed. Four days later, Ethelred and +Alfred with their forces were attacked on Ashdown near White Horse Hill; +after a heavy slaughter the Danes were out to flight. The Danes, +however, reinforced by Guthrum with new troops from over the sea, within +a fortnight resumed offensive operations, and at Merton, two months +later, Ethelred was mortally wounded. He died almost immediately after +the battle, and "at the age of twenty-three Alfred ascended the throne +of his fathers, which was tottering, as it seemed, to its fall.") + + +THOMAS HUGHES + +The throne of the West Saxons was not an inheritance to be desired in +the year 871, when Alfred succeeded his gallant brother. It descended on +him without comment or ceremony, as a matter of course. There was not +even an assembly of the witan to declare the succession as in ordinary +times. With Guthrum and Hinguar in their intrenched camp at the +confluence of the Thames and Kennet, and fresh bands of marauders +sailing up the former river, and constantly swelling the ranks of the +pagan army during these summer months, there was neither time nor heart +among the wise men of the West Saxons for strict adherence to the letter +of the constitution, however venerable. The succession had already been +settled by the Great Council, when they formally accepted the provisions +of Ethelwulf's will, that his three sons should succeed, to the +exclusion of the children of any one of them. + +The idea of strict hereditary succession has taken so strong a hold of +us English in later times that it is necessary constantly to insist that +our old English kingship was elective. Alfred's title was based on +election; and so little was the idea of usurpation, or of any wrong done +to the two infant sons of Ethelred, connected with his accession, that +even the lineal descendant of one of those sons, in his chronicle of +that eventful year, does not pause to notice the fact that Ethelred left +children. He is writing to his "beloved cousin Matilda," to instruct her +in the things which he had received from ancient traditions, "of the +history of our race down to these two kings from whom we have our +origin." "The fourth son of Ethelwulf," he writes, "was Ethelred, who, +after the death of Ethelbert, succeeded to the kingdom, and was also my +grandfather's grandfather. The fifth was Alfred, who succeeded after all +the others to the whole sovereignty, and was your grandfather's +grandfather." And so passes on to the next facts, without a word as to +the claims of his own lineal ancestor, though he had paused in his +narrative at this point for the special purpose of introducing a little +family episode. + +When Alfred had buried his brother in the cloisters of Wimborne Minster, +and had time to look out from his Dorsetshire resting-place, and take +stock of the immediate prospects and work which lay before him, we can +well believe that those historians are right who have told us that for +the moment he lost heart and hope, and suffered himself to doubt whether +God would by his hand deliver the afflicted nation from its terrible +straits. In the eight pitched battles which we find by the _Saxon +Chronicle_ (Asser giving seven only) had already been fought with the +pagan army, the flower of the youth of these parts of the West Saxon +kingdom must have fallen. The other Teutonic kingdoms of the island, of +which he was overlord, and so bound to defend, had ceased to exist +except in name, or lay utterly powerless, like Mercia, awaiting their +doom. Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, which were now an integral part of the +royal inheritance of his own family, were at the mercy of his enemies, +and he without a hope of striking a blow for them. London had been +pillaged, and was in ruins. Even in Wessex proper, Berkshire and +Hampshire, with parts of Wilts and Dorset, had been crossed and +recrossed by marauding bands, in whose track only smoking ruins and dead +bodies were found. "The land was as the garden of Eden before them, and +behind them a desolate wilderness." These bands were at this very moment +on foot, striking into new districts farther to the southwest than they +had yet reached. If the rich lands of Somersetshire and Devonshire, and +the yet unplundered parts of Wilts and Dorset, are to be saved, it must +be by prompt and decisive fighting, and it is time for a king to be in +the field. But it is a month from his brother's death before Alfred can +gather men enough round his standard to take the field openly. Even +then, when he fights, it is "almost against his will," for his ranks are +sadly thin, and the whole pagan army are before him, at Wilton near +Salisbury. The action would seem to have been brought on by the +impetuosity of Alfred's own men, whose spirit was still unbroken, and +their confidence in their young King enthusiastic. There was a long and +fierce fight as usual, during the earlier part of which the Saxons had +the advantage, though greatly outnumbered. + +But again we get glimpses of the old trap of a feigned flight and +ambuscade, into which they fell, and so again lose "possession of the +place of death," the ultimate test of victory. "This year," says the +_Saxon Chronicle_, "nine general battles were fought against the army in +the kingdom south of the Thames; besides which Alfred, the king's +brother, and single aldermen and king's thanes, oftentimes made attacks +on them, which were not counted; and within the year one king and nine +jarls [earls] were slain." Wilton was the last of these general actions, +and not long afterward, probably in the autumn, Alfred made peace with +the pagans, on condition that they should quit Wessex at once. + +They were probably allowed to carry off whatever spoils they may have +been able to accumulate in their Reading camp, but I can find no +authority for believing that Alfred fell into the fatal and humiliating +mistake of either paying them anything or giving hostages or promising +tribute. This young King, who, as crown prince, led the West Saxons up +the slopes at Ashdown, when Bagsac, the two Sidrocs, and the rest were +killed, and who has very much their own way of fighting--going into the +clash of arms "when the hard steel rings upon the high helmets," and +"the beasts of prey have ample spoil," like a veritable child of +Odin--is clearly one whom it is best to let alone, at any rate so long +as easy plunder and rich lands are to be found elsewhere, without such +poison-mad fighting for every herd of cattle and rood of ground. Indeed, +I think the careful reader may trace from the date of Ashdown a decided +unwillingness on the part of the Danes to meet Alfred, except when they +could catch him at disastrous odds. They succeeded, indeed, for a time +in overrunning almost the whole of his kingdom, in driving him an exile +for a few wretched weeks to the shelter of his own forests; but whenever +he was once fairly in the field they preferred taking refuge in strong +places, and offering treaties and hostages to the actual arbitrament of +battle. + +So the pagan army quitted Reading, and wintered in 872 in the +neighborhood of London, at which place they received proposals from +Buhred, King of the Mercians, Alfred's brother-in-law, and for a money +payment pass him and his people contemptuously by for the time, making +some kind of treaty of peace with them, and go northward into what has +now become their own country. They winter in Lincolnshire, gathering +fresh strength during 873 from the never-failing sources of supply +across the narrow seas. Again, however, in this year of ominous rest +they renew their sham peace with poor Buhred and his Mercians, who thus +manage to tide it over another winter. In 874, however, their time has +come. In the spring, the pagan army under the three kings, Guthrum, +Oskytal, and Amund, burst into Mercia. In this one only of the English +Teutonic kingdoms they find neither fighting nor suffering hero to cross +their way, and leave behind for a thousand years the memory of a noble +end, cut out there in some half-dozen lines of an old chronicler, but +full of life and inspiration to this day for all Englishmen. The whole +country is overrun, and reduced under pagan rule, without a blow struck, +so far as we know, and within the year. + +Poor Buhred, titular King of the Mercians, who has made believe to rule +this English kingdom these twenty-two years--who in his time has marched +with his father-in-law Ethelwulf across North Wales--has beleaguered +Nottingham with his brothers-in-law, Ethelred and Alfred, six years +back, not without show of manhood--sees for his part nothing for it +under such circumstances but to get away as swiftly as possible, as many +so-called kings have done before him, and since. The West Saxon court is +no place for him, quite other views of kingship prevailing in those +parts. So the poor Buhred breaks away from his anchors, leaving his wife +Ethelswitha even, in his haste, to take refuge with her brother; or is +it that the heart of the daughter of the race of Cerdic swells against +leaving the land which her sires had won, the people they had planted +there, in the moment of sorest need? In any case Buhred drifts away +alone across into France, and so toward the winter to Rome. There he +dies at once--about Christmas-time, 874--of shame and sorrow probably, +or of a broken heart as we say; at any rate having this kingly gift left +in him, that he cannot live and look on the ruin of his people, as St. +Edmund's brother Edwold is doing in these same years, "near a clear well +at Carnelia, in Dorsetshire," doing the hermit business there on bread +and water. + +The English in Rome bury away poor Buhred, with all the honors, in the +Church of St. Mary's, to which the English schools rebuilt by his +father-in-law Ethelwulf were attached. Ethelswitha visited, or started +to visit, the tomb years later, we are told, in 888, when Mercia had +risen to new life under her great brother's rule. Through these same +months Guthrum, Oskytal, and the rest are wintering at Repton, after +destroying there the cloister where the kingly line of Mercia lie; +disturbing perhaps the bones of the great Offa, whom Charlemagne had to +treat as an equal. + +Neither of the pagan kings is inclined at this time to settle in Mercia; +so, casting about what to do with it, they light on "a certain foolish +man," a king's thane, one Ceolwulf, and set him up as a sort of King +Popinjay. From this Ceolwulf they take hostages for the payment of +yearly tribute--to be wrung out of these poor Mercians on pain of +dethronement--and for the surrender of the kingdom to them on whatever +day they would have it back again. Foolish king's thanes, turned into +King Popinjays by pagans, and left to play at government on such terms, +are not pleasant or profitable objects in such times as these of one +thousand years since--or indeed in any times, for the matter of that. So +let us finish with Ceolwulf, just noting that a year or two later his +pagan lords seem to have found much of the spoil of monasteries, and the +pickings of earl and churl, of folkland and bookland, sticking to his +fingers, instead of finding its way to their coffers. This was far from +their meaning in setting him up in the high places of Mercia. So they +strip him and thrust him out, and he dies in beggary. + +This, then, is the winter's work of the great pagan army at Repton, +Alfred watching them and their work doubtless with keen eye--not without +misgivings too at their numbers, swollen again to terrible proportions +since they sailed away down Thames after Wilton fight. It will take +years yet before the gaps in the fighting strength of Wessex, left by +those nine pitched battles, and other smaller fights, will be filled by +the crop of youths passing from childhood to manhood. An anxious +thought, that, for a young king. + +The pagans, however, are not yet ready for another throw for Wessex; and +so when Mercia is sucked dry for the present, and will no longer +suitably maintain so great a host, they again sever. Halfdene, who would +seem to have joined them recently, takes a large part of the army away +with him northward. Settling his head-quarters by the river Tyne, he +subdues all the land, and "ofttimes spoils the Picts and the Strathclyde +Britons." Among other holy places in those parts, Halfdene visits the +Isle of Lindisfarne, hoping perhaps in his pagan soul not only to commit +ordinary sacrilege in the holy places there, which is every-day work for +the like of him, but even to lay impious hands on, and to treat with +indignity, the remains of that holy man St. Cuthbert, who has become, in +due course, patron and guardian saint of hunters, and of that scourge of +pagans, Alfred the West Saxon. If such were his thoughts, he is +disappointed of his sacrilege; for Bishop Eardulf and Abbot +Eadred--devout and strenuous persons--having timely warning of his +approach, carry away the sainted body from Lindisfarne, and for nine +years hide with it up and down the distracted northern counties, now +here, now there, moving that sacred treasure from place to place until +this bitterness is overpast, and holy persons and things, dead or +living, are no longer in danger, and the bodies of saints may rest +safely in fixed shrines; the pagan armies and disorderly persons of all +kinds having been converted or suppressed in the mean time; for which +good deed the royal Alfred--in whose calendar St. Cuthbert, patron of +huntsmen, stands very high--will surely warmly befriend them hereafter, +when he has settled his accounts with many persons and things. From the +time of this incursion of Halfdene, Northumbria may be considered once +more a settled state, but a Danish, not a Saxon one. + +The rest and greater part of the army, under Guthrum, Oskytal, and +Amund, on leaving Repton, strike southeast, through what was "Landlord" +Edmund's country, to Cambridge, where, in their usual heathen way, they +pass the winter of 875. + +The downfall, exile, and death of his brother-in-law in 874 must have +warned Alfred, if he had any need of warning, that no treaty could bind +these foemen, and that he had nothing to look for but the same measure +as soon as the pagan leaders felt themselves strong enough to mete it +out to him and Wessex. In the following year we accordingly find him on +the alert, and taking action in a new direction. These heathen pirates, +he sees, fight his people at terrible advantage by reason of their +command of the sea. This enables them to choose their own point of +attack, not only along the sea-coast, but up every river as far as their +light galleys can swim; to retreat unmolested, at their own time, +whenever the fortune of war turns against them; to bring reinforcements +of men and supplies to the scene of action without fear of hindrance. +His Saxons have long since given up their seafaring habits. They have +become before all things an agricultural people, drawing almost +everything they need from their own soil. The few foreign tastes they +have are supplied by foreign traders. However, if Wessex is to be made +safe the sea-kings must be met on their own element; and so, with what +expenditure of patience and money and encouraging words and example we +may easily conjecture, the young King gets together a small fleet, and +himself takes command of it. We have no clew to the point on the south +coast where the admiral of twenty five fights his first naval action, +but know only that in the summer of 875 he is cruising with his fleet, +and meets seven tall ships of the enemy. One of these he captures, and +the rest make off after a hard fight--no small encouragement to the +sailor King, who has thus for another year saved Saxon homesteads from +devastation by fire and sword. + +The second wave of invasion had now at last gathered weight and volume +enough, and broke on the King and people of the West Saxons. + +The year 876 was still young when the whole pagan army, which had +wintered at and about Cambridge, marched to their ships and put to sea. +Guthrum was in command, with the other two kings, Anketel and Amund, as +his lieutenants, under whom was a host as formidable as that which had +marched across Mercia through forest and waste, and sailed up the Thames +five years before to the assault of Reading. There must have been some +few days of harassing suspense, for we cannot suppose that Alfred was +not aware of the movements of his terrible foes. Probably his new fleet +cruised off the south coast on the watch for them, and all up the Thames +there were gloomy watchings and forebodings of a repetition of the evil +days of 871. But the suspense was soon over. Passing by the Thames' +mouth, and through Dover Straits, the pagan fleet sailed, and westward +still past many tempting harbors and rivers' mouths, until they came off +the coast of Dorsetshire. There they land at Wareham, and seize and +fortify the neck of land between the rivers Frome and Piddle, on which +stood, when they landed, a fortress of the West Saxons and a monastery +of holy virgins. Fortress and monastery fell into the hands of the +Danes, who set to work at once to throw up earthworks and otherwise +fortify a space large enough to contain their army, and all spoil +brought in by marauding bands from this hitherto unplundered country. +This fortified camp was soon very strong, except on the western side, +upon which Alfred shortly appeared with a body of horsemen and such +other troops as could be gathered hastily together. The detachment of +the pagans, who were already out pillaging the whole neighborhood, fell +back apparently before him, concentrating on the Wareham camp. Before +its outworks Alfred paused. He is too experienced a soldier now to risk +at the outset of a campaign such a disaster as that which he and +Ethelred had sustained in their attempt to assault the camp at Reading +in 871. He is just strong enough to keep the pagans within their lines, +but has no margin to spare. So he sits down before the camp, but no +battle is fought, neither he nor Guthrum caring to bring matters to that +issue. Soon negotiations are commenced, and again a treaty is made. + +On this occasion Alfred would seem to have taken special pains to bind +his faithless foe. All the holy relics which could be procured from holy +places in the neighborhood were brought together, that he himself and +his people might set the example of pledging themselves in the most +solemn manner known to Christian men. Then a holy ring or bracelet, +smeared with the blood of beasts sacrificed to Woden, was placed on a +heathen altar. Upon this Guthrum and his fellow kings and earls swore on +behalf of the army that they would quit the King's country and give +hostages. Such an oath had never been sworn by Danish leader on English +soil before. It was the most solemn known to them. They would seem also +to have sworn on Alfred's relics, as an extra proof of their sincerity +for this once, and their hostages "from among the most renowned men in +the army" were duly handed over. Alfred now relaxed his watch, even if +he did not withdraw with the main body of his army, leaving his horse to +see that the terms of the treaty were performed, and to watch the +Wareham camp until the departure of the pagan host. But neither oath on +sacred ring, nor the risk to their hostages, weighed with Guthrum and +his followers when any advantage was to be gained by treachery. They +steal out of the camp by night, surprise and murder the Saxon horsemen, +seize the horses, and strike across the country, the mounted men +leading, to Exeter, but leaving a sufficient garrison to hold Wareham +for the present. They surprise and get possession of the western +capital, and there settle down to pass the winter. Rollo, fiercest of +the vikings, is said by Asser to have passed the winter with them in +their Exeter quarters on his way to Normandy; but whether the great +robber himself were here or not, it is certain that the channel swarmed +with pirate fleets, who could put in to Wareham or Exeter at their +discretion, and find a safe stronghold in either place from which to +carry fire and sword through the unhappy country. + +Alfred had vainly endeavored to overtake the march to Exeter in the +autumn of 876, and, failing in the pursuit, had disbanded his own troops +as usual, allowing them to go to their own homes until the spring. +Before he could be afoot again in the spring of 877 the main body of the +pagans at Exeter had made that city too strong for any attempt at +assault, so the King and his troops could do no more than beleaguer it +on the land side, as he had done at Wareham. But Guthrum could laugh at +all efforts of his great antagonist, and wait in confidence the sure +disbanding of the Saxon troops at harvest time, so long as his ships +held the sea. + +Supplies were running short in Exeter, but the Exe was open and +communications going on with Wareham. It is arranged that the camp there +shall be broken up, and the whole garrison with their spoil shall join +head-quarters. One hundred and twenty Danish war-galleys are freighted, +and beat down channel, but are baffled by adverse winds for nearly a +month. They and all their supplies may be looked for any day in the Exe +when the wind changes. Alfred, from his camp before Exeter, sends to his +little fleet to put to sea. He cannot himself be with them as in their +first action, for he knows well that Guthrum will seize the first moment +of his absence to sally from Exeter, break the Saxon lines, and scatter +his army in roving bands over Devonshire, on their way back to the +eastern kingdom. The Saxon fleet puts out, manned itself, as some say, +partly with sea-robbers, hired to fight their own people. However +manned, it attacks bravely a portion of the pirates. But a mightier +power than the fleet fought for Alfred at this crisis. First a dense fog +and then a great storm came on, bursting on the south coast with such +fury that the pagans lost no less than one hundred of their chief ships +off Swanage, as mighty a deliverance perhaps for England--though the +memory of it is nearly forgotten--as that which began in the same seas +seven hundred years later, when Drake and the sea-kings of the sixteenth +century were hanging on the rear of the Spanish _armada_ along the Devon +and Dorset coasts, while the beacons blazed up all over England and the +whole nation flew to arms. + +The destruction of the fleet decided the fate of the siege of Exeter. +Once more negotiations are opened by the pagans; once more Alfred, +fearful of driving them to extremities, listens, treats, and finally +accepts oaths and more hostages, acknowledging probably in sorrow to +himself that he can for the moment do no better. And on this occasion +Guthrum, being caught far from home, and without supplies or ships, +"keeps the peace well," moving as we conjecture, watched jealously by +Alfred, on the shortest line across Devon and Somerset to some ford in +the Avon, and so across into Mercia, where he arrives during harvest, +and billets his army on Ceolwulf, camping them for the winter about the +city of Gloster. Here they run up huts for themselves, and make some +pretense of permanent settlement on the Severn, dividing large tracts of +land among those who cared to take them. + +The campaigns of 876-77 are generally looked upon as disastrous ones for +the Saxon arms, but this view is certainly not supported by the +chroniclers. It is true that both at Wareham and Exeter the pagans broke +new ground, and secured their position, from which no doubt they did +sore damage in the neighboring districts, but we can trace in these +years none of the old ostentatious daring and thirst for battle with +Alfred. Whenever he appears the pirate bands draw back at once into +their strongholds, and, exhausted as great part of Wessex must have been +by the constant strain, the West Saxons show no signs yet of falling +from their gallant King. If he can no longer collect in a week such an +army as fought at Ashdown, he can still, without much delay, bring to +his side a sufficient force to hem the pagans in and keep them behind +their ramparts. + +But the nature of the service was telling sadly on the resources of the +kingdom south of the Thames. To the Saxons there came no new levies, +while from the north and east of England, as well as from over the sea, +Guthrum was ever drawing to his standard wandering bands of sturdy +Northmen. The most important of these reinforcements came to him from an +unexpected quarter this autumn. We have not heard for some years of +Hubba, the brother of Hinguar, the younger of the two vikings who +planned and led the first great invasion in 868. Perhaps he may have +resented the arrival of Guthrum and other kings in the following years, +to whom he had to give place. Whatever may have been the cause, he seems +to have gone off on his own account: carrying with him the famous raven +standard, to do his appointed work in these years on other coasts under +its ominous shade. + +This "war flag which they call raven" was a sacred object to the +Northmen. When Hinguar and Hubba had heard of the death of their father, +Regnar Lodbrog, and had resolved to avenge him, while they were calling +together their followers, their three sisters in one day wove for them +this war-flag, in the midst of which was portrayed the figure of a +raven. Whenever the flag went before them into battle, if they were to +win the day the sacred raven would rouse itself and stretch its wings; +but if defeat awaited them, the flag would hang round its staff and the +bird remain motionless. This wonder had been proved in many a fight, so +the wild pagans who fought under the standard of Regnar's children +believed. It was a power in itself, and Hubba and a strong fleet were +with it. + +They had appeared in the Bristol Channel in this autumn of 877, and had +ruthlessly slaughtered and spoiled the people of South Wales. Here they +propose to winter; but, as the country is wild mountain for the most +part, and the people very poor, they will remain no longer than they can +help. Already a large part of the army about Gloster are getting +restless. The story of their march from Devonshire, through rich +districts of Wessex yet unplundered, goes round among the new-comers. +Guthrum has no power, probably no will, to keep them to their oaths. In +the early winter a joint attack is planned by him and Hubba on the West +Saxon territory. By Christmas they are strong enough to take the field, +and so in midwinter, shortly after Twelfth Night, the camp at Gloster +breaks up, and the army "stole away to Chippenham," recrossing the Avon +once more into Wessex, under Guthrum. The fleet, after a short delay, +crosses to the Devonshire coast, under Hubba, in thirty war-ships. + +And now at last the courage of the West Saxons gives way. The surprise +is complete. Wiltshire is at the mercy of the pagans, who, occupying the +royal burgh of Chippenham as headquarters, overrun the whole district, +drive many of the inhabitants "beyond the sea for want of the +necessaries of life," and reduce to subjection all those that remain. +Alfred is at his post, but for the moment can make no head against them. +His own strong heart and trust in God are left him, and with them and a +scanty band of followers he disappears into the forest of Selwood, which +then stretched away from the confines of Wiltshire for thirty miles to +the west. East Somerset, now one of the fairest and richest of English +counties, was then for the most part thick wood and tangled swamp, but +miserable as the lodging is it is welcome for the time to the King. In +the first months of 878 Selwood Forest holds in its recesses the hope of +England. + +It is at this point, as is natural enough, that romance has been most +busy, and it has become impossible to disentangle the actual facts from +monkish legend and Saxon ballad. In happier times Alfred was in the +habit himself of talking over the events of his wandering life +pleasantly with his courtiers, and there is no reason to doubt that the +foundation of most of the stories still current rests on those +conversations of the truth-loving King, noted down by Bishop Asser and +others. + +The best known of these is, of course, the story of the cakes. In the +depths of the Saxon forests there were always a few neatherds and +swineherds, scattered up and down, living in rough huts enough, we may +be sure, and occupied with the care of the cattle and herds of their +masters. Among these in Selwood was a neatherd of the King, a faithful +man, to whom the secret of Alfred's disguise was intrusted, and who kept +it even from his wife. To this man's hut the King came one day alone, +and, sitting himself down by the burning logs on the hearth, began +mending his bow and arrows. The neatherd's wife had just finished her +baking, and having other household matters to attend to, confided her +loaves to the King, a poor tired-looking body, who might be glad of the +warmth, and could make himself useful by turning the batch, and so earn +his share while she got on with other business. But Alfred worked away +at his weapons, thinking of anything but the good housewife's batch of +loaves, which in due course were not only done, but rapidly burning to a +cinder. At this moment the neatherd's wife comes back, and flying to the +hearth to rescue the bread, cries out: "Drat the man! never to turn the +loaves when you see them burning. I'ze warrant you ready enough to eat +them when they are done." But besides the King's faithful neatherd, +whose name is not preserved, there are other churls in the forest, who +must be Alfred's comrades just now if he will have any. And even here he +has an eye for a good man, and will lose no opportunity to help one to +the best of his power. Such a one he finds in a certain swineherd called +Denewulf, whom he gets to know, a thoughtful Saxon man, minding his +charge there in the oak woods. The rough churl, or thrall, we know not +which, has great capacity, as Alfred soon finds out, and desire to +learn. So the King goes to work upon Denewulf under the oak trees, when +the swine will let him, and is well satisfied with the results of his +teaching and the progress of his pupil. + +But in those miserable days the commonest necessaries of life were hard +enough to come by for the King and his few companions, and for his wife +and family, who soon joined him in the forest, even if they were not +with him from the first. The poor foresters cannot maintain them, nor +are this band of exiles the men to live on the poor. So Alfred and his +comrades are soon out foraging on the borders of the forest, and getting +what subsistence they can from the pagans, or from the Christians who +had submitted to their yoke. So we may imagine them dragging on life +till near Easter, when a gleam of good news comes tip from the west, to +gladden the hearts and strengthen the arms of these poor men in the +depths of Selwood. + +Soon after Guthrum and the main body of the pagans moved from Gloster, +southward, the viking Hubba, as had been agreed, sailed with thirty +ships-of-war from his winter quarters on the South Welsh coast, and +landed in Devon. The news of the catastrophe at Chippenham, and of the +disappearance of the King, was no doubt already known in the West; and +in the face of it Odda the alderman cannot gather strength to meet the +pagan in the open field. But he is a brave and true man, and will make +no terms with the spoilers; so, with other faithful thanes of King +Alfred and their followers, he throws himself into a castle or fort +called Cynwith, or Cynuit, there to abide whatever issue of this +business God shall send them. Hubba, with the war-flag Raven, and a host +laden with the spoil of rich Devon vales, appear in due course before +the place. It is not strong naturally, and has only "walls in our own +fashion," meaning probably rough earthworks. But there are resolute men +behind them, and on the whole Hubba declines the assault, and sits down +before the place. There is no spring of water, he hears, within the +Saxon lines, and they are otherwise wholly unprepared for a siege. A few +days will no doubt settle the matter, and the sword or slavery will be +the portion of Odda and the rest of Alfred's men; meantime there is +spoil enough in the camp from Devonshire homesteads, which brave men can +revel in round the war-flag Raven, while they watch the Saxon ramparts. +Odda, however, has quite other views than death from thirst, or +surrender. Before any stress comes, early one morning he and his whole +force sally out over their earthworks, and from the first "cut down the +pagans in great numbers": eight hundred and forty warriors--some say +twelve hundred--with Hubba himself are slain before Cynuit fort; the +rest, few in number, escape to their ships. The war-flag Raven is left +in the hands of Odda and the men of Devon. + +This is the news which comes to Alfred, Ethelnoth the alderman of +Somerset, Denewulf the swineherd, and the rest of the Selwood Forest +group, some time before Easter. These men of Devonshire, it seems, are +still stanch, and ready to peril their lives against the pagan. No doubt +up and down Wessex, thrashed and trodden out as the nation is by this +time, there are other good men and true, who will neither cross the sea +nor the Welsh marches nor make terms with the pagan; some sprinkling of +men who will yet set life at stake, for faith in Christ and love of +England. If these can only be rallied, who can say what may follow? So, +in the lengthening days of spring, council is held in Selwood, and there +will have been Easter services in some chapel or hermitage in the +forest, or, at any rate, in some quiet glade. The "day of days" will +surely have had its voice of hope for this poor remnant. Christ is risen +and reigns; and it is not in these heathen Danes, or in all the Northmen +who ever sailed across the sea, to put back his kingdom or to enslave +those whom he has freed. + +The result is that, far away from the eastern boundary of the forest, on +a rising ground--hill it can scarcely be called--surrounded by dangerous +marshes formed by the little rivers Thone and Parret, fordable only in +summer, and even then dangerous to all who have not the secret, a small +fortified camp is thrown up under Alfred's eye, by Ethelnoth and the +Somersetshire men, where he can once again raise his standard. The spot +has been chosen by the King with the utmost care, for it is his last +throw. He names it the Etheling's _eig_ or island, "Athelney." Probably +his young son, the Etheling of England, is there among the first, with +his mother and his grandmother Eadburgha, the widow of Ethelred Mucil, +the venerable lady whom Asser saw in later years, and who has now no +country but her daughter's. There are, as has been reckoned, some two +acres of hard ground on the island, and around vast brakes of +alder-bush, full of deer and other game. + +Here the Somersetshire men can keep up constant communication with him, +and a small army grows together. They are soon strong enough to make +forays into the open country, and in many skirmishes they cut off +parties of the pagans and supplies. "For, even when overthrown and cast +down," says Malmesbury, "Alfred had always to be fought with; so, then +when one would esteem him altogether worn down and broken, like a snake +slipping from the hand of him who would grasp it, he would suddenly +flash out again from his hiding-places, rising up to smite his foes in +the height of their insolent confidence, and never more hard to beat +than after a flight." + +But it was still a trying life at Athelney. Followers came in slowly, +and provender and supplies of all kinds are hard to wring from the +pagan, and harder still to take from Christian men. One day, while it +was yet so cold that the water was still frozen, the King's people had +gone out "to get them fish or fowl, or some such purveyance as they +sustained themselves withal." No one was left in the royal hut for the +moment but himself, and his mother-in-law Eadburgha. The King--after his +constant wont whensoever he had opportunity--was reading from the Psalms +of David, out of the Manual which he carried always in his bosom. At +this moment a poor man appeared at the door and begged for a morsel of +bread "for Christ his sake." Whereupon the King, receiving the stranger +as a brother, called to his mother-in-law to give him to eat. Eadburgha +replied that there was but one loaf in their store, and a little wine in +a pitcher, a provision wholly insufficient for his own family and +people. But the King bade her nevertheless to give the stranger part of +the last loaf, which she accordingly did. But when he had been served +the stranger was no more seen, and the loaf remained whole, and the +pitcher full to the brim. Alfred, meantime, had turned to his reading, +over which he fell asleep, and dreamt that St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne +stood by him, and told him it was he who had been his guest, and that +God had seen his afflictions and those of his people, which were now +about to end, in token whereof his people would return that day from +their expedition with a great take of fish. The King awakening, and +being much impressed with his dream, called to his mother-in-law and +recounted it to her, who thereupon assured him that she too had been +overcome with sleep and had had the same dream. And while they yet +talked together on what had happened so strangely to them, their +servants come in, bringing fish enough, as it seemed to them, to have +fed an army. + +The monkish legend goes on to tell that on the next morning the King +crossed to the mainland in a boat, and wound his horn thrice, which drew +to him before noon five hundred men. What we may think of the story and +the dream, as Sir John Spelman says, "is not here very much material," +seeing that, whether we deem it natural or supernatural, "the one as +well as the other serves at God's appointment, by raising or dejecting +of the mind with hopes or fears, to lead man to the resolution of those +things whereof he has before ordained the event." + +Alfred, we may be sure, was ready to accept and be thankful for any +help, let it come from whence it might, and soon after Easter it was +becoming clear that the time is at hand for more than skirmishing +expeditions. Through all the neighboring counties word is spreading that +their hero King is alive and on foot again, and that there will be +another chance for brave men ere long of meeting once more these +scourges of the land under his leading. + +A popular legend is found in the later chroniclers which relates that at +this crisis of his fortunes Alfred, not daring to rely on any evidence +but that of his own senses as to the numbers, disposition, and +discipline of the pagan army, assumed the garb of a minstrel and with +one attendant visited the camp of Guthrum. Here he stayed, "showing +tricks and making sport," until he had penetrated to the King's tents, +and learned all that he wished to know. After satisfying himself as to +the chances of a sudden attack, he returns to Athelney, and, the time +having come for a great effort, if his people will but make it, sends +round messengers to the aldermen and king's thanes of neighboring +shires, giving them a tryst for the seventh week after Easter, the +second week in May. + +On or about the 12th of May, 878, King Alfred left his island in the +great wood, and his wife and children and such household gods [sic] as +he had gathered round him there, and came publicly forth among his +people once more, riding to Egbert's Stone--probably Brixton--on the +east of Selwood, a distance of twenty-six miles. Here met him the men of +the neighboring shires--Odda, no doubt, with his men of Devonshire, full +of courage and hope after their recent triumph; the men of +Somersetshire, under their brave and faithful alderman Ethelnoth; and +the men of Wilts and Hants, such of them at least as had not fled the +country or made submission to the enemy. "And when they saw their King +alive after such great tribulation, they received him, as he merited, +with joy and acclamation." The gathering had been so carefully planned +by Alfred and the nobles who had been in conference or correspondence +with him at Athelney that the Saxon host was organized and ready for +immediate action on the very day of muster. Whether Alfred had been his +own spy we cannot tell, but it is plain that he knew well what was +passing in the pagan camp, and how necessary swiftness and secrecy were +to the success of his attack. + +Local traditions cannot be much relied upon for events which took place +a thousand years ago, but where there is clearly nothing improbable in +them they are at least worth mentioning. We may note, then, that +according to Somersetshire tradition, first collected by Dr. +Giles--himself a Somersetshire man, and one who, besides his _Life of +Alfred_ and other excellent works bearing on the time, is the author of +the _Harmony of the Chroniclers_, published by the Alfred Committee in +1852--the signal for the actual gathering of the West Saxons at Egbert's +Stone was given by a beacon lighted on the top of Stourton hill, where +Alfred's Tower now stands. Such a beacon would be hidden from the Danes, +who must have been encamped about Westbury, by the range of the +Wiltshire hills, while it would be visible to the west over the low +country toward the Bristol Channel, and to the south far into +Dorsetshire. + +Not an hour was lost by Alfred at the place of muster. The bands which +came together there were composed of men well used to arms, each band +under its own alderman, or reeve. The small army he had himself been +disciplining at Athelney, and training in skirmishes during the last few +months, would form a reliable centre on which the rest would have to +form as best they could. So after one day's halt he breaks up his camp +at Egbert's Stone and marches to Aeglea, now called Clay hill, an +important height, commanding the vale to the north of Westbury, which +the Danish army were now occupying. The day's march of the army would be +a short five miles. Here the annals record that St. Neot, his kinsman, +appeared to him, and promised that on the morrow his misfortunes would +end. + +There are still traces of rude earthworks round the top of Clay hill, +which are said to have been thrown up by Alfred's army at this time. If +there had been time for such a work, it would undoubtedly have been a +wise step, as a fortified encampment here would have served Alfred in +good stead in case of a reverse. But the few hours during which the army +halted on Clay hill would have been quite too short time for such an +undertaking, which, moreover, would have exhausted the troops. It is +more likely that the earthworks, which are of the oldest type, similar +to those at White Horse hill, above Ashdown, were there long before +Alfred's arrival in May, 878. After resting one night on Clay hill, +Alfred led out his men in close order of battle against the pagan host, +which lay at Ethandune. There has been much doubt among the antiquaries +as to the site of Ethandune, but Dr. Giles and others have at length +established the claims of Edington, a village seven miles from Clay +hill, on the northeast, to the spot where the strength of the second +wave of pagan invasion was utterly broken and rolled back weak and +helpless from the rock of the West Saxon kingdom. + +Sir John Spelman, relying apparently only on the authority of Nicholas +Harpesfeld's _Ecclesiastical History of England_, puts a speech into +Alfred's mouth, which he is supposed to have delivered before the battle +of Edington. He tells them that the great sufferings of the land had +been yet far short of what their sins had deserved. That God had only +dealt with them as a loving Father, and was now about to succor them, +having already stricken their foe with fear and astonishment, and given +him, on the other hand, much encouragement by dreams and otherwise. That +they had to do with pirates and robbers, who had broken faith with them +over and over again; and the issue they had to try that day was whether +Christ's faith or heathenism was henceforth to be established in +England. + +There is no trace of any such speech in the _Saxon Chronicle_ or Asser, +and the one reported does not ring like that of Judas Maccabaeus. That +Alfred's soul was on fire that morning, on finding himself once more at +the head of a force he could rely on, and before the enemy he had met so +often, we may be sure enough, but shall never know how the fire kindled +into speech, if indeed it did so at all. In such supreme moments many of +the strongest men have no word to say--keep all their heat within. + +Nor have we any clew to the numbers who fought on either side at +Ethandune, or indeed in any of Alfred's battles. In the _Chronicles_ +there are only a few vague and general statements, from which little can +be gathered. The most precise of them is that in the _Saxon Chronicle_, +which gives eight hundred and forty as the number of men who were slain, +as we heard, with Hubba before Cynuit fort, in Devonshire, earlier in +this same year. Such a death-roll, in an action in which only a small +detachment of the pagan army was engaged, would lead to the conclusion +that the armies were far larger than one would expect. On the other +hand, it is difficult to imagine how any large bodies of men could find +subsistence in a small country, which was the seat of so devastating a +war, and in which so much land remained still unreclaimed. But whatever +the power on either side amounted to we may be quite sure that it had +been exerted to the utmost to bring as large a force as possible into +line at Ethandune. + +Guthrum fought to protect Chippenham, his base of operations, some +sixteen miles in his rear, and all the accumulated plunder of the busy +months which had passed since Twelfth Night; and it is clear that his +men behaved with the most desperate gallantry. The fight began at +noon--one chronicler says at sunrise, but the distance makes this +impossible unless Alfred marched in the night--and lasted through the +greater part of the day. Warned by many previous disasters the Saxons +never broke their close order, and so, though greatly outnumbered, +hurled back again and again the onslaughts of the Northmen. At last +Alfred and his Saxons prevailed, and smote his pagan foes with a very +great slaughter, and pursued them up to their fortified camp on Bratton +hill or Edge, into which the great body of the fugitives threw +themselves. All who were left outside were slain, and the great spoil +was all recovered. The camp may still be seen, called Bratton Castle, +with its double ditches and deep trenches, and barrow in the midst sixty +yards long, and its two entrances guarded by mounds. It contains more +than twenty acres, and commands the whole country side. There can be +little doubt that this camp, and not Chippenham, which is sixteen miles +away, was the last refuge of Guthrum and the great northern army on +Saxon soil. + +So, in three days from the breaking up of his little camp at Athelney, +Alfred was once more King of all England south of the Thames; for this +army of pagans, shut up within their earthworks on Bratton Edge, are +little better than a broken and disorderly rabble, with no supplies and +no chance of succor from any quarter. Nevertheless he will make sure of +them, and above all will guard jealously against any such mishap as that +of 876, when they stole out of Wareham, murdered the horsemen he had +left to watch them, and got away to Exeter. So Bratton camp is strictly +besieged by Alfred with his whole power. + +Guthrum, the destroyer, and now the King of East Anglia, the strongest +and ablest of all the Northmen who had ever landed in England, is now at +last fairly in Alfred's power. At Reading, Wareham, Exeter, he had +always held a fortified camp, on a river easily navigable by the Danish +war-ships, where he might look for speedy succor or whence at the worst +he might hope to escape to the sea. But now he, with the remains of his +army, is shut up in an inland fort with no ships on the Avon, the +nearest river, even if they could cut their way out and reach it, and no +hopes of reinforcements overland. Halfdene is the nearest viking who +might be called to the rescue, and he, in Northumbria, is far too +distant. It is a matter of a few days only, for food runs short at once +in the besieged camp. In former years, or against any other enemy, +Guthrum would probably have preferred to sally out and cut his way +through the Saxon lines, or die sword in hand as a son of Odin should. +Whether it were that the wild spirit in him is thoroughly broken for the +time by the unexpected defeat at Ethandune, or that long residence in a +Christian land and contact with Christian subjects have shaken his faith +in his own gods, or that he has learned to measure and appreciate the +strength and nobleness of the man he had so often deceived, at any rate +for the time Guthrum is subdued. At the end of fourteen days he sends to +Alfred, suing humbly for terms of any kind; offering on the part of the +army as many hostages as may be required, without asking for any in +return; once again giving solemn pledges to quit Wessex for good; and, +above all, declaring his own readiness to receive baptism. If it had not +been for the last proposal, we may doubt whether even Alfred would have +allowed the ruthless foes with whom he and his people had fought so +often, and with such varying success, to escape now. Over and over again +they had sworn to him, and broken their oaths the moment it suited their +purpose; had given hostages, and left them to their fate. In all English +kingdoms they had now for ten years been destroying and pillaging the +houses of God and slaying even women and children. They had driven his +sister's husband from the throne of Mercia, and had grievously tortured +the martyr Edmund. If ever foe deserved no mercy, Guthrum and his army +were the men. + +When David smote the children of Moab, he "measured them with a line, +casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put +to death, and with one full line to keep alive." When he took Rabbah of +the children of Ammon, "he brought forth the people that were therein, +and put them under saws and under harrows of iron, and under axes of +iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln." That was the old +Hebrew method, even under King David, and in the ninth century +Christianity had as yet done little to soften the old heathen custom of +"woe to the vanquished." Charlemagne's proselytizing campaigns had been +as merciless as Mahomet's. But there is about this English King a divine +patience, the rarest of all virtues in those who are set in high places. +He accepts Guthrum's proffered terms at once, rejoicing over the chance +of adding these fierce heathen warriors to the church of his Master, by +an act of mercy which even they must feel. And so the remnant of the +army are allowed to march out of their fortified camp, and to recross +the Avon into Mercia, not quite five months after the day of their +winter attack and the seizing of Chippenham. The northern army went away +to Cirencester, where they stayed over the winter, and then returning +into East Anglia settled down there, and Alfred and Wessex hear no more +of them. Never was triumph more complete or better deserved; and in all +history there is no instance of more noble use of victory than this. The +West Saxon army was not at once disbanded. Alfred led them back to +Athelney, where he had left his wife and children; and while they are +there, seven weeks after the surrender, Guthrum and thirty of the +bravest of his followers arrive to make good their pledge. + +The ceremony of baptism was performed at Wedmore, a royal residence +which had probably escaped the fate of Chippenham, and still contained a +church. Here Guthrum and his thirty nobles were sworn in, the soldiers +of a greater King than Woden, and the white linen cloth, the sign of +their new faith, was bound round their heads. Alfred himself was +godfather to the viking, giving him the Christian name of Athelstan; and +the chrism-loosing, or unbinding of the sacramental cloths, was +performed on the eighth day by Ethelnoth, the faithful alderman of +Somersetshire. After the religious ceremony there still remained the +task of settling the terms upon which the victors and vanquished were +hereafter to live together side by side in the same island; for Alfred +had the wisdom, even in his enemy's humiliation, to accept the +accomplished fact, and to acknowledge East Anglia as a Danish kingdom. +The Witenagemot had been summoned to Wedmore, and was sitting there, and +with their advice the treaty was then made, from which, according to +some historians, English history begins. + +We have still the text of the two documents which together contain +Alfred and Guthrum's peace, or the treaty of Wedmore; the first and +shorter being probably the articles hastily agreed on before the +capitulation of the Danish army at Chippenham; the latter the final +terms settled between Alfred and his witan, and Guthrum and his thirty +nobles, after mature deliberation and conference at Wedmore, but not +formally executed until some years later. + +The shorter one, that made at the capitulation, runs as follows: + +"ALFRED AND GUTHRUM'S PEACE.--This is the peace that King Alfred and +King Guthrum, and the witan of all the English nation, and all the +people that are in East Anglia have all ordained, and with oaths +confirmed, for themselves and their descendants, as well for born as +unborn, who reck of God's mercy or of ours. + +"First, concerning our land boundaries. These are upon the Thames, and +then upon the Lea, and along the Lea unto its source, then straight to +Bedford, then up the Ouse to Watling Street. + +"Then there is this: if a man be slain we reckon all equally dear, +English and Dane, at eight half marks of pure gold, except the churl who +dwells on gavel land and their leisings, they are also equally dear at +two hundred shillings. And if a king's thane be accused of manslaughter, +if he desire to clear himself, let him do so before twelve king's +thanes. If any man accuse a man who is of less degree than king's thane, +let him clear himself with eleven of his equals and one king's thane. +And so in every suit which be for more than four mancuses; and if he +dare not, let him pay for it threefold, as it may be valued. + +"_Of Warrantors_.--And that every man know his warrantor, for men, and +for horses, and for oxen. + +"And we all ordained, on that day that the oaths were sworn, that +neither bondman nor freeman might go to the army without leave, nor any +of them to us. But if it happen that any of them from necessity will +have traffic with us, or we with them, for cattle or goods, that is to +be allowed on this wise: that hostages be given in pledge of peace, and +as evidence whereby it may be known that the party has a clean book." + +By the treaty Alfred is thus established as King of the whole of England +south of the Thames; of all the old kingdom of Essex south of the Lea, +including London, Hertford, and St. Albans; of the whole of the great +kingdom of Mercia, which lay to the west of Watling Street, and of so +much to the east as lay south of the Ouse. That he should have regained +so much proves the straits to which he had brought the northern army, +who would have to give up all their new settlements round Gloster. That +he should have resigned so much of the kingdom which had acknowledged +his grandfather, father, and brothers as overlords proves how formidable +his foe still was, even in defeat, and how thoroughly the northeastern +parts of the island had by this time been settled by the Danes. + +The remainder of the short treaty would seem simply to be provisional, +and intended to settle the relations between Alfred's subjects and the +army while it remained within the limits of the new Saxon kingdom. Many +of the soldiers would have to break up their homes in Glostershire; and, +with this view, the halt at Cirencester is allowed, where, as we have +already heard, they rest until the winter. While they remain in the +Saxon kingdom there is to be no distinction between Saxon and Dane. The +were-gild, or life-ransom, is to be the same in each case for men of +like rank; and all suits for more than four mancuses (about twenty-four +shillings) are to be tried by a jury of peers of the accused. On the +other hand, only necessary communications are to be allowed between the +northern army and the people; and where there must be trading, fair and +peaceful dealing is to be insured by the giving of hostages. This last +provision, and the clause declaring that each man shall know his +warrantor, inserted in a five-clause treaty, where nothing but what the +contracting parties must hold to be of the very first importance would +find place, are another curious proof of the care with which our +ancestors, and all Germanic tribes, guarded against social +isolation--the doctrine that one man has nothing to do with another--a +doctrine which the great body of their descendants, under the leading of +Schultze, Delitzsch, and others, seem likely to repudiate with equal +emphasis in these latter days, both in Germany and England. + +Thus, in July, 878, the foundations of the new kingdom of England were +laid, for new it undoubtedly became when the treaty of Wedmore was +signed. The Danish nation, no longer strangers and enemies, are +recognized by the heir of Cerdic as lawful owners of the full half of +England. Having achieved which result, Guthrum and the rest of the new +converts leave the Saxon camp and return to Cirencester at the end of +twelve days, loaded with such gifts as it was still in the power of +their conquerors to bestow: and Alfred was left in peace, to turn to a +greater and more arduous task than any he had yet encountered. + + +JOHN RICHARD GREEN + +Alfred was the noblest as he was the most complete embodiment of all +that is great, all that is lovable, in the English temper. He combined +as no other man has ever combined its practical energy, its patient and +enduring force, its profound sense of duty, the reserve and self-control +that steady in it a wide outlook and a restless daring, its temperance +and fairness, its frank geniality, its sensitiveness to action, its +poetic tenderness, its deep and passionate religion. Religion, indeed, +was the groundwork of Alfred's character. His temper was instinct with +piety. Everywhere throughout his writings that remain to us the name of +God, the thought of God, stir him to outbursts of ecstatic adoration. + +But he was no mere saint. He felt none of that scorn of the world about +him which drove the nobler souls of his day to monastery or hermitage. +Vexed as he was by sickness and constant pain, his temper took no touch +of asceticism. His rare geniality, a peculiar elasticity and mobility of +nature, gave color and charm to his life. A sunny frankness and openness +of spirit breathe in the pleasant chat of his books, and what he was in +his books he showed himself in his daily converse. Alfred was in truth +an artist, and both the lights and shadows of his life were those of the +artistic temperament. His love of books, his love of strangers, his +questionings of travellers and scholars, betray an imaginative +restlessness that longs to break out of the narrow world of experience +which hemmed him in. At one time he jots down news of a voyage to the +unknown seas of the north. At another he listens to tidings which his +envoys bring back from the churches of Malabar. + +And side by side with this restless outlook of the artistic nature he +showed its tenderness and susceptibility, its vivid apprehension of +unseen danger, its craving for affection, its sensitiveness to wrong. It +was with himself rather than with his reader that he communed as +thoughts of the foe without, of ingratitude and opposition within, broke +the calm pages of Gregory or Boethius. + +"Oh, what a happy man was he," he cries once, "that man that had a naked +sword hanging over his head from a single thread; so as to me it always +did!" "Desirest thou power?" he asks at another time. "But thou shalt +never obtain it without sorrows--sorrows from strange folk, and yet +keener sorrows from thine own kindred." "Hardship and sorrow!" he breaks +out again; "not a king but would wish to be without these if he could. +But I know that he cannot!" + +The loneliness which breathes in words like these has often begotten in +great rulers a cynical contempt of men and the judgments of men. But +cynicism found no echo in the large and sympathetic temper of Alfred. He +not only longed for the love of his subjects, but for the remembrance of +"generations" to come. Nor did his inner gloom or anxiety check for an +instant his vivid and versatile activity. To the scholars he gathered +round him he seemed the very type of a scholar, snatching every hour he +could find to read or listen to books read to him. The singers of his +court found in him a brother singer, gathering the old songs of his +people to teach them to his children, breaking his renderings from the +Latin with simple verse, solacing himself in hours of depression with +the music of the Psalms. + +He passed from court and study to plan buildings and instruct craftsmen +in gold work, to teach even falconers and dog-keepers their business. +But all this versatility and ingenuity was controlled by a cool good +sense. Alfred was a thorough man of business. He was careful of detail, +laborious, methodical. He carried in his bosom a little handbook in +which he noted things as they struck him--now a bit of family genealogy, +now a prayer, now such a story as that of Ealdhelm playing minstrel on +the bridge. Each hour of the day had its appointed task; there was the +same order in the division of his revenue and in the arrangement of his +court. + +Wide, however, and various as was the King's temper, its range was less +wonderful than its harmony. Of the narrowness, of the want of +proportion, of the predominance of one quality over another which go +commonly with an intensity of moral purpose Alfred showed not a trace. +Scholar and soldier, artist and man of business, poet and saint, his +character kept that perfect balance which charms us in no other +Englishman save Shakespeare. But full and harmonious as his temper was, +it was the temper of a king. Every power was bent to the work of rule. +His practical energy found scope for itself in the material and +administrative restoration of the wasted land. + +His intellectual activity breathed fresh life into education and +literature. His capacity for inspiring trust and affection drew the +hearts of Englishmen to a common centre, and began the upbuilding of a +new England. And all was guided, controlled, ennobled by a single aim. +"So long as I have lived," said the King as life closed about him, "I +have striven to live worthily." Little by little men came to know what +such a life of worthiness meant. Little by little they came to recognize +in Alfred a ruler of higher and nobler stamp than the world had seen. +Never had it seen a king who lived solely for the good of his people. +Never had it seen a ruler who set aside every personal aim to devote +himself solely to the welfare of those whom he ruled. It was this grand +self-mastery that gave him his power over the men about him. Warrior and +conqueror as he was, they saw him set aside at thirty the warrior's +dream of conquest; and the self-renouncement of Wedmore struck the +keynote of his reign. But still more is it this height and singleness of +purpose, this absolute concentration of the noblest faculties to the +noblest aim, that lifts Alfred out of the narrow bounds of Wessex. + +If the sphere of his action seems too small to justify the comparison of +him with the few whom the world owns as its greatest men, he rises to +their level in the moral grandeur of his life. And it is this which has +hallowed his memory among his own English people. "I desire," said the +King in some of his latest words, "I desire to leave to the men that +come after me a remembrance of me in good works." + +His aim has been more than fulfilled. His memory has come down to us +with a living distinctness through the mists of exaggeration and legend +which time gathered round it. The instinct of the people has clung to +him with a singular affection. The love which he won a thousand years +ago has lingered round his name from that day to this. While every other +name of those earlier times has all but faded from the recollection of +Englishmen, that of Alfred remains familiar to every English child. + +The secret of Alfred's government lay in his own vivid energy. He could +hardly have chosen braver or more active helpers than those whom he +employed both in his political and in his educational efforts. The +children whom he trained to rule proved the ablest rulers of their time. +But at the outset of his reign he stood alone, and what work was to be +done was done by the King himself. His first efforts were directed to +the material restoration of his realm. The burnt and wasted country saw +its towns built again, forts erected in positions of danger, new abbeys +founded, the machinery of justice and government restored, the laws +codified and amended. Still more strenuous were Alfred's efforts for its +moral and intellectual restoration. Even in Mercia and Northumbria the +pirate's sword had left few survivors of the schools of Egbert or Bede, +and matters were even worse in Wessex, which had been as yet the most +ignorant of the English kingdoms. + +"When I began to reign," said Alfred, "I cannot remember one priest +south of the Thames who could render his service-book into English." For +instructors indeed he could find only a few Mercian prelates and +priests, with one Welsh bishop, Asser. + +"Formerly," the King writes bitterly, "men came hither from foreign +lands to seek for instruction, and now when we desire it we can only +obtain it from abroad." But his mind was far from being prisoned within +his own island. He sent a Norwegian shipmaster to explore the White Sea, +and Wulfstan to trace the coast of Esthonia; envoys bore his presents to +the churches of India and Jerusalem, and an annual mission carried +Peter's pence to Rome. + +But it was with the Franks that his intercourse was closest, and it was +from them that he drew the scholars to aid him in his work of education. +A scholar named Grimbald came from St. Omer to preside over his new +abbey at Winchester; and John, the old Saxon, was fetched from the abbey +of Corbey to rule a monastery and school that Alfred's gratitude for his +deliverance from the Danes raised in the marshes of Athelney. The real +work, however, to be done was done, not by these teachers, but by the +King himself. Alfred established a school for the young nobles in his +court, and it was to the need of books for these scholars in their own +tongue that we owe his most remarkable literary effort. + +He took his books as he found them--they were the popular manuals of his +age--the _Consolation of Boethius_, the _Pastoral_ of Pope Gregory, the +compilation of Orosius, then the one accessible handbook of universal +history, and the history of his own people by Bede. He translated these +works into English, but he was far more than a translator, he was an +editor for the people. Here he omitted, there he expanded. He enriched +Orosius by a sketch of the new geographical discoveries in the north. He +gave a West Saxon form to his selections from Bede. In one place he +stops to explain his theory of government, his wish for a thicker +population, his conception of national welfare as consisting in a due +balance of priest, soldier, and churl. The mention of Nero spurs him to +an outbreak on the abuses of power. The cold providence of Boethius +gives way to an enthusiastic acknowledgment of the goodness of God. + +As he writes, his large-hearted nature flings off its royal mantle, and +he talks as a man to men. "Do not blame me," he prays with a charming +simplicity, "if any know Latin better than I, for every man must say +what he says and do what he does according to his ability." + +But simple as was his aim, Alfred changed the whole front of our +literature. Before him, England possessed in her own tongue one great +poem and a train of ballads and battle-songs. Prose she had none. The +mighty roll of the prose books that fill her libraries begins with the +translations of Alfred, and above all with the chronicle of his reign. +It seems likely that the King's rendering of Bede's history gave the +first impulse toward the compilation of what is known as the English or +_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, which was certainly thrown into its present +form during his reign. The meagre lists of the kings of Wessex and the +bishops of Winchester, which had been preserved from older times, were +roughly expanded into a national history by insertions from Bede; but it +is when it reaches the reign of Alfred that the chronicle suddenly +widens into the vigorous narrative, full of life and originality, that +marks the gift of a new power to the English tongue. Varying as it does +from age to age in historic value, it remains the first vernacular +history of any Teutonic people, and, save for the Gothic translations of +Ulfilas, the earliest and most venerable monument of Teutonic prose. + +But all this literary activity was only a part of that general +upbuilding of Wessex by which Alfred was preparing for a fresh contest +with the stranger. He knew that the actual winning back of the Danelagh +must be a work of the sword, and through these long years of peace he +was busy with the creation of such a force as might match that of the +Northmen. A fleet grew out of the little squadron which Alfred had been +forced to man with Frisian seamen. + +The national _fyrd_ or levy of all freemen at the King's call was +reorganized. It was now divided into two halves, one of which served in +the field while the other guarded its own _burhs_ (burghs or boroughs) +and townships, and served to relieve its fellow when the men's forty +days of service were ended. A more disciplined military force was +provided by subjecting all owners of five hides of land to +"thane-service," a step which recognized the change that had now +substituted the _thegn_ for the _eorl_ and in which we see the beginning +of a feudal system. How effective these measures were was seen when the +new resistance they met on the Continent drove the Northmen to a fresh +attack on Britain. + +In 893 a large fleet steered for the Andredsweald, while the sea-king +Hasting entered the Thames. Alfred held both at bay through the year +till the men of the Danelagh rose at their comrades' call. Wessex stood +again front to front with the Northmen. But the King's measures had made +the realm strong enough to set aside its old policy of defence for one +of vigorous attack. His son Edward and his son-in-law Ethelred, whom he +had set as ealdorman[23] over what remained of Mercia, showed themselves +as skilful and active as the King. + +[Footnote 23: Primitive of alderman; in this period, a chieftain, lord, +or earl; subsequently, the chief magistrate of a territorial district, +as of a county or province.] + +The aim of the Northmen was to rouse again the hostility of the Welsh, +but while Alfred held Exeter against their fleet, Edward and Ethelred +caught their army near the Severn and overthrew it with a vast slaughter +at Buttington. The destruction of their camp on the Lea by the united +English forces ended the war; in 897 Hasting again withdrew across the +Channel, and the Danelagh made peace. It was with the peace he had won +still about him that Alfred died in 901; and warrior as his son Edward +had shown himself, he clung to his father's policy of rest. + + + + +HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS + +ORIGIN OF THE GERMAN BURGHERS OR MIDDLE CLASSES + +A.D. 911-936 + +WOLFGANG MENZEL + + +(The famous treaty of Verdun [843] was the culmination of a series of +civil wars between the descendants of Charlemagne. By it the great +empire which Charlemagne had built up was divided among his three +grandsons, Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis. With this treaty the +history of the Franks closes, and Germany and France take their places, +along with Italy, as distinct and separate nations. + +The Teutonic kingdom, or Germany, fell to Louis. On his death, in 876, +after an uneventful reign, he was succeeded by his sons Charles the Fat, +Carloman, and Louis. The latter two dying, Charles the Fat became sole +King of Germany. A little later he became ruler of Italy, and was +crowned emperor by the pope. Then he was invited by the West Franks to +become their king. Thus almost the whole empire of the great Charlemagne +was reunited in the hands of Charles the Fat. However, his people soon +became disgusted with his weak efforts in the treatment of a series of +invasions by the Northmen, and he was deposed in 887. He died the next +year, and the Carlovingian empire fell to pieces, never to be united +again. + +Charles the Fat was succeeded in Germany by his nephew, Arnulf, who also +took possession of Italy and was crowned emperor by the pope, though his +power in Italy was merely nominal. On his death in 889 his second son, +Ludwig [Louis III] the child, became king in Germany. + +The race of Charlemagne in Germany ended in 911 by the death of Ludwig. +Though a mere child he had been enthroned through the intrigues of Otto, +Duke of Saxony, and Hatto, Archbishop of Mayence, who virtually governed +the empire during Ludwig's short reign. + +The empire at that time was composed of various nations, each under the +rule of a powerful duke. The bond of union between these nations was +slight. The dukes were constantly waging war against each other, and +these internal dissensions greatly weakened the central government. + +At the same time the empire was exposed to the incursions of the Magyars +or Hungarians, whose wholesale depredations and cruelties so dismayed +the child-king that he concluded a treaty of peace with the invaders and +consented to pay them a ten-years' tribute. + +The Germans were deeply sensible of the dishonor incurred by this +ignominious tribute, and of the dangers of their internal dissensions. +They longed for a stronger government, and on the death of Ludwig the +crown was offered to Otto of Saxony, the strongest of the dukes. He +declined in favor of Conrad, Duke of Franconia, a descendant in the +female line from Charlemagne. But Conrad's rule was weak, and during his +short reign of seven years civil war continued, part of the time with +Henry the Fowler, son of Duke Otto [who died in 912], owing to Conrad's +attempt to separate Thuringia from Saxony in order to weaken Henry's +ducal power. The empire also was again invaded by the Slavs and +Hungarians. + +Conrad died without male issue in 918, whereupon the Germans elected as +emperor Henry the Fowler, who thus became the first of the Saxon dynasty +in Germany, and proved himself to be the wisest and most vigorous +sovereign who had ruled in Germany since the days of Charlemagne.) + + +The extinction of the Carlovingian line did not sever the bond of union +that existed between the different nations of Germany, although a +contention arose between them concerning the election of the new +emperor, each claiming that privilege for itself; and as the increase of +the ducal power had naturally led to a wider distinction between them, +the diet convoked for the purpose represented nations instead of +classes. There were consequently four nations and four votes: the Franks +under Duke Conrad, whose authority, nevertheless, could not compete with +that of the now venerable Hatto, Archbishop of Mayence, who may be said +to have been, at that period, the pope in Germany; the Saxons, +Frieslanders, Thuringians, and some of the subdued Slavi, under Duke +Otto; the Swabians, with Switzerland and Elsace, under different +_grafs_, who, as the immediate officers of the crown, were named +_kammerboten_, in order to distinguish them from the grafs nominated by +the dukes; the Bavarians, with the Tyrolese and some of the subdued +eastern Slavi, under Duke Arnulf the Bad, the son of the brave duke +Luitpold. The Lothringians formed a fifth nation, under their duke +Regingar, but were at that period incorporated with France. + +The first impulse of the diet was to bestow the crown on the most +powerful among the different competitors, and it was accordingly offered +to Otto of Saxony, who not only possessed the most extensive territory +and the most warlike subjects, but whose authority, having descended to +him from his father and grandfather, was also the most firmly secured. +But both Otto and his ancient ally, the bishop Hatto, had found the +system they had hitherto pursued, of reigning in the name of an imbecile +monarch, so greatly conducive to their interest that they were +disinclined to abandon it. Otto was a man who mistook the prudence +inculcated by private interest for wisdom, and his mind, narrow as the +limits of his dukedom, and solely intent upon the interests of his +family, was incapable of the comprehensive views requisite in a German +emperor, and indifferent to the welfare of the great body of the nation. +The examples of Boso, of Odo, of Rudolph of Upper Burgundy, and of +Berenger, who, favored by the difference in descent of the people they +governed, had all succeeded in severing themselves from the empire, were +ever present to his imagination, and he believed that as, on the other +side of the Rhine, the Frank, the Burgundian, and the Lombard severally +obeyed an independent sovereign, the East Frank, the Saxon, the Swabian, +and the Bavarian, on this side of the Rhine, were also desirous of +asserting a similar independence, and that it would be easier and less +hazardous to found a hereditary dukedom in a powerful and separate state +than to maintain the imperial dignity, undermined, as it was, by +universal hostility. + +The influence of Hatto and the consent of Otto placed Conrad, Duke of +Franconia, on the imperial throne. Sprung from a newly risen family, a +mere creature of the bishop, his nobility as a feudal lord only dating +from the period of the Babenberg feud, he was regarded by the Church as +a pliable tool and by the dukes as little to be feared. His weakness was +quickly demonstrated by his inability to retain the rich allods of the +Carlovingian dynasty as heir to the imperial crown, and his being +constrained to share them with the rest of the dukes; he was, +nevertheless, more fully sensible of the dignity and of the duties of +his station than those to whom he owed his election probably expected. +His first step was to recall Regingar of Lothringia, who was oppressed +by France, to his allegiance as vassal of the empire. + +Otto died in 912, and his son Henry, a high-spirited youth, who had +greatly distinguished himself against the Slavi, ere long quarrelled +with the aged bishop Hatto. According to the legendary account, the +bishop sent him a golden chain so skilfully contrived as to strangle its +wearer. The truth is that the ancient family feud between the house of +Conrad and that of Otto, which was connected with the Babenbergers, +again broke out, and that the Emperor attempted again to separate +Thuringia, which Otto had governed since the death of Burkhard, from +Saxony, in order to hinder the overpreponderance of that ducal house. +Hatto, it is probable, counselled this step, as a considerable portion +of Thuringia belonged to the diocese of Mayence, and a collision between +him and the duke was therefore unavoidable. Henry flew to arms, and +expelled the adherents of the bishop from Thuringia, which forced the +Emperor to take the field in the name of the empire against his haughty +vassal. This unfortunate civil war was a signal for a fresh irruption of +the Slavi and Hungarians. During this year the Bohemians and Sorbi also +made an inroad into Thuringia and Bavaria, and in 913 the Hungarians +advanced as far as Swabia, but being surprised near Oetting by the +Bavarians under Arnulf, who on this occasion bloodily avenged his +father's death, and by the Swabians under the kammerboten Erchanger and +Berthold, they were all, with the exception of thirty of their number, +cut to pieces. Arnulf subsequently embraced a contrary line of policy, +married the daughter of Geisa, King of Hungary, and entered into a +confederacy with the Hungarian and the Swabian kammerboten, for the +purpose of founding an independent state in the south of Germany, where +he had already strengthened himself by the appointment of several +markgrafs, Rudiger of Pechlarn in Austria, Rathold in Carinthia, and +Berthold in the Tyrol. He then instigated all the enemies of the empire +simultaneously to attack the Franks and Saxons, at that crisis at war +with each other, in 915, and while the Danes under Gorm the Old, and the +Obotrites, destroyed Hamburg, immense hordes of Hungarians, Bohemians, +and Sorbi laid the country waste as far as Bremen. + +The Emperor was, meanwhile, engaged with the Saxons. On one occasion +Henry narrowly escaped being taken prisoner, being merely saved by the +stratagem of his faithful servant, Thiatmar, who caused the Emperor to +retreat by falsely announcing to him the arrival of a body of +auxiliaries. At length a pitched battle was fought near Merseburg, in +915, between Henry and Eberhard, the Emperor's brother, in which the +Franks[24] were defeated, and the superiority of the Saxons remained, +henceforward, unquestioned for more than a century. The Emperor was +forced to negotiate with the victor, whom he induced to protect the +northern frontiers of the empire while he applied himself in person to +the reestablishment of order in the south. + +[Footnote 24: So great a slaughter took place that the Saxons said on +the occasion: + + "'Twere difficult to find a hell + Where so many Franks might dwell!"] + +In Swabia, Salomon, Bishop of Constance, who was supported by the +commonalty, adhered to the imperial cause, while the kammerboten were +unable to palliate their treason, and were gradually driven to +extremities. Erchanger, relying upon aid from Arnulf and the Hungarians, +usurped the ducal crown and took the bishop prisoner. Salomon's extreme +popularity filled him with such rage that he caused the feet of some +shepherds, who threw themselves on their knees as the captured prelate +passed by, to be chopped off. His wife, Bertha, terror-stricken at the +rashness of her husband, and foreseeing his destruction, received the +prisoner with every demonstration of humility, and secretly aided his +escape. He no sooner reappeared than the people flocked in thousands +around him. "_Heil Herro! Heil Liebo!_" ("Hail, master! Hail, beloved +one!") they shouted, and in their zeal attacked and defeated the +traitors and their adherents. Berthold vainly defended himself in his +mountain stronghold of Hohentwiel. The people so urgently demanded the +death of these traitors to their country that the Emperor convoked a +general assembly at Albingen in Swabia, sentenced Erchanger and Berthold +to be publicly beheaded, and nominated Burkhard, in 917, whose father +and uncle had been assassinated by order of Erchanger, as successor to +the ducal throne. Arnulf withdrew to his fortress at Salzburg, and +quietly awaited more favorable times. His name was branded with infamy +by the people, who henceforth affixed to it the epithet of "the Bad," +and the _Nibelungenlied_ has perpetuated his detested memory. + +Conrad died in 918 without issue. On his death-bed, mindful only of the +welfare of the empire, he proved himself deserving even by his latest +act of the crown he had so worthily worn, by charging his brother +Eberhard to forget the ancient feud between their houses, and to deliver +the crown with his own hands to his enemy, the free-spirited Henry, whom +he judged alone capable of meeting all the exigencies of the State. +Eberhard obeyed his brother's injunctions, and the princes respected the +will of their dying sovereign. + +The princes, with the exception of Burkhard and of Arnulf, assembled at +Fritzlar, elected the absent Henry king, and despatched an embassy to +inform him of their decision. It is said that the young duke was at the +time among the Harz Mountains, and that the ambassadors found him in the +homely attire of a sportsman in the fowling floor. He obeyed the call of +the nation without delay and without manifesting surprise. The error he +had committed in rebelling against the State, it was his firm purpose to +atone for by his conduct as emperor. Of a lofty and majestic stature, +although slight and youthful in form, powerful and active in person, +with a commanding and penetrating glance, his very appearance attracted +popular favor; besides these personal advantages, he was prudent and +learned, and possessed a mind replete with intelligence. The influence +of such a monarch on the progressive development of society in Germany +could not fail of producing results fully equalling the improvements +introduced by Charlemagne. + +The youthful Henry, the first of the Saxon line, was proclaimed king of +Germany at Fritzlar, in 919, by the majority of votes, and, according to +ancient custom, raised upon the shield. The Archbishop of Mayence +offered to anoint him according to the usual ceremony, but Henry +refused, alleging that he was content to owe his election to the grace +of God and to the piety of the German princes, and that he left the +ceremony of anointment to those who wished to be still more pious. + +Before Henry could pursue his more elevated projects, the assent of the +southern Germans, who had not acknowledged the choice of their northern +compatriots, had to be gained. Burkhard of Swabia, who had asserted his +independence, and who was at that time carrying on a bitter feud with +Rudolph, King of Burgundy, whom he had defeated, in 919, in a bloody +engagement near Winterthur, was the first against whom he directed the +united forces of the empire, in whose name he, at the same time, offered +him peace and pardon. Burkhard, seeing himself constrained to yield, +took the oath of fealty to the new-elected King at Worms, but continued +to act with almost his former unlimited authority in Swabia, and even +undertook an expedition into Italy in favor of Rudolph, with whom he had +become reconciled. The Italians, enraged at the wantonness with which he +mocked them, assassinated him. Henry bestowed the dukedom of Swabia on +Hermann, one of his relations, to whom he gave Burkhard's widow in +marriage. He also bestowed a portion of the south of Alemannia on King +Rudolph in order to win him over, and in return received from him the +holy lance with which the side of the Saviour had been pierced as he +hung on the cross. Finding it no longer possible to dissolve the +dukedoms and great fiefs, Henry, in order to strengthen the unity of the +empire, introduced the novel policy of bestowing the dukedoms, as they +fell vacant, on his relations and personal adherents, and of allying the +rest of the dukes with himself by intermarriage, thus uniting the +different powerful houses in the State into one family. + +Bavaria still remained in an unsettled state. Arnulf the Bad, leagued +with the Hungarians, against whom Henry had great designs, had still +much in his power, and Henry, resolved at any price to dissolve this +dangerous alliance, not only concluded peace with this traitor on that +condition, but also married his son Henry to Judith, Arnulf's daughter, +in 921. Arnulf deprived the rich churches of great part of their +treasures, and was consequently abhorred by the clergy, the chroniclers +of those times, who, chiefly on that account, depicted his character in +such unfavorable colors. + +In France, Charles the Simple was still the tool and jest of the +vassals. His most dangerous enemy was Robert, Count of Paris, brother to +Odo, the late King. Both solicited aid from Henry, but in a battle that +shortly ensued near Soissons, Count Robert losing his life and Charles +being defeated, Rudolph of Burgundy, one of Boso's nephews, set himself +up as king of France, and imprisoned Charles the Simple, who craved +assistance from the German monarch, to whom he promised to perform +homage as his liege lord. Henry, meanwhile, contented himself with +expelling Rudolph from Lotharingia, and, after taking possession of +Metz, bestowed that dukedom upon Gisilbrecht, the son of Regingar, and +reincorporated it with the empire. These successes now roused the +apprehensions of the Hungarians, who again poured their invading hordes +across the frontier. In 926 they plundered St. Gall, but were routed +near Seckingen by the peasantry, headed by the country people of +Hirminger, who had been roused by alarm fires; and again in Alsace, by +Count Liutfried: another horde was cut to pieces near Bleiburg, in +Carinthia, by Eberhard and the Count of Meran. The Hungarian King, +probably Zoldan, was, by chance, taken prisoner during an incursion by +the Germans, a circumstance turned by Henry to a very judicious use. He +restored the captured prince to liberty, and also agreed to pay him a +yearly tribute, on condition of his entering into a solemn truce for +nine years. The experience of earlier times had taught Henry that a +completely new organization was necessary in the management of military +affairs in Germany before this dangerous enemy could be rendered +innoxious, and, as an undertaking of this nature required time, he +prudently resolved to incur a seeming disgrace by means of which he in +fact secured the honor of the State. During this interval of nine years +he aimed at bringing the other enemies of the empire, more particularly +the Slavi, into subjection, and making preparations for an expedition +against Hungary by which her power should receive a fatal blow. + +In the mean time Gisilbrecht, the youthful Duke of Lotharingia, again +rebelled, but was besieged and taken prisoner in Zuelpich by Henry, who, +struck by his noble appearance, restored to him his dukedom, and +bestowed upon him his daughter, Gerberga, in marriage. Rudolph of France +also sued for peace, being hard pressed by his powerful rival, Hugo the +Great or Wise, the son of Robert. Charles the Simple was, on Henry's +demand, restored to liberty, but quickly fell anew into the power of his +faithless vassals. + +Peace was now established throughout the empire, and afforded Henry an +opportunity for turning his attention to the introduction of measures, +in the interior economy of the State, calculated to obviate for the +future the dangers that had hitherto threatened it from without. The +best expedient against the irruptions of the Hungarians appeared to him +to be the circumvallation of the most important districts, the erection +of forts and of fortified cities. The most important point, however, was +to place the garrisons immediately under him as citizens of the State, +commanded by his immediate officers, instead of their being indirectly +governed by the feudal aristocracy and by the clergy. As these garrisons +were intended not only for the protection of the walls, but also for +open warfare, he had them trained to fight in rank and file, and formed +them into a body of infantry, whose solid masses were calculated to +withstand the furious onset of the Hungarian horse. These garrisons were +solely composed of the ancient freemen, and the whole measure was, in +fact, merely a reform of the ancient _arrier-ban_, which no longer +sufficed for the protection of the State, and whose deficiency had long +been supplied by the addition of vassals under the command of their +temporal or spiritual lieges, and by the mercenaries or bodyguards of +the emperors. The ancient class of freemen, who originally composed the +arrier-ban, had been gradually converted into feudal vassals; but they +were at that time still so numerous as to enable Henry to give them a +completely new military organization, which at once secured to them +their freedom, hitherto endangered by the preponderating power of the +feudal aristocracy, and rendered them a powerful support to the throne. +By collecting them into the cities, he afforded them a secure retreat +against the attempts of the grafs, dukes, abbots, and bishops, and +created for himself a body of trusty friends, of whom it would naturally +be expected that they would ever side with the Emperor against the +nobility. + +This new regulation appears to have been founded on the ancient mode of +division. At first, out of every nine freemen--which recalls the +_decania_--one only was placed within the new fortress, and the +remaining eight were bound--perhaps on account of their ancient +association into corporations or guilds--to nourish and support him; but +the remaining freemen, in the neighborhood of the new cities, appear to +have been also gradually collected within their walls, and to have +committed the cultivation of their lands in the vicinity to their +bondmen. However that may be, the ancient class of freemen completely +disappeared as the cities increased in importance, and it was only among +the wild mountains, where no cities sprang up, that the _centen_ or +cantons and whole districts or _gauen_ of free peasantry were to be met +with. + +Henry's original intention in the introduction of this new system was, +it is evident, solely to provide a military force answering to the +exigencies of the State; still there is no reason to suppose him blind +to the great political advantage to be derived from the formation of an +independent class of citizens; and that he had in reality premeditated a +civil as well as a military reformation may be concluded from the fact +of his having established fairs, markets, and public assemblies, which, +of themselves, would be closely connected with civil industry, within +the walls of the cities; and, even if these trading warriors were at +first merely feudatories of the Emperor, they must naturally in the end +have formed a class of free citizens, the more so as, attracted within +the cities by the advantages offered to them, their number rapidly and +annually increased. + +The same military reasons which induced the emperor Henry to enroll the +ancient freemen into a regular corps of infantry, and to form them into +a civil corporation, caused him also to metamorphose the feudal +aristocracy into a regular troop of cavalry and a knightly institution. +The wild disorder with which the mounted vassals of the empire, the +dukes, grafs, bishops, and abbots, each distinguished by his own banner, +rushed to the attack, or vied with each other in the fury of the +assault, was now changed by Henry, who was well versed in every knightly +art, to the disciplined manoeuvres of the line, and to that of fighting +in close ranks, so well calculated to withstand the furious onset of +their Hungarian foe. The discipline necessary for carrying these new +military tactics into practice among a nobility habituated to license +could alone be enforced by motives of honor, and Henry accordingly +formed a chivalric institution, which gave rise to new manners and to an +enthusiasm that imparted a new character to the age. The tournament-- +from the ancient verb _turnen_, to wrestle or fight, a public contest in +every species of warfare, carried on by the knights in the presence of +noble dames and maidens, whose favor they sought to gain by their +prowess, and which chiefly consisted of tilting and jousting either +singly or in troops, the day concluding with a banquet and a dance--was +then instituted. In these tournaments the ancient heroism of the Germans +revived; they were in reality founded upon the ancient pagan legends of +the heroes who carried on an eternal contest in their Walhalla, in order +to win the smiles of the Walkyren, now represented by earth's well-born +dames. + +The ancient spirit of brotherhood in arms, which had been almost +quenched by that of self-interest, by the desire of acquiring feudal +possessions, by the slavish subjection of the vassals under their +lieges, and by the intrigues of the bishops, who intermeddled with all +feudal matters, also reappeared. A great universal society of Christian +knights, bound to the observance of peculiar laws, whose highest aim was +to fight only for God--before long also for the ladies--and who swore +never to make use of dishonorable means for success, but solely to live +and to die for honor, was formed; an innovation which, although merely +military in its origin, speedily became of political importance, for, by +means of this knightly honor, the little vassal of a minor lord was no +longer viewed as a mere underling, but as a confederate in the great +universal chivalric fraternity. There were also many freemen who +sometimes gained their livelihood by offering their services to +different courts, or by robbing on the highways, and who were too proud +to serve on foot; Henry offered them free pardon, and formed them into a +body of light cavalry. In the cities the free citizens, who were +originally intended only to serve as foot soldiery, appear ere long to +have formed themselves into mounted troops, and to have created a fresh +body of infantry out of their artificers and apprentices. It is certain +that every freeman could pretend to knighthood. + +Although the chivalric regulations ascribed to the emperor Henry, and to +his most distinguished vassals, may not be genuine, they offer +nevertheless infallible proofs of the most ancient spirit of knighthood. +Henry ordained that no one should be created a knight who either by word +or by deed injured the holy Church; the Pfalzgraf Conrad added, "no one +who either by word or by deed injured the holy German empire"; Hermann +of Swabia, "no one who injured a woman or a maiden"; Berthold, the +brother of Arnulf of Bavaria, "no one who had ever deceived another or +had broken his word"; Conrad of Franconia, "no one who had ever run away +from the field of battle." These appear to have been, in fact, the first +chivalric laws, for they spring from the spirit of the times, while all +the regulations concerning nobility of birth, the number of ancestors, +the exclusion of all those who were engaged in trade, etc., are, it is +evident from their very nature, of a much later origin. + + + + +CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY THE FATIMITES + +A.D. 969 + +STANLEY LANE-POOLE + + +(It was the fate of the religion which Mahomet founded, as it has been +of other great systems, to undergo many sectarian divisions, and to be +used as the instrument of conquest and political power. When Islam had +somewhat departed from the character which it first manifested in moral +sternness and fiery zeal, and had established itself in various parts of +the world on a basis of commerce or of science, rather than that of its +original inspiration, various off shoots of the faith began to assume +prominence. Among the sects which sprang up was one that claimed to +represent the true succession of Mahomet. This sect was itself the +result of a schism among the adherents of one of the two principal +divisions of the Moslems--the Shiahs. They maintained that Ali, a +relation and the adopted son of Mahomet and husband of his daughter +Fatima, was the first legitimate imam or successor of the prophet. They +regarded the other and greater division--the Sunnites, who recognized +the first three caliphs, Abu-Bekr, Omar, and Othman--as usurpers. Ali +was the fourth caliph, and the Sunnites in turn looked upon his +followers, the Shiahs, as heretics. + +The schism among the Shiahs grew out of the claim of the schismatics +that the legitimate imam or successor of the Prophet must be in the line +of descent from Ali. The sixth imam, Jaffer, upon the death of his +eldest son, Ismail, appointed another son, Moussa or Moses, his heir; +but a large body of the Shiahs denied the right of Jaffer to make a new +nomination, declaring the imamate to be strictly hereditary. They formed +a new party of Ismailians, and in 908 a chief of this sect, Mahomet, +surnamed el-Mahdi, or the Leader--a title of the Shiahs for their +imams--revolted in Africa. He called himself a descendant of Ismail and +claimed to be the legitimate imam. He aimed at the temporal power of a +caliph, and soon established a rival caliphate in Africa, where he had +obtained a considerable sovereignty. The dynasty thus begun assumed the +name of Fatimites in honor of Fatima. The fourth caliph of this line, +El-Moizz, conquered Egypt about 969, founded the modern Cairo, and made +it his capital. The claims of the Egyptian caliphate were heralded +throughout all Islam, and its rule was rapidly extended into Syria and +Arabia. It played an important part in the history of the Crusades, but +in 1171 was abolished by the famous Saladin, and Egypt was restored to +the obedience which it had formerly owned to Bagdad. The Bagdad caliphs, +called Abbassides--claiming descent from Abbas, the uncle of +Mahomet--remained rulers of Egypt until 1517, or until within twenty +years of the death of the last Abbasside.) + + +Three hundred and thirty years had passed since the Saracens first +invaded the valley of the Nile. The people, with traditional docility, +had liberally adopted the religion of their rulers, and the Moslems now +formed the great majority of the population. Arabs and natives had +blended into much the same race that we now call Egyptians; but so far +the mixture had not produced any conspicuous men. The few commanding +figures among the governors, Ibn-Tulun, the Ikshid, Kafur, were +foreigners, and even these were but a step above the stereotyped +official. They essayed no great extension of their dominions; they did +not try to extinguish their dangerous neighbors the schismatic +Fatimites; and though they possessed and used fleets, they ventured upon +no excursions against Europe. + +The great revolution which had swept over North Africa, and now spread +to Egypt, arose out of the old controversy over the legitimacy of the +caliphate. The prophet Mahomet died without definitely naming a +successor, and thereby bequeathed an interminable quarrel to his +followers. The principle of election, thus introduced, raised the first +three caliphs, Abu-Bekr, Omar, Othman, to the _cathedra_ at Medina; but +a strong minority held that the "divine right" rested with Ali, the +"Lion of God," first convert to Islam, husband of the prophet's daughter +Fatima, and father of Mahomet's only male descendants. When Ali in turn +became the fourth caliph, he was the mark for jealousy, intrigue, and at +length assassination; his sons, the grandsons of the Prophet, were +excluded from the succession; his family were cruelly persecuted by +their successful rivals, the Ommiad usurpers; and the tragedy of Kerbela +and the murder of Hoseyn set the seal of martyrdom on the holy family +and stirred a passionate enthusiasm which still rouses intense +excitement in the annual representations of the Persian passion play. + +The rent thus opened in Islam was never closed. The ostracism of Ali +"laid the foundation of the grand interminable schism which has divided +the Mahometan Church, and equally destroyed the practice of charity +among the members of their common creed and endangered the speculative +truths of doctrine." + +The descendants of Ali, though almost universally devoid of the +qualities of great leaders, possessed the persistence and devotion of +martyrs, and their sufferings heightened the fanatical enthusiasm of +their supporters. All attempts to recover the temporal power having +proved vain, the Alides fell back upon the spiritual authority of the +successive candidates of the holy family, whom they proclaimed to be the +imams or spiritual leaders of the faithful. This doctrine of the imamate +gradually acquired a more mystical meaning, supported by an allegorical +interpretation of the _Koran_; and a mysterious influence was ascribed +to the imam, who, though hidden from mortal eye, on account of the +persecution of his enemies, would soon come forward publicly in the +character of the ever-expected _mahdi_, sweep away the corruptions of +the heretical caliphate, and revive the majesty of the pure lineage of +the prophet. All Mahometans believe in a coming mahdi, a messiah, who +shall restore right and prepare for the second advent of Mahomet and the +tribunal of the last day; but the Shiahs turned the expectation to +special account. They taught that the true Imam, though invisible to +mortal sight, is ever living; they predicted the mahdi's speedy +appearance, and kept their adherents on the alert to take up arms in his +service. With a view to his coming they organized a pervasive +conspiracy, instituted a secret society with carefully graduated stages +of initiation, used the doctrines of all religions and sects as weapons +in the propaganda, and sent missionaries throughout the provinces of +Islam to increase the numbers of the initiates and pave the way for the +great revolution. We see their partial success in the ravages of the +Karmathians, who were the true parents of the Fatimites. The leaders and +chief missionaries had really nothing in common with Mahometanism. Among +themselves they were frankly atheists. Their objects were political, and +they used religion in any form, and adapted it in all modes, to secure +proselytes, to whom they imparted only so much of their doctrine as they +were able to bear. These men were furnished with "an armory of +proselytism" as perfect, perhaps, as any known to history: they had +appeals to enthusiasm, and arguments for the reason, and "fuel for the +fiercest passions of the people and times in which they moved." Their +real aim was not religious or constructive, but pure nihilism. They used +the claim of the family of Ali, not because they believed in any divine +right or any caliphate, but because some flag had to be flourished in +order to rouse the people. + +One of these missionaries, disguised as a merchant, journeyed back to +Barbary in 893, with some Berber pilgrims who had performed the sacred +ceremonies at Mecca. He was welcomed by the great tribe of the Kitama, +and rapidly acquired an extraordinary influence over the Berbers--a race +prone to superstition, and easily impressed by the mysterious rites of +initiation and the emotional doctrines of the propagandist, the wrongs +of the prophetic house, and the approaching triumph of the Mahdi. +Barbary had never been much attached to the caliphate, and for a century +it had been practically independent under the Aglabite dynasty, the +barbarous excesses of whose later sovereigns had alienated their +subjects. Alides, moreover, had established themselves, in the dynasty +of the Idrisides, in Morocco since the end of the eighth century. The +land was in every respect ripe for revolution, and the success of +Abu-Abdallah esh-Shii, the new missionary, was extraordinarily rapid. In +a few years he had a following of two hundred thousand armed men, and +after a series of battles he drove Ziyadat-Allah, the last Aglabite +prince, out of the country in 908. The missionary then proclaimed the +imam Obeid-Allah as the true caliph and spiritual head of Islam. Whether +this Obeid-Allah was really a descendant of Ali or not, he had been +carefully prepared for the role, and reached Barbary in disguise, with +the greatest mystery and some difficulty, pursued by the suspicions of +the Bagdad caliph, who, in great alarm, sent repeated orders for his +arrest. Indeed, the victorious missionary had to rescue his spiritual +chief from a sordid prison at Sigilmasa. Then humbly prostrating himself +before him, he hailed him as the expected mahdi, and in January, 910, he +was duly prayed for in the mosque of Kayrawan as "the Imam 'Obeid-Allah +el-Mahdi, Commander of the Faithful.'" + +The missionary's Berber proselytes were too numerous to encourage +resistance, and the few who indulged the luxury of conscientious +scruples were killed or imprisoned. El-Mahdi, indeed, appeared so secure +in power that he excited the jealousy of his discoverer. + +Abu-Abdallah, the missionary, now found himself nobody, where a month +before he had been supreme. The Fatimite restoration was to him only a +means to an end; he had used Obeid-Allah's title as an engine of +revolution, intending to proceed to the furthest lengths of his +philosophy, to a complete social and political anarchy, the destruction +of Islam, community of lands and women, and all the delight of +unshackled license. Instead of this, his creature had absorbed his +power, and all such designs were made void. He began to hatch treason +and to hint doubts as to the genuineness of the Mahdi, who, as he truly +represented, according to prophecy, ought to work miracles and show +other proofs of his divine mission. People began to ask for a "sign." In +reply, the Mahdi had the missionary murdered. + +The first Fatimite caliph, though without experience, was so vigorous a +ruler that he could dispense with the dangerous support of his +discoverer. He held the throne for a quarter of a century and +established his authority, more or less continuously, over the Arab and +Berber tribes and settled cities from the frontier of Egypt to the +province of Fez (Fas) in Morocco, received the allegiance of the +Mahometan governor of Sicily, and twice despatched expeditions into +Egypt, which he would probably have permanently conquered if he had not +been hampered by perpetual insurrections in Barbary. Distant governors, +and often whole tribes of Berbers, were constantly in revolt, and the +disastrous famine of 928-929, coupled with the Asiatic plague which his +troops had brought back with them from Egypt, led to general +disturbances and insurrections which fully occupied the later years of +his reign. The western provinces, from Tahart and Nakur to Fez and +beyond, frequently threw off all show of allegiance. His authority was +founded more on fear than on religious enthusiasm, though zeal for the +Alide cause had its share in his original success. The new "Eastern +doctrines," as they were called, were enforced at the sword's point, and +frightful examples were made of those who ventured to tread in the old +paths. Nor were the freethinkers of the large towns, who shared the +missionary's esoteric principles, encouraged; for outwardly, at least, +the Mahdi was strictly a Moslem. When people at Kayrawan began to put in +practice the missionary's advanced theories, to scoff at all the rules +of Islam, to indulge in free love, pig's flesh, and wine, they were +sternly brought to order. The mysterious powers expected of a mahdi were +sedulously rumored among the credulous Berbers, though no miracles were +actually exhibited; and the obedience of the conquered provinces was +secured by horrible outrages and atrocities, of which the terrified +people dared not provoke a repetition at the hands of the Mahdi's savage +generals. + +His eldest son Abul-Kasim, who had twice led expeditions into Egypt, +succeeded to the caliphate with the title of El-Kaim, 934-946. He began +his reign with warlike vigor. He sent out a fleet in 934 or 935, which +harried the southern coast of France, blockaded and took Genoa, and +coasted along Calabria, massacring and plundering, burning the shipping, +and carrying off slaves wherever it touched. At the same time he +despatched a third army against Egypt; but the firm hand of the Ikshid +now held the government, and his brother, Obeid-Allah, with fifteen +thousand horse, drove the enemy out of Alexandria and gave them a +crushing defeat on their way home. But for the greater part of his reign +El-Kaim was on the defensive, fighting for existence against the +usurpation of one Abu-Yezid, who repudiated Shiism, cursed the Mahdi and +his successor, stirred up most of Morocco and Barbary against El-Kaim, +drove him out of his capital, and went near to putting an end to the +Fatimite caliphate. + +It was only after seven years of uninterrupted civil war that this +formidable insurrection died out, under the firm but politic management +of the third caliph, El-Mansur (946-953), a brave man who knew both when +to strike and when to be generous. Abu-Yezid was at last run to earth, +and his body was skinned and stuffed with straw, and exposed in a cage +with a couple of ludicrous apes as a warning to the disaffected. + +The Fatimites so far wear a brutal and barbarous character. They do not +seem to have encouraged literature or learning; but this is partly +explained by the fact that culture belonged chiefly to the orthodox +caliphate; and its learned men could have no dealings with the heretical +pretender. The city of Kayrawan, which dates from the Arab conquest in +the eighth century, preserves the remains of some noble buildings, but +of their other capitals or royal residences no traces of art or +architecture remain to bear witness to the taste of their founders. Each +began to decay as soon as its successor was built. + +With the fourth caliph, however, El-Moizz, the conqueror of Egypt, +953-975, the Fatimites entered upon a new phase. + +El-Moizz was a man of politic temper, a born statesman, able to grasp +the conditions of success and to take advantage of every point in his +favor. He was also highly educated, and not only wrote Arabic poetry and +delighted in its literature, but studied Greek, mastered Berber and +Sudani dialects, and is even said to have taught himself Slavonic in +order to converse with his slaves from Eastern Europe. His eloquence was +such as to move his audience to tears. To prudent statesmanship he added +a large generosity, and his love of justice was among his noblest +qualities. So far as outward acts could show, he was a strict Moslem of +the Shiah sect, and the statement of his adversaries that he was really +an atheist seems to rest merely upon the belief that all the Fatimites +adopted the esoteric doctrines of the Ismailian missionaries. + +When he ascended the throne in April, 953, he had already a policy, and +he lost no time in carrying it into execution. He first made a progress +through his dominions, visiting each town, investigating its needs, and +providing for its peace and prosperity. He bearded the rebels in their +mountain fastnesses, till they laid down their arms and fell at his +feet. He conciliated the chiefs and governors with presents and +appointments, and was rewarded by their loyalty. + +At the head of his ministers he set Gawhar "the Roman," a slave from the +Eastern Empire, who had risen to the post of secretary to the late +Caliph, and was now by his son promoted to the rank of _wazir_ commander +of the forces. He was sent in 958 to bring the ever-refractory Maghreb +(Morocco) to allegiance. The expedition was entirely successful, +Sigilmasa and Fez were taken, and Gawhar reached the shore of the +Atlantic. + +Jars of live fish and sea-weed reached the capital, and proved to the +Caliph that his empire touched the ocean, the "limitless limit" of the +world. All the African littoral, from the Atlantic to the frontier of +Egypt--with the single exception of Spanish Ceuta--now peaceably +admitted the sway of the Fatimite Caliph. + +The result was due partly to the exhaustion caused by the long struggle +during the preceding reigns, partly to the politic concessions and +personal influence of the able young ruler. He was liberal and +conciliatory toward different provinces, but to the Arabs of the capital +he was severe. Kayrawan teemed with disaffected folk, sheiks, and +theologians bitterly hostile to the heretical "orientalism" of the +Fatimites, and always ready to excite a tumult. Moizz was resolved to +give them no chance, and one of his repressive measures was the curfew. +At sunset a trumpet sounded, and anyone found abroad after that was +liable to lose not only his way, but his head. So long as they were +quiet, however, he used the people justly, and sought to impress them in +his favor. In a singular interview, recorded by Makrisi, he exhibited +himself to a deputation of sheiks, dressed in the utmost simplicity, and +seated before his writing materials in a plain room, surrounded by +books. He wished to disabuse them of the idea that he led in private a +life of luxury and self-indulgence. + +"You see what employs me when I am alone," he said; "I read letters that +come to me from the lands of the East and the West, and answer them with +my own hand; I deny myself all the pleasures of the world, and I seek +only to protect your lives, multiply your children, shame your rivals, +and daunt your enemies." Then he gave them much good advice, and +especially recommended them to keep to one wife. + +"One woman is enough for one man. If you straitly observe what I have +ordained," he concluded, "I trust that God will, through you, procure +our conquest of the East in like manner as he has vouchsafed us the +West." + +The conquest of Egypt was indeed the aim of his life. To rule over +tumultuous Arab and Berber tribes in a poor country formed no fit +ambition for a man of his capacity. Egypt, its wealth, its commerce, its +great port, and its docile population--these were his dream. + +For two years he had been digging wells and building rest-houses on the +road to Alexandria. The West was now outwardly quiet, and between Egypt +and any hope of succor from the eastern caliphate stood the ravaging +armies of the Karmatis. Egypt itself was in helpless disorder. The great +Kafur was dead, and its nominal ruler was a child. Ibn-Furat, the +_wazir_, had made himself obnoxious to the people by arrests and +extortions. The very soldiery was in revolt, and the Turkish retainers +of the court mutinied, plundered the wazir's palace, and even opened +negotiations with Moizz. Hoseyn, the nephew of the Ikshid, attempted to +restore public order, but after three months of vacillating and +unpopular government he returned to his own province in Palestine to +make terms with the Karmatis. Famine, the result of the exceptionally +low Nile of 967, added to the misery of the country; plague, as usual, +followed in the steps of famine; over six hundred thousand people died +in and around Fustat, and the wretched inhabitants began in despair to +migrate to happier lands. + +All these matters were fully reported to Moizz by the renegade Jew Yakub +Killis, a former favorite of Kafur, who had been driven from Egypt by +the jealous exactions of the wazir, Ibn-Furat, and who was perfectly +familiar with the political and financial state of the Nile valley. His +representations confirmed the Fatimite Caliph's resolve; the Arab tribes +were summoned to his standard; an immense treasure was collected, all of +which was spent in the campaign; gratuities were lavishly distributed to +the army, and at the head of over one hundred thousand men, all well +mounted and armed, accompanied by a thousand camels and a mob of horses +carrying money, stores, and ammunition, Gawhar marched from Kayrawan in +February, 969. The Caliph himself reviewed the troops. The marshal +kissed his hand and his horse's shoe. All the princes, emirs, and +courtiers passed reverently on foot before the honored leader of the +conquering army, who, as a last proof of favor, received the gift of his +master's own robes and charger. The governors of all the towns on the +route had orders to come on foot to Gawhar's stirrup, and one of them +vainly offered a large bribe to be excused the indignity. + +The approach of this overwhelming force filled the Egyptian ministers +with consternation, and they thought only of obtaining favorable terms. +A deputation of notables, headed by Abu-Giafar Moslem, a _sherif_, or +descendant of the Prophet's family, waited upon Gawhar near Alexandria, +and demanded a capitulation. The general consented without reserve, and +in a conciliatory letter granted all they asked. But they had reckoned +without their host; the troops at Fustat would not listen to such +humiliation, and there was a strong war party among the citizens, to +which some of the ministers leaned. The city prepared for resistance, +and skirmishes took place with Gawhar's army, which had meanwhile +arrived at the opposite town of Giza in July. Forcing the passage of the +river, with the help of some boats supplied by Egyptian soldiers, the +invaders fell upon the imposing army drawn up on the other bank, and +totally defeated them. The troops deserted Fustat in a panic, and the +women of the city, running out of their houses, implored the sherif to +intercede with the conqueror. + +Gawhar, like his master, always disposed to a politic leniency, renewed +his former promises, and granted a complete amnesty to all who +submitted. The overjoyed populace cut off the heads of some of the +refractory leaders, in their enthusiasm, and sent them to the camp in +pleasing token of allegiance. A herald, bearing a white flag, rode +through the streets of Fustat proclaiming the amnesty and forbidding +pillage, and on August the 5th the Fatimite army, with full pomp of +drums and banners, entered the capital. + +That very night Gawhar laid the foundations of a new city, or rather +fortified palace, destined for the reception of his sovereign. He was +encamped on the sandy waste which stretched northeast of Fustat on the +road to Heliopolis, and there, at a distance of about a mile from the +river, he marked out the boundaries of the new capital. There were no +buildings, save the old "Convent of the Bones," nor any cultivation +except the beautiful park called "Kafur's Garden," to obstruct his +plans. A square, somewhat less than a mile each way, was pegged out with +poles, and the Maghrabi astrologers, in whom Moizz reposed extravagant +faith, consulted together to determine the auspicious moment for the +opening ceremony. Bells were hung on ropes from pole to pole, and at the +signal of the sages their ringing was to announce the precise moment +when the laborers were to turn the first sod. The calculations of the +astrologers were, however, anticipated by a raven, who perched on one of +the ropes and set the bells jingling, upon which every mattock was +struck into the earth, and the trenches were opened. It was an unlucky +hour; the planet Mars (El-Kahir) was in the ascendant; but it could not +be undone, and the place was accordingly named after the hostile planet, +El-Kahira, "the Martial" or "Triumphant," in the hope that the sinister +omen might be turned to a triumphant issue. Cairo, as Kahira has come to +be called, may fairly be said to have outlived all astrological +prejudices. The name of the Abbasside caliph was at once expunged from +the Friday prayers at the old mosque of Amr at Fustat; the black +Abbasside robes were proscribed, and the preacher, in pure white, +recited the Khutba for the imam Moizz, emir el-muminin, and invoked +blessings on his ancestors Ali and Fatima and all their holy family. The +call to prayer from the minarets was adapted to Shiah taste. The joyful +news was sent to the Fatimite Caliph on swift dromedaries, together with +the heads of the slain. Coins were struck with the special formulas of +the Fatimite creed--"Ali is the noblest of [God's] delegates, the wazir +of the best of apostles"; "the Imam Maadd calls men to profess the unity +of the Eternal"--in addition to the usual dogmas of the Mahometan faith. +For two centuries the mosques and the mint proclaimed the shibboleth of +the Shiahs. + +Gawhar set himself at once to restore tranquillity and alleviate the +sufferings of the famine-stricken people. Moizz had providently sent +grain ships to relieve their distress, and as the price of bread +nevertheless remained at famine rates, Gawhar publicly flogged the +millers, established a central corn-exchange, and compelled everyone to +sell his corn there under the eye of a government inspector. In spite of +his efforts the famine lasted for two years; plague spread alarmingly, +insomuch that the corpses could not be buried fast enough, and were +thrown into the Nile; and it was not till the winter of 971-972 that +plenty returned and the pest disappeared. As usual, the viceroy took a +personal part in all public functions. Every Saturday he sat in court, +assisted by the wazir Ibn-Furat, the cadi, and skilled lawyers, to hear +causes and petitions and to administer justice. To secure impartiality, +he appointed to every department of state an Egyptian and a Maghrabi +officer. His firm and equitable rule insured peace and order; and the +great palace he was building, and the new mosque, the Azhar, which he +founded in 970 and finished in 972, not only added to the beauty of the +capital, but gave employment to innumerable craftsmen. + +The inhabitants of Egypt accepted the new _regime_ with their habitual +phlegm. An Ikshidi officer in the Bashmur district of Lower Egypt did, +indeed, incite the people to rebellion, but his fate was not such as to +encourage others. He was chased out of Egypt, captured on the coast of +Palestine, and then, it is gravely recorded, he was given sesame oil to +drink for a month, till his skin stripped off, whereupon it was stuffed +with straw and hung up on a beam, as a reminder to him who would be +admonished. With this brief exception we read of no riots, no sectarian +risings, and the general surrender was complete when the remaining +partisans of the deposed dynasty, to the number of five thousand, laid +down their arms. An embassy sent to George, King of Nubia, to invite him +to embrace Islam, and to exact the customary tribute, was received with +courtesy, and the money, but not the conversion, was arranged. The holy +cities of Mecca and Medina in the Higaz, where the gold of Moizz had +been prudently distributed some years before, responded to his +generosity and success by proclaiming his supremacy in the mosques; the +Hamdanide prince who held Northern Syria paid similar homage to the +Fatimite Caliph at Aleppo, where the Abbassides had hitherto been +recognized. Southern Syria, however, which had formed part of the +Ikshid's kingdom, did not submit to the usurpers without a struggle. +Hoseyn was still independent at Ramla, and Gawhar's lieutenant, Giafar +ben Fellah, was obliged to give him battle. Hoseyn was defeated and +exposed bareheaded to the insults of the mob at Fustat, to be finally +sent, with the rest of the family of Ikshid, to a Barbary jail. +Damascus, the home of orthodoxy, was taken by Giafar, not without a +struggle, and the Fatimite doctrine was there published, to the +indignation and disgust of the Sunnite population. + +A worse plague than the Fatimite conquest soon afflicted Syria. The +Karmati leader, Hasan ben Ahmad, surnamed El-Asam, finding the +blackmail, which he had lately received out of the revenues of Damascus, +suddenly stopped, resolved to extort it by force of arms. The Fatimites +indeed sprang from the same movement, and their founder professed the +same political and irreligious philosophy as Hasan himself; but this did +not stand in his way, and his knowledge of their origin made him the +less disposed to render homage to the sacred pretensions of the new +imams, whom he contemptuously designated as the spawn of the quacks, +charlatans, and the enemies of Islam. He tried to enlist the support of +the Abbasside Caliph, but El-Muti replied that Fatimis and Karmatis were +all one to him, and he would have nothing to do with either. The +Buweyhid prince of Irak, however, supplied Hasan with arms and money; +Abu-Taghlib, the Hamdanide ruler of Rahba on the Euphrates, contributed +men; and, supported by the Arab tribes of Okeyl, Tavy, and others, Hasan +marched upon Damascus, where the Fatimites were routed, and their +general, Giafar, killed. Moizz was forthwith publicly cursed from the +pulpit in the Syrian capital, to the qualified satisfaction of the +inhabitants, who had to pay handsomely for the pleasure. + +Hasan next marched to Ramla, and thence, leaving the Fatimite army of +eleven thousand men shut up in Jaffa, invaded Egypt. His troops +surprised Kulzum at the head of the Red Sea, and Farama (Pelusium), near +the Mediterranean, at the two ends of the Egyptian frontier. Tinnis +declared against the Fatimites, and Hasan appeared at Heliopolis in +October, 971. Gawhar had already intrenched the new capital with a deep +ditch, leaving but one entrance, which he closed with an iron gate. He +armed the Egyptians as well as the African troops, and a spy was set to +watch the wazir Ibn-Furat, lest he should be guilty of treachery. The +sherifs of the family of Ali were summoned to the camp, as hostages for +the good behavior of the inhabitants. Meanwhile, the officers of the +enemy were liberally tempted with bribes. Two months they lay before +Cairo, and then, after an indecisive engagement, Hasan stormed the gate, +forced his way across the ditch, and attacked the Egyptians on their own +ground. The result was a severe repulse, and Hasan retreated, under +cover of night, to Kulzum, leaving his camp and baggage to be plundered +by the Fatimites, who were only balked of a sanguinary pursuit by the +intervention of night. The Egyptian volunteers displayed unexpected +valor in the fight, and many of the partisans of the late dynasty, who +were with the enemy, were made prisoners. + +Thus the serious danger, which went near to cutting short the Fatimite +occupation of Egypt, was not only resolutely met, but even turned into +an advantage. There was no more intriguing on behalf of the Ikshidids; +Tinnis was recovered from its temporary defection and occupied by the +reinforcements which Moizz had hurriedly despatched under Ibn-Ammar to +the succor of Gawhar; and the Karmati fleet, which attempted to recover +this fort, was obliged to slip anchor, abandoning seven ships and five +hundred prisoners. Jaffa, which still held out resolutely against the +besieging Arabs, was now relieved by the despatch of African troops from +Cairo, who brought back the garrison, but did not dare to hold the post. +The enemy fell back upon Damascus, and the leaders fell out among +themselves. + +The Karmati chief was not crushed, however, by his defeat. In the +following year he was collecting ships and Arabs for a fresh invasion. +Gawhar, who had long urged his master to come and protect his conquest, +now pointed out the extreme danger of a second attack from an enemy +which had already succeeded in boldly forcing his way to the gate of +Cairo. Moizz had delayed his journey, because he could not safely trust +his western provinces in his absence; but on the receipt of this grave +news, he appointed Yusuf Bulugin ben Zeyri, of the Berber tribe of +Sanhaga, to act as his deputy in Barbary, left Sardaniya--the +Fontainebleau of Kayrawan, as Mansuriya was its Versailles--in November, +972, and making a leisurely progress, by way of Kabis, Tripolis, +Agdabiya, and Barka, reached Alexandria in the following May. Here the +Caliph received a deputation, consisting of the cadi of Fustat and other +eminent persons, whom he moved to tears by his eloquent and virtuous +discourse. A month later he was encamped in the gardens of the monastery +near Giza, where he was reverently welcomed by his devoted servant, +Gawhar, content to efface himself in his master's shadow. + +The entry of the new Caliph into his new capital was a solemn spectacle. +With him were all his sons and brothers and kinsfolk, and before him +were borne the coffins of his ancestors. Fustat was illuminated and +decked for his reception; but Moizz would not enter the old capital of +the usurping caliphs. He crossed from Roda by Gawhar's new bridge, and +proceeded direct to the palace-city of Cairo. Here he threw himself on +his face and gave thanks to God. + +There was yet an ordeal to be gone through before he could regard +himself as safe. Egypt was the home of many undoubted sherifs or +descendants of Ali, and these, headed by a representative of the +distinguished Tabataba family, came boldly to examine his credentials. +Moizz must prove his title to the holy imamate inherited from Ali, to +the satisfaction of these experts in genealogy. According to the story, +the Caliph called a great assembly of the people, and invited the +sherifs to appear; then, half drawing his sword, he said: + +"Here is my pedigree," and scattering gold among the spectators, added, +"and there is my proof." + +It was perhaps the best argument he could produce. The sherifs could +only protest their entire satisfaction at this convincing evidence; and +it is at any rate certain that, whatever they thought of the Caliph's +claim, they did not contest it. The capital was placarded with his name, +and the praises of Ali and Moizz were acclaimed by the people, who +flocked to his first public audience. Among the presents offered him, +that of Gawhar was especially splendid, and its costliness illustrates +the colossal wealth acquired by the Fatimites. It included five hundred +horses with saddles and bridles encrusted with gold, amber, and precious +stones; tents of silk and cloth of gold, borne on Bactrian camels; +dromedaries, mules, and camels of burden; filigree coffers full of gold +and silver vessels; gold-mounted swords; caskets of chased silver +containing precious stones; a turban set with jewels, and nine hundred +boxes filled with samples of all the goods that Egypt produced. + + + + +GROWTH AND DECADENCE OF CHIVALRY + +TENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURY + +LEON GAUTIER + + +(Writers on the history of chivalry are unable to refer its origin to +any definite time or place; and even specific definition of chivalry is +seldom attempted by careful students. They rather give us, as does +Gautier in the picturesque account which follows, some recognized +starting-point, and for definition content themselves with +characterization of the spirit and aims of chivalry, analysis of its +methods, and the story of its rise and fall. + +Chivalry was not an official institution that came into existence by the +decree of a sovereign. Although religious in its original elements and +impulses, there was nothing in its origin to remind us of the foundation +of a religious order. It would be useless to search for the place of its +birth or for the name of its founder. It was born everywhere at once, +and has been everywhere at the same time the natural effect of the same +aspirations and the same needs. "There was a moment when people +everywhere felt the necessity of tempering the ardor of old German +blood, and of giving to their ill-regulated passions an ideal. Hence +chivalry!" + +Yet chivalry arose from a German custom which was idealized by the +Christian church; and chivalry was more an ideal than an institution. It +was "the Christian form of the military profession; the knight was the +Christian soldier." True, the profession and mission of the church meant +the spread of peace and the hatred of war, she holding with her Master +that "they who take the sword shall perish with the sword." Her thought +was formulated by St. Augustine: "He who can think of war and can +support it without great sorrow is truly dead to human feelings." "It is +necessary," he says, "to submit to war, but to wish for peace." The +church did, however, look upon war as a divine means of punishment and +of expiation, for individuals and nations. And the eloquent Bossuet +showed the church's view of war as the terrestrial preparation for the +Kingdom of God, and described how empires fall upon one another to form +a foundation whereon to build the church. In the light of such +interpretations the church availed herself of the militant auxiliary +known as chivalry. + +Along with the religious impulse that animated it, chivalry bore, +throughout its purer course, the character of knightliness which it +received from Teutonic sources. How the fine sentiments and ennobling +customs of the Teutonic nations, particularly with respect to the +gallantry and generosity of the male toward the female sex, grew into +beautiful combination with the rule of protecting the weak and +defenceless everywhere, and how these elements were blended with the +spirit of religious devotion which entered into the organization and +practices of chivalry, forms one of the most fascinating features in the +study of its development; and this gentler side, no less than its +sterner aspects, is faithfully presented in the brilliant examination of +Gautier. And the heroic sentiment and action which inspired and +accomplished the sacred warfare of the Crusades are not less admirably +depicted in these pages; while in his summary of the decline of chivalry +Gautier has perhaps never been surpassed for penetrating insight and +lucid exposition.) + + +There is a sentence of Tacitus--the celebrated passage in the +_Germania_--that refers to a German rite in which we really find all the +military elements of the future chivalry. The scene took place beneath +the shade of an old forest. The barbarous tribe is assembled, and one +feels that a solemn ceremony is in preparation. Into the midst of the +assembly advances a very young man, whom you can picture to yourself +with sea-green eyes, long fair hair, and perhaps some tattooing. A chief +of the tribe is present, who without delay places gravely in the hands +of the young man a _framea_ and a buckler. Failing a sovereign ruler, it +is the father of the youth, or some relative, who undertakes this +delivery of weapons. "Such is the 'virile robe' of these people," as +Tacitus well puts it; "such is the first honor of their youth. Till then +the young man was only one in a family; he becomes by this rite a member +of the Republic. _Ante hoc domus pars videtur: mox rei publicae_. This +sword and buckler he will never abandon, for the Germans in all their +acts, whether public or private, are always armed. So, the ceremony +finished, the assembly separates, and the tribe reckons a _miles_--a +warrior--the more. That is all!" + +The solemn handing of arms to the young German--such is the first germ +of chivalry which Christianity was one day to animate into life. +"_Vestigium vetus creandi equites seu milites_." It is with reason that +Sainte-Palaye comments in the very same way upon the text of the +_Germania_, and that a scholar of our own days exclaims with more than +scientific exactness, "The true origin of _miles_ is this bestowal of +arms which among the Germans marks the entry into civil life." + +No other origin will support the scrutiny of the critic, and he will not +find anyone now to support the theory of Roman origin with Sainte-Marie, +or that of the Arabian origin with Beaumont. There only remains to +explain in this place the term knight (chevalier), but it is well known +to be derived from _caballus_, which primarily signifies a beast of +burden, a pack-horse, and has ended by signifying a war-horse. The +knight, also, has always preserved the name of _miles_ in the Latin +tongue of the Middle Ages, in which chivalry is always called _militia_. +Nothing can be clearer than this. + +We do not intend to go further, however, without replying to two +objections, which are not without weight, and which we do not wish to +leave behind us unanswered. + +In a certain number of Latin books of the Middle Ages we find, to +describe chivalry, an expression which the "Romanists" oppose +triumphantly to us, and of which the Romish origin cannot seriously be +doubted. When it is intended to signify that a knight has been created, +it is stated that the individual has been girt with the _cingulum +militare_. Here we find ourselves in full Roman parlance, and the word +signified certain terms which described admission into military service, +the release from this service, and the degradation of the legionary. +When St. Martin left the militia, his action was qualified as _solutio +cinguli_, and at all those who act like him the insulting expression +_militaribus zonis discincti_ is cast. The girdle which sustains the +sword of the Roman officer--_cingulum zona_, or rather _cinctorium_--as +also the baldric, from _balteus_, passed over the shoulder and was +intended to support the weapon of the common soldier. "You perceive +quite well," say our adversaries, "that we have to do with a Roman +costume." Two very simple observations will, perhaps, suffice to get to +the bottom of such a specious argument: The first is that the Germans in +early times wore, in imitation of the Romans, "a wide belt ornamented +with bosses of metal," a baldric, by which their swords were suspended +on the left side; and the second is that the chroniclers of old days, +who wrote in Latin and affected the classic style, very naturally +adopted the word _cingulum_ in all its acceptations, and made use of +this Latin paraphrasis--_cingulo militari decorare_--to express this +solemn adoption of the sword. This evidently German custom was always +one of the principal rites of the collation of chivalry. There is then +nothing more in it than a somewhat vague reminiscence of a Roman custom +with a very natural conjunction of terms which has always been the habit +of a literary people. + +To sum up, the word is Roman, but the thing itself is German. Between +the _militia_ of the Romans and the chivalry of the Middle Ages there is +really nothing in common but the military profession considered +generally. The official admittance of the Roman soldier to an army +hierarchically organized in no way resembled the admission of a new +knight into a sort of military college and the "pink of society." As we +read further the singularly primitive and barbarous ritual of the +service of knightly reception in the twelfth century, one is persuaded +that the words exhale a German odor, and have nothing Roman about them. +But there is another argument, and one which would appear decisive. The +Roman legionary could not, as a rule, withdraw from the service; he +could not avoid the baldric. The youthful knight of the Middle Ages, on +the contrary, was always free to arm himself or not as he pleased, just +as other cavaliers are at liberty to leave or join their ranks. The +principal characteristic of the knightly service, and one which +separates it most decidedly from the Roman _militia_, was its freedom of +action. + +One very specious objection is made as regards feudalism, which some +clear-minded people obstinately confound with chivalry. This was the +favorite theory of Montalembert. Now there are two kinds of feudalism, +which the old feudalists put down very clearly in two words now out of +date--"fiefs of dignity" and "fiefs simple." About the middle of the +ninth century, the dukes and counts made themselves independent of the +central power, and declared that people owed the same allegiance to them +as they did to the emperor or the king. Such were the acts of the "fiefs +of dignity," and we may at once allow that they had nothing in common +with chivalry. The "fiefs simple," then, remained. + +In the Merovingian period we find a certain number of small proprietors, +called _vassi_, commending themselves to other men more powerful and +more rich, who were called _seniores_. To his senior who made him a +present of land the _vassus_ owed assistance and fidelity. It is true +that as early as the reign of Charlemagne he followed him to war, but it +must be noted that it was to the emperor, to the central power, that he +actually rendered military service. There was nothing very particular in +this, but the time was approaching when things would be altered. Toward +the middle of the ninth century we find a large number of men falling +"on their knees" before other men! What are they about? They are +"recommending" themselves, but, in plainer terms, "Protect us and we +will be your men." And they added: "It is to you and to you only that we +intend in future to render military service; but in exchange you must +protect the land we possess--defend what you will in time concede to us; +and defend _us_ ourselves." These people on their knees were "vassals" +at the feet of their "lords"; and the fief was generally only a grant of +land conceded in exchange for military service. + +Feudalism of this nature has nothing in common with chivalry. + +If we consider chivalry in fact as a kind of privileged body into which +men were received on certain conditions and with a certain ritual, it is +important to observe that every vassal is not necessarily a cavalier. +There were vassals who, with the object of averting the cost of +initiation or for other reasons, remained _damoiseaux_, or pages, all +their lives. The majority, of course, did nothing of the kind; but all +could do so, and a great many did. + +On the other hand we see conferred the dignity of chivalry upon +insignificant people who had never held fiefs, who owed to no one any +fealty, and to whom no one owed any. + +We cannot repeat too often that it was not the cavalier (or knight), it +was the _vassal_ who owed military service, or _ost_, to the _seigneur_, +or lord; and the service _in curte_ or _court_: it was the vassal, not +the knight, who owed to the "lord" relief, "aid," homage. + +The feudal system soon became hereditary. Chivalry, on the contrary, has +never been hereditary, and a special rite has always been necessary to +create a knight. In default of all other arguments this would be +sufficient. + +But if, instead of regarding chivalry as an institution, we consider it +as an ideal, the doubt is not really more admissible. It is here that, +in the eyes of a philosophic historian, chivalry is clearly distinct +from feudalism. If the western world in the ninth century had _not_ been +feudalized, chivalry would nevertheless have come into existence; and, +notwithstanding everything, it would have come to light in Christendom; +for chivalry is nothing more than the Christianized form of military +service, the armed _force_ in the service of the unarmed Truth; and it +was inevitable that at some time or other it must have sprung, living +and fully armed, from the brain of the church, as Minerva did from the +brain of Jupiter. + +Feudalism, on the contrary, is not of Christian origin at all. It is a +particular form of government, and of society, which has scarcely been +less rigorous for the church than other forms of society and government. +Feudalism has disputed with the church over and over again, while +chivalry has protected her a hundred times. Feudalism is force--chivalry +is the brake. + +Let us look at Godfrey de Bouillon. The fact that he owed homage to any +suzerain, the fact that he exacted service from such and such vassals, +are questions which concern feudal rights, and have nothing to do with +chivalry. But if I contemplate him in battle beneath the walls of +Jerusalem; if I am a spectator of his entry into the Holy City; if I see +him ardent, brave, powerful and pure, valiant and gentle, humble and +proud, refusing to wear the golden crown in the Holy City where Jesus +wore the crown of thorns, I am not then anxious--I am not curious--to +learn from whom he holds his fief, or to know the names of his vassals; +and I exclaim, "There is the knight!" And how many knights, what +chivalrous virtues, have existed in the Christian world since feudalism +has ceased to exist! + +The adoption of arms in the German fashion remains the true origin of +chivalry; and the Franks have handed down this custom to us--a custom +perpetuated to a comparatively modern period. This simple, almost rude +rite so decidedly marked the line of civil life in the code of manners +of people of German origin, that under the Carlovingians we still find +numerous traces of it. In 791 Louis, eldest son of Charlemagne, was only +thirteen years old, and yet he had worn the crown of Aquitaine for three +years upon his "baby brow." The king of the Franks felt that it was time +to bestow upon this child the military consecration which would more +quickly assure him of the respect of his people. He summoned him to +Ingelheim, then to Ratisbon, and solemnly girded him with the sword +which "makes men." He did not trouble himself about the framea or the +buckler--the sword occupied the first place. It will retain it for a +long time. + +In 838 at Kiersy we have a similar scene. This time it is old Louis who, +full of sadness and nigh to death, bestows upon his son Charles, whom he +loved so well, the "virile arms"--that is to say, the sword. Then +immediately afterward he put upon his brow the crown of "Neustria." +Charles was fifteen years old. + +These examples are not numerous, but their importance is decisive, and +they carry us to the time when the church came to intervene positively +in the education of the German _miles_. The time was rough, and it is +not easy to picture a more distracted period than that in the ninth and +tenth centuries. The great idea of the Roman Empire no longer, in the +minds of the people, coincided with the idea of the Frankish kingdom, +but rather inclined, so to speak, to the side of Germany, where it +tended to fix itself. Countries were on the way to be formed, and people +were asking to which country they could best belong. Independent +kingdoms were founded which had no precedents and were not destined to +have a long life. The Saracens were for the last time harassing the +southern French coasts, but it was not so with the Norman pirates, for +they did not cease for a single year to ravage the littoral which is now +represented by the Picardy and Normandy coasts, until the day it became +necessary to cede the greater part of it to them. People were fighting +everywhere more or less--family against family--man to man. No road was +safe, the churches were burned, there was universal terror, and everyone +sought protection. The king had no longer strength to resist anyone, and +the counts made themselves kings. The sun of the realm was set, and one +had to look at the stars for light. As soon as the people perceived a +strong man-at-arms, resolute, defiant, well established in his wooden +keep, well fortified within the lines of his hedge, behind his palisade +of dead branches, or within his barriers of planks; well posted on his +hill, against his rock, or on his hillock, and dominating all the +surrounding country--as soon as they saw this each said to him, "I am +your man"; and all these weak ones grouped themselves around the strong +one, who next day proceeded to wage war with his neighbors. Thence +supervened a terrible series of private wars. Everyone was fighting or +thinking of fighting. + +In addition to this, the still green memory of the grand figure of +Charlemagne and the old empire, and I can't tell what imperial +splendors, were still felt in the air of great cities; all hearts +throbbed at the mere thought of the Saracens and the Holy Sepulchre; the +crusade gathered strength of preparation far in advance, in the rage and +indignation of all the Christian race; all eyes were turned toward +Jerusalem, and in the midst of so many disbandments and so much +darkness, the unity of the church survived fallen majesty! + +It was then, it was in that horrible hour--the decisive epoch in our +history--that the church undertook the education of the Christian +soldier; and it was at that time, by a resolute step, she found the +feudal baron in his rude wooden citadel, and proposed to him an ideal. +This ideal was chivalry! + +That chivalry may be considered a great military confraternity as well +as an eighth sacrament, will be conceded. But, before familiarizing +themselves with these ideals, the rough spirits of the ninth, tenth, and +eleventh centuries had to learn the principles of them. The chivalrous +ideal was not conceived "all of a piece," and certainly it did not +triumph without sustained effort; so it was by degrees, and very slowly, +that the church succeeded in inoculating the almost animal intelligence +and the untrained minds of our ancestors with so many virtues. + +In the hands of the church, which wished to mould him into a Christian +knight, the feudal baron was a very intractable individual. No one could +be more brutal or more barbarous than he. Our more ancient +ballads--those which are founded on the traditions of the ninth and +tenth centuries--supply us with a portrait which does not appear +exaggerated. I know nothing in this sense more terrible than _Raoul de +Cambrai_, and the hero of this old poem would pass for a type of a +half-civilized savage. This Raoul was a kind of Sioux or other redskin, +who only wanted tattoo and feathers in his hair to be complete. Even a +redskin is a believer, or superstitious to some extent, while Raoul +defied the Deity himself. The savage respects his mother, as a rule; but +Raoul laughed at his mother, who cursed him. Behold him as he invaded +the Vermandois, contrary to all the rights of legitimate heirs. He +pillaged, burned, and slew in all directions: he was everywhere +pitiless, cruel, horrible. But at Origni he appears in all his ferocity. +"You will erect my tent in the church, you will make my bed before the +altar, and put my hawks on the golden crucifix." Now that church +belonged to a convent. What did that signify to him? He burned the +convent, he burned the church, he burned the nuns! Among them was the +mother of his most faithful servitor, Bernier--his most devoted +companion and friend--almost his brother! but he burned her with the +others. Then, when the flames were still burning, he sat himself down, +on a fast-day, to feast amid the scenes of his sanguinary +exploits--defying God and man, his hands steeped in blood, his face +lifted to heaven. That was the kind of soldier, the savage of the tenth +century, whom the church had to educate! + +Unfortunately this Raoul de Cambrai is not a unique specimen; he was not +the only one who had uttered this ferocious speech: "I shall not be +happy until I see your heart cut out of your body." Aubri de Bourguignon +was not less cruel, and took no trouble to curb his passions. Had he the +right to massacre? He knew nothing about that, but meanwhile he +continued to kill. "Bah!" he would say, "it is always an enemy the +less." On one occasion he slew his four cousins. He was as sensual as +cruel. His thick-skinned savagery did not appear to feel either shame or +remorse; he was strong and had a weighty hand--that was sufficient. +Ogier was scarcely any better, but notwithstanding all the glory +attaching to his name, I know nothing more saddening than the final +episode of the rude poem attributed to Raimbert of Paris. The son of +Ogier, Baudouinet, had been slain by the son of Charlemagne, who called +himself Charlot. Ogier did nothing but breathe vengeance, and would not +agree to assist Christendom against the Saracen invaders unless the +unfortunate Charlot was delivered to him. He wanted to kill him, he +determined to kill him, and he rejoiced over it in anticipation. In vain +did Charlot humble himself before this brute, and endeavor to pacify him +by the sincerity of his repentance; in vain the old Emperor himself +prayed most earnestly to God; in vain the venerable Naimes, the Nestor +of our ballads, offered to serve Ogier all the rest of his life, and +begged the Dane "not to forget the Saviour, who was born of the Virgin +at Bethlehem." All their devotion and prayers were unavailing. Ogier, +pitiless, placed one of his heavy hands on the youthful head, and with +the other drew his sword, his terrible sword "Courtain." Nothing less +than the intervention of an angel from heaven could have put an end to +this terrible scene in which all the savagery of the German forests was +displayed. + +The majority of these early heroes had no other shibboleth than "I am +going to separate the head from the trunk!" It was their war-cry. But if +you desire something more frightful still, something more "primitive," +you have only to open the _Loherains_ at hazard, and read a few stanzas +of that raging ballad of "derring-do," and you will almost fancy you are +perusing one of those pages in which Livingstone describes in such +indignant terms the manners of some tribe in Central Africa. Read this: +"Begue struck Isore upon his black helmet through the golden circlet, +cutting him to the chine; then he plunged into his body his sword +Flamberge with the golden hilt; took the heart out with both hands, and +threw it, still warm, at the head of William, saying, 'There is your +cousin's heart; you can salt and roast it.'" Here words fail us; it +would be too tame to say with Goedecke, "These heroes act like the +forces of nature, in the manner of the hurricane which knows no pity." +We must use more indignant terms than these, for we are truly amid +cannibals. Once again we say, there was the warrior, there was the +savage whom the church had to elevate and educate! + +Such is the point of departure of this wonderful progress; such are the +refractory elements out of which chivalry and the knight have been +fashioned. + +The point of departure is Raoul of Cambrai burning Origni. The point of +arrival is Girard of Roussillon falling one day at the feet of an old +priest and expiating his former pride by twenty-two years of penitence. +These two episodes embrace many centuries between them. + +A very interesting study might be made of the gradual transformation +from the redskin to the knight; it might be shown how, and at what +period of history, each of the virtues of chivalry penetrated +victoriously into the undisciplined souls of these brutal warriors who +were our ancestors; it might be determined at what moment the church +became strong enough to impose upon our knights the great duties of +defending it and of loving one another. + +This victory was attained in a certain number of cases undoubtedly +toward the end of the eleventh century: and the knight appears to us +perfected, finished, radiant, in the most ancient edition of the +_Chanson of Roland_, which is considered to have been produced between +1066 and 1095. + +It is scarcely necessary to observe that chivalry was no longer in +course of establishment when Pope Urban II threw with a powerful hand +the whole of the Christian West upon the East, where the Tomb of Christ +was in possession of the Infidel. + +In legendary lore the embodiment of chivalry is Roland: in history it is +Godfrey de Bouillon. There are no more worthy names than these. + +The decadence of chivalry--and when one is speaking of human +institutions, sooner or later this word must be used--perhaps set in +sooner than historians can believe. We need not attach too much +importance to the grumblings of certain poets, who complain of their +time with an evidently exaggerated bitterness, and we do not care for +our own part to take literally the testimony of the unknown author of +_La Vie de Saint Alexis_, who exclaims--about the middle of the eleventh +century--that everything is degenerate and all is lost! Thus: "In olden +times the world was good. Justice and love were springs of action in it. +People then had faith, which has disappeared from amongst us. The world +is entirely changed. The world has lost its healthy color. It is +pale--it has grown old. It is growing worse, and will soon cease +altogether." + +The poet exaggerates in a very singular manner the evil which he +perceives around him, and one might aver that, far from bordering upon +old age, chivalry was then almost in the very zenith of its glory. The +twelfth century was its apogee, and it was not until the thirteenth that +it manifested the first symptoms of decay. + +"_Li maus est moult want_" exclaims the author of _Godfrey de Bouillon_, +and he adds, sadly, "_Tos li biens est fines_." + +He was more correct in speaking thus than was the author of _Saint +Alexis_ in his complainings, for the decadence of chivalry actually +commenced in his time. And it is not unreasonable to inquire into the +causes of its decay. + +_The Romance of the Round Table_, which in the opinion of prepossessed +or thoughtless critics appears so profoundly chivalrous, may be +considered one of the works which hastened the downfall of chivalry. We +are aware that by this seeming paradox we shall probably scandalize some +of our readers, who look upon these adventurous cavaliers as veritable +knights. What does it matter? _Avienne que puet_. The heroes of our +_chansons de geste_ are really the authorized representatives and types +of the society of their time, and not those fine adventure-seeking +individuals who have been so brilliantly sketched by the pencil of +Cretien de Troyes. + +It is true, however, that this charming and delicate spirit did not +give, in his works, an accurate idea of his century and generation. We +do not say that he embellished all he touched, but only that he +enlivened it. Notwithstanding all that one could say about it, this +school introduced the old Gaelic spirit into a poetry which had been +till then chiefly Christian or German. Our epic poems are of German +origin, and the _Table Round_ is of Celtic origin. Sensual and light, +witty and delicate, descriptive and charming, these pleasing romances +are never masculine, and become too often effeminate and effeminating. +They sing always, or nearly so, the same theme. By lovely pasturages +clothed with beautiful flowers, the air full of birds, a young knight +proceeds in search of the unknown, and through a series of adventures +whose only fault is that they resemble one another somewhat too closely. + +We find insolent defiances, magnificent duels, enchanted castles, tender +love-scenes, mysterious talismans. The marvellous mingles with the +supernatural, magicians with saints, fairies with angels. The whole is +written in a style essentially French, and it must be confessed in +clear, polished, and chastened language--perfect! + +But we must not forget, as we said just now, that this poetry, so +greatly attractive, began as early as the twelfth century to be the mode +universally; and let us not forget that it was at the same period that +the _Percevalde Gallois_ and _Aliscans, Cleomades_, and the +_Couronnement Looys_ were written. The two schools have coexisted for +many centuries: both camps have enjoyed the favor of the public. But in +such a struggle it was all too easy to decide to which of them the +victory would eventually incline. The ladies decided it, and no doubt +the greater number of them wept over the perusal of _Erec_ or _Enid_ +more than over that of the _Covenant Vivien_ or _Raoul de Cambrai_. + +When the grand century of the Middle Ages had closed, when the blatant +thirteenth century commenced, the sentimental had already gained the +advantage over our old classic _chansons_; and the new school, the +romantic set of the _Table Round_, triumphed! Unfortunately, they also +triumphed in their manners; and they were the knights of the Round Table +who, with the Valois, seated themselves upon the throne of France. + +In this way temerity replaced true courage; so good, polite manners +replaced heroic rudeness; so foolish generosity replaced the charitable +austerity of the early chivalry. It was the love of the unforeseen even +in the military art; the rage for adventure--even in politics. We know +whither this strategy and these theatrical politics led us, and that +Joan of Arc and Providence were required to drag us out of the +consequences. + +The other causes of the decadence of the spirit of chivalry are more +difficult to determine. There is one of them which has not, perhaps, +been sufficiently brought to light, and this is--will it be +believed?--the exdevelopment of certain orders of chivalry! This +statement requires some explanation. + +We must confess that we are enthusiastic, passionate admirers of these +grand military orders which were formed at the commencement of the +twelfth century. There have never been their like in the world, and it +was only given to Christianity to display to us such a spectacle. To +give to one single soul the double ideal of the soldier and the monk, to +impose upon him this double charge, to fix in one these two conditions +and in one only these two duties, to cause to spring from the earth I +cannot tell how many thousands of men who voluntarily accepted this +burden, and who were not crushed by it--that is a problem which one +might have been pardoned for thinking insoluble. We have not +sufficiently considered it. We have not pictured to ourselves with +sufficient vividness the Templars and the Hospitallers in the midst of +one of those great battles in the Holy Land in which the fate of the +world was in the balance. + +No: painters have not sufficiently portrayed them in the arid plains of +Asia forming an incomparable squadron in the midst of the battle. One +might talk forever and yet not say too much about the charge of the +Cuirassiers at Reichshoffen; but how many times did the Hospitaller +knights and the Templars charge in similar fashion? Those soldier-monks, +in truth, invented a new idea of courage. Unfortunately they were not +always fighting, and peace troubled some of them. They became too rich, +and their riches lowered them in the eyes of men and before heaven. We +do not intend to adopt all the calumnies which have been circulated +concerning the Templars, but it is difficult not to admit that many of +these accusations had some foundation. The Hospitallers, at any rate, +have given no ground for such attacks. They, thank heaven, remained +undefiled, if not poor, and were an honor to that chivalry which others +had compromised and emasculated. + +But when all is said, that which best became chivalry, the spice which +preserved it the most surely, was poverty! + +Love of riches had not only attacked the chivalrous orders, but in a +very short space of time all knights caught the infection. Sensuality +and enjoyment had penetrated into their castles. "Scarcely had they +received the knightly baldric before they commenced to break the +commandments and to pillage the poor. When it became necessary to go to +war, their sumpter-horses were laden with wine, and not with weapons; +with leathern bottles instead of swords; with spits instead of lances. +One might have fancied, in truth, that they were going out to dinner, +and not to fight. It is true their shields were beautifully gilt, but +they were kept in a virgin and unused condition. Chivalrous combats were +represented upon their bucklers and their saddles, certainly; but that +was all!" + +Now who is it who writes thus? It is not, as one might fancy, an author +of the fifteenth century--it is a writer of the twelfth; and the +greatest satirist, somewhat excessive and unjust in his statements, the +Christian Juvenal whom we have just quoted, was none other than Peter of +Blois. + +A hundred other witnesses might be cited in support of these indignant +words. But if there is some exaggeration in them, we are compelled to +confess that there is a considerable substratum of truth also. + +These abuses--which wealth engendered, which more than one poet has +stigmatized--attracted, in the fourteenth century, the attention of an +important individual, a person whose name occupies a worthy place in +literature and history. Philip of Mezieres, chancellor of Cyprus under +Peter of Lusignan, was a true knight, who one day conceived the idea of +reforming chivalry. Now the way he found most feasible in accomplishing +his object, in arriving at such a difficult and complex reform, was to +found a new order of chivalry himself, to which he gave the +high-sounding title of "the Chivalry of the Passion of Christ." + +The decadence of chivalry is attested, alas! by the very character of +the reformers by which this well-meaning Utopian attempted to oppose it. +The good knight complains of the great advances of sensuality, and +permits and advises the marriage of all knights. He complains of the +accursed riches which the Hospitallers themselves were putting to a bad +use, and forbade them in his _Institutions_; but nevertheless the +luxurious habits of his time had an influence upon his mind, and he +permitted his knights to wear the most extravagant costumes, and the +dignitaries of his order to adopt the most high-sounding titles. There +was something mystical in all this conception, and something theatrical +in all this agency. It is hardly necessary to add that the "Chivalry of +the Passion" was only a beautiful dream, originating in a generous mind. +Notwithstanding the adherence of some brilliant personages, the order +never attained to more than a theoretical organization, and had only a +fictitious foundation. The idea of the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre +from the Infidel was hardly the object of the fifteenth-century +chivalry; for the struggle between France and England then was engaging +the most courageous warriors and the most practised swords. Decay +hurried on apace! + +This was not the only cause of such a fatal falling away. The portals of +chivalry had been opened to too many unworthy candidates. It had been +made vulgar! In consequence of having become so cheap the grand title of +"knight" was degraded. Eustace Deschamps, in his fine, straightforward +way, states the scandal boldly and "lashes" it with his tongue. He says: +"Picture to yourself the fact that the degree of knighthood is about to +be conferred now upon babies of eight and ten years old." + +Well might this excellent man exclaim in another place: "Disorders +always go on gathering strength, and even incomparable knights like Du +Guesclin and Bayard cannot arrest the fatal course of the institution +toward ruin." Chivalry was destined to disappear. + +It is very important that one should make one's self acquainted with the +true character of such a downfall. France and England in the fourteenth +and fifteenth centuries still boasted many high-bred knights. They +exchanged the most superb defiances, the most audacious challenges, and +proceeded from one country to another to run each other through the body +proudly. The Beaumanoirs, who drank their blood, abounded. It was a +question who would engage himself in the most incredible pranks; who +would commit the most daring folly! They tell us afterward of the +beautiful passages of arms, the grand feats performed, and the +inimitable Froissart is the most charming of all these narrators, who +make their readers as chivalrous as themselves. + +But we must tell everything: among these knights in beautiful armor +there was a band of adventurers who never observed, and who could not +understand, certain commandments of the ancient chivalry. The laxity of +luxury had everywhere replaced the rigorous enactments of the old +manliness, and even warriors themselves loved their ease too much. The +religious sentiment was not the dominant one in their minds, in which +the idea of a crusade now never entered. They had not sufficient respect +for the weakness of the Church nor for other failings. They no longer +felt themselves the champions of the good and the enemies of evil. Their +sense of justice had become warped, as had love for their great native +land. + +Again, what they termed "the license of camps" had grown very much +worse; and we know in what condition Joan of Arc found the army of the +King. Blasphemy and ribaldry in every quarter. The noble girl swept away +these pests, but the effect of her action was not long-lived. She was +the person to reestablish chivalry, which in her found the purity of its +now-effaced type; but she died too soon, and had not sufficient +imitators. + +There were, after her time, many chivalrous souls, and, thank heaven, +there are still some among us; but the old institution is no longer with +us. The events which we have had the misfortune to witness do not give +us any ground to hope that chivalry, extinct and dead, will rise again +to-morrow to light and life. + +In St. Louis' time, caricature and parody--they were low-class forces, +but forces nevertheless--had already commenced the work of destruction. +We are in possession of an abominable little poem of the thirteenth +century, which is nothing but a scatological pamphlet directed against +chivalry. This ignoble _Audigier_, the author of which is the basest of +men, is not the only attack which one may disinter from amid the +literature of that period. If one wishes to draw up a really complete +list it would be necessary to include the _jabliaux_--the _Renart_ and +the _Rose_, which constitute the most anti-chivalrous--I had nearly +written the most Voltairian--works that I am acquainted with. The thread +is easy enough to follow from the twelfth century down to the author of +_Don Quixote_--which I do not confound with its infamous predecessors-- +to Cervantes, whose work has been fatal, but whose mind was elevated. + +However that may be, parody and the parodists were themselves a cause of +decay. They weakened morals. Gallic-like, they popularized little +_bourgeois_ sentiments, narrow-minded, satirical sentiments; they +inoculated manly souls with contempt for such great things as one +performs disinterestedly. This disdain is a sure element of decay, and +we may regard it as an announcement of death. + +Against the knights who, here and there, showed themselves unworthy and +degenerate, was put in practice the terrible apparatus of degradation. +Modern historians of chivalry have not failed to describe in detail all +the rites of this solemn punishment, and we have presented to us a scene +which is well calculated to excite the imagination of the most +matter-of-fact, and to make the most timid heart swell. + +The knight judicially condemned to submit to this shame was first +conducted to a scaffold, where they broke or trod under foot all his +weapons. He saw his shield, with device effaced, turned upside down and +trailed in the mud. Priests, after reciting prayers for the vigil of the +dead, pronounced over his head the psalm, "_Deus laudem meam_," which +contains terrible maledictions against traitors. The herald of arms who +carried out this sentence took from the hands of the pursuivant of arms +a basin full of dirty water, and threw it all over the head of the +recreant knight in order to wash away the sacred character which had +been conferred upon him by the accolade. The guilty one, degraded in +this way, was subsequently thrown upon a hurdle, or upon a stretcher, +covered with a mortuary cloak, and finally carried to the church, where +they repeated the same prayers and the same ceremonies as for the dead. + +This was really terrible, even if somewhat theatrical, and it is easy to +see that this complicated ritual contained only a very few ancient +elements. In the twelfth century the ceremonial of degradation was +infinitely more simple. The spurs were hacked off close to the heels of +the guilty knight. Nothing could be more summary or more significant. +Such a person was publicly denounced as unworthy to ride on horseback, +and consequently quite unworthy to be a knight. The more ancient and +chivalrous, the less theatrical is it. It is so in many other +institutions in the histories of all nations. + +That such a penalty may have prevented a certain number of treasons and +forfeitures we willingly admit, but one cannot expect it to preserve all +the whole body of chivalry from that decadence from which no institution +of human establishment can escape. + +Notwithstanding inevitable weaknesses and accidents, the Decalogue of +Chivalry has none the less been regnant in some millions of souls which +it has made pure and great. These ten commandments have been the rules +and the reins of youthful generations, who without them would have been +wild and undisciplined. This legislation, in fact--which, to tell the +truth, is only one of the chapters of the great Catholic Code--has +raised the moral level of humanity. + +Besides, chivalry is not yet quite dead. No doubt, the ritual of +chivalry, the solemn reception, the order itself, and the ancient oaths, +no longer exist. No doubt, among these grand commandments there are many +which are known only to the erudite, and which the world is unacquainted +with. The Catholic Faith is no longer the essence of modern chivalry; +the Church is no longer seated on the throne around which the old +knights stand with their drawn swords; Islam is no longer the hereditary +enemy; we have another which threatens us nearer home; widows and +orphans have need rather of the tongues of advocates than of the iron +weapon of the knights; there are no more duties toward liege-lords to be +fulfilled; and we even do not want any kind of superior lord at all; +_largesse_ is now confounded with charity; and the becoming hatred of +evil-doing is no longer our chief, our best, passion! + +But whatever we may do there still remains to us, in the marrow, a +certain leaven of chivalry which preserves us from death. There are +still in the world an immense number of fine souls--strong and upright +souls--who hate all that is small and mean, who know and who practise +all the delicate promptings of honor, and who prefer death to an +unworthy action or to a lie! + +That is what we owe to chivalry, that is what it has bequeathed to us. +On the day when these last vestiges of such a grand past are effaced +from our souls--we shall cease to exist! + + + + +CONVERSION OF VLADIMIR THE GREAT + +INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO RUSSIA + +A.D. 988-1015 + +A. N. MOURAVIEFF + + +(According to early Greek and Roman writers, Russia in their time was +inhabited by Scythians and Sarmatians. The Greeks established commercial +relations with the most southerly tribes. In the fourth and fifth +centuries, during the migrations of the nations, Russia was invaded by +Goths, Alans, Huns, Avars, and Bulgarians, who, however, made no +settlements. They were followed by the Slavs, who are looked upon as the +Sarmatians already mentioned. + +The Slavs settled as far north as the upper Volga. The chief settlements +were Novgorod and Kieff, which became the capitals of independent +principalities, Novgorod especially becoming an important commercial and +trading centre. + +The commerce northward through the Baltic was subject to the attacks of +the Scandinavian Northmen, known as Varangians. They demanded tribute of +the Slavs, and on its refusal attacked and captured Novgorod. A little +later Novgorod established its independence as a republic; but within a +few years we find this section controlled by a Varangian tribe from Rus, +a district of Sweden. This tribe was led by three brothers, Ruric the +Peaceful, Sineous the Victorious, and Trouvor the Faithful, who settled +and ruled in different parts of the country. + +In 864, on the death of his brothers, Ruric consolidated their +territories with his, assumed the title of grand prince, peaceably took +possession of Novgorod and made it his capital, naming the country +Russia, after his native place. + +With the advent of the Varangians the authentic history of Russia +begins. The millenary of that event was celebrated in 1862 at Novgorod, +as the foundation of the Russian empire. + +Ruric died in 879. In the next hundred years his successors conquered +many neighboring lands and added them to the empire. Kieff became the +capital. Numerous invasions into the territory of the Greek empire were +made and Constantinople was frequently attacked, resulting sometimes in +repulse, and at others in exacting heavy tribute from the Eastern +Emperor. Treaties were executed and a gradual growth of commerce and +intercourse between the Greeks and Russians took place. Olga, the famous +and popular widow of Ruric's son, Igor, became a Christian and was +baptized in Constantinople in 955, and during the rest of her life lent +her powerful influence to the spread of the faith. And though her son, +the emperor Sviatoslaf, remained a pagan throughout his reign, +Christianity continued to grow, and the general Christianization of +Russia during the reign of her grandson, Vladimir, was aided materially +by the great example of the good queen Olga. + +In 970 Sviatoslaf divided his empire among his three sons, Iaropolk I, +Oleg, and Vladimir. After the death of Sviatoslaf in 972 civil war began +between the three brothers. Oleg was killed and Vladimir fled to Sweden. +In 980, supported by a force of Varangians, Vladimir returned, captured +Novgorod and Kieff, and put Iaropolk to death. Under Vladimir, later +known as Vladimir the Great, Russia increased in importance, and +civilization was enhanced by the spread of Christianity through the +missionary efforts of the Greek Church, now the Holy, Orthodox, +Catholic, Apostolic, Oriental Church. It is, therefore, not strange that +the Russian prelates were distinguished by their loyalty and fidelity to +the Greek Church throughout the continued conflicts between it and the +Roman Church which resulted in their separation in 1054. + +In the fifteenth century, with the consent of the patriarchate of +Constantinople, the Orthodox Graeco-Russian Church assumed national +independence, and became the state church; and after the establishment +of Mahometanism in Constantinople, since its capture by Mahomet II in +1453, the reigning Czar of Russia has come to be regarded not only as +the temporal and spiritual head of the Greek Church by the great mass of +adherents which form the bulk of the population in Russia, but also as +the champion of all the followers of the church in Greece and throughout +the orient. + +The story of the introduction of Christianity into Russia presents an +interesting psychological study of the growth and development of the +religious sentiment inherent in man--be he never so brutalized and +barbarous. Notwithstanding its display of national pride and bias, +pardonable in a native historian, Mouravieff's account is exceedingly +interesting.) + + +The Russian Church, like the other orthodox churches of the East, had an +apostle for its founder. St. Andrew, the first called of the Twelve, +hailed with his blessing long beforehand the destined introduction of +Christianity into our country; ascending up and penetrating by the +Dnieper into the deserts of Scythia, he planted the first cross on the +hills of Kieff. "See you," said he to his disciples, "these hills? On +these hills shall shine the light of divine grace. There shall be here a +great city, and God shall have in it many churches to his name." + +Such are the words of the holy Nestor, the monk and annalist of the +Pechersky monastery, that point from whence Christian Russia has sprung. + +But it was only after an interval of nine centuries that the rays of +divine light beamed upon Russia from the walls of Byzantium, in which +city the same apostle, St. Andrew, had appointed Stachys to be the first +bishop, and so committed, as it were, to him and to his successors, in +the spirit of prescience, the charge of that wide region in which he had +himself preached Christ. Hence the indissoluble connection of the +Russian with the Greek Church, and the dependence of her metropolitans +during six centuries upon the patriarchal throne of Constantinople, +until, with its consent, she obtained her own equality and independence +in that which was accorded to her native primates. + +The Bulgarians of the Danube, the Moravians, and the Slavonians of +Illyria had been already enlightened by holy baptism about the middle of +the ninth century, during the reign of the Greek emperor Michael and the +patriarchate of the illustrious Photius. St. Cyril and St. Methodius, +two learned Greek brothers, translated into the Slavonic the New +Testament and the books used in divine service, and according to some +accounts even the whole Bible. + +This translation of the Word of God became afterward a most blessed +instrument for the conversion of the Russians, for the missionaries were +by it enabled to expound the truths of the Gospel to the heathens in +their native dialect, and so win for them a readier entrance to their +hearts. + +Oskold and Dir, two princes of Kieff and the companions of Ruric, were +the first of the Russians who embraced Christianity. In the year 866 +they made their appearance in armed vessels before the walls of +Constantinople when the Emperor was absent, and threw the Greek capital +into no little alarm and confusion. Tradition reports that "The +patriarch Photius took the virginal robe of the Mother of God from the +Blachern Church, and plunged it beneath the waves of the strait, when +the sea immediately boiled up from underneath and wrecked the vessels of +the heathen. Struck with awe, they believed in that God who had smitten +them, and became the first-fruits of their people to the Lord." The hymn +of victory of the Greek Church, "To the protecting Conductress," in +honor of the most holy Virgin, has remained a memorial of this triumph, +and even now concludes the _Office for the First Hour_ in the daily +_Matins_; for that was, indeed, the first hour of salvation to the land +of Russia. + +It is probable that on their return to their own country the princes of +Kieff sowed there the seeds of Christianity; for, eighty years +afterward, on occasion of a conference for peace between the prince Igor +and certain Byzantine ambassadors, we find mention already of a "Church +of the Prophet Elias" in Kieff where the Christian Varangians swore to +the observance of the treaty. Constantine Porphyrogenitus and other +Greek annalists even relate that in the lifetime of Oskold there was a +bishop sent to the Russians by the emperor Basil the Macedonian, and the +patriarch St. Ignatius, and that he made many converts, chiefly "in +consequence of the miraculous preservation of a volume of the Gospels, +which was thrown publicly into the flames and taken out after some time +unconsumed." Also in Condinus, _Catalogue of Sees Subject to the +Patriarch of Constantinople_, the metropolitical see of Russia appears +as early as the year 891. + +Lastly, it is certain that many of the Varangians who served in the +imperial bodyguard were Christians, and that the Greek sovereigns never +lost sight of any opportunity of converting them to their own faith, by +which they hoped to soften their savage manners. When the emperor Leo +was concluding a peace with Oleg, he showed not only his own treasures +to the ambassadors of the Russian prince, but also the splendor of the +churches, the holy relics, the precious _icons_, and the "Instruments of +the Passion of our Lord," if by any means they might catch from them the +spirit of the faith. + +Some such influences as these, while Christianity as yet was only +struggling for an uncertain existence at Kieff, produced in good time +their effect on the wisest of the daughters of the Slavonians, the +widowed princess Olga, who governed Russia during the minority of her +son Sviatoslaf. She undertook a voyage to Constantinople for no other +end than to obtain a knowledge of the true God, and there she received +baptism at the hands of the patriarch Polyeuctes; the emperor +Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself, who admired her wisdom, being her +godfather. Nestor draws an affecting picture of the patriarch +foretelling to the newly illumined princess the blessings which were to +descend by her means on future generations of the Russians, while Olga, +now become Helena by baptism--that she might resemble both in name and +deed the mother of Constantine the Great--stood meekly bowing down her +head and drinking in, as a sponge that is thirsty of moisture, the +instructions of the prelate concerning the canons of the Church, +fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and continence, all which she observed with +exactness on her return to her own country. + +Although, in spite of all her entreaties, the fierce and warlike prince +Sviatoslaf persisted in refusing to humble his proud heart under the +meek yoke of Christ, he had still so much affection for his mother as +not to persecute such as agreed with her in religion, but even to allow +them freely to make open profession of their faith under the protection +of that princess. He confided his children to her care during his +incessant military expeditions, and so enabled her to confirm the saving +impressions of Christianity among the people who respected her, and to +instil them into the mind of her young grandson Vladimir; for nothing +sinks so deep into the heart as the simple-and affectionate words of a +mother. The princess had with her a priest named Gregory, whom she had +brought from Constantinople, and by him she was buried after her death +in the spot which she had herself appointed, without any of the usual +pagan ceremonies. The people, by whom she had been surnamed "the Wise" +during life, began to bless her for a saint after her death, when they +came themselves to follow the example of this "Morning Star" which had +risen and gone before to lead Russia into the path of salvation. + +Nowhere has Christianity ever been less persecuted at its first +introduction than in our own country. The _Chronicle_ speaks of only two +Christian martyrs, the Varangians Theodore and John, who were put to +death by the fury of the people because one of them, from natural +affection, had refused to give up his son when he had been devoted by +the prince Vladimir to be offered as a sacrifice to Peroun. + +Probably the very zeal of this prince for the heathen deities, to whom +he set up statues and multiplied altars, may have inspired the +neighboring nations with the desire of converting so powerful a ruler to +their respective creeds; and thus his blind impulse toward the Deity, +which was unknown to him, received a true direction. The Mahometan +Bulgarians were the first to send ambassadors to him, with the offer of +their faith; but the mercy of Providence--for so it plainly +was--inspired him to give them a decided refusal on the ground that he +did not choose to comply with some of their regulations; though else a +sensual religion might well have enticed a man who was given up to the +indulgence of his passions. + +The Chazarian Jews flattered themselves with the hope of attracting the +Prince by boasting of their religion and the ancient glory of Jerusalem. +"But where," demanded the wise grandson of Olga, "is your country?" + +"It is ruined by the wrath of God for the sins of our fathers," was +their answer. Vladimir then said that he had no mind to embrace the law +of a people whom God had abandoned. There came also western doctors from +Germany, who would have persuaded Vladimir to embrace Christianity, but +their Christianity seemed strange to him; for Russia had hitherto no +acquaintance but with Byzantium. + +"Return home," he said; "our ancestors did not receive this religion +from you." + +A Greek embassy had the best success of them all. A certain philosopher, +a monk named Constantine, after having exposed the insufficiency of +other religions, eloquently set before the Prince those judgments of God +which are in the world, the redemption of the human race by the blood of +Christ, and the retribution of the life to come. His discourse +powerfully affected the heathen monarch, who was burdened with the heavy +sins of a tumultuous youth; and this was particularly the case when the +monk pointed out to him on an icon, which represented the last judgment, +the different lot of the just and of the wicked. + +"Good to these on the right hand, but woe to those on the left!" +exclaimed Vladimir, deeply affected. But sensual nature still struggled +in him against heavenly truth. Having dismissed the missionary, or +ambassador, with presents, he still hesitated to decide, and wished +first to examine further concerning the faith, in concert with the +elders of his council, that all Russia might have a share in his +conversion. The council of the Prince decided to send chosen men to make +their observations on each religion on the spot where it was professed; +and this public agreement explains in some degree the sudden and general +acceptance of Christianity which shortly after followed in Russia. It is +probable that not only the chiefs, but the common people also, were +expecting and ready for the change. + +The Greek emperors did not fail to profit by this favorable opportunity, +and the patriarch himself in person celebrated the divine liturgy in the +Church of St. Sophia with the utmost possible magnificence before the +astonished ambassadors of Vladimir. The sublimity and splendor of the +service struck them; but we do not ascribe to the mere external +impression that softening of the hearts of these heathens, on which +depended the conversion of a whole nation. From the very earliest times +of the Church, extraordinary signs of God's power have constantly gone +hand-in-hand with that apparent weakness of man by which the Gospel was +preached; and so also the _Byzantine Chronicle_ relates of the Russian +ambassadors, "That during the Divine liturgy, at the time of carrying +the Holy Gifts in procession to the throne or altar and singing the +cherubic hymn, the eyes of their spirits were opened, and they saw, as +in an ecstasy, glittering youths who joined in singing the hymn of the +'Thrice Holy.'" + +Being thus fully persuaded of the truth of the orthodox faith, they +returned to their own country already Christians in heart, and without +saying a word before the Prince in favor of the other religions, they +declared thus concerning the Greek: "When we stood in the temple we did +not know where we were, for there is nothing else like it upon earth: +there in truth God has his dwelling with men; and we can never forget +the beauty we saw there. No one who has once tasted sweets will +afterward take that which is bitter; nor can we now any longer abide in +heathenism." + +Then the _boyars_ said to Vladimir: "If the religion of the Greeks had +not been good, your grandmother Olga, who was the wisest of women, would +not have embraced it." + +The weight of the name of Olga decided her grandson, and he said no more +in answer than these words: "Where shall we be baptized?" + +But Vladimir, led by a sense which had not yet been purged by Greece, +thought it best to follow the custom of his ancestors, who made warlike +descents upon Constantinople, and so win to himself, sword in hand, his +new religion. He embarked his warriors on board their vessels and +attacked Cherson in the Taurid, a city which was subject to the emperors +Basil and Constantine. + +After a long and unsuccessful siege a certain priest, named Anastasius, +by means of an arrow shot from the town, informed the Prince that the +fate of the besieged depended upon his cutting off the aqueducts, which +supplied them with water. Vladimir in great joy made a vow that he would +be baptized if he gained possession of the town; and he did gain +possession of it. Then he sent to Constantinople to demand from the +Greek Emperor the hand of their sister Anna, and they in answer proposed +as a condition that he should embrace Christianity; for though they +themselves desired an alliance with so powerful a prince, they at the +same time took care to follow the prudent and pious policy of their +predecessors, who had ever sought to bring their fierce neighbors under +the humanizing influence of the faith. The Prince declared his consent; +because, in his own words, he had "long since examined and conceived a +love for the Greek law." + +It was her faith alone which influenced the princess to sacrifice +herself at once for the temporal interests of her own country and for +the eternal welfare of a strange people. Accompanied by a venerable body +of clergy, she sailed for Cherson, and on her arrival induced the Prince +to hasten his baptism. "For it was so ordered," says the pious annalist, +"by the wisdom of God, that the sight of the Prince was at that time +much affected by a complaint of the eyes, but at the moment that the +Bishop of Cherson laid his hands upon him, when he had risen up out of +the bath of regeneration, Vladimir suddenly received not only spiritual +illumination, but also the bodily sight of his eyes, and cried out, 'Now +I have seen the true God!'" + +Many of the Prince's suite were so struck by his miraculous recovery +that they followed his example and were baptized in like manner; and +these were doubtless afterward zealous for the introduction of +Christianity into their country. The baptism and marriage of Vladimir +were both celebrated in the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God; and +hence, no doubt, arose his peculiar zeal for the most pure Virgin, to +whose honor he afterward erected a cathedral church in his own city of +Kieff. In Cherson itself he built a church, in the name of his angel or +patron St. Basil; and taking with him the relics of St. Clement, Bishop +of Rome, and his disciple Thebas, with church vessels and ornaments and +icons, he restored the city to be again under the power of the emperors, +and returned to Kieff, accompanied by the princess, their daughter, and +her Greek ecclesiastics. + +Nestor makes no mention of any of the bishops and priests from +Constantinople and Cherson who followed in the train of the Prince, +excepting only of one, Anastasius, the priest who had rendered him such +good service during the siege; but the _Books of the Genealogies_ give +the name of Michael, a Syrian by birth, and of six other bishops who +were sent together with him to Cherson by the patriarch Nicholas +Chrysoberges. Some have ventured to suppose that Michael was the name of +the bishop of the times of Oskold; but Nestor says nothing about him, +and this much only is certain, that he stands the first in the list of +the metropolitans of Russia. + +After his return to Kieff the "Great Prince" caused his twelve sons to +be baptized, and proceeded to destroy the monuments of heathenism. He +ordered Peroun to be thrown into the Dnieper. The people at first +followed their idol, as it was borne down the stream, but were soon +quieted when they saw that the statue had no power to help itself. + +And now Vladimir, being surrounded and supported by believers in his own +domestic circle, and encouraged by seeing that his boyars and suite were +prepared and ready to embrace the faith, made a proclamation to the +people, "That whoever, on the morrow, should not repair to the river, +whether rich or poor, he should hold him for his enemy." At the call of +their respected lord all the multitude of the citizens in troops, with +their wives and children, flocked to the Dnieper; and without any manner +of opposition received holy baptism as a nation from the Greek bishops +and priests. Nestor draws a touching picture of this baptism of a whole +people at once: "Some stood in the water up to their necks, others up to +their breasts, holding their young children in their arms; the priests +read the prayers from the shore, naming at once whole companies by the +same name." He who was the means of thus bringing them to salvation, +filled with a transport of joy at the affecting sight, cried out to the +Lord, offering and commending into his hands himself and his people: "O +great God! who hast made heaven and earth, look down upon these thy new +people. Grant them, O Lord, to know thee the true God, as thou hast been +made known to Christian lands, and confirm in them a true and unfailing +faith; and assist me, O Lord, against my enemy that opposes me, that, +trusting in thee and in thy power, I may overcome all his wiles." + +Vladimir erected the first church--that of St. Basil, after whom he was +named--on the very mount which had formerly been sacred to Peroun, +adjoining his own palace. Thus was Russia enlightened. + +So sudden and ready a conversion of the inhabitants of Kieff might well +seem improbable--that is, unless effected by violence--did we not attend +to the fact that the Russians had been gradually becoming enlightened +ever since the times of Oskold, for more than a hundred years, by means +of commerce, treaties of peace, and relations of every kind with the +Greeks, as well as with the Bulgarians and Slavonians of kindred origin +with ourselves, who had already been long in possession of the Holy +Scriptures in their own language. The constant endeavors of the Greek +emperors for the conversion of the Russians by means of their +ambassadors and preachers, the tolerance of the princes, the example and +protection of Olga, and the very delay and hesitation of Vladimir in +selecting his religion must have favorably disposed the minds of the +people toward it; especially if it be true, as has been asserted, that +Russia had already had a bishop in the time of Oskold. In a similar way, +though under different circumstances, in the vast Roman Empire, the +conversion of Constantine the Great suddenly rendered Christianity the +dominant religion, because, in fact, it had long before penetrated among +all ranks of his subjects. + +Vladimir engaged zealously in building churches throughout the towns and +villages of his dominions, and sent priests to preach in them. He also +founded many towns all around Kieff, and so propagated and confirmed the +Christian religion in the neighborhood of the capital, from whence the +new colonies were sent forth. Neither was he slow in establishing +schools, into which he brought together the children of the boyars, +sometimes even in spite of the unwillingness of their rude parents. In +the mean time the Metropolitan with his bishops made progresses into the +interior of Russia, to the cities of Rostoff and Novgorod, everywhere +baptizing and instructing the people. Vladimir himself, for the same +good end, went in company with other bishops to the district of Souzdal +and to Volhynia. The boyars on the Volga and some of the Pechenegian +princes embraced the gospel of salvation together with his subjects, and +rejoiced to be admitted to holy baptism. + +The pious Prince wished to see in his own capital a magnificent temple +in honor of the birth of the most holy Virgin, to be a likeness and +memorial of that at Cherson, in which he himself had been baptized; and +the year after his conversion he sent to Greece for builders, and laid +the foundation of the first stone cathedral in Russia, on the very same +spot where the Varangian martyrs had suffered. But the first +metropolitan was not to live to its completion; only his holy remains +were buried in it, and were thence translated afterward to the Pechersky +Lavra. Another metropolitan, Leontius, a Greek by birth, sent by the +same patriarch Nicholas, consecrated the new temple, to the great +satisfaction of Vladimir, who made a vow to endow it with the tenth part +of all his revenues; and from hence it was called "the Cathedral of the +Tithes." + +These tithes, according to the ordinance ascribed to Prince Vladimir, +consisted of the fixed quota of corn, cattle, and the profits of trade, +for the support of the clergy and the poor; and besides this there was a +further tithe collected from every cause which was tried; for the right +of judging causes was granted to the bishops and the metropolitan, and +they judged according to the Nomocanon. The canons of the holy councils +and the Greek ecclesiastical laws, together with the Holy Scriptures, +were taken, from the very first, as the basis of all ecclesiastical +administration in Russia; and together with them there came into use +some portions also of the civil law of the Greeks, through the influence +of the Church. The care of the new temple and the collection of tithes +for its support were intrusted to a native of Cherson named Anastasius, +who enjoyed the confidence of Vladimir and his successors. + +The light of Christianity had now been diffused throughout the whole of +Russia; but still the faith was nowhere as yet firmly established, +because there were no bishops regularly settled in the towns. The +metropolitan Leontius formed the first five dioceses, and appointed +Joachim of Cherson to be Bishop of Novgorod, Theodorus of Rostoff, +Neophytus of Chernigoff, Stephen the Volhynian of Vladimir, and Nicetas +of Belgorod. Assisted by Dobrina, the uncle of the "Great Prince," who +had long governed in Novgorod, the new bishop Joachim threw the statue +of Peroun into the Volkoff, and broke down the idolatrous altars without +any opposition on the part of the citizens; for they, too, like the +inhabitants of Kieff, from their comparative degree of civilization and +from their relations of intercourse with the Greeks, were in all +probability already favorably disposed for the reception of +Christianity. Tradition asserts that even as far back as the time of St. +Olga the hermits Sergius and Germanus lived upon the desolate island of +Balaam in the lake Ladoga, and that from thence St. Abramius went forth +to preach Christ to the savage inhabitants of Rostoff. + +The attempt to found a diocese at Rostoff was less successful. The first +two bishops, Theodore and Hilarion, were driven away by the fierce +tribes of the forest district of Meri, who held obstinately to their +idols in spite of the zeal of St. Abramius. It cost the two succeeding +bishops, St. Leontius and St. Isaiah, many years of extraordinary labor +and exertion, attended frequently by persecutions, before they at length +succeeded in establishing Christianity in that savage region, from +whence it spread itself by degrees into all the surrounding districts. + +Thus Vladimir, having piously observed the commandments of Christ during +the course of his long reign, had the consolation of seeing before his +death the fruits of his own conversion in all the wide extent of his +dominions. He departed this life in peace at Kieff, and was soon +reckoned with his grandmother Olga among the guardian saints of Russia. +John, the third metropolitan, who had been sent from Constantinople upon +the death of Leontius, buried the Prince in the Church of the Tithes, +which he had built, near the tomb of the Grecian princess, his wife, and +the uncorrupted relics of St. Olga were translated to the same spot. + + + + +LEIF ERICSON DISCOVERS AMERICA + +A.D. 1000 + +CHARLES C. RAFN + +SAGA OF ERIC THE RED + + +(Besides the Northmen or Norsemen, those ancient Scandinavians +celebrated in history for their adventurous exploits at sea, the Chinese +and the Welsh have laid claim to the discovery of North America at +periods much earlier than that of Columbus and the Cabots. But to the +Norse sailors alone is it generally agreed that credit for that +achievement is probably due. Associated with their supposed arrival and +sojourn on the coast of what is now New England, about A.D. 1000, the +"Round Tower" or "Old Stone Mill" at Newport, R.I., the mysterious +inscription on the "Dighton Rock" in Massachusetts, and the "Skeleton in +Armor" dug up at Fall River, Mass., and made the subject of a ballad by +Longfellow, have figured prominently in the discussion of this +pre-Columbian discovery. But these conjectural evidences are no longer +regarded as having any connection with historical probability or as +dating back to the time of the Northmen. + +It is considered, however, to be pretty certain that at the end of the +tenth century or at the beginning of the eleventh the Northmen reached +the shores of North America. About that time, it is known, they settled +Iceland, and from there a colony went to Greenland, where they long +remained. From there, either by design or by accident, some of them, it +is supposed, may have reached the coast of Labrador, and thence sailed +down until they came to the region which they named Vinland. From there +they sent home glowing accounts to their countrymen in the northern +lands, who came in larger numbers to join them in the New World. + +About the middle of the nineteenth century great interest among students +of this subject was aroused by a work written by Prof. C.C. Rafn, of the +Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen. In this work-- +_Antiquitates Americanae_--the proofs of this visit of the Northmen to +the shores of North America were convincingly set forth. In the same +work the Icelandic sagas, written in the fourteenth century, and +containing the original accounts of the Northmen's voyages to Vinland, +were first brought prominently before modern scholars. Although many +other writings on the voyages have since appeared, the great work of +Rafn still holds its place of authority, very little in the way of new +material having been brought to light. The portion of his narrative +which follows covers the main facts of the history, and the translation +from the saga furnishes an excellent example of its quaint and simple +narration.) + + +CHARLES C. RAFN + +Eric The Red, in the spring of 986, emigrated from Iceland to Greenland, +formed a settlement there, and fixed his residence at Brattalid in +Ericsfiord. Among others who accompanied him was Heriulf Bardson, who +established himself at Heriulfsnes. + +Biarne, the son of the latter, was at that time absent on a trading +voyage to Norway; but in the course of the summer returning to Eyrar, in +Iceland, and finding that his father had taken his departure, this bold +navigator resolved "still to spend the following winter, like all the +preceding ones, with his father," although neither he nor any of his +people had ever navigated the Greenland sea. + +They set sail, but met with northerly winds and fogs, and, after many +days' sailing, knew not whither they had been carried. At length when +the weather again cleared up, they saw a land which was without +mountains, overgrown with wood, and having many gentle elevations. As +this land did not correspond to the descriptions of Greenland, they left +it on the larboard hand, and continued sailing two days, when they saw +another land, which was flat and overgrown with wood. + +From thence they stood out to sea, and sailed three days with a +southwest wind, when they saw a third land, which was high and +mountainous and covered with icebergs (glaciers). They coasted along the +shore and saw that it was an island. + +They did not go on shore, as Biarne did not find the country to be +inviting. Bearing away from this island, they stood out to sea with the +same wind, and, after four days' sailing with fresh gales, they reached +Heriulfsnes, in Greenland. + +Some time after this, probably in the year 994, Biarne paid a visit to +Eric, Earl of Norway, and told him of his voyage and of the unknown +lands he had discovered. He was blamed by many for not having examined +these countries more accurately. + +On his return to Greenland there was much talk about undertaking a +voyage of discovery. Leif, a son of Eric the Red, bought Biarne's ship, +and equipped it with a crew of thirty-five men, among whom was a German, +of the name of Tyrker, who had long resided with his father, and who had +been very fond of Leif in his childhood. In the year 1000 they commenced +the projected voyage, and came first to the land which Biarne had seen +last. They cast anchor and went on shore. No grass was seen; but +everywhere in this country were vast ice mountains (glaciers), and the +intermediate space between these and the shore was, as it were, one +uniform plain of slate (_hella_). The country appearing to them +destitute of good qualities, they called it Hellu-Land. + +They put out to sea, and came to another land, where they also went on +shore. The country was very level and covered with woods; and +wheresoever they went there were cliffs of white sand (_sand-ar +hvitir_), and a low coast (_o-soe-bratt_). They called the country Mark +Land (woodland). From thence they again stood out to sea, with a +northeast wind, and continued sailing for two days before they made land +again. They then came to an island which lay to the eastward of the +mainland. They sailed westward in waters where there was much ground +left dry at ebb tide. + +Afterward they went on shore at a place where a river, issuing from a +lake, fell into the sea. They brought their ship into the river, and +from thence into the lake, where they cast anchor. Here they constructed +some temporary log huts; but later, when they had made up their mind to +winter there, they built large houses, afterward called Leifs-Budir +(Leif's-booths). + +When the buildings were completed Leif divided his people into two +companies, who were by turns employed in keeping watch at the houses, +and in making small excursions for the purpose of exploring the country +in the vicinity. His instructions to them were that they should not go +to a greater distance than that they might return in the course of the +same evening, and that they should not separate from one another. + +Leif took his turn also, joining the exploring party the one day, and +remaining at the houses the other. + +It so happened that one day the German, Tyrker, was missing. Leif +accordingly went out with twelve men in search of him, but they had not +gone far from their houses when they met him coming toward them. When +Leif inquired why he had been so long absent, he at first answered in +German, but they did not understand what he said. He then said to them +in the Norse tongue: "I did not go much farther, yet I have a discovery +to acquaint you with: I have found vines and grapes." + +He added by way of confirmation that he had been born in a country where +there were plenty of vines. They had now two occupations: namely, to hew +timber for loading the ship, and collect grapes; with these last they +filled the ship's longboat. Leif gave a name to the country, and called +it Vinland (Vineland). In the spring they sailed again from thence, and +returned to Greenland. + +Leif's Vineland voyage was now a subject of frequent conversation in +Greenland, and his brother Thorwald was of opinion that the country had +not been sufficiently explored. He, accordingly, borrowed Leif's ship, +and, aided by his brother's counsel and directions, commenced a voyage +in the year 1002. He arrived at Leif's-booths, in Vineland, where they +spent the winter, he and his crew employing themselves in fishing. In +the spring of 1003 Thorwald sent a party in the ship's long-boat on a +voyage of discovery southward. They found the country beautiful and well +wooded, with but little space between the woods and the sea; there were +likewise extensive ranges of white sand, and many islands and shallows. + +They found no traces of men having been there before them, excepting on +an island lying to westward, where they found a wooden shed. They did +not return to Leif's-booths until the fall. In the following summer, +1004, Thorwald sailed eastward with the large ship, and then northward +past a remarkable headland enclosing a bay, and which was opposite to +another headland. They called it Kial-Ar-Nes (Keel Cape). + +From thence they sailed along the eastern coast of the land, into the +nearest firths, to a promontory which there projected, and which was +everywhere overgrown with wood. There Thorwald went ashore with all his +companions. He was so pleased with this place that he exclaimed: "This +is beautiful! and here I should like well to fix my dwelling!" +Afterward, when they were preparing to go on board, they observed on the +sandy beach, within the promontory, three hillocks, and repairing hither +they found three canoes, under each of which were three Skrellings +(Esquimaux). They came to blows with the latter and killed eight, but +the ninth escaped with his canoe. Afterward a countless number issued +forth against them from the interior of the bay. + +They endeavored to protect themselves by raising battle-screens on the +ship's side. The Skrellings continued shooting at them for a while and +then retired. Thorwald was wounded by an arrow under the arm, and +finding that the wound was mortal he said: "I now advise you to prepare +for your departure as soon as possible, but me ye shall bring to the +promontory, where I thought it good to dwell; it may be that it was a +prophetic word that fell from my mouth about my abiding there for a +season; there shall ye bury me, and plant a cross at my head, and +another at my feet, and call the place Kross-a-Ness (Crossness) in all +time coming." He died, and they did as he had ordered. Afterward they +returned to their companions at Leif's-booths, and spent the winter +there; but in the spring of 1005 they sailed again to Greenland, having +important intelligence to communicate to Leif. + +Thorstein, Eric's third son, had resolved to proceed to Vine-land to +fetch his brother's body. He fitted out the same ship, and selected +twenty-five strong and able-bodied men for his crew; his wife, Gudrida, +also went along with him. They were tossed about the ocean during the +whole summer, and knew not whither they were driven; but at the close of +the first week of winter they landed at Lysufiord, in the western +settlement of Greenland. + +There Thorstein died during the winter; and in the spring Gudrida +returned again to Ericsfiord. + + +SAGA OF ERIC THE RED + +There was a man named Thorwald; he was a son of Asvald, Ulf's son, +Eyxna-Thori's son. His son's name was Eric. He and his father went from +Jaederen to Iceland, on account of manslaughter, and settled on +Hornstrandir, and dwelt at Draugar. There Thorwald died, and Eric then +married Thorheld, a daughter of Jorund, Atli's son, and Thorbiorg the +sheep-chested, who had been married before to Thorbiorn of the Haukadal +family. + +Eric then removed from the north, and cleared land in Haukadal, and +dwelt at Ericsstadir, by Vatnshorn. Then Eric's thralls caused a +landslide on Valthiof's farm, Valthiofsstadir. Eyiolf the Foul, +Valthiof's kinsman, slew the thralls near Skeidsbrekkur, above +Vatnshorn. For this Eric killed Eyiolf the Foul, and he also killed +Duelling-Hrafn, at Leikskalar. + +Geirstein and Odd of Jorva, Eyiolf's kinsmen, conducted the prosecution +for the slaying of their kinsmen, and Eric was in consequence banished +from Haukadal. He then took possession of Brokey and Eyxney, and dwelt +at Tradir on Sudrey the first winter. It was at this time that he loaned +Thorgest his outer dais-boards. Eric afterward went to Eyxney, and dwelt +at Ericsstad. He then demanded his outer dais-boards, but did not obtain +them. + +Eric then carried the outer dais-boards away from Breidabolstad, and +Thorgest gave chase. They came to blows a short distance from the farm +of Drangar. There two of Thorgest's sons were killed, and certain other +men besides. After this each of them retained a considerable body of men +with him at his home. Styr gave Eric his support, as did also Eyiolf of +Sviney, Thorbiorn, Vifil's son, and the sons of Thorbrand of Alptafirth; +while Thorgest was backed by the sons of Thord the Yeller, and Thorgeir +of Hitardal, Aslak of Langadal, and his son, Illugi. Eric and his people +were condemned to outlawry at Thorsness-thing. He equipped his ship for +a voyage in Ericsvag; while Eyiolf concealed him in Dimunarvag, when +Thorgest and his people were searching for him among the islands. He +said to them that it was his intention to go in search of that land +which Gunnbiorn, son of Ulf the Crow, saw when he was driven out of his +course, westward across the main, and discovered Gunnviorns-skerries. + +He told them that he would return again to his friends if he should +succeed in finding that country. Thorbiorn and Eyiolf and Styr +accompanied Eric out beyond the islands, and they parted with the +greatest friendliness. Eric said to them that he would render them +similar aid, so far as it might be within his power, if they should ever +stand in need of his help. + +Eric sailed out to sea, from Snaefells-iokul, and arrived at that ice +mountain which is called Blacksark. Thence he sailed to the southward +that he might ascertain whether there was habitable country in that +direction. He passed the first winter at Ericsey, near the middle of the +western settlement. + +In the following spring he proceeded to Ericsfirth, and selected a site +there for his homestead. That summer he explored the western uninhabited +region, remaining there for a long time, and assigning many local names +there. The second winter he spent at Ericsholms, beyond Hvarfsgnipa. But +the third summer he sailed northward to Snaefell, and into Hrafnsfirth. +He believed then that he had reached the head of Ericsfirth; he turned +back then, and remained the third winter at Ericsey, at the mouth of +Ericsfirth. + +The following summer he sailed to Iceland and landed in Breidafirth. He +remained that winter with Ingolf at Holmlatr. In the spring he and +Thorgest fought together, and Eric was defeated; after this a +reconciliation was effected between them. + +That summer Eric set out to colonize the land which he had discovered, +and which he called Greenland, because, he said, men would be the more +readily persuaded thither if the land had a good name. Eric was married +to a woman named Thorhild, and had two sons; one of these was named +Thorstein, and the other Leif. They were both promising men. Thorstein +lived at home with his father, and there was not at that time a man in +Greenland who was accounted of so great promise as he. + +Leif had sailed to Norway, where he was at the court of King Olaf +Tryggvason. When Leif sailed from Greenland, in the summer, they were +driven out of their course to the Hebrides. It was late before they got +fair winds thence, and they remained there far into the summer. + +Leif became enamoured of a certain woman, whose name was Thorgunna. She +was a woman of fine family, and Leif observed that she was possessed of +rare intelligence. When Leif was preparing for his departure, Thorgunna +asked to be permitted to accompany him. Leif inquired whether she had in +this the approval of her kinsmen. She replied that she did not care for +it. Leif responded that he did not deem it the part of wisdom to abduct +so high-born a woman in a strange country, "and we so few in number." +"It is by no means certain that thou shalt find this to be the better +decision," said Thorgunna. "I shall put it to the proof, +notwithstanding," said Leif. "Then I tell thee," said Thorgunna, "that I +foresee that I shall give birth to a male child; and though thou give +this no heed, yet will I rear the boy, and send him to thee in Greenland +when he shall be fit to take his place with other men. And I foresee +that thou will get as much profit of this son as is thy due from this +our parting; moreover, I mean to come to Greenland myself before the end +comes." + +Leif gave her a gold finger-ring, a Greenland Wadmal mantle, and a belt +of walrus tusk. + +This boy came to Greenland, and was called Thorgils. Leif acknowledged +his paternity, and some men will have it that this Thorgils came to +Iceland in the summer before the Froda-wonder. However, this Thorgils +was afterward in Greenland, and there seemed to be something not +altogether natural about him before the end came. Leif and his +companions sailed away from the Hebrides, and arrived in Norway in the +autumn. + +Leif went to the court of King Olaf Tryggvason. He was well received by +the King, who felt that he could see that Leif was a man of great +accomplishments. Upon one occasion the King came to speech with Leif, +and asked him, "Is it thy purpose to sail to Greenland in the summer?" + +"It is my purpose," said Leif, "if it be your will." + +"I believe it will be well," answered the King, "and thither thou shalt +go upon my errand, to proclaim Christianity there." + +Leif replied that the King should decide, but gave it as his belief that +it would be difficult to carry this mission to a successful issue in +Greenland. The King replied that he knew of no man who would be better +fitted for this undertaking; "and in thy hands the cause will surely +prosper." + +"This can only be," said Leif, "if I enjoy the grace of your +protection." + +Leif put to sea when his ship was ready for the voyage. For a long time +he was tossed about upon the ocean, and came upon lands of which he had +previously had no knowledge. There were self-sown wheat-fields and vines +growing there. There were also those trees there which are called +"mansur," and of all these they took specimens. Some of the timbers were +so large that they were used in building. Leif found men upon a wreck, +and took them home with him, and procured quarters for them all during +the winter. In this wise he showed his nobleness and goodness, since he +introduced Christianity into the country, and saved the men from the +wreck; and he was called Leif "the Lucky" ever after. + +Leif landed in Ericsfirth, and then went home to Brattahlid; he was well +received by everyone. He soon proclaimed Christianity throughout the +land, and the Catholic faith, and announced King Olaf Tryggvason's +messages to the people, telling them how much excellence and how great +glory accompanied this faith. + +Eric was slow in forming the determination to forsake his old belief, +but Thiodhild embraced the faith promptly, and caused a church to be +built at some distance from the house. This building was called +Thiodhild's church, and there she and those persons who had accepted +Christianity--and there were many--were wont to offer their prayers. + +At this time there began to be much talk about a voyage of exploration +to that country which Leif had discovered. The leader of this expedition +was Thorstein Ericsson, who was a good man and an intelligent, and +blessed with many friends. Eric was likewise invited to join them, for +the men believed that his luck and foresight would be of great +furtherance. He was slow in deciding, but did not say nay when his +friends besought him to go. They thereupon equipped that ship in which +Thorbiorn had come out, and twenty men were selected for the expedition. +They took little cargo with them, naught else save their weapons and +provisions. + +On that morning when Eric set out from his home he took with him a +little chest containing gold and silver; he hid this treasure and then +went his way. He had proceeded but a short distance, however, when he +fell from his horse and broke his ribs and dislocated his shoulder, +whereat he cried, "Ai, ai!" By reason of this accident he sent his wife +word that she should procure the treasure which he had concealed--for to +the hiding of the treasure he attributed his misfortune. Thereafter they +sailed cheerily out of Ericsfirth, in high spirits over their plan. They +were long tossed about upon the ocean, and could not lay the course they +wished. + +They came in sight of Iceland, and likewise saw birds from the Irish +coast. Their ship was, in sooth, driven hither and thither over the sea. +In autumn they turned back, worn out by toil and exposure to the +elements, and exhausted by their labors, and arrived at Ericsfirth at +the very beginning of winter. + +Then said Eric: "More cheerful were we in the summer, when we put out of +the firth, but we still live, and it might have been much worse." + +Thorstein answers: "It will be a princely deed to endeavor to look well +after the wants of all these men who are now in need, and to make +provision for them during the winter." Eric answers: "It is ever true, +as it is said, that 'It is never clear ere the winter comes,' and so it +must be here. We will act now upon thy counsel in this matter." + +All of the men who were not otherwise provided for accompanied the +father and son. They landed thereupon, and went home to Brattahlid, +where they remained throughout the winter. + + + + +MAHOMETANS IN INDIA + +BLOODY INVASIONS UNDER MAHMUD A.D. 1000 + +ALEXANDER DOW + + +(While Buddhism was giving place to Hinduism in India a new faith had +arisen in Arabia. Mahomet, born A.D. 570, created a conquering religion, +and died in 632. Within a hundred years after his death, his followers +had invaded the countries of Asia as far as the Hindu Kush. Here their +progress was stayed, and Islam had to consolidate itself during three +more centuries before it grew strong enough to grasp the rich prize of +India. But almost from the first the Arabs had fixed eager eyes upon +that wealthy empire, and several premature inroads foretold the coming +storm. + +About fifteen years after the death of the Prophet, Othman sent a naval +expedition to Thana and Broach on the Bombay coast. Other raids toward +Sind took place in 662 and 664, with no lasting results. + +Hinduism was for a time submerged, but never drowned, by the tide of +Mahometan conquest, which set steadily toward India about A.D. 1000. At +the present day the south of India remains almost entirely Hindu. By far +the greater number of the Indian feudatory chiefs are still under +Brahman influence. But in the northwest, where the first waves of +invasion have always broken, about one-third of the population now +profess Islam. The upper valley of the Ganges boasts a succession of +Mussulman capitals; and in the swamps of Lower Bengal the bulk of the +non-Aryan or aboriginal population have become converts to the Mahometan +religion. The Mussulmans now make fifty-seven millions of the total of +two hundred and eighty-eight millions in India. + +The armies of Islam had carried the crescent throughout Asia west of the +Hindu Kush, and through Africa and Southern Europe, to distant Spain and +France, before they obtained a foothold in the Punjab. + +The brilliant attempt in 711 to found a lasting Mahometan dynasty in +Sind failed. Three centuries later, the utmost efforts of a series of +Mussulman invaders from the northwest only succeeded in annexing a small +portion of the frontier Punjab provinces. + +The popular notion that India fell an easy prey to the Mussulmans is +opposed to the historical facts. Mahometan rule in India consists of a +series of invasions and partial conquests, during eleven centuries from +Othman's raid, about A.D. 647, to Ahmad Shah's tempest of devastation in +1761. + +At no time was Islam triumphant throughout all India. Hindu dynasties +always ruled over a large area. + +The first collision between Hinduism and Islam on the Punjab frontier +was the act of the Hindus. In 977 Jaipal, the Hindu chief of Lahore, +annoyed by Afghan raids, led his troops through the mountains against +the Mahometan kingdom of Ghazni, in Afghanistan. Subuktigin, the +Ghaznivide prince, after severe fighting, took advantage of a hurricane +to cut off the retreat of the Hindus through the pass. He allowed them, +however, to return to India, on the surrender of fifty elephants and the +promise of one million _dirhams_ [about $125,000]. + +In 997 Subuktigin died, and was succeeded by his son, Mahmud of Ghazni, +aged sixteen. This valiant monarch, surnamed "the Great," reigned for +thirty-three years, and extended his father's little Afghan kingdom into +a great Mahometan sovereignty, stretching from Persia on the west to far +within the Punjab on the east.) + + +Mahmud was born about the year 357 of the Hegira--or 350, according to +some authorities--and, as astrologers say, with many happy omens +expressed in the horoscope of his life. Subuktigin, being asleep at the +time of his birth, dreamed that he beheld a green tree springing forth +from his chimney, which threw its shadow over the face of the earth and +screened from the storms of heaven the whole animal creation. This +indeed was verified by the justice of Mahmud; for, if we can believe the +poet, in his reign the wolf and the sheep drank together at the same +brook. + +When Mahmud had settled his dispute with his brother Ismail, he hastened +to Balik, from whence he sent an ambassador to Munsur, Emperor of +Bokhara, to whom the family of Ghazni still pretended to owe allegiance, +complaining of the indignity which he met with in the appointment of +Buktusin to the government of Khorassan, a country so long in possession +of his father. It was returned to him for answer that he was already in +possession of the territories of Balik, Turmuz, and Herat, which was +part of the empire, and that there was a necessity to divide the favors +of Bokhara among her friends. Buktusin, it was also insinuated, had been +a faithful and good servant; which seemed to throw a reflection upon the +family of Ghazni, who had rendered themselves independent in the +governments they held of the royal house of Samania. Mahmud, not +discouraged by this answer, sent Hasan Jemmavi with rich presents to the +court of Bokhara, and a letter in the following terms: "That he hoped +the pure spring of friendship, which had flowed in the time of his +father, should not now be polluted with the ashes of indignity, nor +Mahmud be reduced to the necessity of divesting himself of that +obedience which he had hitherto paid to the imperial family of Samania." + +When Hasan delivered his embassy, his capacity and elocution appeared so +great to the Emperor, that, desirous to gain him over to his interest by +any means, he bribed him at last with the honors of the wazirate, but +never returned an answer to Mahmud. That prince having received +information of this transaction, through necessity turned his face +toward Nishapur, and marched to Murgab. Buktusin, in the mean time, +treacherously entered into a confederacy with Faek, and, forming a +conspiracy in the camp of Munsur, seized upon the person of that prince +and cruelly put out his eyes. Abdul, the younger brother of Munsur, who +was but a boy, was advanced by the traitors to the throne. Being, +however, afraid of the resentment of Mahmud, the conspirators hastened +to Merv, whither they were pursued by the King with great expedition. +Finding themselves, upon their march, hard pressed in the rear by +Mahmud, they halted and gave him battle. But the sin of ingratitude had +darkened the face of their fortune, so that the breeze of victory blew +upon the standards of the King of Ghazni. + +Faek carried off the young King, and fled to Bokhara, and Buktusin was +not heard of for some time, but at length he found his way to his +fellows in iniquity and began to collect his scattered troops. Faek, in +the mean time, fell ill and soon afterward expired. Elak, the Usbek +King, seizing upon the opportunity offered him by that event, marched +with an army from Kashgar to Bokhara and deprived Abdul-Mallek and his +adherents of life and empire at the same time. Thus perished the last of +the house of Samania, which had reigned for the space of one hundred and +twenty-seven years. + +The Emperor of Ghazni, at this juncture, employed himself in settling +the government of the provinces of Balik and Khorassan, the affairs of +which he regulated in such an able manner that the fame thereof reached +the ears of the Caliph of Bagdad, the illustrious Al-Kadar Balla, of the +noble house of Abbas. The Caliph sent him a rich dress of honor, such as +he had never before bestowed on any king, and dignified Mahmud with the +titles of the Protector of the State and Treasurer of Fortune. In the +end of the month Zikada, in the year of the Hegira 390, Mahmud hastened +from the city of Balak to Herat, and from Herat to Sistan, where he +defeated Khaliph, the son of Achmet, the governor of that province of +the extinguished family of Bokhara, and returned to Ghazni. He then +turned his face toward India, took many forts and provinces, in which, +having appointed his own governors, he returned to his dominions where +he "spread the carpet of justice so smoothly upon the face of the earth +that the love of him, and loyalty, gained a place in every heart." + +Having negotiated a treaty with Elak the Usbek, the province of +Maver-ul-nere was ceded to him, for which he made an ample return in +presents of great value; and the closest friendship and familiarity, for +a long time, existed between the kings. + +Mahmud made a vow to heaven that if ever he should be blessed with +tranquillity in his own dominions he would turn his arms against the +idolaters of Hindustan. He marched in the year 391 (Ad Hegira) from +Ghazni with ten thousand of his chosen horse, and came to Peshawur, +where Jipal, the Indian prince of Lahore, with twelve thousand horse and +thirty thousand foot, supported by three hundred chain-elephants, +opposed him. On Saturday, the 8th of the month Mohirrim, in the year 392 +of the Hegira, an obstinate battle ensued, in which the Emperor was +victorious; Jipal, with fifteen of his principal officers, was taken +prisoner, and five thousand of his troops lay dead upon the field. +Mahmud in this action acquired great wealth and fame, for round the neck +of Jipal alone were found sixteen strings of jewels, each of which was +valued at one hundred and eighty thousand rupees. + +After this victory, the Emperor marched from Peshawur, and investing the +fort of Batandi, reduced it, releasing his prisoners upon the payment of +a large ransom, and the further stipulation of an annual tribute, then +returned to Ghazni. It was in those days a custom of the Hindus that +whatever rajah was twice defeated by the Moslems should be, by that +disgrace, rendered ineligible for further command. Jipal, in compliance +with this custom, having raised his son to the government, ordered a +funeral pile to be prepared, upon which he sacrificed himself to his +gods. + +A year later, Mahmud again marched into Sistan, and brought Kaliph, who +had mismanaged his government, prisoner to Ghazni. Finding that the +tribute from Hindustan had not been paid, in the year A.H. 395 he +directed his march toward the city of Battea, and, leaving the +boundaries of Multan, arrived at Tahera, which was fortified with an +exceeding high wall and a deep, broad ditch. Tahera was at that time +governed by a prince called Bakhera, who had, in the pride of power and +wealth, greatly troubled the Mahometan governors whom Mahmud had +delegated to rule in Hindustan. Bakhera had also refused to pay his +proportion of the tribute to Annandpal, the son of Jipal, of whom he +held his authority. + +When Mahmud entered the territories of Bakhera, that prince called out +his troops to receive him, and, taking possession of a strong position, +engaged the Mahometan army for the space of three days; in which time +they suffered so much that they were on the point of abandoning the +attack. But on the fourth day, Mahmud appeared at the head of his +troops, and addressed them at length, encouraging them to win glory. He +concluded by telling them that this day he had devoted himself to +conquest or to death. Bakhera, on his part, invoked the gods at the +temple, and prepared, with his former resolution, to repel the enemy. +The Mahometans charged with their usual impetuosity, but were repulsed +with great slaughter; yet returning with fresh courage and redoubled +rage, the attack was continued until the evening, when Mahmud, turning +his face to the holy Kaaba, invoked the aid of the Prophet in the +presence of his army. + +"Advance! advance!" cried then the King. "Our prayers have found favor +with God!" + +Immediately a great shout arose among the host, and the Moslems, +pressing forward as if they courted death, obliged the enemy to give +ground, and pursued them in full retreat to the gates of the city. + +The Emperor having next morning invested the place, gave orders to make +preparations for filling up the ditch, which task in a few days was +nearly completed. Bakhera, finding he could not long defend the city, +determined to leave only a small garrison for its defence; and +accordingly, one night, he marched out with the rest of his troops, and +took position in a wood on the banks of the Indus. Mahmud, being +informed of his retreat, detached part of his army to pursue him. +Bakhera, by this time, was deserted by fortune and consequently by most +of his friends; he found himself surrounded by the Mahometans and +attempted in vain to force his way through them. When just on the point +of being taken prisoner, he turned his sword against his breast, while +the most of his adherents were slaughtered in attempting to avenge his +death. Mahmud, in the mean time, had taken Tahera by assault; and found +there one hundred and twenty elephants, many slaves, and much plunder. +He annexed the town and its dependencies to his own dominions, and +returned victorious to Ghazni. + +In the year A.H. 396 he formed the design of reconquering Multan, which +had revolted from his rule. Achmet Lodi, the regent of Multan, had +formerly acknowledged the suzerainty of Mahmud, and after him his +grandson Daud, till the expedition against Bakhera, when Daud withdrew +his allegiance. The King marched in the beginning of the spring, with a +great army from Ghazni, and was met by Annandpal, the son of Jipal, +Prince of Lahore, in the hills of Peshawur, whom he defeated and obliged +to fly into Cashmere. Annandpal had entered into an alliance with Daud; +and as there were two passes only by which the Mahometans could enter +Multan, Annandpal had taken upon himself to secure that by the way of +Peshawur, which Mahmud chanced to take. The Sultan, returning from the +pursuit, entered Multan by the way of Betanda, which was his first +intention. When Daud received intelligence of the fate of Annandpal, +thinking himself too weak to keep the field, he shut himself up in his +fortified place and humbly solicited forgiveness for his fault, +promising to pay a large tribute and in the future to obey implicitly +the Sultan's command. Mahmud received him again as a vassal, and +prepared to return to Ghazni, when news was brought to him from +Arsallah, who commanded at Herat, that Elak, the King of Kashgar, had +invaded his realm with an army. The King hastened to settle the affairs +of Hindustan, which he put into the hands of Shokpal, a Hindu prince who +had resided with Abu-Ali, governor of Peshawur, and had turned +Mussulman, taking the name of Zab Sais. + +The particulars of the war of Mahmud with Elak are these: It has already +been mentioned that an uncommon friendship had existed between this +Elak, the Usbek king of Kashgar, a kingdom in Tartary, and Mahmud. The +Emperor himself was married to the daughter of Elak, but some factious +men about the two courts, by misrepresentations of the princes to one +another, changed their former friendship to enmity. When Mahmud +therefore marched into Hindustan, and had left the field of Khorassan +almost destitute of troops, Elak took advantage of the opportunity, and +resolved to appropriate that province to himself. To accomplish his +design he ordered his general-in-chief Sapastagi, with a large force, to +enter Khorassan; and Jaffir Taghi at the same time was appointed to +command in the territory of Balak. Arsallah, the governor of Herat, +being informed of these motions, hastened to Ghazni, that he might +secure the capital. In the mean time the chiefs of Khorassan, finding +themselves deserted and being in no condition to oppose the enemy, +submitted themselves to Sapastagi, the general of Elak. + +But Mahmud, having by great marches reached Ghazni, flowed onward like a +torrent with his army toward Balak. Taghi, who had by this time +possessed himself of the place, fled toward Turmuz at his approach. The +Emperor then detached Arsallah with a great part of his army to drive +Sapastagi out of Khorassan; and he also, upon the approach of the troops +of Ghazni, abandoned Herat, and marched toward Maber-ul-nere. + +The King of Kashgar, seeing the bad state of his affairs, solicited the +aid of Kudar, King of Chuton, a province of Tartary, on the confines of +China, and that prince marched to join him with fifty thousand horse. +Strengthened by this alliance, he crossed, with the confederate armies, +the river Gaon, which was five parasangs from Balak, and opposed himself +to the camp of Mahmud. That monarch immediately drew up his army in +order of battle, giving the command of the centre to his brother, the +noble Nasir, supported by Abu-Nasir, governor of Gorgan, and by +Abdallah, a chief of reputation in arms. The right wing he committed to +the care of Alta Sash, an old experienced officer, while the left was +the charge of the valiant Arsallah, a chief of the Afghans. The front of +his line he strengthened with five hundred chain-elephants, with open +spaces behind them, to facilitate their retreat in case of a defeat. + +The King of Kashgar posted himself in the centre, the noble Kudir led +the right, and Taghi the left. The armies advanced to the charge. The +shouts of warriors, the neighing of horses, and the clashing of arms +reached the broad arch of heaven, while dust obscured the face of day. + +Elak, advancing with some chosen squadrons, threw the centre of Mahmud's +army into disorder. Mahmud, perceiving the enemy's progress, leaped from +his horse, and, kissing the ground, invoked the aid of the Almighty. He +then mounted an elephant-of-war, encouraged his troops, and made a +violent assault upon Elak. The elephant seizing the standard-bearer of +the enemy, folded his trunk around him and tossed him aloft in the air. +He then surged forward like a mountain removed from its base by an +earthquake, and trod the enemy under his feet like locusts. When the +troops of Ghazni saw their King forcing his way alone through the +enemy's ranks they rushed forward with headlong impetuosity and drove +the enemy with great slaughter before them. Elak, abandoned by fortune +and his army, turned his face to fly. He crossed the river with a few of +his surviving friends, never afterward appearing in the field to dispute +the victory with Mahmud. + +The King after this triumph marched two days after the runaways. On the +third night a great storm of wind and snow overtook the Ghaznian army in +the desert. The King's tents were pitched with much difficulty, while +the army was obliged to lie in the snow. Mahmud, having ordered great +fires to be kindled around his tents, they became so warm that many of +the courtiers began to take off their upper garments; when a facetious +chief, whose name was Dalk, came in shivering with the cold, at which +the King, observing, said: "Go out, Dalk, and tell the Winter that he +may burst his cheeks with blustering, for here we value not his +resentment." Dalk went out accordingly, and, returning in a short time, +kissed the ground, and thus addressed the King: "I have delivered the +King's message to Winter, but the Surly Season replied that if his hands +cannot tear the skirts of Royalty and hurt the attendants of the King, +yet he will so use his power to-night on his army that in the morning +Mahmud will be obliged to saddle his own horses." + +The King smiled at this reply, but it presently rendered him more +thoughtful and he determined to proceed no farther. In the morning some +hundreds of men and horses were found to have perished with the cold. +Mahmud at the same time received advices from India, that Zab Sais, the +renegade Hindu, had thrown off his allegiance, and, returning to his +former religion, expelled all the officers who had been appointed by the +King, from their respective departments. The King immediately determined +to punish this renegade, and with great expedition advanced toward +India. He sent on a part of his cavalry in front, which, coming +unexpectedly upon Zab Sais, defeated him and brought him prisoner to the +King. The rebel was fined four lacs of rupees, of which Mahmud made a +present to his treasurer, and made Zab Sais a prisoner for life. + +Mahmud, having thus settled his affairs in India, returned in autumn to +Ghazni, where he remained for the winter in peace. But in the spring of +the year A.H. 399 Annandpal, sovereign of Lahore, began to raise +disturbance in Multan, so that the King was obliged to undertake another +expedition into those parts, with a great army, to correct the Indians. +Annandpal, hearing of his intentions, sent ambassadors everywhere to +request the assistance of the other princes of Hindustan, who considered +the extirpation of the Moslems from India as a meritorious and political +as well as a religious action. + +Accordingly the princes of Ugin, Gualier, Callinger, Kannoge, Delhi, and +Ajmere entered into a confederacy, and, collecting their forces, +advanced toward the heads of the Indus, with the greatest army that had +been for some centuries seen upon the field in India. The two armies +came in sight of one another in a great plain near the confines of the +province of Peshawur. They remained there encamped forty days without +action: but the troops of the idolaters daily increased in number. They +were joined by the Gakers, and other tribes with their armies, and +surrounded the Mahometans, who, fearing a general assault, were obliged +to intrench themselves. + +The King, having thus secured himself, ordered a thousand archers to the +front, to endeavor to provoke the enemy to advance to the intrenchments. +The archers accordingly were attacked by the Gakers, who, +notwithstanding all the King could do, pursued the retreating bowmen +within the trenches, where a dreadful scene of carnage ensued on both +sides, in which five thousand Moslems in a few minutes were slain. The +enemy's soldiers being now cut down as fast as they advanced, the attack +grew weaker, when suddenly the elephant which carried the Prince of +Lahore, who was chief in command, took fright at the report of a gun +(_sic_), and turned tail in flight. + +This circumstance struck the Hindus with a panic, for, thinking they +were deserted by their general, they immediately followed the example. +Abdallah, with six thousand Arabian horse, and Arsallah, with ten +thousand Turks, Afghans, and Chilligis, pursued the enemy for two days +and nights; so that twenty thousand Hindus were killed in their +flight--in addition to the great multitude that fell on the field of +battle. + +Thirty elephants, with much rich plunder, were brought to the King, who, +to establish the faith, marched against the Hindus of Nagrakot, breaking +down their idols and destroying their temples. There was at that time, +in the territory of Nagrakot, a strong fort called Bima, which Mahmud +invested after having destroyed the country round about with fire and +sword. Bima was built by a prince of the same name, on the top of a +steep mountain; and here the Hindus--on account of its strength--had +deposited the wealth consecrated to their idols in all the neighboring +kingdoms; so that in this fort, it was said, there was a greater +quantity of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls than ever had been +collected in the royal treasury of any prince on earth. + +Mahmud invested the place with such expedition that the Hindus had not +time to send troops into it for its defence--the greater part of the +garrison having been sent to the field. Those within consisted, for the +most part, of priests, who being adverse to the bloody business of war, +in a few days solicited permission to capitulate. Their request being +granted, they opened the gates and fell upon their faces before Mahmud, +who with a few of his officers and attendants immediately entered and +took possession of the place. + +In Bima were found: seven hundred thousand _dinars_; seven hundred +maunds of gold and silver plate; forty maunds of pure gold in ingots; +two thousand maunds of silver bullion, and twenty maunds of various +jewels set, which had been collecting from the time of Bima. With this +immense treasure the King returned to Ghazni, and in the year A.H. 400 +held a magnificent festival, where he displayed to the people his wealth +in golden thrones, and in other rich receptacles, in a great plain +without the city of Ghazni; and after the feast every individual +received a princely gift. + +In the following year Mahmud led his army toward Ghor. The native prince +of that country, Mahomet of the Sur tribe of Afghans, with ten thousand +troops, opposed him. The King, finding that the troops of Ghor defended +themselves in their intrenchments with such obstinacy, commanded his +army to make a feint of retreating, to lure the enemy out of their +fortified camp, which manoeuvre proved successful. The Ghorians, being +deceived, pursued the army of Ghazni to the plain, where the King, +facing round with his troops, attacked them with great impetuosity. +Mahomet was taken prisoner and brought to the King; but in his despair +he had taken poison, which he always kept under his ring, and died in a +few hours. His country was annexed to the dominion of Ghazni. Some +historians affirm that neither the sovereigns of Ghor nor its +inhabitants were Mussulmans till after this victory; while others of +good credit assure us that they were converted many years before, even +so early as the time of the famous Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet. + +Mahmud, in the same year, was under the necessity of marching again to +Multan, which had revolted; but having soon reduced it, and cut off a +great number of the chiefs, he brought Daud, the son of Nazir, the +rebellious governor, prisoner to Ghazni, and imprisoned him in the fort +of Gorci for life. + +In the year A.H. 402, the passion of war fermenting in the mind of +Mahmud, he resolved upon the conquest of Tannasar, in the kingdom of +Hindustan. It had reached the ears of the King that Tannasar was held in +the same veneration by idolaters as Mecca was by the Mahometans; that +there they had set up a great number of idols, the chief of which they +called Jug Sum. This Jug Sum, they pretended to say, existed when as yet +the world existed not. When the King reached the country about the five +branches of the Indus, he desired that--according to the treaty that +existed between himself and Annandpal--he should not be disturbed by his +march through that country. He accordingly sent an embassy to Annandpal, +advising him of his intentions, and desiring him to send guards for the +protection of his towns and villages, which he, the King, would take +care should not be molested by the followers of his camp. + +Annandpal agreed to this proposal, and prepared an entertainment for the +reception of the King, issuing an order for all his subjects to supply +the royal camp with every necessary of life. In the mean time he sent +his brother with two thousand horse to meet the King and deliver this +message: + +"That he was the subject and slave of the King; but that he begged +permission to acquaint his Majesty that Tannasar was the principal place +of worship of the inhabitants of that country; that if it was a virtue +required by the religion of Mahmud to destroy the religion of others, he +had already acquitted himself of that duty to his God in the destruction +of the temple of Nagracot; but if he should be pleased to alter his +resolution against Tannasar, Annandpal would undertake that the amount +of the revenues of that country should be annually paid to Mahmud, to +reimburse the expense of his expedition: that besides, he, on his own +part, would present him with fifty elephants, and jewels to a +considerable amount." + +The King replied: "That in the Mahometan religion it was an established +tenet that the more the glory of the Prophet was exalted, and the more +his followers exerted themselves in the subversion of idolatry, the +greater would be their reward in heaven; that therefore it was his firm +resolution, with the assistance of God, to root out the abominable +worship of idols from the land of India: why then should he spare +Tannasar?" + +When this news reached the Indian king of Delhi, he prepared to oppose +the invaders, sending messages all over Hindustan to acquaint the rajahs +that Mahmud, without any reason or provocation, was marching with an +innumerable army to destroy Tannasar, which was under his immediate +protection: that if a dam was not expeditiously raised against this +roaring torrent, the country of Hindustan would soon be overwhelmed in +ruin, and the tree of prosperity rooted up; that therefore it was +advisable for them to join their forces at Tannasar, to oppose with +united strength the impending danger. But Mahmud reached Tannasar before +they could take any measure for its defence, plundered the city and +broke the idols, sending Jug Sum to Ghazni, where he was soon stripped +of his ornaments. He then ordered his head to be struck off and his body +to be thrown on the highway. According to the account of the historian +Hago Mahomet of Kandahar, there was a ruby found in one of the temples +which weighed four hundred and fifty miskals! + +Mahmud, after these transactions at Tannasar, proceeded to Delhi, which +he also took, and wanted greatly to annex to his dominions, but his +nobles told him that it was impossible to keep the rajahship of Delhi +till he had entirely subjected Multan to Mahometan rule, destroyed the +power and exterminated the family of Annandpal, Prince of Lahore, which +lay between Delhi and the northern dominions of Mahmud. The King +approved of this counsel, and immediately determined to proceed no +further against that country, till he had accomplished the reduction of +Multan and Annandpal. But that prince behaved with so much policy and +hospitality that he changed the purpose of the King, who returned to +Ghazni. He brought to Ghazni forty thousand captives and much wealth, so +that that city could now be hardly distinguished in riches from India +itself. + + + + +CANUTE BECOMES KING OF ENGLAND + +A.D. 1017 + +DAVID HUME + + +(After the success of King Alfred over the Danes in the last quarter of +the ninth century, England enjoyed a considerable respite from the +invasions of the bold ravagers who had caused great suffering and loss +to the country. This immunity of England seems to have been partly due +to the fact that the Danish adventurers had gained a foothold in the +north of France, where they found all the employment they needed in +maintaining their establishments. Under the reign of Edward the +Elder--chosen to succeed Alfred--the English enjoyed an interval of +comparative peace and industry. During this time and under the following +reigns, known as those of the Six Boy-Kings, the social side of life had +an opportunity to develop from a semi-barbarous to a more civilized +state. The bare and rough walls of hall and court were screened by +tapestry hangings, often of silk, and elaborately ornamented with birds +and flowers or scenes from the battlefield or the chase. Chairs and +tables were skilfully carved and inlaid with different woods and, among +the wealthier nobility, often decorated with gold and silver. Knives and +spoons were now used at table--the fork was to come many long years +later; golden ornaments were worn; and a variety of dishes were +fashioned, often of precious metals, brass, and even bone. The bedstead +became a household article, no longer looked upon with superstitious +awe; and musical instruments--principally of the harp pattern--began to +find favor in their eyes, and were passed round from hand to hand, like +the drinking-bowl, at their rude festivals. + +But toward the end of a century following the victories of Alfred the +Danes again threatened an invasion, and in 981-991 they made several +landings, in the latter year overrunning much territory. King Ethelred +[the "Unready"] procured their departure by bribery, which led the Danes +to repeat their visit the next year, following it up by a descent in +force under King Sweyn of Denmark and Olaf of Norway. They defeated the +English in battle and ravaged a great part of the country, exacting as +before ruinous contributions from the already impoverished people. After +the siege and taking of London, 1011-1013, the flight of the cowardly +Ethelred to the court of Normandy, the sudden death of Sweyn, who had +been but a few months before proclaimed King of England, and the return +of Ethelred to his throne, Canute, the son of Sweyn, claimed the crown +and ravaged the land in the manner and custom of his race. The +complications and strife engendered by the rival claims of the Dane and +Edmund ["Ironside"], son of Ethelred, and which ended in the triumph of +Canute and the complete subjugation of England, are hereinafter narrated +by Hume, the English historian.) + + +The Danes had been established during a longer period in England than in +France; and though the similarity of their original language to that of +the Saxons invited them to a more early coalition with the natives, they +had hitherto found so little example of civilized manners among the +English that they retained all their ancient ferocity, and valued +themselves only on their national character of military bravery. The +recent as well as more ancient achievements of their countrymen tended +to support this idea; and the English princes, particularly Athelstan +and Edgar, sensible of that superiority, had been accustomed to keep in +pay bodies of Danish troops, who were quartered about the country and +committed many violences upon the inhabitants. These mercenaries had +attained to such a height of luxury, according to the old English +writers, that they combed their hair once a day, bathed themselves once +a week, changed their clothes frequently; and by all these arts of +effeminacy, as well as by their military character, had rendered +themselves so agreeable to the fair sex that they debauched the wives +and daughters of the English and dishonored many families. But what most +provoked the inhabitants was that, instead of defending them against +invaders, they were ever ready to betray them to the foreign Danes, and +to associate themselves with all straggling parties of that nation. + +The animosity between the inhabitants of English and Danish race had, +from these repeated injuries, risen to a great height, when Ethelred +(1002), from a policy incident to weak princes, embraced the cruel +resolution of massacring the latter throughout all his dominions. Secret +orders were despatched to commence the execution everywhere on the same +day, and the festival of St. Brice, which fell on a Sunday, the day on +which the Danes usually bathed themselves, was chosen for that purpose. +It is needless to repeat the accounts transmitted concerning the +barbarity of this massacre: the rage of the populace, excited by so many +injuries, sanctioned by authority, and stimulated by example, +distinguished not between innocence and guilt, spared neither sex nor +age, and was not satiated without the tortures as well as death of the +unhappy victims. Even Gunhilda, sister to the King of Denmark, who had +married Earl Paling and had embraced Christianity, was, by the advice of +Edric, Earl of Wilts, seized and condemned to death by Ethelred, after +seeing her husband and children butchered before her face. This unhappy +princess foretold, in the agonies of despair, that her murder would soon +be avenged by the total ruin of the English nation. + +Never was prophecy better fulfilled, and never did barbarous policy +prove more fatal to the authors. Sweyn and his Danes, who wanted but a +pretence for invading the English, appeared off the western coast, and +threatened to take full revenge for the slaughter of their countrymen. +Exeter fell first into their hands, from the negligence or treachery of +Earl Hugh, a Norman, who had been made governor by the interest of Queen +Emma. They began to spread their devastations over the country, when the +English, sensible what outrages they must now expect from their +barbarous and offended enemy, assembled more early and in greater +numbers than usual, and made an appearance of vigorous resistance. But +all these preparations were frustrated by the treachery of Duke Alfric, +who was intrusted with the command, and who, feigning sickness, refused +to lead the army against the Danes, till it was dispirited and at last +dissipated by his fatal misconduct. Alfric soon after died, and Edric, a +greater traitor than he, who had married the King's daughter and had +acquired a total ascendant over him, succeeded Alfric in the government +of Mercia and in the command of the English armies. A great famine, +proceeding partly from the bad seasons, partly from the decay of +agriculture, added to all the other miseries of the inhabitants. The +country, wasted by the Danes, harassed by the fruitless expeditions of +its own forces, was reduced to the utmost desolation, and at last +submitted (1007) to the infamy of purchasing a precarious peace from the +enemy by the payment of thirty thousand pounds. + +The English endeavored to employ this interval in making preparations +against the return of the Danes, which they had reason soon to expect. A +law was made, ordering the proprietors of eight hides of land to provide +each a horseman and a complete suit of armor, and those of three hundred +and ten hides to equip a ship for the defence of the coast. When this +navy was assembled, which must have consisted of near eight hundred +vessels, all hopes of its success were disappointed by the factions, +animosities, and dissensions of the nobility. Edric had impelled his +brother Brightric to prefer an accusation of treason against Wolfnoth, +governor of Sussex, the father of the famous earl Godwin; and that +nobleman, well acquainted with the malevolence as well as power of his +enemy, found no means of safety but in deserting with twenty ships to +the Danes. Brightric pursued him with a fleet of eighty sail; but his +ships being shattered in a tempest, and stranded on the coast, he was +suddenly attacked by Wolfnoth, and all his vessels burned and destroyed. +The imbecility of the King was little capable of repairing this +misfortune. The treachery of Edric frustrated every plan for future +defence; and the English navy, disconcerted, discouraged, and divided, +was at last scattered into its several harbors. + +It is almost impossible, or would be tedious, to relate particularly all +the miseries to which the English were henceforth exposed. We hear of +nothing but the sacking and burning of towns; the devastation of the +open country; the appearance of the enemy in every quarter of the +kingdom; their cruel diligence in discovering any corner which had not +been ransacked by their former violence. The broken and disjointed +narration of the ancient historians is here well adapted to the nature +of the war, which was conducted by such sudden inroads as would have +been dangerous even to a united and well-governed kingdom, but proved +fatal where nothing but a general consternation and mutual diffidence +and dissension prevailed. The governors of one province refused to march +to the assistance of another, and were at last terrified from assembling +their forces for the defence of their own province. General councils +were summoned; but either no resolution was taken or none was carried +into execution. And the only expedient in which the English agreed was +the base and imprudent one of buying a new peace from the Danes, by the +payment of forty-eight thousand pounds. + +This measure did not bring them even that short interval of repose which +they had expected from it. The Danes, disregarding all engagements, +continued their devastations and hostilities; levied a new contribution +of eight thousand pounds upon the county of Kent alone; murdered the +Archbishop of Canterbury, who had refused to countenance this exaction; +and the English nobility found no other resource than that of submitting +everywhere to the Danish monarch, swearing allegiance to him, and +delivering him hostages for their fidelity. Ethelred, equally afraid of +the violence of the enemy and the treachery of his own subjects, fled +into Normandy (1013), whither he had sent before him Queen Emma and her +two sons, Alfred and Edward. Richard received his unhappy guests with a +generosity that does honor to his memory. + +The King had not been above six weeks in Normandy when he heard of the +death of Sweyn, who expired at Gainsborough before he had time to +establish himself in his new-acquired dominions. The English prelates +and nobility, taking advantage of this event, sent over a deputation to +Normandy, inviting Ethelred to return to them, expressing a desire of +being again governed by their native prince, and intimating their hopes +that, being now tutored by experience, he would avoid all those errors +which had been attended with such misfortunes to himself and to his +people. But the misconduct of Ethelred was incurable; and on his +resuming the government, he discovered the same incapacity, indolence, +cowardice, and credulity which had so often exposed him to the insults +of his enemies. His son-in-law Edric, notwithstanding his repeated +treasons, retained such influence at court as to instil into the King +jealousies of Sigefert and Morcar, two of the chief nobles of Mercia. +Edric allured them into his house, where he murdered them; while +Ethelred participated in the infamy of the action by confiscating their +estates and thrusting into a convent the widow of Sigefert. She was a +woman of singular beauty and merit; and in a visit which was paid her, +during her confinement, by Prince Edmund, the King's eldest son, she +inspired him with so violent an affection that he released her from the +convent, and soon after married her without the consent of his father. + +Meanwhile the English found in Canute, the son and successor of Sweyn, +an enemy no less terrible than the prince from whom death had so lately +delivered them. He ravaged the eastern coast with merciless fury, and +put ashore all the English hostages at Sandwich, after having cut off +their hands and noses. He was obliged, by the necessity of his affairs, +to make a voyage to Denmark; but, returning soon after, he continued his +depredations along the southern coast. He even broke into the counties +of Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset, where an army was assembled against him, +under the command of Prince Edmund and Duke Edric. The latter still +continued his perfidious machinations, and, after endeavoring in vain to +get the prince into his power, he found means to disperse the army, and +he then openly deserted to Canute with forty vessels. + +Notwithstanding this misfortune Edmund was not disconcerted, but, +assembling all the force of England, was in a condition to give battle +to the enemy. The King had had such frequent experience of perfidy among +his subjects that he had lost all confidence in them: he remained at +London, pretending sickness, but really from apprehensions that they +intended to buy their peace by delivering him into the hands of his +enemies. The army called aloud for their sovereign to march at their +head against the Danes; and, on his refusal to take the field, they were +so discouraged that those vast preparations became ineffectual for the +defence of the kingdom. Edmund, deprived of all regular supplies to +maintain his soldiers, was obliged to commit equal ravages with those +which were practised by the Danes; and, after making some fruitless +expeditions into the north, which had submitted entirely to Canute's +power, he retired to London, determined there to maintain to the last +extremity the small remains of English liberty. He here found everything +in confusion by the death of the King, who expired after an unhappy and +inglorious reign of thirty-five years (1016). He left two sons by his +first marriage, Edmund, who succeeded him, and Edwy, whom Canute +afterward murdered. His two sons by the second marriage, Alfred and +Edward, were, immediately upon Ethelred's death, conveyed into Normandy +by Queen Emma. + +Edmund, who received the name of "Ironside" from his hardy valor, +possessed courage and abilities sufficient to have prevented his country +from sinking into those calamities, but not to raise it from that abyss +of misery into which it had already fallen. Among the other misfortunes +of the English, treachery and disaffection had crept in among the +nobility and prelates; and Edmund found no better expedient for stopping +the further progress of these fatal evils than to lead his army +instantly into the field, and to employ them against the common enemy. +After meeting with some success at Gillingham, he prepared himself to +decide, in one general engagement, the fate of his crown; and at +Scoerston, in the county of Gloucester, he offered battle to the enemy, +who were commanded by Canute and Edric. Fortune, in the beginning of the +day, declared for him; but Edric, having cut off the head of one Osmer, +whose countenance resembled that of Edmund, fixed it on a spear, carried +it through the ranks in triumph, and called aloud to the English that it +was time to fly; for, behold! the head of their sovereign. And though +Edmund, observing the consternation of the troops, took off his helmet, +and showed himself to them, the utmost he could gain by his activity and +valor was to leave the victory undecided. Edric now took a surer method +to ruin him, by pretending to desert to him; and as Edmund was well +acquainted with his power, and probably knew no other of the chief +nobility in whom he could repose more confidence, he was obliged, +notwithstanding the repeated perfidy of the man, to give him a +considerable command in the army. A battle soon after ensued at +Assington, in Essex, where Edric, flying in the beginning of the day, +occasioned the total defeat of the English, followed by a great +slaughter of the nobility. The indefatigable Edmund, however, had still +resources. Assembling a new army at Gloucester, he was again in +condition to dispute the field, when the Danish and English nobility, +equally harassed with those convulsions, obliged their kings to come to +a compromise and to divide the kingdom between them by treaty. Canute +reserved to himself the northern division, consisting of Mercia, East +Anglia, and Northumberland, which he had entirely subdued. The southern +parts were left to Edmund. This prince survived the treaty about a +month. He was murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, accomplices +of Edric, who thereby made way for the succession of Canute the Dane to +the crown of England. + +The English, who had been unable to defend their country and maintain +their independency under so active and brave a prince as Edmund, could +after his death expect nothing but total subjection from Canute, who, +active and brave himself, and at the head of a great force, was ready to +take advantage of the minority of Edwin and Edward, the two sons of +Edmund. Yet this conqueror, who was commonly so little scrupulous, +showed himself anxious to cover his injustice under plausible pretences. +Before he seized the dominions of the English princes, he summoned a +general assembly of the states in order to fix the succession of the +kingdom. He here suborned some nobles to depose that, in the treaty of +Gloucester, it had been verbally agreed, either to name Canute, in case +of Edmund's death, successor to his dominions or tutor to his +children--for historians vary in this particular; and that evidence, +supported by the great power of Canute, determined the states +immediately to put the Danish monarch in possession of the government. +Canute, jealous of the two princes, but sensible that he should render +himself extremely odious if he ordered them to be despatched in England, +sent them abroad to his ally, the King of Sweden, whom he desired, as +soon as they arrived at his court, to free him, by their death, from all +further anxiety. The Swedish monarch was too generous to comply with the +request; but being afraid of drawing on himself a quarrel with Canute, +by protecting the young princes, he sent them to Solomon, King of +Hungary, to be educated in his court. The elder, Edwin, was afterward +married to the sister of the King of Hungary; but the English prince +dying without issue, Solomon gave his sister-in-law, Agatha, daughter of +the emperor Henry II, in marriage to Edward, the younger brother; and +she bore him Edgar, Atheling, Margaret, afterward Queen of Scotland, and +Christina, who retired into a convent. + +Canute, though he had reached the great point of his ambition in +obtaining possession of the English crown, was obliged at first to make +great sacrifices to it; and to gratify the chief of the nobility, by +bestowing on them the most extensive governments and jurisdictions. He +created Thurkill Earl or Duke of East Anglia--for these titles were then +nearly of the same import--Yric of Northumberland, and Edric of Mercia; +reserving only to himself the administration of Wessex. But seizing +afterward a favorable opportunity, he expelled Thurkill and Yric from +their governments, and banished them the kingdom; he put to death many +of the English nobility, on whose fidelity he could not rely, and whom +he hated on account of their disloyalty to their native prince. And even +the traitor Edric, having had the assurance to reproach him with his +services, was condemned to be executed and his body to be thrown into +the Thames; a suitable reward for his multiplied acts of perfidy and +rebellion. + +Canute also found himself obliged, in the beginning of his reign, to +load the people with heavy taxes in order to reward his Danish +followers: he exacted from them at one time the sum of seventy-two +thousand pounds, besides eleven thousand which he levied on London +alone. He was probably willing, from political motives, to mulct +severely that city, on account of the affection which it had borne to +Edmund and the resistance which it had made to the Danish power in two +obstinate sieges.[25] But these rigors were imputed to necessity; and +Canute, like a wise prince, was determined that the English, now +deprived of all their dangerous leaders, should be reconciled to the +Danish yoke, by the justice and impartiality of his administration. He +sent back to Denmark as many of his followers as he could safely spare; +he restored the Saxon customs in a general assembly of the states; he +made no distinction between Danes and English in the distribution of +justice; and he took care, by a strict execution of law, to protect the +lives and properties of all his people. The Danes were gradually +incorporated with his new subjects; and both were glad to obtain a +little respite from those multiplied calamities from which the one, no +less than the other, had, in their fierce contest for power, experienced +such fatal consequences. + +[Footnote 25: In one of these sieges Canute diverted the course of the +Thames, and by that means brought his ships above London bridge.] + +The removal of Edmund's children into so distant a country as Hungary +was, next to their death, regarded by Canute as the greatest security to +his government: he had no further anxiety, except with regard to Alfred +and Edward, who were protected and supported by their uncle Richard, +Duke of Normandy. Richard even fitted out a great armament, in order to +restore the English princes to the throne of their ancestors; and though +the navy was dispersed by a storm, Canute saw the danger to which he was +exposed from the enmity of so warlike a people as the Normans. In order +to acquire the friendship of the duke, he paid his addresses to Queen +Emma, sister of that prince, and promised that he would leave the +children whom he should have by that marriage in possession of the Crown +of England. Richard complied with his demand and sent over Emma to +England, where she was soon after married to Canute. The English, though +they disapproved of her espousing the mortal enemy of her former husband +and his family, were pleased to find at court a sovereign to whom they +were accustomed, and who had already formed connections with them; and +thus Canute, besides securing, by this marriage, the alliance of +Normandy, gradually acquired, by the same means, the confidence of his +own subjects. The Norman prince did not long survive the marriage of +Emma; and he left the inheritance of the duchy to his eldest son of the +same name, who, dying a year after him without children, was succeeded +by his brother Robert, a man of valor and abilities. + +Canute, having settled his power in England beyond all danger of a +revolution, made a voyage to Denmark, in order to resist the attacks of +the King of Sweden; and he carried along with him a great body of the +English, under the command of Earl Godwin. This nobleman had here an +opportunity of performing a service, by which he both reconciled the +King's mind to the English nation and, gaining to himself the friendship +of his sovereign, laid the foundation of that immense fortune which he +acquired to his family. He was stationed next the Swedish camp, and +observing a favorable opportunity, which he was obliged suddenly to +seize, he attacked the enemy in the night, drove them from their +trenches, threw them into disorder, pursued his advantage, and obtained +a decisive victory over them. Next morning Canute, seeing the English +camp entirely abandoned, imagined that those disaffected troops had +deserted to the enemy: he was agreeably surprised to find that they were +at that time engaged in pursuit of the discomfited Swedes. He was so +pleased with this success, and with the manner of obtaining it, that he +bestowed his daughter in marriage upon Godwin, and treated him ever +after with entire confidence and regard. + +In another voyage, which he made afterward to Denmark, Canute attacked +Norway, and, expelling the just but unwarlike Olaus, kept possession of +his kingdom till the death of that prince. He had now by his conquests +and valor attained the utmost height of grandeur: having leisure from +wars and intrigues, he felt the unsatisfactory nature of all human +enjoyments; and equally weary of the glories and turmoils of this life, +he began to cast his view toward that future existence, which it is so +natural for the human mind, whether satiated by prosperity or disgusted +with adversity, to make the object of its attention. Unfortunately, the +spirit which prevailed in that age gave a wrong direction to his +devotion: instead of making compensation to those whom he had injured by +his former acts of violence, he employed himself entirely in those +exercises of piety which the monks represented as the most meritorious. +He built churches, he endowed monasteries, he enriched the +ecclesiastics, and he bestowed revenues for the support of chantries at +Assington and other places, where he appointed prayers to be said for +the souls of those who had there fallen in battle against him. He even +undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, where he resided a considerable time: +besides obtaining from the pope some privileges for the English school +erected there, he engaged all the princes through whose dominions he was +obliged to pass to desist from those heavy impositions and tolls which +they were accustomed to exact from the English pilgrims. By this spirit +of devotion, no less than by his equitable and politic administration, +he gained, in a good measure, the affections of his subjects. + +Canute, the greatest and most powerful monarch of his time, sovereign of +Denmark and Norway, as well as of England, could not fail of meeting +with adulation from his courtiers; a tribute which is liberally paid +even to the meanest and weakest princes. Some of his flatterers, +breaking out one day in admiration of his grandeur, exclaimed that +everything was possible for him; upon which the monarch, it is said, +ordered his chair to be set on the sea-shore while the tide was rising; +and as the waters approached, he commanded them to retire, and to obey +the voice of him who was lord of the ocean. He feigned to sit some time +in expectation of their submission; but when the sea still advanced +toward him, and began to wash him with its billows, he turned to his +courtiers, and remarked to them that every creature in the universe was +feeble and impotent, and that power resided with one Being alone, in +whose hands were all the elements of nature; who could say to the ocean, +"Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther," and who could level with his +nod the most towering piles of human pride and ambition. + +The only memorable action which Canute performed after his return from +Rome was an expedition against Malcolm, King of Scotland. During the +reign of Ethelred, a tax of a shilling a hide had been imposed on all +the lands of England. It was commonly called _danegelt_; because the +revenue had been employed either in buying peace with the Danes or in +making preparations against the inroads of that hostile nation. That +monarch had required that the same tax should be paid by Cumberland, +which was held by the Scots; but Malcolm, a warlike prince, told him +that as he was always able to repulse the Danes by his own power, he +would neither submit to buy peace of his enemies nor pay others for +resisting them. Ethelred, offended at this reply, which contained a +secret reproach on his own conduct, undertook an expedition against +Cumberland; but though he committed ravages upon the country, he could +never bring Malcolm to a temper more humble or submissive. Canute, after +his accession, summoned the Scottish King to acknowledge himself a +vassal for Cumberland to the Crown of England; but Malcolm refused +compliance, on pretence that he owed homage to those princes only who +inherited that kingdom by right of blood. Canute was not of a temper to +bear this insult; and the King of Scotland soon found that the sceptre +was in very different hands from those of the feeble and irresolute +Ethelred. Upon Canute's appearing on the frontiers with a formidable +army, Malcolm agreed that his grandson and heir, Duncan, whom he put in +possession of Cumberland, should make the submissions required, and that +the heirs of Scotland should always acknowledge themselves vassals to +England for that province. + +Canute passed four years in peace after this enterprise, and he died at +Shaftesbury; leaving three sons, Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute. Sweyn, +whom he had by his first marriage with Alfwen, daughter of the Earl of +Hampshire, was crowned in Norway; Hardicanute, whom Emma had borne him, +was in possession of Denmark; Harold, who was of the same marriage with +Sweyn, was at that time in England. + + + + +HENRY III DEPOSES THE POPE + +THE GERMAN EMPIRE CONTROLS THE PAPACY + +A.D. 1048 + +FERDINAND GREGOROVIUS + +JOSEPH E. DARRAS + + +(After the extinction of the Carlovingian line, A.D. 887, and the +division of the empire, the Church of Rome and the Christian world fell +into a highly demoralized state, attributable to the destitution to +which ecclesiastical bodies were reduced by the frequent predations of +bands of robbers, the immorality of the priesthood, and the power of +electing the popes falling into the hands of intriguing and licentious +patrician females, whom aspirants to the holy see were not ashamed to +bribe for their favors. So depraved had the general spirit of the age +become that Pope Boniface VII, A.D. 974, robbed St. Peter's Church and +its treasury and fled to Constantinople; while Pope John XVIII, A.D. +1003, was prevented, by general indignation only, from accepting a sum +of money from Emperor Basil to recognize the right of the Greek +patriarch to the title of "Universal Bishop." + +A child, son of one of the old noble houses, was consecrated pope as +Benedict IX, A.D. 1033, according to some authorities, at the age of ten +or twelve years. He became noted for his profligacy and was driven from +his throne, the Romans electing, as Pope Sylvester III, John, Bishop of +Sabina, who is said to have paid a high price for the dignity. Benedict, +however, regained the papal seat shortly afterward, and drove Sylvester +into a refuge, but later sold the office to John Gratianus, Arch-priest +of Rome, who as Gregory VI made laudable attempts to effect a general +reformation. He failed in his efforts, and a chaotic state ensued; three +popes claiming the triple tiara and reigning in Rome: Gregory at the +Vatican, Benedict in the Lateran, and Sylvester in the Church of Santa +Maria Maggiore. + +On the invitation of the Roman people, Henry the Black, the young and +zealous Emperor of Germany, repaired to Italy in 1045 and summoned a +great ecclesiastical council at Sutri, which passed a decree deposing +the three papal claimants. The same council elected to the tiara the +German bishop of Bamberg, who reigned in the holy see as Clement II. One +of his first ceremonies, carried out with all the gorgeous pomp of the +Roman Church, was the imperial coronation of Henry and his wife Agnes. + +But Henry's action, while "it dragged the Church out of the slough it +had fallen into," startled the ecclesiastical world, and was a prelude +to the struggle between pope and emperor which, under St. Hildebrand, +Pope Gregory VII, culminated in the independent establishment of the +pontificate and papal power.) + + +FERDINAND GREGOROVIUS + +Henry III, the son and successor of Conrad, was young, vigorous, and +God-fearing; a noble prince called, like Charles and Otto the Great, to +restore Rome, to deliver it from tyrants, and to reform the almost +annihilated Church. For the papacy had been still further dishonored by +Benedict IX. It seemed as if a demon from hell, in the disguise of a +priest, occupied the chair of Peter and profaned the sacred mysteries of +religion by his insolent courses. + +Benedict IX, restored in 1038, protected by his brother Gregory, who +ruled the city as senator of the Romans, led unchecked the life of a +Turkish sultan in the palace of the Lateran. He and his family filled +Rome with robbery and murder; all lawful conditions had ceased. Toward +the end of 1044, or in the beginning of the following year, the populace +at length rose in furious revolt; the Pope fled, but his vassals +defended the Leonina against the attacks of the Romans. The +Trasteverines remained faithful to Benedict, and he summoned friends and +adherents; Count Gerard of Galeria advanced with a numerous body of +horse to the Saxon gate and repulsed the Romans. An earthquake added to +the horrors in the revolted city. The ancient chronicle which relates +these events does not tell us whether Trastevere was taken by assault +after a three-days' struggle, but merely relates that the Romans +unanimously renounced Benedict, and elected Bishop John of the Sabina to +the papacy as Sylvester III. John also owed his elevation to the gold +with which he bribed the rebels and their leader, Girardo de Saxo. This +powerful Roman had first promised his daughter in marriage to the Pope, +and afterward refused her; for the Pope had not hesitated, in all +seriousness, to sue for the hand of a Roman lady, a relative of his own. +Her father lured him on with the hope of winning her, but required that +Benedict should in the first place resign the tiara. + +The Pope, burning with passion, consented and fulfilled his promise +during the revolt of the Romans. He was mastered by the demon of +sensuality; it was reported by the superstitious that he associated with +devils in the woods and attracted women by means of spells. It was +asserted that books of magic, with which he had conjured demons, had +been found in the Lateran. His banishment meanwhile aroused the haughty +spirit of his house, and anger at Gerard's treacherous conduct proved a +further incentive to revenge. His numerous adherents still held St. +Angelo, and his gold acquired him new friends. After a forty-nine days' +reign, Sylvester III was driven from the apostolic chair, which the +Tusculan reascended in March, 1045. + +Benedict now ruled for some time in Rome, while Sylvester III found +safety either within some fortified monument in the city or in some +Sabine fortress, and continued to call himself pope. A beneficent +darkness veils the horrors of this year. Hated by the Romans, insecure +on his throne, in constant terror of the renewal of the revolution, +Benedict eventually found himself obliged to abdicate. The abbot +Bartholomew of Grotta Ferrata urged him to the step, but he unblushingly +sold the papacy for money like a piece of merchandise. In exchange for a +considerable income, that is to say, for the revenue of "Peter's pence" +from England, he made over his papal dignities by a formal contract to +John Gratianus, a rich archpriest of the Church of St. John at the Latin +gate, on May 1, 1045. + +Could the holiest office in Christendom be more deeply outraged than by +a sale such as this? And yet so general was the traffic in +ecclesiastical dignities throughout the world that when a pope finally +sold the chair of Peter the scandal did not strike society as specially +heinous. + +John Gratian, or Gregory VI, set aside the canon law with a defiant +courage which perhaps was only understood by the minority of his +compatriots; he bought the papacy in order to wrest it from the hands of +a criminal, and this remarkable Pope, although regarded as an idiot in +that terrible period, was possibly an earnest and high-minded man. +Scarcely had Peter Damian knowledge of this traffic when he wrote to +Gregory VI on his elevation, rejoicing that the dove with the olive +branch had returned to the ark. The Saint may have known the Pope +personally and have been persuaded of his spiritual virtues. Even the +chroniclers of the time, who represent him--assuredly with injustice--as +so rude and simple that he was obliged to appoint a representative, are +unable to fasten any crime upon him. The Cluniacs in France and the +congregations of Italy all hailed his elevation as the beginning of a +better time, and side by side with this simonist Pope a young and brave +monk suddenly appears, who, after the heroic exertions of a lifetime, +was to raise the degenerate papacy to a height hitherto undreamed of. +Hildebrand first issues from obscurity by the side of Gregory VI; he +became the Pope's chaplain, and this fact alone proves that Gregory was +no idiot. How far Hildebrand's activity already extended, whether he had +any share in Gregory's illegal elevation, we do not know; but in the +"representative" spoken of by the chronicles, we may easily recognize +the gifted young monk who was Gregory's counsellor, and who later took +the name of Gregory VII in grateful recollection of his predecessor. + +While Benedict IX pursued his wild career in Tusculum or Rome, Gregory +VI remained Pope for nearly two years. His desire was to save the +Church, which stood in need of a drastic reform--and which soon +afterward obtained it. The papacy, lately a hereditary fief of the +counts of Tusculum, was utterly ruined; the _dominium temporale_, the +ominous gift of the Carlovingians, the box of Pandora in the hands of +the Pope from which a thousand evils had arisen, had disappeared, since +the Church could scarcely command the fortresses in the immediate +neighborhood of the city. A hundred lords, the captains or vassals of +the Pope, stood ready to fall upon Rome; every road was infested with +robbers, every pilgrim was robbed; within the city the churches lay in +ruins, while the priests caroused. Daily assassinations made the streets +insecure. Roman nobles, sword in hand, forced their way into St. Peter's +itself to snatch the gifts which pious hands still placed upon the +altar. + +The chronicler who describes this state of things extols Gregory for +having repressed it. The captains, it is true, besieged the city, but +the Pope boldly assembled the militia, restored a degree of order, and +even conquered several fortresses in the district. Sylvester had +apparently made an attempt on Rome; he was, however, defeated by +Gregory's energy. The short and dark period of Gregory's pontificate was +terrible, and his severity toward the robbers soon made him hated by the +nobles and even by the equally rapacious cardinals. + +Whatever he may have done under the influence of French and Italian +monks to rescue the Church from its state of barbarous confusion, it +was--as in the time of Otto the Great--by the German dictatorship alone +that it could be saved. The exertions of Gregory VI soon ceased to bear +any result; his means were exhausted, and his opponents gradually +overpowered him. So utter was the state of anarchy that it is said that +all three popes lived in the city at the same time: one in the Lateran, +a second in St. Peter's, and a third in Santa Maria Maggiore. + +The eyes of the better citizens at length turned to the King of Germany. +The archdeacon Peter convoked a synod without consulting Gregory, and it +was here resolved urgently to invite Henry to come and take the imperial +crown and raise the Church from the ruin into which it had fallen. + +Henry, coming from Augsburg, crossed the Brenner, and arrived at Verona +in September, 1046, accompanied by a great army and filled with the +ardent desire of becoming the reformer of the Church. No enemy opposed +him, the bishops and dukes, among them the powerful margrave Boniface of +Tuscany, did homage without delay. The Roman situation was provisionally +discussed at a great synod in Pavia. Gregory VI now hastened to meet the +King at Piacenza, where he hoped to gain the monarch to his side. Henry, +however, dismissed him with the explanation that his fate and that of +the antipopes would be canonically decided by a council. + +Shortly before Christmas he assembled one thousand and forty-six bishops +and Roman clergy at Sutri. The three popes were summoned, and Gregory +and Sylvester III actually appeared. Sylvester was deposed from his +pontificate and condemned to penance in a monastery. Gregory VI, +however, gave the council cause to doubt its competence to judge him. +Gregory, who was an upright man, or one at least conscious of good +intentions, consented publicly to describe the circumstances of his +elevation, and was thereby forced to condemn himself as guilty of simony +and unworthy of the papal office. He quietly laid down the insignia of +the papacy, and his renunciation did him honor. Henry, with the bishops +and the margrave Boniface, immediately started for the city, which did +not shut its gates against him; for Benedict II had hid himself in +Tusculum, and his brothers did not venture on any resistance. Rome, +weary of the Tusculum horrors, joyfully accepted the German King as her +deliverer. Never afterward was a king of Germany received with such glad +acclamations by the Roman people; never again did any other effect such +great results or achieve the like changes. With the Roman expedition of +Henry III begins a new epoch in the history of the city, and more +especially of the Church. It seemed as if the waters of the deluge had +subsided, and as if men from the ark had landed on the rock of Peter to +give new races and new laws to a new world. What law, that stern and +terrible power which kills, binds, and holds together, signifies in +human affairs, has indeed been experienced by few periods so fully as by +that with which we have now to deal. + +A synod, assembled in St. Peter's on December 23d, again pronounced all +three popes deposed, and a canonical pope had consequently to be +elected. Like Otto III before his coronation, Henry had also at his side +a man who was to wear the tiara and to confer the crown upon himself. + +Adalbert of Hamburg and Bremen having refused the papacy, the King chose +Suidger of Bamberg. The royal command was all that was required to place +the candidate on the sacred chair. Henry, however, would not violate any +of the canonical forms. As King of Germany he possessed no right either +over that city or yet over the papal election. The right must first be +conferred upon him, and this was done by a treaty which he had already +concluded with the Romans at Sutri. "Roman Signors," said Henry at the +second sitting of the synod on December 24th, "however thoughtless your +conduct may hitherto have been, I still accord you liberty to elect a +pope according to ancient custom; choose from among this assembly whom +you will." + +The Romans replied: "When the royal majesty is present, the assent to +the election does not belong to us, and, when it is lacking, you are +represented by your _patricius_. For in the affairs of the republic the +patricius is not patricius of the pope, but of the emperor. We admit +that we have been so thoughtless as to appoint idiots as popes. It now +behooves your imperial power to give the Roman republic the benefit of +law, the ornament of manners, and to lend the arm of protection to the +Church." + +The senators of the year 1046, who so meekly surrendered the valuable +right to the German King, heeded not the shades of Alberic and the three +Crescentii; since these--their patricians--would have accused them of +treason. + +The Romans of these days were, however, ready for any sacrifice so that +they obtained freedom from the Tusculum tyranny. Nothing more clearly +shows the utter depth of their exhaustion and the extent of their +sufferings than the light surrender of a right which it had formerly +cost Otto the Great such repeated efforts to extort from the city. Rome +made the humiliating confession that she possessed no priest worthy of +the papacy, that the clergy in the city were rude and utter simonists. +All other circumstances, moreover, forbade the election of a Roman or +even of an Italian to the papacy. + +The Romans besought Henry to give them a good pope; he presented the +Bishop of Bamberg to the assenting clergy, and led the reluctant +candidate to the apostolic chair. Clement II, consecrated on Christmas +Day, 1046, immediately placed the imperial crown on Henry's head and on +that of his wife Agnes. There were still many Romans who had been +eye-witnesses of like transactions--that is to say, of papal election +and imperial coronation following one the other in immediate +succession--in the case of Otto III and Henry V; who, as they now saw +the second German pope mount the chair of Peter, may have recalled the +fact that the first had only lived a few sad years in Rome and had died +in misery. + +The coronation of Henry III was performed under such significant +conditions and in such perfect tranquillity that it offers the most +fitting opportunity for describing in a few sentences the ceremonial of +the imperial coronation. + +Since Charles the Great, these repeated ceremonies, with the more +frequent coronations or Lateran processions of the popes, formed the +most brilliant spectacle in Rome. + +When the Emperor-elect approached with his wife and retinue, he first +took an oath to the Romans, at the little bridge on the Neronian Field, +faithfully to observe the rights and usages of the city. On the day of +the coronation he made his entrance through the Porta Castella close to +St. Angelo and here repeated the oath. The clergy and the corporations +of Rome greeted him at the Church of Santa Maria Traspontina, on a +legendary site called the Terebinthus of Nero. The solemn procession +then advanced to the steps of the cathedral. Senators walked by the side +of the King, the prefect of the city carried the naked sword before him, +and his chamberlains scattered money. + +Arrived at the steps he dismounted from his horse and, accompanied by +his retinue, ascended to the platform where the Pope, surrounded by the +higher clergy, awaited him sitting. The King stooped to kiss the Pope's +foot, tendered the oath to be an upright protector of the Church, +received from the Pope the kiss of peace, and was adopted by him as the +son of the Church. With solemn song both King and Pope entered the +Church of Santa Maria in Turri, beside the steps of St. Peter's, and +here the King was formally made canon of the cathedral. He then +advanced, conducted by the Lateran count of the palace and by the +_primicerius_ of the judges, to the silver door of the cathedral, where +he prayed, and the Bishop of Albano delivered the first oration. + +Innumerable mystic ceremonies awaited the King in St. Peter's itself. +Here, a short way from the entrance, was the _rota porphyretica_, a +round porphyry stone inserted in the pavement, on which the King and +Pope knelt. The imperial candidate here made his profession of faith, +the Cardinal-bishop of Portus placed himself in the middle of the rota +and pronounced the second oration. The King was then draped in new +vestments, was made a cleric in the sacristy by the Pope, was clad with +tunic, dalmatica, pluviale, mitre and sandals, and was then led to the +altar of St. Maurice, whither his wife, after similar but less fatiguing +ceremonies, accompanied him. The Bishop of Ostia here anointed the King +on the right arm and neck and delivered the third oration. + +If the Emperor-elect were fitted by the dignity of his calling, then the +solemnity of the function, the mystic and tedious pomp, the magnificent +monotone of prayer and song in the ancient cathedral, hallowed by so +many exalted memories, must have stirred his inmost soul. The pinnacle +of all human ambition, the crown of Charles the Great, lay glittering +before his longing eyes on the altar of the Prince of the Apostles. The +Pope, however, first placed a ring on the finger of the Anointed, as +symbol of the faith, the permanence and strength of his Catholic rule; +with similar formulae girt him with the sword, and finally placed the +crown upon his head. "Take," he said, "the symbol of fame, the diadem of +royalty, the crown, the empire, in the name of the Father, of the Son, +and of the Holy Ghost; renounce the archfiend and all sins, be upright +and merciful, and live in such pious love that thou mayest hereafter +receive the everlasting crown in company with the saints, from our Lord +Jesus Christ." + +The church resounded with the Gloria and the Laudes: "Life and victory +to the Emperor, to the Roman and the German army," and with the endless +acclamations of the rude soldiers who hailed their King in German, Slav, +and Romance tongues. + +The Emperor divested himself of the symbols of the empire, and now +ministered to the Pope as subdeacon at mass. The Count Palatine +afterward removed the sandals, and put the red imperial boots with the +spurs of St. Maurice upon him. Whereupon the entire procession, +accompanied by the Pope, left the church and advanced along the +so-called "Triumphal Way," through the flower-bedecked city, amid the +ringing of all the bells, to the Lateran. At special stations were +posted clergy singing praises, and the _scholae_ or guilds placed to +salute the Emperor as he passed. Chamberlains scattered money before and +behind the procession, and all the scholae and the officials of the +palace received the _presbyterium_ or customary present of money. A +banquet closed the solemnities in the papal palace. + +Such are merely the barest outlines of an imperial coronation of this +period. The ceremonies, borrowed from Byzantine pomp, had been +established since Charles the Great, and had remained essentially the +same, although, in the course of time, many details had been altered and +others had been introduced. The magnificence of these spectacles is no +longer rivalled by the pageantry of our days. The multitudes of dukes +and counts, of bishops and abbots, knights and nobles with their +retinues, the splendor of their attire, the strangeness of their faces +and their tongues, the martial array of warriors, the mystic +magnificence of the papacy with all its orders in such picturesque +costume, the aspect of secular Rome, of judges and senators, of consuls +and _duces_, of the militia with their banners, in curious, motley, +fantastic attire; lastly, as the sublime scene of the drama, the stern, +gloomy, ruinous city, through which the procession solemnly +advanced--all combined to produce a picture of such mighty and universal +historic interest that even a Roman accustomed to the pomp of Trajan's +period could not have beheld it without feelings of astonishment. + +These coronation processions restored to the city its character of +metropolis. The Romans of the time might flatter themselves that the +emperors whom they elected still ruled the universe. The strangers who +flocked to the city freely distributed their gold, and the hungry +populace could live for weeks on the proceeds of the coronation. + + +J.E. DARRAS + +The accession of Gregory VI was the harbinger of an epoch of moral +renaissance. The wise Pontiff, whose glory it had been to free the +Church from a disgraceful yoke, proved himself worthy of the sovereign +power, as much by the zeal with which he wielded as by the noble +disinterestedness with which he resigned it. He found the temporal +domains of the Church so far diminished that they hardly furnished the +Pope with the means of an honorable maintenance. As guardian of the +rights of the Church, he hurled an excommunication against the usurpers. +The infuriated plunderers marched upon Rome with an armed force. The +Pope also raised troops, took possession of St. Peter's church, drove +out the wretches who stole the offerings laid upon the tombs of the +Apostles, took back several estates belonging to the domain of the +Church, and secured the safety of the roads, upon which pilgrims no +longer ventured to travel except in caravans. This policy displeased the +Romans, who had now become habituated to plunder. Their complaints +induced Henry III, King of Germany, to hurry to Italy, and to summon a +council at Sutri, during the Christmas festival, to inquire whether the +election of Gregory should be regarded as simoniacal. The Pope and the +clergy entertained the sincere conviction that they were justified in +bringing about, even by means of money, the abdication of the unworthy +Benedict, thus to end the scandal which so foully disgraced the Holy +See. As opinions were divided on this point, Gregory VI, to set all +doubts at rest, stripped himself, with his own hands, of the Pontifical +vestments, and gave up to the bishops his pastoral staff. Having given +to the world this noble example of self-denial, Gregory withdrew to the +monastery of Cluny, bearing with him the consciousness of a great duty +done. He died in that holy solitude in the odor of sanctity. + +The see left vacant by the magnanimous humility of Gregory VI was +bestowed, by general consent, upon Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, whom King +Henry had brought with him to Rome. The new Pope, whose elevation was +due only to universally known and acknowledged virtues, took the name of +Clement II, and was crowned on Christmas-Day (A.D. 1046); in the same +solemnity he bestowed the imperial title and crown upon Henry III, and +his queen, Agnes, daughter of William, duke of Aquitaine. + +The Emperor Henry, during his sojourn in Rome, sent for St. Peter Damian +to assist the Pope by his counsels. The illustrious religious thus wrote +to the Pontiff, in excuse for not complying: "Notwithstanding the +Emperor's request, so expressive of his benevolence in my regard, I +cannot devote to journeys the time which I have promised to consecrate +to God in solitude. I send the imperial letter in order that your +Holiness may decide, if it become necessary. My soul is weighed down +with grief when I see the churches of our provinces plunged into +shameful confusion through the fault of bad bishops and abbots. What +does it profit us to learn that the Holy See has been brought out from +darkness into the light, if we still remain buried in the same gloom of +ignominy? But we hope that you are destined to be the savior of Israel. +Labor then, Most Holy Father, once more to raise up the kingdom of +justice, and use the vigor of discipline to humble the wicked and to +raise the courage of the good." + +On his return to Germany, Henry took the Pope with him. The city of +Beneventum refused to open its gates to the Sovereign Pontiff, who, at +the Emperor's request, pronounced against it a sentence of +excommunication. Clement made but a short visit to his native land, and +hastened back to Rome. His apostolic zeal led him to visit, in person, +the churches of Umbria, the deplorable condition of which he had learned +from the letter of St. Peter Damian. On reaching the monastery of St. +Thomas of Aposello, he was seized with a mortal disease, before having +accomplished the object of his journey. His last thought was for his +beloved church of Bamberg, to which he sent, from his dying couch, a +confirmation of all its former privileges, assuring it, in the most +touching terms, of his unchanging affection. + + + + +DISSENSION AND SEPARATION OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN CHURCHES + +A.D. 1054 + +HENRY FANSHAWE TOZER + +JOSEPH DEHARBE + + +(In the division of the Greek Catholic Church from that at Rome, +Protestant writers see a very natural and legitimate separation of two +equal powers. Roman Catholics, regarding the Papal supremacy as +established from the beginning, treat the division as a plot by evil and +malignant men. Both viewpoints are here given. + +The Eastern--or Greek Christian--Church, now known as the Holy Orthodox, +Catholic, Apostolic, Oriental Church, first assumed individuality at +Ephesus, and in the catechetical school of Alexandria, which flourished +after A.D. 180. It early came into conflict with the Western or Roman +Church: "the Eastern Church enacting creeds, and the Western Church +discipline." + +In the third century, Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, accused the Patriarch +of Alexandria of error in points of faith, but the Patriarch vindicated +his orthodoxy. Eastern monachism arose about 300; the Church of Armenia +was founded about the same year; and the Church of Georgia or Iberia in +340. + +Constantine the Great caused Christianity to be recognized throughout +the Roman Empire, and in 325 convened the first ecumenical or general +Council at Nicaea [Nice], when Arius, excommunicated for heresy by a +provincial synod at Alexandria in 321, defended his views, but was +condemned. Arianism long maintained a theological and political +importance in the East and among the Goths and other nations converted +by Arian missionaries. In A.D. 330, Constantine removed the capital of +the Roman Empire to Constantinople, and thence dates the definite +establishment of the Greek Church and the serious rivalry with the Roman +Church over claims of preeminence, differences of doctrine and ritual, +charges of heresy and inter-excommunications, which ended in the final +separation of the churches in 1054. + +In A.D. 461, the churches of Egypt, Syria, and Armenia separated from +the Church of Constantinople, over the Monophysite controversy on the +single divine or single compound nature of the Son; in 634 the struggle +with Mahometanism began; in 676 the Maronites of Lebanon formed a strong +sect, which, in 1182, joined the Roman Church. In 988, Vladimir the +Great of Russia founded the Graeco-Russian Church, in which the Greek +Church found a refuge, when Mahometanism was established at +Constantinople, after its capture by the Turks in 1453.) + + +HENRY FANSHAWE TOZER + +The separation of the Eastern and Western churches, which finally took +place in the year 1054, was due to the operation of influences which had +been at work for several centuries before. From very early times a +tendency to divergence existed, arising from the tone of thought of the +dominant races in the two, the more speculative Greeks being chiefly +occupied with purely theological questions, while the more practical +Roman mind devoted itself rather to subjects connected with the nature +and destiny of man. In differences such as these there was nothing +irreconcilable: the members of both communions professed the same forms +of belief, rested their faith on the same divine persons, were guided by +the same standard of morals, and were animated by the same hopes and +fears; and they were bound by the first principles of their religion to +maintain unity with one another. But in societies, as in individuals, +inherent diversity of character is liable to be intensified by time, and +thus counteracts the natural bonds of sympathy, and prevents the two +sides from seeing one another's point of view. In this way it cooeperates +with and aggravates the force of other causes of disunion, which adverse +circumstances may generate. Such causes there were in the present +instance, political, ecclesiastical, and theological; and the nature of +these it may be well for us to consider, before proceeding to narrate +the history of the disruption. + +The office of bishop of Rome assumed to some extent a political +character as early as the time of the first Christian emperors. By them +this prelate was constituted a sort of secretary of state for Christian +affairs, and was employed as a central authority for communicating with +the bishops in the provinces; so that after a while he acted as minister +of religion and public instruction. As the civil and military power of +the Western Empire declined, the extent of this authority increased; and +by the time when Italy was annexed to the Empire of the East, in the +reign of Justinian, the popes had become the political chiefs of Roman +society. Nominally, indeed, they were subject to the exarch of Ravenna, +as vicegerent of the Emperor at Constantinople, but in reality the +inhabitants of Western Europe were more disposed to look to the +spiritual potentate in the Imperial city as representing the traditions +of ancient Rome. + +The political rivalry that was thus engendered was sharpened by the +traditional jealousy of Rome and Constantinople, which had existed ever +since the new capital had been erected on the shores of the Bosporus. +Then followed struggles for administrative superiority between the popes +and the exarchs, culminating in the shameful maltreatment and banishment +of Martin I by the emperor Constans--an event which the See of Rome +could never forget. + +The attempt to enforce iconoclasm in Central Italy was influential in +causing the loss of that province to the Empire; and even after the +Byzantine rule had ceased there, the controversy about images tended to +keep alive the antagonism, because, although that question was once and +again settled in favor of the maintenance of images, yet many of the +emperors, in whose persons the power of the East was embodied, were +foremost in advocating their destruction. Indeed, from first to last, +owing to the close connection of church and state in the Byzantine +empire, the unpopularity of the latter in Western Europe was shared by +the former. To this must be added the contempt for one another's +character which had arisen among the adherents of the two churches, for +the Easterns had learned to regard the people of the West as ignorant +and barbarous, and were esteemed by them in turn as mendacious and +unmanly. + +In ecclesiastical matters also the differences were of long standing. +These related to questions of jurisdiction between the two +patriarchates. Up to the eighth century, the patriarchate of the West +included a number of provinces on the eastern side of the +Adriatic--Illyricum, Dacia, Macedonia, and Greece. But Leo the Isaurian, +who probably foresaw that Italy would ere long cease to form part of his +dominions, and was unwilling that these important territories should own +spiritual allegiance to one who was not his subject, altered this +arrangement, and transferred the jurisdiction over them to the Patriarch +of Constantinople. Against this measure the bishops of Rome did not fail +to protest, and demands for their restoration were made up to the time +of the final schism. A further ecclesiastical question, which in part +depended on this, was that of the Church of the Bulgarians. The prince +Bogoris had swayed to and fro in his inclinations between the two +churches, and had ultimately given his allegiance to that of the East; +but the controversy did not end there. According to the ancient +territorial arrangement the Danubian provinces were made subject to the +archbishopric of Thessalonica, and that city was included within the +Western patriarchate; and on this ground Bulgaria was claimed by the +Roman see as falling within that area. The matter was several times +pressed on the attention of the Greek Church, especially on the occasion +of the council held at Constantinople in 879, but in vain. The Eastern +prelates replied evasively, saying that to determine the boundaries of +dioceses was a matter which belonged to the sovereign. The Emperor, for +his part, had good reason for not yielding, for by so doing he would not +only have admitted into a neighboring country an agency which would soon +have been employed for political purposes to his disadvantage, but would +have justified the assumption on which the demand rested, viz., that the +pope had a right to claim the provinces which his predecessors had lost. +Thus this point of difference also remained open, as a source of +irritation between the two churches. + +But behind these questions another of far greater magnitude was coming +into view, that of the papal supremacy. From being in the first instance +the head of the Christian church in the old Imperial city, and afterward +Patriarch of the West, and _primus inter pares_ in relation to the other +spiritual heads of Christendom, the bishop of Rome had gradually +claimed, on the strength of his occupying the _cathedra Petri_, a +position which approximated more and more to that of supremacy over the +whole Church. This claim had never been admitted in the East, but the +appeals which were made from Constantinople to his judgment and +authority, both at the time of the iconoclastic controversy and +subsequently, lent some countenance to its validity. + +But the great advance was made in the pontificate of Nicholas I +(858-867), who promulgated, or at least recognized, the _False +Decretals_. This famous compilation, which is now universally +acknowledged to be spurious, and can be shown to be the work of that +period, contains, among other documents, letters and decrees of the +early bishops of Rome, in which the organization and discipline of the +Church from the earliest time are set forth, and the whole system is +shown to have depended on the supremacy of the popes. The newly +discovered collection was recognized as genuine by Nicholas, and was +accepted by the Western Church. The effect of this was at once to +formulate all the claims which had before been vaguely asserted, and to +give them the authority of unbroken tradition. The result to Christendom +at large was in the highest degree momentous. It was impossible for +future popes to recede from them, and equally impossible for other +churches which valued their independence to acknowledge them. The last +attempt on the part of the Eastern Church to arrange a compromise in +this matter was made by the emperor Basil II, a potentate who both by +his conquests and the vigor of his administration might rightly claim to +negotiate with others on equal terms. By him it was proposed (A.D. 1024) +that the Eastern Church should recognize the honorary primacy of the +Western patriarch, and that he in turn should acknowledge the internal +independence of the Eastern Church. These terms were rejected, and from +that moment it was clear that the separation of the two branches of +Christendom was only a question of time. + +Already in the papacy of Nicholas I a rupture had occurred in connection +with the dispute between the rival patriarchs of Constantinople, +Ignatius and Photius. The former of these prelates, who was son of the +emperor Michael I, and a man of high character and a devout opponent of +iconoclasm, was appointed, through the influence of Theodora, the +restorer of images, in the reign of her son, Michael the Drunkard. But +the uncle of the Emperor, the Caesar Bardas, who was a man of flagrantly +immoral life, had divorced his own wife, and was living publicly with +his son's widow. For this incestuous connection Ignatius repelled him +from the communion. Fired with indignation at this insult, the Caesar +determined to ruin both the Patriarch and his patroness, the +Empress-mother, and with this view persuaded the Emperor to free himself +from the trammels of his mother's influence by forcing her to take +monastic vows. To this step Ignatius would not consent, because it was +forbidden by the laws of the Church that any should enter on the +monastic life except of their own free will. In consequence of his +resistance a charge of treasonable correspondence was invented against +him, and when he refused to resign his office he was deposed (857). +Photius, who was chosen to succeed him, was the most learned man of his +age, and like his rival, unblemished in character and a supporter of +images, but boundless in ambition. He was a layman at the time of his +appointment, but in six days he passed through the inferior orders which +led up to the patriarchate. Still, the party that remained faithful to +Ignatius numbered many adherents, and therefore Photius thought it well +to enlist the support of the Bishop of Rome on his side. An embassy was +therefore sent to inform Pope Nicholas that the late Patriarch had +voluntarily retired, and that Photius had been lawfully chosen, and had +undertaken the office with great reluctance. In answer to this appeal +the Pope despatched two legates to Constantinople, and Ignatius was +summoned to appear before a council at which they were present. He was +condemned, but appealed to the Pope in person. + +On the return of the legates to Rome it was discovered that they had +received bribes, and thereupon Nicholas, whose judgment, however +imperious, was ever on the side of the oppressed, called together a +synod of the Roman Church, and refused his consent to the deposition of +Ignatius. To this effect he wrote to the authorities of the Eastern +Church, calling upon them at the same time to concur in the decrees of +the apostolic see; but subsequently, having obtained full information as +to the harsh treatment to which the deposed Patriarch had been +subjected, he excommunicated Photius, and commanded the restoration of +Ignatius "by the power committed to him by Christ through St. Peter." + +These denunciations produced no effect on the Emperor and the new +Patriarch, and a correspondence between Michael and Nicholas, couched in +violent language, continued at intervals for several years. At last, in +consequence of a renewed demand on the part of the Pope that Ignatius +and Photius should be sent to Rome for judgment, the latter prelate, +whose ability and eloquence had obtained great influence for him, +summoned a council at Constantinople in the year 867, to decree the +counter-excommunication of the Western Patriarch. Of the eight articles +which were drawn up on this occasion for the incrimination of the Church +of Rome, all but two relate to trivial matters, such as the observance +of Saturday as a fast, and the shaving of their beards by the clergy. +The two important ones deal with the doctrine of the Procession of the +Holy Spirit, and the enforced celibacy of the clergy. + +The condemnation of the Western Church on these grounds was voted, and a +messenger was despatched to bear the defiance to Rome; but ere he +reached his destination he was recalled, in consequence of a revolution +in the palace at Constantinople. The author of this, Basil the +Macedonian, the founder of the most important dynasty that ever occupied +the throne of the Eastern Empire, had for some time been associated in +the government with the emperor Michael; but at length, being fearful +for his own safety, he resolved to put his colleague out of the way, and +assassinated him during one of his fits of drunkenness. + +It is said that in consequence of this crime Photius refused to admit +him to the communion; anyhow, one of the first acts of Basil was to +depose Photius. A council, hostile to him, was now assembled, and was +attended by the legates of the new pope, Hadrian II (869). By this +Ignatius was restored to his former dignity, while Photius was degraded +and his ordinations were declared void. So violent was the animosity +displayed against him that he was dragged before the assembly by the +Emperor's guard, and his condemnation was written in the sacramental +wine. During the ten years which elapsed between his restoration and his +death Ignatius continued to enjoy his high position in peace, but for +Photius other vicissitudes were in store. + +On the removal of his rival, so strangely did opinion sway to and fro at +this time in the empire, the current of feeling set strongly in favor of +the learned exile. He was recalled, and his reinstatement was ratified +by a council (879). But with the death of Basil the Macedonian (886), he +again fell from power, for the successor of that Emperor, Leo the +Philosopher, ignominiously removed him, in order to confer the dignity +on his brother Stephen. He passed the remainder of his life in honorable +retirement, and by his death the chief obstacle in the way of +reconcilement with the Roman Church was removed. It is consoling to +learn, when reading of the unhappy rivalry of the two men so superior to +the ordinary run of Byzantine prelates, that they never shared the +passions of their respective partisans, but retained a mutual regard for +one another. + +We have now to consider the doctrinal questions which were in dispute +between the two churches. Far the most important of these was that +relating to the addition of the _Filioque_ clause to the Nicene Creed. +In the first draft of the Creed, as promulgated by the council of +Nicaea, the article relating to the Holy Spirit ran simply thus: "I +believe in the Holy Ghost." But in the Second General Council, that of +Constantinople, which condemned the heresy of Macedonius, it was thought +advisable to state more explicitly the doctrine of the Church on this +subject, and among other affirmations the clause was added, "who +proceedeth from the Father." Again, at the next general council, at +Ephesus, it was ordered that it should not be lawful to make any +addition to the Creed, as ratified by the Council of Constantinople. The +followers of the Western Church, however, generally taught that the +Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as from the Father, while those of +the East preferred to use the expression, "the Spirit of Christ, +proceeding from the Father, and receiving of the Son," or, "proceeding +from the Father through the Son." It was in the churches of Spain and +France that the _Filioque_ clause was first introduced into the Creed +and thus recited in the services, but the addition was not at once +approved at Rome. Pope Leo III, early in the ninth century, not only +expressed his disapproval of this departure from the original form, but, +in order to show his sense of the importance of adhering to the +traditional practice, caused the Creed of Constantinople to be engraved +on silver plates, both in Greek and Latin, and thus to be publicly set +forth in the Church. The first pontiff who authorized the addition was +Nicholas I, and against this Photius protested, both during the lifetime +of that Pope and also in the time of John VIII, when it was condemned by +the council held at Constantinople in 879, which is called by the Greeks +the Eighth General Council. It is clear from what we have already seen +that Photius was prepared to seize on _any_ point of disagreement in +order to throw it in the teeth of his opponents, but in this matter the +Eastern Church had a real grievance to complain of. The Nicene Creed was +to them what it was not to the Western Church, their only creed, and the +authority of the councils, by which its form and wording were +determined, stood far higher in their estimation. To add to the one and +to disregard the other were, at least in their judgment, the violation +of a sacred compact. + +The other question, which, if not actually one of doctrine, had come to +be regarded as such, was that of the _azyma_, that is, the use of +unfermented bread in the celebration of the eucharist. As far as one can +judge from the doubtful evidence on the subject, it seems probable that +ordinary, that is, leavened bread, was generally used in the church for +this purpose until the seventh or eighth century, when unleavened bread +began to be employed in the West, on the ground that it was used in the +original institution of the sacrament, which took place during the Feast +of the Passover. In the Eastern Church this change was never admitted. +It seems strange that so insignificant a matter of observance should +have been erected into a question of the first importance between the +two communions, but the reason of this is not far to seek. The fact is +that, whereas the weighty matters of dispute--the doctrine of the +Procession of the Holy Spirit, and the papal claims to supremacy-- +required some knowledge and reflection in order rightly to understand +their bearings, the use of leavened or unleavened bread was a matter +within the range of all, and those who were on the lookout for a ground +of antagonism found it here ready to hand. + +In the story of the conversion of the Russian Vladimir we are told that +the Greek missionary who expounded to him the religious views of the +Eastern Church, when combating the claims of the emissaries of the Roman +communion, remarked: "They celebrate the mass with unleavened bread; +therefore they have not the true religion." Still, even Photius, when +raking together the most minute points of difference between him and his +adversaries, did not introduce this one. It was reserved for a +hot-headed partisan at a later period to bring forward as a subject of +public discussion. + +This was Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, with whose +name the Great Schism will forever be associated. + +The circumstances which led up to that event are as follows: For a +century and a half from the death of Photius the controversy slumbered, +though no advance was made toward an understanding with respect to the +points at issue. In Italy, and even at Rome, churches and monasteries +were tolerated in which the Greek rite was maintained, and similar +freedom was allowed to the Latins resident in the Greek empire. But this +tacit compact was broken in 1053 by the patriarch Michael, who, in his +passionate antagonism to everything Western, gave orders that all the +churches in Constantinople in which worship was celebrated according to +the Roman rite should be closed. At the same time--aroused, perhaps, in +some measure by the progress of the Normans in conquering Apulia, which +tended to interfere with the jurisdiction still exercised by the Eastern +Church in that province--he joined with Leo, the archbishop of Achrida +and metropolitan of Bulgaria, in addressing a letter to the Bishop of +Trani in Southern Italy, containing a violent attack on the Latin +Church, in which the question of the azyma was put prominently forward. + +Directions were further given for circulating this missive among the +Western clergy. It happened that at the time when the letter arrived at +Trani, Cardinal Humbert, a vigorous champion of ecclesiastical rights, +was residing in that city, and he translated it into Latin and +communicated it to Pope Leo IX. In answer, the Pope addressed a +remonstrance to the Patriarch, in which, without entering into the +specific charges that he had brought forward, he contrasted the security +of the Roman See in matters of doctrine, arising from the guidance which +was guaranteed to it through St. Peter, with the liability of the +Eastern Church to fall into error, and pointedly referred to the more +Christian spirit manifested by his own communion in tolerating those +from whose opinions they differed. Afterward, at the commencement of +1054, in compliance with a request from the emperor Constantine +Monomachus, who was anxious on political grounds to avoid a rupture, he +sent three legates to Constantinople to arrange the terms of an +agreement. These were Frederick of Lorraine, Chancellor of the Roman +Church; Peter, Archbishop of Amalfi, and Cardinal Humbert. + +The legates were welcomed by the Emperor, but they unwisely adopted a +lofty tone toward the haughty Patriarch, who thenceforward avoided all +communication with them, declaring that on a matter which so seriously +affected the whole Eastern Church he could take no steps without +consulting the other patriarchs. Humbert now published an argumentative +reply to Michael's letter to the Pope, in the form of a dialogue between +two members of the Greek and Latin churches, in which the charges +brought against his own communion were discussed _seriatim_, and +especially those relating to fasting on Saturday and the use of +unleavened bread in the eucharist. A rejoinder to this appeared from the +pen of a monk of the monastery of Studium, Nicetas Pectoratus, in which +the enforced celibacy of the Western clergy, on which Photius had before +animadverted, was severely criticised. The Cardinal retorted in +intemperate language, and so entirely had the legates secured the +support of Constantine that Nicetas' work was committed to the flames, +and he was forced to recant what he had said against the Roman Church. +But the Patriarch was immovable, and for the moment he occupied a +stronger position than the Emperor, who desired to conciliate him. At +last the patience of the legates was exhausted, and on July 16, 1054, +they proceeded to the Church of St. Sophia, and deposited on the altar, +which was prepared for the celebration of the eucharist, a document +containing a fierce anathema, by which Michael Cerularius and his +adherents were condemned. After their departure they were for a moment +recalled, because the Patriarch expressed a desire to confer with them; +but this Constantine would not permit, fearing some act of violence on +the part of the people. They then finally left Constantinople, and from +that time to the present all communion has been broken off between the +two great branches of Christendom. + +The breach thus made was greatly widened at the period of the crusades. +However serious may have been the alienation between the East and West +at the time of their separation, it is clear that the Greeks were not +regarded by the Latins as a mere heretical sect, for one of the primary +objects with which the First Crusade was undertaken was the deliverance +of the Eastern Empire from the attacks of the Mahometans. But the +familiarity which arose from the presence of the crusaders on Greek soil +ripened the seeds of mutual dislike and distrust. As long as +negotiations between the two parties took place at a distance, the +differences, however irreconcilable they might be in principle, did not +necessarily bring them into open antagonism, whereas their more intimate +acquaintance with one another produced personal and national ill-will. +The people of the West now appeared more than ever barbarous and +overbearing, and the Court of Constantinople more than ever senile and +designing. The crafty policy of Alexius Comnenus in transferring his +allies with all speed into Asia, and declining to take the lead in the +expedition, was almost justified by the necessity of delivering his +subjects from these unwelcome visitors and avoiding further +embarrassments. But the iniquitous Fourth Crusade (1204) produced an +ineradicable feeling of animosity in the minds of the Byzantine people. +The memory of the barbarities of that time, when many Greeks died as +martyrs at the stake for their religious convictions, survives at the +present day in various places bordering on the Aegean, in legends which +relate that they were formerly destroyed by the Pope of Rome. + +Still, the anxiety of the Eastern emperors to maintain their position by +means of political support from Western Europe brought it to pass that +proposals for reunion were made on several occasions. The final attempt +at reconciliation was made when the Greek empire was reduced to the +direst straits, and its rulers were prepared to purchase the aid of +Western Europe against the Ottomans by almost any sacrifice. +Accordingly, application was made to Pope Eugenius IV, and by him the +representatives of the Eastern Church were invited to attend the council +which was summoned to meet at Ferrara in 1438. The Emperor, John +Palaeologus and the Greek patriarch Joseph proceeded thither. + +The Emperor, however, on his return home, soon discovered that his +pilgrimage to the West had been lost labor. Pope Eugenius, indeed, +provided him with two galleys and a guard of three hundred men, equipped +at his own expense, but the hoped-for succors from Western Europe did +not arrive. His own subjects were completely alienated by the betrayal +of their cherished faith; the clergy who favored the union were regarded +as traitors. John Palaeologus himself did not survive to see the final +catastrophe; but Constantinople was captured by the Turks, and the +Empire of the East ceased to exist. + + +JOSEPH DEHARBE + +The bonds so often and so painfully knit between the Eastern and Western +churches were destined at last to be completely torn asunder, and the +truth of our Lord's words, "Who is not for Me, is against Me," was again +to be proved. The Greek schism places strikingly before our eyes the +fate of such churches as supinely yield their rights and independence, +and submit willingly to State tyranny. In the year 857 the wicked +Bardas, uncle to the reigning Emperor, who wielded an almost absolute +power and disregarded all laws, human and divine, unjustly banished from +his See, Ignatius, the rightful patriarch of Constantinople, and placed +in his stead the learned, but worthless, Photius. Such bishops as +refused to recognize the intruder (who had received all the orders in +six days from an excommunicated bishop) were deposed, imprisoned and +exiled. + +Photius tried, by cruel ill-treatment, to force the aged Ignatius to +abdicate, and by a well-contrived fabrication endeavored to obtain the +support of Pope Nicholas I. When, however, this great Pope learned the +true facts of the case from the imprisoned Ignatius, he assembled a +synod in Rome in 864, by which Photius and all the bishops whom he had +consecrated were deposed. Fired by ambition, Photius now threw off all +concealments. He summoned the bishops of his own party, laid various +charges against the Roman Church, and in his inconsiderate rage ended by +anathematising the holy Father. Pope Nicholas, in a most powerful +letter, exhorted the Emperor Michael III to set bounds to the disorders +of Photius, warning him that a fearful judgment would await him if the +faithful were misled and so many believers caused to swerve from the +right path. It was not, however, till the reign of his successor that +Photius was banished and the much-tried St. Ignatius restored to his +rights. + +To remedy the evil brought about by Photius, the eighth general council +was held in Constantinople, at the desire of St. Ignatius and the +Emperor, and presided over by the legates of Pope Adrian. Photius, when +called upon to answer for himself, having nothing to say in his own +defence, excused his silence by the example of our Lord, who also was +silent when accused. The fathers were filled with indignation at this +blasphemous speech, and his guilt having been fully proved, they cried +unanimously: "Anathema on Photius, promoted through court favor! +Anathema to the tyrant Photius, to the inventor of lies, to the new +Judas! Anathema on all his followers and protectors! Everlasting glory +to the most holy Roman Pope Nicholas! Long life to Adrian, the holy +Father in Rome!" At the next sitting of the council, a collection of +spurious and falsified writings, together with the acts of the synod +which Photius had held against Pope Nicholas, and which were filled with +lies and invective and had forged signatures appended to them, were +publicly burned in the church. But hardly had Ignatius died in the year +879, when the crafty Photius, who knew well how to ingratiate himself +with the Emperor, reascended the ill-fated chair and began afresh his +old courses. His rule did not last long. He was again deposed and +banished to a monastery, where he died about the year 891. His death, +however, in nowise healed the wounds which he had inflicted on the +Eastern Church. His party survived him. He had filled most of the Greek +sees with men of his own cast, and had illegally bestowed benefices on +great numbers of priests. These all harbored a deep-seated dislike +towards Rome, and only awaited a favorable opportunity to renew the +breach with her. Thus that sectarian spirit which Photius had kindled +continued to smoulder on like a spark beneath the ashes, and spread +itself wider and wider, as well among the worst sort of the clergy as +among the fickle and discontented population. + +It was after all this that the patriarchs of Constantinople attempted to +make themselves fully independent of the West. The splendor of the +imperial city of Byzantium was a constant incitement to their desire for +freedom, and they were certain for the most part of being supported in +their endeavors by the emperors. As early as the time of Pope Gregory +the Great, the patriarch John the Faster had taken on himself the title +of "Oecumenical," or universal bishop, whilst Gregory, in apostolic +humility, chose that of "Servant of the servants of God." It was in the +middle of the eleventh century that a complete separation was +accomplished. The universally recognized precedence of the See of Peter +was intolerable to the ambitious spirit of the patriarch Michael +Cerularius. To aid him in casting off the hated yoke, he circulated, +like Photius, a document in which the Western Church was loaded with +invective and all manner of accusations laid to her charge. The celibacy +of the secular clergy, the use of unleavened bread for the sacrifice, +fasting on Saturdays, the shaving of beards, the omission of the +Alleluia in Lent, were all brought forward as causes of offence. These +complaints were at once answered by Pope St. Leo IX, who tried, in a +most eloquent letter, to bring the deluded patriarch to reason. He +reminded him of the sanctity and inviolability of the unity of Christ's +Church, the folly and presumption of his attempting to direct the +successor of Peter, whom Christ had Himself confirmed in the faith, and +pointed out to him with what ingratitude and contempt he was treating +the Roman Church, the mother and guardian of all the churches. Lastly, +he urged upon the patriarch to set aside all discord and pride, and to +allow divine mercy and peace to prevail instead of strife. But the +paternal words were spoken in vain, and the legates also who were sent +by the Pope to Constantinople were powerless to move the obduracy of the +patriarch. He persistently refused all communication with them by speech +or writing. Having therefore formally laid their complaints in the most +distinct terms before the Emperor and Senate, they proceeded to +extremities. On the 16th of July, 1054, they appeared in the church of +St. Sophia at the beginning of divine service, and declared solemnly +that all their endeavors to re-establish peace and union had been +defeated by Cerularius. They then laid the bull of excommunication on +the high altar and left the church, shaking, as they did so, the dust +from off their feet, and exclaiming in the deepest grief, "God sees it; +He will judge." Thus was the unhappy schism between the East and the +West accomplished. + + + + +NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND + +BATTLE OF HASTINGS + +A.D. 1066 + +SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY + + +(Toward the end of the reign of Edward the Confessor the claims of three +rival competitors for the English crown were persistently urged. These +claimants were Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, whose claim was based +upon an alleged compact of King Hardicanute with King Magnus, Harald's +predecessor; Duke William of Normandy, and the Saxon Harold, son of +Godwin, Earl of Wessex. This Harold, born about 1022, became Earl of +East Anglia about 1045; was banished with his father by Edward the +Confessor in 1051, and restored with his father in 1052; succeeded his +father as Earl of Wessex in 1053--relinquishing the earldom of East +Anglia--and from 1053 to 1066 was chief minister of Edward. + +Harold--probably in 1064--being shipwrecked on the coast of Normandy, +became a guest and virtual prisoner of William, Duke of Normandy, by +whom the Saxon was forced to take an oath that he would marry William's +daughter and assist him in obtaining the crown of England; William then +allowed Harold to return to his country. Upon the death of Edward the +Confessor--January 5, 1066--an assembly of thanes and prelates and +leading citizens of London declared that Harold should be their king. +His accession as Harold II dates from the day after Edward's death. +Harold justified himself on the ground that his oath to William of +Normandy was taken under constraint. + +William published his protest against what he called the bad faith of +Harold, and proclaimed his purpose to assert his rights by the sword. He +also obtained the countenance of the Pope, whose authority Harold +refused to recognize. A banner, blessed by the Pope for the invasion of +England, was sent to William from the Holy See, and the clergy of the +Continent upheld his enterprise as being the Cause of God. Thus +supported by the spiritual power, then wielding vast influence, William +proceeded to gather "the most remarkable and formidable armament which +the western nations had witnessed." With this following he entered upon +an undertaking the speedy and complete success of which, in the single +and decisive battle of Hastings, was fruitful in historic results such +as are seldom so traceable to definite causes and events. "No one who +appreciates the influence of England and her empire upon the destinies +of the world will ever rank that victory as one of secondary +importance.") + + +All the adventurous spirits of Christendom flocked to the holy banner, +under which Duke William, the most renowned knight and sagest general of +the age, promised to lead them to glory and wealth in the fair domains +of England. His army was filled with the chivalry of Continental Europe, +all eager to save their souls by fighting at the Pope's bidding, eager +to signalize their valor in so great an enterprise, and eager also for +the pay and the plunder which William liberally promised. But the +Normans themselves were the pith and the flower of the army, and William +himself was the strongest, the sagest, and the fiercest spirit of them +all. + +Throughout the spring and summer of 1066 all the seaports of Normandy, +Picardy, and Brittany rang with the busy sound of preparation. On the +opposite side of the Channel King Harold collected the army and the +fleet with which he hoped to crush the southern invaders. But the +unexpected attack of King Harald Hardrada of Norway upon another part of +England disconcerted the skilful measures which the Saxon had taken +against the menacing armada of Duke William. + +Harold's renegade brother, Earl Tostig, had excited the Norse King to +this enterprise, the importance of which has naturally been eclipsed by +the superior interest attached to the victorious expedition of Duke +William, but which was on a scale of grandeur which the Scandinavian +ports had rarely, if ever, before witnessed. Hardrada's fleet consisted +of two hundred warships and three hundred other vessels, and all the +best warriors of Norway were in his host. He sailed first to the +Orkneys, where many of the islanders joined him, and then to Yorkshire. +After a severe conflict near York he completely routed Earls Edwin and +Morcar, the governors of Northumbria. The city of York opened its gates, +and all the country, from the Tyne to the Humber, submitted to him. + +The tidings of the defeat of Edwin and Morcar compelled Harold to leave +his position on the southern coast and move instantly against the +Norwegians. By a remarkably rapid march he reached Yorkshire in four +days, and took the Norse King and his confederates by surprise. +Nevertheless, the battle which ensued, and which was fought near +Stamford Bridge, was desperate, and was long doubtful. Unable to break +the ranks of the Norwegian phalanx by force, Harold at length tempted +them to quit their close order by a pretended flight. Then the English +columns burst in among them, and a carnage ensued the extent of which +may be judged of by the exhaustion and inactivity of Norway for a +quarter of a century afterward. King Harald Hardrada and all the flower +of his nobility perished on the 25th of September, 1066, at Stamford +Bridge, a battle which was a Flodden to Norway. + +Harold's victory was splendid; but he had bought it dearly by the fall +of many of his best officers and men, and still more dearly by the +opportunity which Duke William had gained of effecting an unopposed +landing on the Sussex coast. The whole of William's shipping had +assembled at the mouth of the Dive, a little river between the Seine and +the Orne, as early as the middle of August. The army which he had +collected amounted to fifty thousand knights and ten thousand soldiers +of inferior degree. Many of the knights were mounted, but many must have +served on foot, as it is hardly possible to believe that William could +have found transports for the conveyance of fifty thousand war-horses +across the Channel. + +For a long time the winds were adverse, and the Duke employed the +interval that passed before he could set sail in completing the +organization in and improving the discipline of his army, which he seems +to have brought into the same state of perfection as was seven centuries +and a half afterward the boast of another army assembled on the same +coast, and which Napoleon designed for a similar descent upon England. + +It was not till the approach of the equinox that the wind veered from +the northeast to the west, and gave the Normans an opportunity of +quitting the weary shores of the Dive. They eagerly embarked and set +sail, but the wind soon freshened to a gale, and drove them along the +French coast to St. Valery, where the greater part of them found +shelter; but many of their vessels were wrecked, and the whole coast of +Normandy was strewn with the bodies of the drowned. + +William's army began to grow discouraged and averse to the enterprise, +which the very elements thus seemed to fight against; though, in +reality, the northeast wind, which had cooped them so long at the mouth +of the Dive, and the western gale, which had forced them into St. +Valery, were the best possible friends to the invaders. They prevented +the Normans from crossing the Channel until the Saxon King and his army +of defence had been called away from the Sussex coast to encounter +Harald Hardrada in Yorkshire; and also until a formidable English fleet, +which by King Harold's orders had been cruising in the Channel to +intercept the Normans, had been obliged to disperse temporarily for the +purpose of refitting and taking in fresh stores of provisions. + +Duke William used every expedient to reanimate the drooping spirits of +his men at St. Valery; and at last he caused the body of the patron +saint of the place to be exhumed and carried in solemn procession, while +the whole assemblage of soldiers, mariners, and appurtenant priests +implored the saint's intercession for a change of wind. That very night +the wind veered, and enabled the mediaeval Agamemnon to quit his Aulis. + +With full sails, and a following southern breeze, the Norman armada left +the French shores and steered for England. The invaders crossed an +undefended sea, and found an undefended coast. It was in Pevensey Bay, +in Sussex, at Bulverhithe, between the castle of Pevensey and Hastings, +that the last conquerors of this island landed on the 29th of September, +1066. + +Harold was at York, rejoicing over his recent victory, which had +delivered England from her ancient Scandinavian foes, and resettling the +government of the counties which Harald Hardrada had overrun, when the +tidings reached him that Duke William of Normandy and his host had +landed on the Sussex shore. Harold instantly hurried southward to meet +this long-expected enemy. The severe loss which his army had sustained +in the battle with the Norwegians must have made it impossible for many +of his veteran troops to accompany him in his forced march to London, +and thence to Sussex. He halted at the capital only six days, and during +that time gave orders for collecting forces from the southern and +midland counties, and also directed his fleet to reassemble off the +Sussex coast. Harold was well received in London, and his summons to +arms was promptly obeyed by citizen, by thane, by socman, and by ceorl, +for he had shown himself, during his brief reign, a just and wise king, +affable to all men, active for the good of his country, and, in the +words of the old historian, sparing himself from no fatigue by land or +by sea. He might have gathered a much more numerous army than that of +William; but his recent victory had made him overconfident, and he was +irritated by the reports of the country being ravaged by the invaders. +As soon, therefore, as he had collected a small army in London he +marched off toward the coast, pressing forward as rapidly as his men +could traverse Surrey and Sussex, in the hope of taking the Normans +unawares, as he had recently, by a similar forced march, succeeded in +surprising the Norwegians. But he had now to deal with a foe equally +brave with Harald Hardrada and far more skilful and wary. + +The old Norman chroniclers describe the preparations of William on his +landing with a graphic vigor, which would be wholly lost by transfusing +their racy Norman couplets and terse Latin prose into the current style +of modern history. It is best to follow them closely, though at the +expense of much quaintness and occasional uncouthness of expression. +They tell us how Duke William's own ship was the first of the Norman +fleet. It was called the _Mora_, and was the gift of his duchess +Matilda. On the head of the ship, in the front, which mariners call the +prow, there was a brazen child bearing an arrow with a bended bow. His +face was turned toward England, and thither he looked, as though he was +about to shoot. The breeze became soft and sweet, and the sea was smooth +for their landing. The ships ran on dry land, and each ranged by the +other's side. There you might see the good sailors, the sergeants, and +squires sally forth and unload the ships; cast the anchors, haul the +ropes, bear out shields and saddles, and land the war-horses and the +palfreys. The archers came forth and touched land the first, each with +his bow strung, and with his quiver full of arrows slung at his side. +All were shaven and shorn; and all clad in short garments, ready to +attack, to shoot, to wheel about and skirmish. All stood well equipped +and of good courage for the fight; and they scoured the whole shore, but +found not an armed man there. After the archers had thus gone forth, the +knights landed all armed, with their hauberks on, their shields slung at +their necks, and their helmets laced. They formed together on the shore, +each armed and mounted on his war-horse; all had their swords girded on, +and rode forward into the country with their lances raised. Then the +carpenters landed, who had great axes in their hands, and planes and +adzes hung at their sides. They took counsel together, and sought for a +good spot to place a castle on. They had brought with them in the fleet +three wooden castles from Normandy in pieces, all ready for framing +together, and they took the materials of one of these out of the ships, +all shaped and pierced to receive the pins which they had brought cut +and ready in large barrels; and before evening had set in they had +finished a good fort on the English ground, and there they placed their +stores. All then ate and drank enough, and were right glad that they +were ashore. + +When Duke William himself landed, as he stepped on the shore he slipped +and fell forward upon his two hands. Forthwith all raised a loud cry of +distress. "An evil sign," said they, "is here." But he cried out +lustily: "See, my lords, by the splendor of God,[26] I have taken +possession of England with both my hands. It is now mine, and what is +mine is yours." + +[Footnote 26: William's customary oath.] + +The next day they marched along the sea-shore to Hastings. Near that +place the Duke fortified a camp, and set up the two other wooden +castles. The foragers, and those who looked out for booty, seized all +the clothing and provisions they could find, lest what had been brought +by the ships should fail them. And the English were to be seen fleeing +before them, driving off their cattle, and quitting their houses. Many +took shelter in burying-places, and even there they were in grievous +alarm. + +Besides the marauders from the Norman camp, strong bodies of cavalry +were detached by William into the country, and these, when Harold and +his army made their rapid march from London southward, fell back in good +order upon the main body of the Normans, and reported that the Saxon +King was rushing on like a madman. But Harold, when he found that his +hopes of surprising his adversary were vain, changed his tactics, and +halted about seven miles from the Norman lines. He sent some spies, who +spoke the French language, to examine the number and preparations of the +enemy, who, on their return, related with astonishment that there were +more priests in William's camp than there were fighting men in the +English army. They had mistaken for priests all the Norman soldiers who +had short hair and shaven chins, for the English laymen were then +accustomed to wear long hair and mustaches. Harold, who knew the Norman +usages, smiled at their words, and said, "Those whom you have seen in +such numbers are not priests, but stout soldiers, as they will soon make +us feel." + +Harold's army was far inferior in number to that of the Normans, and +some of his captains advised him to retreat upon London and lay waste +the country, so as to starve down the strength of the invaders. The +policy thus recommended was unquestionably the wisest, for the Saxon +fleet had now reassembled, and intercepted all William's communications +with Normandy; and as soon as his stores of provisions were exhausted, +he must have moved forward upon London, where Harold, at the head of the +full military strength of the kingdom, could have defied his assault, +and probably might have witnessed his rival's destruction by famine and +disease, without having to strike a single blow. But Harold's bold blood +was up, and his kindly heart could not endure to inflict on the South +Saxon subjects even the temporary misery of wasting the country. "He +would not burn houses and villages, neither would he take away the +substance, of his people." + +Harold's brothers, Gurth and Leofwine, were with him in the camp, and +Gurth endeavored to persuade him to absent himself from the battle. The +incident shows how well devised had been William's scheme of binding +Harold by the oath on the holy relics. + +"My brother," said the young Saxon prince, "thou canst not deny that +either by force or free will thou hast made Duke William an oath on the +bodies of saints. Why then risk thyself in the battle with a perjury +upon thee? To us, who have sworn nothing, this is a holy and a just war, +for we are fighting for our country. Leave us then alone to fight this +battle, and he who has the right will win." + +Harold replied that he would not look on while others risked their lives +for him. Men would hold him a coward, and blame him for sending his best +friends where he dared not go himself. He resolved, therefore, to fight, +and to fight in person; but he was still too good a general to be the +assailant in the action; and he posted his army with great skill along a +ridge of rising ground which opened southward, and was covered on the +back by an extensive wood. He strengthened his position by a palisade of +stakes and osier hurdles, and there he said he would defend himself +against whoever should seek him. + +The ruins of Battle Abbey at this hour attest the place where Harold's +army was posted; and the high altar of the abbey stood on the very spot +where Harold's own standard was planted during the fight, and where the +carnage was the thickest. Immediately after his victory William vowed to +build an abbey on the site; and a fair and stately pile soon rose there, +where for many ages the monks prayed and said masses for the souls of +those who were slain in the battle, whence the abbey took its name. +Before that time the place was called Senlac. Little of the ancient +edifice now remains; but it is easy to trace in the park and the +neighborhood the scenes of the chief incidents in the action; and it is +impossible to deny the generalship shown by Harold in stationing his +men, especially when we bear in mind that he was deficient in cavalry, +the arm in which his adversary's main strength consisted. + +William's only chance of safety lay in bringing on a general engagement; +and he joyfully advanced his army from their camp on the hill over +Hastings, nearer to the Saxon position. But he neglected no means of +weakening his opponent, and renewed his summonses and demands on Harold +with an ostentatious air of sanctity and moderation. + +"A monk, named Hugues Maigrot, came in William's name to call upon the +Saxon King to do one of three things--either to resign his royalty in +favor of William, or to refer it to the arbitration of the pope to +decide which of the two ought to be king, or let it be determined by the +issue of a single combat. Harold abruptly replied, 'I will not resign my +title, I will not refer it to the pope, nor will I accept the single +combat.' He was far from being deficient in bravery; but he was no more +at liberty to stake the crown which he had received from a whole people +in the chance of a duel than to deposit it in the hands of an Italian +priest. William, not at all ruffled by the Saxon's refusal, but steadily +pursuing the course of his calculated measures, sent the Norman monk +again, after giving him these instructions: 'Go and tell Harold that if +he will keep his former compact with me, I will leave to him all the +country which is beyond the Humber, and will give his brother Gurth all +the lands which Godwin held. If he still persist in refusing my offers, +then thou shalt tell him, before all his people, that he is a perjurer +and a liar; that he and all who shall support him are excommunicated by +the mouth of the Pope, and that the bull to that effect is in my hands.' + +"Hugues Maigrot delivered this message in a solemn tone; and the Norman +chronicle says that at the word _excommunication_ the English chiefs +looked at one another as if some great danger were impending. One of +them then spoke as follows: 'We must fight, whatever may be the danger +to us; for what we have to consider is not whether we shall accept and +receive a new lord, as if our king were dead; the case is quite +otherwise. The Norman has given our lands to his captains, to his +knights, to all his people, the greater part of whom have already done +homage to him for them: they will all look for their gift if their duke +become our king; and he himself is bound to deliver up to them our +goods, our wives, and our daughters: all is promised to them beforehand. +They come, not only to ruin us, but to ruin our descendants also, and to +take from us the country of our ancestors. And what shall we do--whither +shall we go, when we have no longer a country?' The English promised, by +a unanimous oath, to make neither peace nor truce nor treaty with the +invader, but to die or drive away the Normans." + +The 13th of October was occupied in these negotiations, and at night the +Duke announced to his men that the next day would be the day of battle. +That night is said to have been passed by the two armies in very +different manners. The Saxon soldiers spent it in joviality, singing +their national songs, and draining huge horns of ale and wine round +their campfires. The Normans, when they had looked to their arms and +horses, confessed themselves to the priests, with whom their camp was +thronged, and received the sacrament by thousands at a time. + +On Saturday, the 14th of October, was fought the great battle. + +It is not difficult to compose a narrative of its principal incidents +from the historical information which we possess, especially if aided by +an examination of the ground. But it is far better to adopt the +spirit-stirring words of the old chroniclers, who wrote while the +recollections of the battle were yet fresh, and while the feelings and +prejudices of the combatants yet glowed in the bosoms of living men. + +Robert Wace, the Norman poet, who presented his _Roman de Rou_ to Henry +II, is the most picturesque and animated of the old writers, and from +him we can obtain a more vivid and full description of the conflict than +even the most brilliant romance-writer of the present time can supply. +We have also an antique memorial of the battle more to be relied on than +either chronicler or poet (and which confirms Wace's narrative +remarkably) in the celebrated Bayeux tapestry, which represents the +principal scenes of Duke William's expedition and of the circumstances +connected with it, in minute though occasionally grotesque details, and +which was undoubtedly the production of the same age in which the battle +took place, whether we admit or reject the legend that Queen Matilda and +the ladies of her court wrought it with their own hands in honor of the +royal Conqueror. + +Let us therefore suffer the old Norman chronicler to transport our +imaginations to the fair Sussex scenery northwest of Hastings, as it +appeared on that October morning. The Norman host is pouring forth from +its tents, and each troop and each company is forming fast under the +banner of its leader. The masses have been sung, which were finished +betimes in the morning; the barons have all assembled round Duke +William; and the Duke has ordered that the army shall be formed in three +divisions, so as to make the attack upon the Saxon position in three +places. + +The Duke stood on a hill where he could best see his men; the barons +surrounded him, and he spake to them proudly. He told them how he +trusted them, and how all that he gained should be theirs, and how sure +he felt of conquest, for in all the world there was not so brave an army +or such good men and true as were then forming around him. Then they +cheered him in turn, and cried out: "'You will not see one coward; none +here will fear to die for love of you, if need be.' And he answered +them: 'I thank you well. For God's sake, spare not; strike hard at the +beginning; stay not to take spoil; all the booty shall be in common, and +there will be plenty for everyone. There will be no safety in asking +quarter or in flight; the English will never love or spare a Norman. +Felons they were, and felons they are; false they were, and false they +will be. Show no weakness toward them, for they will have no pity on +you; neither the coward for running well, nor the bold man for smiting +well, will be the better liked by the English, nor will any be the more +spared on either account. You may fly to the sea, but you can fly no +farther; you will find neither ships nor bridge there; there will be no +sailors to receive you, and the English will overtake you there and slay +you in your shame. More of you will die in flight than in battle. Then, +as flight will not secure you, fight and you will conquer. I have no +doubt of the victory; we are come for glory; the victory is in our +hands, and we may make sure of obtaining it if we so please.' + +"As the Duke was speaking thus and would yet have spoken more, William +Fitzosbern rode up with his horse all coated with iron. 'Sire,' said he, +'we tarry here too long; let us all arm ourselves. _Allons! allons!_' + +"Then all went to their tents and armed themselves as they best might; +and the Duke was very busy, giving everyone his orders; and he was +courteous to all the vassals, giving away many arms and horses to them. +When he prepared to arm himself, he called first for his hauberk, and a +man brought it on his arm and placed it before him, but in putting his +head in, to get it on, he unawares turned it the wrong way, with the +back part in front. He soon changed it; but when he saw that those who +stood by were sorely alarmed, he said: 'I have seen many a man who if +such a thing had happened to him would not have borne arms or entered +the field the same day; but I never believed in omens, and I never will. +I trust in God, for he does in all things his pleasure, and ordains what +is to come to pass according to his will. I have never liked +fortune-tellers, nor believed in diviners, but I commend myself to Our +Lady. Let not this mischance give you trouble. The hauberk which was +turned wrong, and then set right by me, signifies that a change will +arise out of the matter which we are now stirring. You shall see the +name of duke changed into king. Yea, a king shall I be, who hitherto +have been but duke.' + +"Then he crossed himself, and straightway took his hauberk, stooped his +head and put it on aright, and laced his helmet, and girt on his sword, +which a varlet brought him. Then the Duke called for his good horse--a +better could not be found. It had been sent him by a king of Spain, out +of very great friendship. Neither arms nor the press of fighting men did +it fear if its lord spurred it on. Walter Giffard brought it. The Duke +stretched out his hand, took the reins, put foot in stirrup, and +mounted, and the good horse pawed, pranced, reared himself up, and +curvetted. + +"The Viscount of Toarz saw how the Duke bore himself in arms and said to +his people that were around him: 'Never have I seen a man so fairly +armed, nor one who rode so gallantly, or bore his arms or became his +hauberk so well; neither any one who bore his lance so gracefully or sat +his horse and managed him so nobly. There is no such knight under +heaven! a fair count he is, and fair king he will be. Let him fight and +he shall overcome; shame be to the man who shall fail him!' + +"Then the Duke called for the standard which the Pope had sent him, and, +he who bore it having unfolded it, the Duke took it and called to Raoul +de Conches. 'Bear my standard,' said he, 'for I would not but do you +right; by right and by ancestry your line are standard-bearers of +Normandy, and very good knights have they all been.' But Raoul said that +he would serve the Duke that day in other guise, and would fight the +English with his hand as long as life should last. + +"Then the Duke bade Walter Giffard bear the standard. But he was old and +white-headed, and bade the Duke give the standard to some younger and +stronger man to carry. Then the Duke said fiercely, 'By the splendor of +God, my lords, I think you mean to betray and fail me in this great +need.' 'Sire,' said Giffart, 'not so! we have done no treason, nor do I +refuse from any felony toward you; but I have to lead a great chivalry, +both hired men and the men of my fief. Never had I such good means of +serving you as I now have; and, if God please, I will serve you; if need +be I will die for you, and will give my own heart for yours.' + +"'By my faith,' quoth the Duke, 'I always loved thee, and now I love +thee more; if I survive this day, thou shalt be the better for it all +thy days.' Then he called out a knight, whom he had heard much praised, +Tosteins Fitz-Rou le Blanc by name, whose abode was at Bec-en-Caux. To +him he delivered the standard; and Tosteins took it right cheerfully, +and bowed low to him in thanks, and bore it gallantly and with good +heart. His kindred still have quittance of all service for their +inheritance on this account, and their heirs are entitled so to hold +their inheritance forever. + +"William sat on his war-horse, and called out Rogier, whom they call De +Montgomeri. 'I rely much on you,' said he; 'lead your men thitherward +and attack them from that side. William, the son of Osbern the +seneschal, a right good vassal, shall go with you and help in the +attack, and you shall have the men of Boilogne and Poix and all my +soldiers. Alain Fergert and Ameri shall attack on the other side; they +shall lead the Poitevins and the Bretons and all the barons of Maine; +and I, with my own great men, my friends and kindred, will fight in the +middle throng, where the battle shall be the hottest.' + +"The barons and knights and men-at-arms were all now armed; the +foot-soldiers were well equipped, each bearing bow and sword; on their +heads were caps, and to their feet were bound buskins. Some had good +hides which they had bound round their bodies; and many were clad in +frocks, and had quivers and bows hung to their girdles. The knights had +hauberks and swords, boots of steel, and shining helmets; shields at +their necks, and in their hands lances. And all had their cognizances, +so that each might know his fellow, and Norman might not strike Norman, +nor Frenchman kill his countryman by mistake. Those on foot led the way, +with serried ranks, bearing their bows. The knights rode next, +supporting the archers from behind. Thus both horse and foot kept their +course and order of march as they began, in close ranks at a gentle +pace, that the one might not pass or separate from the other. All went +firmly and compactly, bearing themselves gallantly. + +"Harold had summoned his men, earls, barons, and vavasors, from the +castles and the cities, from the ports, the villages and boroughs. The +peasants were also called together from the villages, bearing such arms +as they found; clubs and great picks, iron forks and stakes. The English +had enclosed the place where Harold was with his friends and the barons +of the country whom he had summoned and called together. + +"Those of London had come at once, and those of Kent, of Hertfort, and +of Essesse; those of Suree and Susesse, of St. Edmund and Sufoc; of +Norwis and Norfoc; of Cantorbierre and Stanfort, Bedefort and Hundetone. +The men of Northanton also came; and those of Eurowic and Bokinkeham, of +Bed and Notinkeham, Lindesie and Nichole. There came also from the west +all who heard the summons; and very many were to be seen coming from +Salebiere and Dorset, from Bat and from Sumerset. Many came, too, from +about Glocestre, and many from Wirecestre, from Wincestre, Hontesire and +Brichesire; and many more from other counties that we have not named, +and cannot, indeed, recount. All who could bear arms, and had learned +the news of the Duke's arrival, came to defend the land. But none came +from beyond Humbre, for they had other business upon their hands, the +Danes and Tosti having much damaged and weakened them. + +"Harold knew that the Normans would come and attack him hand to hand, so +he had early enclosed the field in which he had placed his men. He made +them arm early and range themselves for the battle, he himself having +put on arms and equipments that became such a lord. The Duke, he said, +ought to seek him, as he wanted to conquer England; and it became him to +abide the attack who had to defend the land. He commanded the people, +and counselled his barons to keep themselves all together and defend +themselves in a body, for if they once separated, they would with +difficulty recover themselves. 'The Normans,' said he, 'are good +vassals, valiant on foot and on horseback; good knights are they on +horseback and well used to battle; all is lost if they once penetrate +our ranks. They have brought long lances and swords, but you have +pointed lances and keen-edged bills; and I do not expect that their arms +can stand against yours. Cleave whenever you can; it will be ill done if +you spare aught.' + +"The English had built up a fence before them with their shields and +with ash and other wood, and had well joined and wattled in the whole +work, so as not to leave even a crevice; and thus they had a barricade +in their front through which any Norman who would attack them must first +pass. Being covered in this way by their shields and barricades, their +aim was to defend themselves; and if they had remained steady for that +purpose, they would not have been conquered that day; for every Norman +who made his way in lost his life in dishonor, either by hatchet or +bill, by club or other weapon. + +"They wore short and close hauberks, and helmets that hung over their +garments. King Harold issued orders, and made proclamation round, that +all should be ranged with their faces toward the enemy, and that no one +should move from where he was, so that whoever came might find them +ready; and that whatever anyone, be he Norman or other, should do, each +should do his best to defend his own place. Then he ordered the men of +Kent to go where the Normans were likely to make the attack; for they +say that the men of Kent are entitled to strike first; and that whenever +the king goes to battle, the first blow belongs to them. The right of +the men of London is to guard the king's body, to place themselves +around him, and to guard his standard; and they were accordingly placed +by the standard to watch and defend it. + +"When Harold had made all ready, and given his orders, he came into the +midst of the English and dismounted by the side of the standard; +Leofwine and Gurth, his brothers, were with him; and around him he had +barons enough, as he stood by his standard, which was, in truth, a noble +one, sparkling with gold and precious stones. After the victory William +sent it to the Pope, to prove and commemorate his great conquest and +glory. The English stood in close ranks, ready and eager for the fight; +and they, moreover, made a fosse, which went across the field, guarding +one side of their army. + +"Meanwhile the Normans appeared advancing over the ridge of a rising +ground, and the first division of their troops moved onward along the +hill and across a valley. And presently another division, still larger, +came in sight, close following upon the first, and they were led toward +another part of the field, forming together as the first body had done. +And while Harold saw and examined them, and was pointing them out to +Gurth, a fresh company came in sight, covering all the plain; and in the +midst of them was raised the standard that came from Rome. + +"Near it was the Duke, and the best men and greatest strength of the +army were there. The good knights, the good vassals, and brave warriors +were there; and there were gathered together the gentle barons, the good +archers, and the men-at-arms, whose duty it was to guard the Duke, and +range themselves around him. The youths and common herd of the camp, +whose business was not to join in the battle, but to take care of the +harness and stores, moved off toward a rising ground. The priests and +the clerks also ascended a hill, there to offer up prayers to God, and +watch the event of the battle. + +"The English stood firm on foot in close ranks, and carried themselves +right boldly. Each man had his hauberk on, with his sword girt, and his +shield at his neck. Great hatchets were also slung at their necks, with +which they expected to strike heavy blows. + +"The Normans brought on the three divisions of their army to attack at +different places. They set out in three companies, and in three +companies did they fight. The first and second had come up, and then +advanced the third, which was the greatest; with that came the Duke with +his own men, and all moved boldly forward. + +"As soon as the two armies were in full view of each other, great noise +and tumult arose. You might hear the sound of many trumpets, of bugles, +and of horns; and then you might see men ranging themselves in line, +lifting their shields, raising their lances, bending their bows, +handling their arrows, ready for assault and defence. + +"The English stood steady to their post, the Normans still moved on; and +when they drew near, the English were to be seen stirring to and fro; +were going and coming; troops ranging themselves in order; some with +their color rising, others turning pale; some making ready their arms, +others raising their shields; the brave man rousing himself to fight, +the coward trembling at the approach of danger. + +"Then Taillefer, who sang right well, rode, mounted on a swift horse, +before the Duke, singing of Charlemagne and of Roland, of Oliver, and +the peers who died in Roncesvalles. And when they drew nigh to the +English, + +"'A boon, sire!' cried Taillefer; 'I have long served you, and you owe +me for all such service. To-day, so please you, you shall repay it. I +ask as my guerdon, and beseech you for it earnestly, that you will allow +me to strike the first blow in the battle!' And the Duke answered, 'I +grant it.' + +"Then Taillefer put his horse to a gallop, charging before all the rest, +and struck an Englishman dead, driving his lance below the breast into +his body, and stretching him upon the ground. Then he drew his sword, +and struck another, crying out, 'Come on, come on! What do ye, sirs? lay +on, lay on!' At the second blow he struck the English pushed forward, +and surrounded, and slew him. Forthwith arose the noise and cry of war, +and on either side the people put themselves in motion. + +"The Normans moved on to the assault, and the English defended +themselves well. Some were striking, others urging onward; all were bold +and cast aside fear. And now, behold, that battle was gathered whereof +the fame is yet mighty. + +"Loud and far resounded the bray of the horns and the shocks of the +lances, the mighty strokes of maces and the quick clashing of swords. +One while the Englishmen rushed on, another while they fell back; one +while the men from over sea charged onward, and again at other times +retreated. The Normans shouted, '_Dex Aie_,' the English people, 'Out.' +Then came the cunning manoeuvres, the rude shocks and strokes of the +lance and blows of the swords, among the sergeants and soldiers, both +English and Norman. + +"When the English fall, the Normans shout. Each side taunts and defies +the other, yet neither knoweth what the other saith; and the Normans say +the English bark, because they understand not their speech. + +"Some wax strong, others weak: the brave exult, but the cowards tremble, +as men who are sore dismayed. The Normans press on the assault, and the +English defend their post well; they pierce the hauberks and cleave the +shields, receive and return mighty blows. Again, some press forward, +others yield; and thus, in various ways, the struggle proceeds. In the +plain was a fosse, which the Normans had now behind them, having passed +it in the fight without regarding it. But the English charged and drove +the Normans before them till they made them fall back upon this fosse, +overthrowing into it horses and men. Many were to be seen falling +therein, rolling one over the others, with their faces to the earth, and +unable to rise. Many of the English also, whom the Normans drew down +along with them, died there. At no time during the day's battle did so +many Normans die as perished in that fosse. So those said who saw the +dead. + +"The varlets who were set to guard the harness began to abandon it as +they saw the loss of the Frenchmen when thrown back upon the fosse +without power to recover themselves. Being greatly alarmed at seeing the +difficulty in restoring order, they began to quit the harness, and +sought around, not knowing where to find shelter. Then Duke William's +brother, Odo, the good priest, the Bishop of Bayeux, galloped up and +said to them: 'Stand fast! stand fast! be quiet and move not! fear +nothing; for, if God please, we shall conquer yet.' So they took courage +and rested where they were; and Odo returned galloping back to where the +battle was most fierce, and was of great service on that day. He had put +a hauberk on over a white aube, wide in the body, with the sleeve tight, +and sat on a white horse, so that all might recognize him. In his hand +he held a mace, and wherever he saw most need he held up and stationed +the knights, and often urged them on to assault and strike the enemy. + +"From nine o'clock in the morning, when the combat began, till three +o'clock came, the battle was up and down, this way and that, and no one +knew who would conquer and win the land. Both sides stood so firm and +fought so well that no one could guess which would prevail. The Norman +archers with their bows shot thickly upon the English; but they covered +themselves with their shields, so that the arrows could not reach their +bodies nor do any mischief, how true so ever was their aim or however +well they shot. Then the Normans determined to shoot their arrows upward +into the air, so that they might fall on their enemies' heads and strike +their faces. The archers adopted this scheme and shot up into the air +toward the English; and the arrows, in falling, struck their heads and +faces and put out the eyes of many; and all feared to open their eyes or +leave their faces unguarded. + +"The arrows now flew thicker than rain before the wind; fast sped the +shafts that the English call 'wibetes.' Then it was that an arrow, that +had been thus shot upward, struck Harold above his right eye, and put it +out. In his agony he drew the arrow and threw it away, breaking it with +his hands; and the pain to his head was so great that he leaned upon his +shield. So the English were wont to say, and still say to the French, +that the arrow was well shot which was so sent up against their King, +and that the archer won them great glory who thus put out Harold's eye. + +"The Normans saw that the English defended themselves well, and were so +strong in their position that they could do little against them. So they +consulted together privily, and arranged to draw off, and pretend to +flee, till the English should pursue and scatter themselves over the +field; for they saw that if they could once get their enemies to break +their ranks, they might be attacked and discomfited much more easily. As +they had said, so they did. The Normans by little and little fled, the +English following them. As the one fell back, the other pressed after; +and when the Frenchmen retreated, the English thought and cried out that +the men of France fled and would never return. + +"Thus they were deceived by the pretended flight, and great mischief +thereby befell them; for if they had not moved from their position, it +is not likely that they would have been conquered at all; but, like +fools, they broke their lines and pursued. + +"The Normans were to be seen following up their stratagem, retreating +slowly so as to draw the English farther on. As they still flee, the +English pursue; they push out their lances and stretch forth their +hatchets, following the Normans as they go, rejoicing in the success of +their scheme, and scattering themselves over the plain. And the English +meantime jeered and insulted their foes with words. 'Cowards,' they +cried, 'you came hither in an evil hour, wanting our lands and seeking +to seize our property; fools that ye were to come! Normandy is too far +off, and you will not easily reach it. It is of little use to run back; +unless you can cross the sea at a leap or can drink it dry, your sons +and daughters are lost to you.' + +"The Normans bore it all; but, in fact, they knew not what the English +said: their language seemed like the baying of dogs, which they could +not understand. At length they stopped and turned round, determined to +recover their ranks; and the barons might be heard crying, '_Dex Aie_!' +for a halt. Then the Normans resumed their former position, turning +their faces toward the enemy; and their men were to be seen facing round +and rushing onward to a fresh _melee_, the one party assaulting the +other; this man striking, another pressing onward. One hits, another +misses; one flies, another pursues; one is aiming a stroke, while +another discharges his blow. Norman strives with Englishman again, and +aims his blows afresh. One flies, another pursues swiftly: the +combatants are many, the plain wide, the battle and the _melee_ fierce. +On every hand they fight hard, the blows are heavy, and the struggle +becomes fierce. + +"The Normans were playing their part well, when an English knight came +rushing up, having in his company a hundred men furnished with various +arms. He wielded a northern hatchet with the blade a full foot long, and +was well armed after his manner, being tall, bold, and of noble +carriage. In the front of the battle, where the Normans thronged most, +he came bounding on swifter than the stag, many Normans falling before +him and his company. + +"He rushed straight upon a Norman who was armed and riding on a +war-horse, and tried with his hatchet of steel to cleave his helmet; but +the blow miscarried, and the sharp blade glanced down before the +saddle-bow, driving through the horse's neck down to the ground, so that +both horse and master fell together to the earth. I know not whether the +Englishman struck another blow; but the Normans who saw the stroke were +astonished and about to abandon the assault, when Roger de Montgomeri +came galloping up, with his lance set, and, heeding not the long-handled +axe which the Englishman wielded aloft, struck him down and left him +stretched on the ground. Then Roger cried out, 'Frenchmen, strike! the +day is ours!' And again a fierce _melee_ was to be seen, with many a +blow of lance and sword; the English still defending themselves, killing +the horses and cleaving the shields. + +"There was a French soldier of noble mien who sat his horse gallantly. +He spied two Englishmen who were also carrying themselves boldly. They +were both men of great worth and had become companions in arms and +fought together, the one protecting the other. They bore two long and +broad bills and did great mischief to the Normans, killing both horses +and men. + +"The French soldier looked at them and their bills and was sore alarmed, +for he was afraid of losing his good horse, the best that he had, and +would willingly have turned to some other quarter if it would not have +looked like cowardice. He soon, however, recovered his courage, and, +spurring his horse, gave him the bridle and galloped swiftly forward. +Fearing the two bills, he raised his shield, and struck one of the +Englishmen with his lance on the breast, so that the iron passed out at +his back. At the moment that he fell the lance broke, and the Frenchman +seized the mace that hung at his right side, and struck the other +Englishman a blow that completely fractured his skull. + +"On the other side was an Englishman who much annoyed the French, +continually assaulting them with a keen-edged hatchet. He had a helmet +made of wood, which he had fastened down to his coat and laced round his +neck, so that no blows could reach his head. The ravage he was making +was seen by a gallant Norman knight, who rode a horse that neither fire +nor water could stop in its career when its master urged it on. The +knight spurred, and his horse carried him on well till he charged the +Englishman, striking him over the helmet so that it fell down over his +eyes; and as he stretched out his hand to raise it and uncover his face, +the Norman cut off his right hand, so that his hatchet fell to the +ground. Another Norman sprang forward and eagerly seized the prize with +both his hands, but he kept it little space and paid dearly for it, for +as he stooped to pick up the hatchet an Englishman with his long-handled +axe struck him over the back, breaking all his bones, so that his +entrails and lungs gushed forth. The knight of the good horse meantime +returned without injury; but on his way he met another Englishman and +bore him down under his horse, wounding him grievously and trampling him +altogether under foot. + +"And now might be heard the loud clang and cry of battle and the +clashing of lances. The English stood firm in their barricades, and +shivered the lances, beating them into pieces with their bills and +maces. The Normans drew their swords and hewed down the barricades, and +the English, in great trouble, fell back upon their standard, where were +collected the maimed and wounded. + +"There were many knights of Chauz who jousted and made attacks. The +English knew not how to joust, or bear arms on horseback, but fought +with hatchets and bills. A man, when he wanted to strike with one of +their hatchets, was obliged to hold it with both his hands, and could +not at the same time, as it seems to me, both cover himself and strike +with any freedom. + +"The English fell back toward the standard, which was upon a rising +ground, and the Normans followed them across the valley, attacking them +on foot and horseback. Then Hue de Mortemer, with the Sires D'Auviler, +D'Onebac, and St. Cler, rode up and charged, overthrowing many. + +"Robert Fitz Erneis fixed his lance, took his shield, and, galloping +toward the standard, with his keen-edged sword struck an Englishman who +was in front, killed him, and then drawing back his sword, attacked many +others, and pushed straight for the standard, trying to beat it down; +but the English surrounded it and killed him with their bills. He was +found on the spot, when they afterward sought for him, dead and lying at +the standard's foot. + +"Duke William pressed close upon the English with his lance, striving +hard to reach the standard with the great troop he led, and seeking +earnestly for Harold, on whose account the whole war was. The Normans +follow their lord, and press around him; they ply their blows upon the +English, and these defend themselves stoutly, striving hard with their +enemies, returning blow for blow. + +"One of them was a man of great strength, a wrestler, who did great +mischief to the Normans with his hatchet; all feared him, for he struck +down a great many Normans. The Duke spurred on his horse, and aimed a +blow at him, but he stooped, and so escaped the stroke; then jumping on +one side, he lifted his hatchet aloft, and as the Duke bent to avoid the +blow, the Englishman boldly struck him on the head and beat in his +helmet, though without doing much injury. He was very near falling, +however; but, bearing on his stirrups, he recovered himself immediately; +and when he thought to have revenged himself upon the churl by killing +him, he had escaped, dreading the Duke's blow. He ran back in among the +English, but he was not safe even there; for the Normans, seeing him, +pursued and caught him, and having pierced him through and through with +their lances, left him dead on the ground. + +"Where the throng of the battle was greatest, the men of Kent and Essex +fought wondrously well, and made the Normans again retreat, but without +doing them much injury. And when the Duke saw his men fall back and the +English triumphing over them, his spirit rose high, and he seized his +shield and his lance, which a vassal handed to him, and took his post by +his standard. + +"Then those who kept close guard by him and rode where he rode, being +about a thousand armed men, came and rushed with closed ranks upon the +English, and, with the weight of their good horses, and the blows the +knights gave, broke the press of the enemy, and scattered the crowd +before them, the good Duke leading them on in front. Many pursued and +many fled; many were the Englishmen who fell around, and were trampled +under the horses, crawling upon the earth, and not able to rise. Many of +the richest and noblest men fell in the rout, but still the English +rallied in places, smote down those whom they reached, and maintained +the combat the best they could, beating down the men and killing the +horses. One Englishman watched the Duke, and plotted to kill him; he +would have struck him with his lance, but he could not, for the Duke +struck him first, and felled him to the earth. + +"Loud was now the clamor and great the slaughter; many a soul then +quitted the body it inhabited. The living marched over the heaps of +dead, and each side was weary of striking. He charged on who could, and +he who could no longer strike still pushed forward. The strong struggled +with the strong; some failed, others triumphed; the cowards fell back, +the brave pressed on; and sad was his fate who fell in the midst, for he +had little chance of rising again; and many in truth fell who never rose +at all, being crushed under the throng. + +"And now the Normans had pressed on so far that at last they had reached +the standard. There Harold had remained, defending himself to the +utmost; but he was sorely wounded in his eye by the arrow, and suffered +grievous pain from the blow. An armed man came in the throng of the +battle, and struck him on the ventail of his helmet, and beat him to the +ground; and as he sought to recover himself a knight beat him down +again, striking him on the thick of his thigh, down to the bone. + +"Gurth saw the English falling around, and that there was no remedy. He +saw his race hastening to ruin, and despaired of any aid; he would have +fled, but could not, for the throng continually increased. And the Duke +pushed on till he reached him, and struck him with great force. Whether +he died of that blow I know not, but it was said that he fell under it +and rose no more. + +"The standard was beaten down, the golden standard was taken, and Harold +and the rest of his friends were slain; but there was so much eagerness, +and throng of so many around, seeking to kill him, that I know not who +it was that slew him. + +"The English were in great trouble at having lost their King and at the +Duke's having conquered and beat down the standard; but they still +fought on, and defended themselves long, and in fact till the day drew +to a close. Then it clearly appeared to all that the standard was lost, +and the news had spread throughout the army that Harold, for certain, +was dead; and all saw that there was no longer any hope, so they left +the field, and those fled who could. + +"William fought well; many an assault did he lead, many a blow did he +give, and many receive, and many fell dead under his hand. Two horses +were killed under him, and he took a third when necessary, so that he +fell not to the ground and lost not a drop of blood. But whatever anyone +did, and whoever lived or died, this is certain that William conquered +and that many of the English fled from the field, and many died on the +spot. Then he returned thanks to God, and in his pride ordered his +standard to be brought and set up on high, where the English standard +had stood; and that was the signal of his having conquered, and beaten +down the standard. And he ordered his tent to be raised on the spot +among the dead, and had his meat brought thither, and his supper +prepared there. + +"Then he took off his armor; and the barons and knights, pages and +squires came, when he had unstrung his shield; and they took the helmet +from his head and the hauberk from his back, and saw the heavy blows +upon his shield and how his helmet was dinted in. And all greatly +wondered and said: 'Such a baron (_ber_) never bestrode war-horse nor +dealt such blows nor did such feats of arms; neither has there been on +earth such a knight since Rollant and Oliver.' + +"Thus they lauded and extolled him greatly and rejoiced in what they +saw, but grieving also for their friends who were slain in the battle. +And the Duke stood meanwhile among them, of noble stature and mien, and +rendered thanks to the King of Glory, through whom he had the victory, +and thanked the knights around him, mourning also frequently for the +dead. And he ate and drank among the dead, and made his bed that night +upon the field. + +"The morrow was Sunday; and those who had slept upon the field of +battle, keeping watch around and suffering great fatigue, bestirred +themselves at break of day and sought out and buried such of the bodies +of their dead friends as they might find. The noble ladies of the land +also came, some to seek their husbands, and others their fathers, sons, +or brothers. They bore the bodies to their villages and interred them at +the churches; and the clerks and priests of the country were ready, and +at the request of their friends took the bodies that were found, and +prepared graves and lay them therein. + +"King Harold was carried and buried at Varham; but I know not who it was +that bore him thither, neither do I know who buried him. Many remained +on the field, and many had fled in the night." + +Such is a Norman account of the battle of Hastings, which does full +justice to the valor of the Saxons as well as to the skill and bravery +of the victors. It is indeed evident that the loss of the battle by the +English was owing to the wound which Harold received in the afternoon, +and which must have incapacitated him from effective command. When we +remember that he had himself just won the battle of Stamford Bridge over +Harald Hardrada by the manoeuvre of a feigned flight, it is impossible +to suppose that he could be deceived by the same stratagem on the part +of the Normans at Hastings. But his men, when deprived of his control, +would very naturally be led by their inconsiderate ardor into the +pursuit that proved so fatal to them. All the narratives of the battle, +however much they vary as to the precise time and manner of Harold's +fall, eulogize the generalship and the personal prowess which he +displayed until the fatal arrow struck him. The skill with which he had +posted his army was proved both by the slaughter which it cost the +Normans to force the position, and also by the desperate rally which +some of the Saxons made after the battle in the forest in the rear, in +which they cut off a large number of the pursuing Normans. This +circumstance is particularly mentioned by William of Poictiers, the +Conqueror's own chaplain. Indeed, if Harold or either of his brothers +had survived, the remains of the English army might have formed again in +the wood, and could at least have effected an orderly retreat and +prolonged the war. But both Gurth and Leofwine, and all the bravest +thanes of Southern England, lay dead on Senlac, around their fallen King +and the fallen standard of their country. The exact number that perished +on the Saxons' side is unknown; but we read that, on the side of the +victors, out of sixty thousand men who had been engaged, no less than a +fourth perished; so well had the English billmen "plyed the ghastly +blow," and so sternly had the Saxon battle-axe cloven Norman's casque +and mail. The old historian Daniel justly as well as forcibly remarks: +"Thus was tried, by the great assize of God's judgment in battle, the +right of power between the English and Norman nations; a battle the most +memorable of all others, and, however miserably lost, yet most nobly +fought on the part of England." + +Many a pathetic legend was told in after years respecting the discovery +and the burial of the corpse of our last Saxon King. The main +circumstances, though they seem to vary, are perhaps reconcilable. Two +of the monks of Waltham Abbey, which Harold had founded a little time +before his election to the throne, had accompanied him to the battle. On +the morning after the slaughter they begged and gained permission of the +Conqueror to search for the body of their benefactor. The Norman +soldiery and camp followers had stripped and gashed the slain, and the +two monks vainly strove to recognize from among the mutilated and gory +heaps around them the features of their former King. They sent for +Harold's mistress, Edith, surnamed "the Fair," and "the Swan-necked," to +aid them. The eye of love proved keener than the eye of gratitude, and +the Saxon lady even in that Aceldama knew her Harold. + +The King's mother now sought the victorious Norman, and begged the dead +body of her son. But William at first answered, in his wrath and the +hardness of his heart, that a man who had been false to his word and his +religion should have no other sepulchre than the sand of the shore. He +added, with a sneer: "Harold mounted guard on the coast while he was +alive; he may continue his guard now he is dead." The taunt was an +unintentional eulogy; and a grave washed by the spray of the Sussex +waves would have been the noblest burial-place for the martyr of Saxon +freedom. But Harold's mother was urgent in her lamentations and her +prayers; the Conqueror relented: like Achilles, he gave up the dead body +of his fallen foe to a parent's supplications, and the remains of King +Harold were deposited with regal honors in Waltham Abbey. + +On Christmas Day in the same year William the Conqueror was crowned, at +London, King of England. + + + + +TRIUMPHS OF HILDEBRAND + +"THE TURNING-POINT OF THE MIDDLE AGES:" + +HENRY IV BEGS FOR MERCY AT CANOSSA + +A.D. 1073-1085 + +ARTHUR R. PENNINGTON + +ARTAUD DE MONTOR + + +(If during the pontificate of Innocent III [1198-1216] the papal power +attained its greatest height, yet under one of his predecessors the +chair of St. Peter became a throne of almost absolute supremacy. This +mighty pontiff, Gregory VII, whose real name, Hildebrand, indicates his +German descent, was born--the son of a carpenter--in Tuscany, about +1020. He became a monk of the Benedictine order, and was educated at the +abbey of Cluny in France. In 1044 he went to Rome, called by a papal +election, and there saw abuses which from that moment he fixed his mind +upon striving to abolish. In 1048 he was again in Rome and soon rose to +the rank of cardinal. + +For many years Hildebrand was the real director of papal policy, and +long before his election as pope, in 1073, he worked to accomplish the +reforms that distinguish his pontificate, which continued till his +death, in 1085. + +As a part of the Holy Roman Empire, Italy held a dual relation to the +emperor and the pope. Between the Roman pontiffs and the secular heads +of the Empire the struggle for supremacy had been long and often bitter. +At the time of Hildebrand's active appearance the papacy was in a state +of degradation which demoralized the Church itself. + +Long before his elevation to the papal chair Hildebrand's efforts had +met with much success, and the power of the holy see was gradually +increased. Independently of the Emperor, whose will had hitherto +governed the papal elections, in 1058--chiefly through the influence of +Hildebrand--Pope Nicholas II was chosen by a new method, and from that +time the choice of popes has been made by the sacred college of +cardinals. + +Hildebrand reluctantly accepted the office of pope; but having entered +upon the task which he knew to be so formidable, he pursued it with such +energy, courage, and success as to make his pontificate one of the most +memorable in the annals of the Church. Of his greatest contests within +the ecclesiastical jurisdiction--over the celibacy of the clergy and +simony--as well as of those with the Imperial power represented by Henry +IV--the "War of Investitures"--the following account will be found to +present the essential features with a clearness and comprehensiveness +which are seldom seen in the relation of matter so complex and in a +narrative so concise. The differing viewpoints are also instructive, as +presented by Pennington of the Church of England, and Artaud, the +standard Roman Catholic authority.) + + +ARTHUR R. PENNINGTON + +The time had come when Hildebrand was to receive the reward of the +important services which he had rendered to the holy see. He had been +the ruling spirit under five popes--Leo, Victor, Stephen, Nicholas, and +Alexander--four of whom were indebted to him for their election. But now +he must himself be raised to the papal throne. + +The clergy were assembled in the Lateran Church to celebrate the +obsequies of Alexander. Hildebrand, as archdeacon, was performing the +service. Suddenly, in the midst of the requiem for the departed, a shout +was heard which seemed to come as if by inspiration from the assembled +multitude: "Hildebrand is Pope! St. Peter chooses the archdeacon +Hildebrand!" + +From the funeral procession Hildebrand flew to the pulpit, and with +impassioned gestures seemed to be imploring silence. The storm, however, +did not cease till one of the cardinals, in the name of the sacred +college, declared that they had unanimously elected him whom the people +had chosen. Arrayed in scarlet robes, crowned with the papal tiara, +Gregory VII ascended the chair of St. Peter. + +The Pope very soon made known the course which he should pursue. He +issued a prohibition against the marriage of the clergy, and in a +council at Rome abolished the right of investiture.[27] He was +determined to redress the wrongs of society. He had seen oppression +laying waste the fairest provinces of Europe, he had seen many princes, +goaded on by the revengeful passions of their nature, flinging wide +their standard to the winds, and dipping their hands in the blood of +those who, if Christianity be not a fable, were their very brothers. A +magnificent vision rose up before him. He would rule the world by +religion; he would be the caesar of the spiritual monarchy. He and a +council of prelates, annually assembled at Rome, would constitute a +tribunal from whose judgment there should be no appeal, empowered to +hold the supreme mediation in matters relating to the interests of the +body politic, to settle contested successions to kingdoms; and to compel +men to cease from their dissensions. + +[Footnote 27: That is, the right of the civil power to grant church +offices at will, and to invest ecclesiastics with symbols of their +offices and receive their oaths of fealty.] + +The civil power was to pledge itself to be prompt in the execution of +their decrees against those who despised their authority. But if the +decisions of those judges were to carry weight, they must be men of +unblemished integrity. The purity of their ermine must be altogether +unsullied. The sale of the highest spiritual offices by the prince, who +had deprived the clergy and people of their right to elect them, which +had stained the hands of the Church and undermined its power, must be +altogether forbidden. Elections must be free. The custom of investiture +by sovereigns with the ring and crozier, which had rendered the +hierarchy and clergy the creatures of their will, must be forbidden. + +The clergy must possess an absolute exemption from the criminal justice +of the state. They must recognize but one ruler, the pope, who disposed +of them indirectly through the bishops or directly in cases of +exemption, and used them as tools for the execution of his behests. In +fact, they were to constitute a vast army, exclusively devoted to the +service of an ecclesiastical monarch. + +They must be unconnected by marriage with the world around them, that +they might be bound more closely to one another and to their head; that +they might be saved from the temptation of restless projects for the +advancement of their families, which have caused so much scandal in the +world; and that they might give an exalted idea of their sanctity, +inasmuch as, in order that they might give themselves to prayer and the +ministry of the Word, they would forego that connubial bliss, the +portion of those, + + "The happiest of their kind, + Whom gentler stars unite and in one fate Their hearts, their fortunes, + and their beings blend." + +The marriage of the clergy was everywhere more or less repugnant to the +general feeling of Christendom. The rise and progress of asceticism in +the Church had their source in human nature, and its growth was +quickened by a reaction from the immorality of paganism. The general +effect on the position of the clergy was to compel them to keep progress +with the prevailing movement. Men consecrated to the service of Jehovah +must rise superior to the common herd of their fellow-creatures. + +By a decree of Pope Siricius at the end of the fourth century marriage +was interdicted to all priests and deacons. This decree was, however, +very imperfectly observed during the following centuries. The general +feeling was, however, at this time very strongly against the married +clergy. But throughout the spiritual realm of Hildebrand in Italy, from +Calabria to the Alps, the clergy had risen up in rebellion against him +and the popes his predecessors when they attempted to coerce them into +celibacy. We believe that this opposition, much more than the strife as +to investitures, was the cause of the strong feeling, almost +unprecedented, which existed against Gregory VII. + +We must now show that Gregory enforced his views as to investitures. +This part of our subject is important, because it gave occasion for the +assertion that the pope could depose the Holy Roman emperor and the king +of Italy, if he should find him morally or physically disqualified for +fulfilling the condition on which his appointment depended--that he +should defend him from his enemies. Henry IV, at the beginning of his +reign only ten years of age, was at this time Emperor.[28] + +[Footnote 28: That is, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, which included +the German-speaking people of Europe, and also, in theory at least, +Italy.] + +One day, as he was standing by the Rhine, a galley with silken streamers +appeared, into which he was invited to enter. After he had been gliding +for some time down the stream, he found that he was a prisoner. The +archbishops of Milan and Cologne, with other powerful lords, having +consigned him to a degrading captivity, administered, in his name, the +government of the empire. By affording him every means of vicious +indulgence, they were only too successful in corrupting a noble and +generous nature. Very soon he was guilty of crimes, and plunged into +excesses which seemed to cry aloud for vengeance. + +The Pope saw that the time had come for the execution of his designs. +Henry had been guilty of the grossest simony. The spiritual dignities +had been openly sold to the highest bidder. He saw also that, while the +clergy took the oath of fealty to the monarch and were invested by him +with the ring and crozier, he could not establish the superiority of the +spiritual to the temporal jurisdiction. He therefore summoned a council +at the Lateran (1075), which issued a decree against lay investitures. +The Pope, having thus declared war against the Emperor, proceeded to +fill up certain vacant bishoprics, and to suspend bishops, both in +Germany and Italy, who had been guilty of simony. He also cited Henry +before him to answer for his simony, crimes, and excesses. + +This citation is alleged to have given occasion for an attempted crime, +supposed to have been sanctioned by Henry, which may show us that while +the Pope was asserting a right to rule over the nations, he could not +rule in his own city. On Christmas Eve, 1075, the city of Rome was +visited with a violent tempest. Darkness brooded over the land. The +inhabitants thought that the day of judgment was at hand. In the midst +of this war of the elements two processions were seen advancing toward +the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. At the head of one of them was +Hildebrand, leading his priests to worship at a shrine. At the head of +the other was Cencius, a Roman noble. In one of the pauses in the roar +of the tempest, when the Pope was heard blessing his flock, the arm of +Cencius grasped his person, and the sword of a ruffian inflicted a wound +on his forehead. Bound with cords, the Pope was removed to a mansion in +the city, from which he was the next day to be removed to exile or to +death. A sword was aimed at the Pontiff's bosom, when the cries of a +fierce multitude, threatening to burn down the house, arrested the arm +of the assassin. An arrow, discharged from below, reached and slew the +latter. Cencius fell at the Pope's feet, a suppliant for pardon and for +life. The Pontiff immediately pardoned him. Then, amid the acclamations +of the Roman people, Gregory proceeded to complete the interrupted +solemnities at Santa Maria Maggiore. + +The war between Henry and the Pope continued. Henry summoned a synod at +Worms in January, 1076, which decreed the deposition of the Pope. The +envoy charged to convey this sentence appeared in the council chamber of +the Lateran in February, before an assembly consisting of the mightiest +in the land, whom the Pope had summoned to sit in judgment on Henry. +With flashing eyes and in a voice of thunder he directed the Pope to +descend from the chair of St. Peter. Cries of indignation rang through +the hall, and a hundred swords were seen leaping from their scabbards to +inflict vengeance on the daring intruder. The Pope, with difficulty, +stilled the angry tumult. Then, rising with calm dignity, amid the +breathless silence of the assembled multitude, he uttered that dread +anathema which "shuts paradise and opens hell," and absolved the +subjects of Henry from their allegiance. + +The inhabitants of Europe were struck dumb with amazement when they +witnessed this exercise of papal prerogative. They thought that the +powerful arm of Henry would have been raised to smite down the audacious +Hildebrand. The Pope, however, well knew that Henry had by his excesses +alienated from himself the affections of his subjects. The sentence gave +a pretext to many of his nobility to withdraw from their allegiance. +Awed by spiritual terrors, his attendants fell away from him as if he +had been smitten by a leprosy. An assembly was now summoned at Trebur, +in obedience to a requisition from the Pope, at which it was decreed +that, if the Emperor continued excommunicate on the 23d of February, +1077, his crown should be given to another. The theory of the Holy Roman +Empire had thus become a practical reality. The vassal of Otho had +reduced the successor of Otho to vassalage. A great pope had wrung from +the superstition and reverence of mankind a spiritual empire, which, it +was hoped, would extend its sway to earth's remotest boundaries. + + +ARTAUD DE MONTOR + +Gregory made it an invariable rule to act at the outset with gentleness. +"No one," says he, "reaches the highest rank at a single spring; great +edifices rise gradually." Certain of his strength, he chose to employ +conciliation. He especially sought to convince Henry, but the excesses +in which that prince wallowed were so abominable that his subjects in +all parts, and especially the great, revolted against him. In 1076, +Gregory assembled a council, which pronounced the excommunication of the +King, with all the terrible consequences attendant upon it. + +History shows several emperors of the East excommunicated by preceding +popes: Arcadius, by Innocent I; Anastasius, by Saint Symmachus; and Leo +the Isaurian, by Gregory II and Gregory III. + +The decree of the same council set forth that the throne vacated by +Henry was adjudged to Rudolph, duke of Swabia, already created king of +Germany by the electors of the empire. + +Before the election of Rudolph, Gregory had declared that he would +repair to Germany. King Henry, on his part, promised to come into Italy. +The Pope left Rome with an escort furnished by the countess of Tuscany, +daughter of Boniface, marquis of Tuscany. The march of Gregory was a +triumph. Amidst that escort he reached Vercelli. It was feared by some +that Henry would make his appearance at the head of an army, but he had +not that intention. The Pope, nevertheless, deemed it best to retire +into the fortress of Canossa, belonging to the Countess Matilda, in +order that he might be secure from all violence. + +Henry had spent nearly two months at Spires in a profound and melancholy +solitude. The weight of the excommunication oppressed him with a +thousand griefs. Weary of that state of uncertainty, and still, as ever, +tricky and hypocritical, he conceived the idea of winning over the Pope +by an apparent piety, and of satisfying his requirements by a brief +humiliation; moreover, the decree of excommunication declared that it +should be withdrawn if the King appeared before the Pope within a year +from the date of the decree. The winter was severe. After running a +thousand dangers, the King and his queen arrived at Turin, and proceeded +to Placentia. Thence the prince announced that he would proceed to +Canossa, by way of Reggio. + +The Countess Matilda met him with Hugo, Bishop of Cluny. She wished to +restore harmony between the Pope and the King. Gregory seemed to desire +that Henry should return to Augsburg, to be judged by the Diet. The +envoys of the King at Canossa replied: "Henry does not fear being +judged; he knows that the Pope will protect innocence and justice; but +the anniversary of the excommunication is at hand, and if the +excommunication be not removed, the King, _according to the laws of the +land_, will lose his right to the crown. The prince humbly requests the +Holy Father to raise the interdict, and to restore him to the communion +of the Church. He is ready to give every satisfaction that the Pope +shall require; to present himself at such place and at such time as the +Pope shall order; to meet his accusers, and to commit himself entirely +to the decision of the head of the Church." + +Henry, says Voigt, having received permission to advance, was not long +on the way. The fortress had triple inclosures; Henry was conducted into +the second; his retinue remained outside the first. He had laid aside +the insignia of royalty; nothing announced his rank. All day long, +Henry, bareheaded, clad in penitential garb, and fasting from morning +till night, awaited the sentence of the sovereign pontiff. He thus +waited during a second and a third day. During the intervening time he +had not ceased to negotiate. On the morrow, Matilda interceded with the +Pope on behalf of Henry, and the conditions of the treaty were settled. +The prince promised to give satisfaction to the complaints made against +him by his subjects, and he took an oath, in which his sureties joined. +When those oaths were taken, the pontiff gave the King the benediction +and the apostolic peace, and celebrated Mass. + +After the consecration of the host, the Pope called Henry and all +present, and still holding the host in his hand, said to the King: "We +have received letters from you and those of your party, in which we are +accused of having usurped the Holy See by simony, and of having, both +before and since our episcopacy, committed crimes which, according to +the canons, excluded us from holy orders. + +"Although we could justify ourselves by the testimony of those who have +known our manner of life from our childhood, and who were the authors of +our promotion to the episcopacy, nevertheless, to do away with all kind +of scandal, we will appeal to the judgment, not of men, but of God. Let +the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we are about to take, be this +day a proof of our innocence. We pray the Almighty to dispel all +suspicion, if we are innocent, and to cause us suddenly to die, if we +are guilty." + +Then turning towards the King, Gregory again spoke: "Dear son, do also +as you have seen us do. The German princes have daily accused you to us +of a great number of crimes, for which those nobles maintain that you +ought to be interdicted, during your whole life, not only from royalty +and all public function, but also from all ecclesiastical communion, and +from all commerce of civil life. They urgently demand that you be +judged, and you know how uncertain are all human judgments. Do, then, as +we advise, and if you feel that you are innocent, deliver the Church +from this scandal, and yourself from this embarrassment. Take this other +portion of the host, that this proof of your innocence may close the +lips of your enemies, and engage us to be your most ardent defender, to +reconcile you with the nobles, and forever to terminate the civil war." + +This address astonished the King. Going apart with his confidants, he +tremblingly consulted as to what he could do to avoid so terrible a +test. At length, having somewhat recovered his calmness, he said to the +Pope, that as those nobles who remained faithful were, for the most +part, absent, as well as those who accused him, the latter would give +little faith to what he might do in his own justification, unless it +were done in their presence. For that reason, he asked that the test +should be postponed to the day of the sitting of the general diet, and +the Pope consented. + +When the Pope had finished Mass, he invited the King to dinner, treated +him with much attention, and dismissed him in peace to his own people, +who had remained outside the castle. Henry, on his return to his nobles, +was not well received. Henry, as Voigt shows, soon became alarmed at +their disapprobation, which originated only in a feeling of wounded +complicity and ambitious views, which could not hope for success after +the victory gained by Gregory. + +Henry, hearing himself accused of weakness, thought to deliver himself +from so much annoyance by a bold perjury; and he endeavored to draw +Gregory and Matilda into a snare. Warned by faithful friends, they did +not visit the King as had been agreed; and that new wrong determined +Gregory to suspend his departure for the Diet of Augsburg. No one, not +even the pious Matilda, now dared to speak of a reconciliation. + +Henry held at Brescia, in 1080, a pseudo council of the bishops devoted +to him; and there he caused Guibert, Archbishop of Ravenna, an avowed +enemy of Gregory, to be elected as Pope; and he deposed Gregory, +although he was recognized as the legitimate pope by the whole Catholic +world, with the exception of the bishops in revolt, under the direction +of Henry. On learning this, Gregory celebrated at Rome, in the year +1080, a regular council, in which he again excommunicated Henry, and +especially the antipope, whom he would never absolve. + + +ARTHUR PENNINGTON + +The war continued. Henry's rival for the empire, Rudolph of Swabia, was +supported by many German partisans, especially by the Saxons. He was +defeated with great loss at Fladenheim. The skill and courage of the +Saxon commander, however, turned a defeat into a victory. Emboldened by +this victory, Gregory excommunicated Henry, and "gave, granted, and +conceded" that Rudolph might rule the Italian and German empires. With +the sanction of thirty bishops, an antipope, Guibert, was elected at +Brixen. The war raged with undiminished violence. The Saxons, the only +power in alliance with the Romans, gained a victory over Henry in +Germany at the very same time when Matilda's forces fled before his army +in the Mantuan territory. Matilda had lately granted all her hereditary +states to Gregory and his successors forever. Before the summer of the +year 1080 the citizens of Rome saw the forces of Henry in the Campagna. +The siege of Rome continued for three years. The capture of the city was +imminent, when the forces of Robert Guiscard, the Norman, came to the +rescue of the Pope. + +Nicholas II had bestowed on Robert Guiscard the investiture of the +duchies of Apulia and Calabria; Sicily also, the conquest of which his +brother Richard was meditating, being prospectively added to Robert's +dominions. The oath taken by Robert Guiscard on this occasion bound him +to be the devoted defender of the pontificate. He now became a friend +indeed. A hasty retreat saved the forces of Henry from the impending +danger. The Pope returned in triumph to the Lateran. But within a few +hours he heard from the streets the clash of arms and the loud shouts of +the combatants. A fierce contest was raging between the soldiers of +Robert and the citizens who espoused the cause of Henry. A conflagration +was kindled, which at length destroyed three-fourths of the city. +Gregory, perhaps conscience-stricken when he thought of the wars he had +kindled, sought, in the castle of Salerno, from the Normans the security +which he could no longer expect among his own subjects. He soon found +that the hand of death was upon him. He summoned round his bed the +bishops and cardinals who had accompanied him in his flight from Rome. +He maintained the truth of the principles for which he had always +contended. He forgave and blessed his enemies, with the exception of the +antipope and the Emperor. He had received the transubstantiated +elements. The final unction had been given to him. He then prepared +himself to die. Anxious to catch the last words from that tongue, to the +utterances of which they had always listened with intense delight, his +followers were bending over him, when, collecting his powers for one +last effort, he said, in an indignant tone, "I have loved righteousness +and hated iniquity, and, therefore, I die in exile." + + + + +COMPLETION OF THE DOMESDAY BOOK + +A.D. 1086 + +CHARLES KNIGHT + + +(When William the Conqueror had been some years established in his +English realm, he found himself confronted with a feudal baronage +largely composed of men who had gone with him from Normandy, where many +of them had reluctantly bowed to his command. They were jealous of the +royal power and eager for military and judicial independence within +their own manors. The Conqueror met this situation with the skill of +political genius. He granted large estates to the nobles, but so widely +scattered as to render union of the great land-owners and hereditary +attachment of great areas of population to separate feudal lords +impossible. He caused under-tenants to be bound to their lords by the +same conditions of service which bound the lords to the crown, to which +each sub-tenant swore direct fealty. William also strengthened his +position as king by means of a new military organization and by his +control of the judicial and administrative systems of the kingdom. By +the abolition of the four great earldoms of the realm he struck a final +blow at the ambition of the greater nobles for independent power. By +this stroke he made the shire the largest unit of local government. By +his control of the national revenues he secured a great financial power +in his own hands. + +A large part of the manors were burdened with special dues to the crown, +and for the purpose of ascertaining and recording these William sent +into each county commissioners to make a survey, whose inquiries were +recorded in the _Domesday Book_, so called because its decision was +regarded as final. This book, in Norman-French, contains the results of +his survey of England made in 1085-1086, and consists of two volumes in +vellum, a large folio of three hundred and eighty-two pages, and a +quarto of four hundred and fifty pages. For a long time it was kept +under three locks in the exchequer with the King's seal, and is now kept +in the Public Record Office. In 1783 the British Government issued a +fac-simile edition of it, in two folio volumes, printed from types +specially made for the purpose. It is one of the principal sources for +the political and social history of the time. + +The _Domesday Book_ contains a record of the ownership, extent, and +value of the lands of England at the time of the survey, at the time of +their bestowal when granted by the King, and at the time of a previous +survey under Edward the Confessor. Of the detailed registrations of +tenants, defendants, live stock, etc., as well, as of contemporary +social features of the English people, the following account presents +interesting pictures.) + + +The survey contained in the _Domesday Book_ extended to all England, +with the exception of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and +Durham. All the country between the Tees and the Tyne was held by the +Bishop of Durham; and he was reputed a count palatine, having a separate +government. The other three northern counties were probably so +devastated that they were purposely omitted. Let us first see, from the +information of _Domesday Book_, by "what men" the land was occupied. + +First, we have barons and we have thanes. The barons were the Norman +nobles; the thanes, the Saxon. These were included under the general +designation of _liberi homines_, free men; which term included all the +freeholders of a manor. Many of these were tenants of the King "_in +capite_"--that is, they held their possessions direct from the Crown. +Others of these had placed themselves under the protection of some lord, +as the defender of their persons and estates, they paying some stipend +or performing some service. In the _Register_ there are also _liberae +feminae_, free women. Next to the free class were the _sochemanni_ or +"socmen," a class of inferior land-owners, who held lands under a lord, +and owed suit and service in the lord's court, but whose tenure was +permanent. They sometimes performed services in husbandry; but those +services, as well as their payments, were defined. + +Descending in the scale, we come to the _villani_. These were allowed to +occupy land at the will of the lord, upon the condition of performing +services, uncertain in their amount and often of the meanest nature. But +they could acquire no property in lands or goods; and they were subject +to many exactions and oppressions. There are entries in _Domesday Book_ +which show that the villani were not altogether bondmen, but represented +the Saxon "churl." The lowest class were _servi_, slaves; the class +corresponding with the Saxon _theow_. By a degradation in the condition +of the villani, and the elevation of that of the servi, the two classes +were brought gradually nearer together; till at last the military +oppression of the Normans, thrusting down all degrees of tenants and +servants into one common slavery, or at least into strict dependence, +one name was adopted for both of them as a generic term, that of +_villeins regardant_. + +Of the subdivisions of these great classes, the _Register_ of 1085 +affords us some particulars. We find that some of the nobles are +described as _milites_, soldiers; and sometimes the milites are classed +with the inferior orders of tenantry. Many of the chief tenants are +distinguished by their offices. We have among these the great regal +officers, such as they existed in the Saxon times--the _camerarius_ and +_cubicularius_, from whom we have our lord chamberlain; the _dapifer_, +or lord steward; the _pincerna_, or chief butler; the constable, and the +treasurer. We have the hawkkeepers, and the bowkeepers; the providers of +the king's carriages, and his standard-bearers. We have lawmen, and +legates, and mediciners. We have foresters and hunters. + +Coming to the inferior officers and artificers, we have carpenters, +smiths, goldsmiths, farriers, potters, ditchers, launders, armorers, +fishermen, millers, bakers, salters, tailors, and barbers. We have +mariners, moneyers, minstrels, and watchmen. Of rural occupations we +have the beekeepers, ploughmen, shepherds, neatherds, goatherds, and +swineherds. Here is a population in which there is a large division of +labor. The freemen, tenants, villeins, slaves, are laboring and deriving +sustenance from arable land, meadow, common pasture, wood, and water. +The grain-growing land is, of course, carefully registered as to its +extent and value, and so the meadow and pasture. An equal exactness is +bestowed upon the woods. It was not that the timber was of great +commercial value, in a country which possessed such insufficient means +of transport; but that the acorns and beech-mast, upon which great herds +of swine subsisted, were of essential importance to keep up the supply +of food. We constantly find such entries as "a wood for pannage of fifty +hogs." There are woods described which will feed a hundred, two hundred, +three hundred hogs; and on the Bishop of London's demesne at Fulham a +thousand hogs could fatten. The value of a tree was determined by the +number of hogs that could lie under it, in the Saxon time; and in this +survey of the Norman period, we find entries of useless woods, and woods +without pannage, which to some extent were considered identical. In some +of the woods there were patches of cultivated ground, as the entries +show, where the tenant had cleared the dense undergrowth and had his +corn land and his meadows. Even the fen lands were of value, for their +rents were paid in eels. + +There is only mention of five forests in this record, Windsor, +Gravelings (Wiltshire), Winburn, Whichwood, and the New Forest. +Undoubtedly there were many more, but being no objects of assessment +they are passed over. It would be difficult not to associate the memory +of the Conqueror with the New Forest, and not to believe that his +unbridled will was here the cause of great misery and devastation. +Ordericus Vitalis says, speaking of the death of William's second son, +Richard: "Learn now, my reader, why the forest in which the young prince +was slain received the name of the New Forest. That part of the country +was extremely populous from early times, and full of well-inhabited +hamlets and farms. A numerous population cultivated Hampshire with +unceasing industry, so that the southern part of the district +plentifully supplied Winchester with the products of the land. When +William I ascended the throne of Albion, being a great lover of forests, +he laid waste more than sixty parishes, compelling the inhabitants to +emigrate to other places, and substituted beasts of the chase for human +beings, that he might satisfy his ardor for hunting." There is probably +some exaggeration in the statement of the country being "extremely +populous from early times." This was an old woody district, called +Ytene. No forest was artificially planted, as Voltaire has imagined; but +the chases were opened through the ancient thickets, and hamlets and +solitary cottages were demolished. + +It is a curious fact that some woodland spots in the New Forest have +still names with the terminations of _ham_ and _ton_. There are many +evidences of the former existence of human abodes in places now +solitary; yet we doubt whether this part of the district plentifully +supplied Winchester with food, as Ordericus relates; for it is a sterile +district, in most places, fitted for little else than the growth of +timber. The lower lands are marsh, and the upper are sand. The +Conqueror, says the _Saxon Chronicle_, "so much loved the high deer as +if he had been their father." The first of the Norman kings, and his +immediate successors, would not be very scrupulous about the +depopulation of a district if the presence of men interfered with their +pleasures. But Thierry thinks that the extreme severity of the Forest +Laws was chiefly enforced to prevent the assemblage of Saxons in those +vast wooded spaces which were now included in the royal demesnes. + +All these extensive tracts were, more or less, retreats for the +dispossessed and the discontented. The Normans, under pretence of +preserving the stag and the hare, could tyrannize with a pretended +legality over the dwellers in these secluded places; and thus William +might have driven the Saxon people of Ytene to emigrate, and have +destroyed their cottages, as much from a possible fear of their +association as from his own love of "the high deer." Whatever was the +motive, there were devastation and misery. _Domesday_ shows that in the +district of the New Forest certain manors were afforested after the +Conquest; cultivated portions, in which the Sabbath bell was heard. +William of Jumieges, the Conqueror's own chaplain, says, speaking of the +deaths of Richard and Rufus: "There were many who held that the two sons +of William the King perished by the judgment of God in these woods, +since for the _extension_ of the forest he had destroyed many inhabited +_places (villas) and churches within its circuit_." It appears that in +the time of Edward the Confessor about seventeen thousand acres of this +district had been afforested; but that the cultivated parts remaining +had then an estimated value of three hundred and sixty-three pounds. +After the afforestation by the Conqueror, the cultivated parts yielded +only one hundred and twenty-nine pounds. + +The grants of land to huntsmen (_venatores_) are common in Hampshire, as +in other parts of England; and it appears to have been the duty of an +especial officer to stall the deer--that is, to drive them with his +troop of followers from all parts to the centre of a circle, gradually +contracting, where they were to stand for the onslaught of the hunters. +In the survey many parks are enumerated. The word hay (_haia_), which is +still found in some of our counties, meant an enclosed part of a wood to +which the deer were driven. + +In the seventeenth century this mode of hunting upon a large scale, by +stalling the deer--this mimic war--was common in Scotland. Taylor, +called the "Water Poet," was present at such a gathering, and has +described the scene with a minuteness which may help us to form a +picture of the Norman hunters: "Five or six hundred men do rise early in +the morning, and they do disperse themselves divers ways; and seven, +eight, or ten miles' compass, they do bring or chase in the deer in many +herds--two, three, or four hundred in a herd--to such a place as the +noblemen shall appoint them; then, when the day is come, the lords and +gentlemen of their companies do ride or go to the said places, sometimes +wading up to the middle through bourns and rivers; and then they being +come to the place, do lie down on the ground till those foresaid scouts, +which are called the 'tinkhelt,' do bring down the deer. Then, after we +had stayed there three hours or thereabouts, we might perceive the deer +appear on the hills round about us--their heads making a show like a +wood--which being followed close by the tinkhelt, are chased down into +the valley where we lay; then all the valley on each side being waylaid +with a hundred couple of strong Irish greyhounds, they are let loose as +occasion serves upon the herd of deer, that with dogs, guns, arrows, +dirks, and daggers, in the space of two hours fourscore fat deer were +slain." + +_Domesday_ affords indubitable proof of the culture of the vine in +England. There are thirty-eight entries of vineyards in the southern and +eastern counties. Many gardens are enumerated. Mills are registered with +great distinctness; for they were invariably the property of the lords +of the manors, lay or ecclesiastical; and the tenants could only grind +at the lord's mill. Wherever we find a mill specified in _Domesday_, +there we generally find a mill now. At Arundel, for example, we see what +rent was paid by a mill; and there still stands at Arundel an old mill +whose foundations might have been laid before the Conquest. Salt works +are repeatedly mentioned. They were either works upon the coast for +procuring marine salt by evaporation, or were established in the +localities of inland salt springs. The salt works of Cheshire were the +most numerous, and were called "wiches." Hence the names of some places, +such as Middlewich and Nantwich. The revenue from mines offers some +curious facts. No mention of tin is to be found in Cornwall. The ravages +of Saxon and Dane, and the constant state of hostility between races, +had destroyed much of that mineral industry which existed in the Roman +times. A century and a half after the Conquest had elapsed before the +Norman kings had a revenue from the Cornish iron mines. Iron forges were +registered, and lumps of hammered iron are stated to have been paid as +rent. Lead works are found only upon the king's demesne in Derbyshire. + +Fisheries are important sources of rent. Payments of eels are enumerated +by hundreds and thousands. Herrings appear to have been consumed in vast +numbers in the monasteries. Sandwich yielded forty thousand annually to +Christ Church in Canterbury. Kent, Sussex, and Norfolk appear to have +been the great seats of this fishery. The Severn and the Wye had their +salmon fisheries, whose produce king, bishop, and lord were glad to +receive as rent. There was a weir for Thames fish at Mortlake. The +religious houses had their _piscinae_ and _vivaria_--their stews and +fish-pools. + +_Domesday_ affords us many curious glimpses of the condition of the +people in cities and burghs. For the most part they seem to have +preserved their ancient customs. London, Winchester, and several other +important places are not mentioned in the record. We shall very briefly +notice a few indications of the state of society. Dover was an important +place, for it supplied the king with twenty ships for fifteen days in a +year, each vessel having twenty-one men on board. Dover could therefore +command the service of four hundred and twenty mariners. Every burgess +in Lewes compounded for a payment of twenty shillings when the king +fitted out a fleet to keep the sea. + +At Oxford the king could command the services of twenty burgesses +whenever he went on an expedition; or they might compound for their +services by a payment of twenty pounds. Oxford was a considerable place +at this period. It contained upward of seven hundred houses; but four +hundred and seventy-eight were so desolated that they could pay no dues. +Hereford was the king's demesne; and the honor of being his immediate +tenants appears to have been qualified by considerable exactions. When +he went to war, and when he went to hunt, men were to be ready for his +service. If the wife of a burgher brewed his ale, he paid tenpence. The +smith who kept a forge had to make nails from the king's iron. In +Hereford, as in other cities, there were moneyers, or coiners. There +were seven at Hereford, who were bound to coin as much of the king's +silver into pence as he demanded. At Cambridge the burgesses were +compelled to lend the sheriff their ploughs. Leicester was bound to find +the king a hawk or to pay ten pounds; while a sumpter or baggage-horse +was compounded for at one pound. + +At Warwick there were two hundred and twenty-five houses on which the +king and his barons claimed tax; and nineteen houses belonged to free +burgesses. The dues were paid in honey and corn. In Shrewsbury there +were two hundred and fifty-two houses belonging to burgesses; but the +burgesses complained that they were called upon to pay as much tax as in +the time of the Confessor, although Earl Roger had taken possession of +extensive lands for building his castle. Chester was a port in which the +king had his dues upon every cargo, and where he had fines whenever a +trader was detected in using a false measure. The fraudulent female +brewer of adulterated beer was placed in the cucking-stool, a +degradation afterward reserved for scolds. + +This city has a more particular notice as to laws and customs in the +time of the Confessor than any other place in the survey. Particular +care seems to have been taken against fire. The owner of a house on fire +not only paid a fine to the king, but forfeited two shillings to his +nearest neighbor. Marten skins appear to have been a great article of +trade in this city. No stranger could cart goods within a particular +part of the city without being subjected to a forfeiture of four +shillings or two oxen to the bishop. We find, as might be expected, no +mention of that peculiar architecture of Chester called the "Rows," +which has so puzzled antiquarian writers. The probability is that in a +place so exposed to the attacks of the Welsh they were intended for +defence. The low streets in which the Rows are situated have the road +considerably beneath them, like the cutting of a railway; and from the +covered way of the Rows an enemy in the road beneath might be assailed +with great advantage. + +In the civil wars of Charles I the possession of the Rows by the +Royalists, or Parliamentary troops, was fiercely contested. Of their +antiquity there is no doubt. They probably belong to the same period as +the Castle. The wall of Chester and the bridge were kept in repair, +according to the survey, by the service of one laborer for every hide of +land in the county. It is to be remarked that in all the cities and +burghs the inhabitants are described as belonging to the king or a +bishop or a baron. Many, even in the most privileged places, were +attached to particular manors. + +The _Domesday_ survey shows that in some towns there was an admixture of +Norman and English burgesses; and it is clear that they were so settled +after the Conquest, for a distinction is made between the old customary +dues of the place and those the foreigner should pay. The foreigner had +to bear a small addition to the ancient charge. No doubt the Norman +clung to many of the habits of his own land; and the Saxon unwillingly +parted with those of the locality in which his fathers had lived. But +their manners were gradually assimilated. The Normans grew fond of the +English beer, and the English adopted the Norman dress. + +The survey of 1085 affords the most complete evidence of the extent to +which the Normans had possessed themselves of the landed property of the +country. The ancient demesnes of the crown consisted of fourteen hundred +and twenty-two manors. But the king had confiscated the properties of +Godwin, Harold, Algar, Edwin, Morcar, and other great Saxon earls; and +his revenues thus became enormous. Ordericus Vitalis states, with a +minuteness that seems to imply the possession of official information, +that "the king himself received daily one-and-sixty pounds thirty +thousand pence and three farthings sterling money from his regular +revenues in England alone, independently of presents, fines for +offences, and many other matters which constantly enrich a royal +treasury." The numbers of manors held by the favorites of the Conqueror +would appear incredible, if we did not know that these great nobles were +grasping and unscrupulous; indulging the grossest sensuality with a +pretence of refinement; limited in their perpetration of injustice only +by the extent of their power; and so blinded by their pride as to call +their plunder their inheritance. Ten Norman chiefs who held under the +crown are enumerated in the survey as possessing two thousand eight +hundred and twenty manors. + +This enormous transfer of property did not take place without the most +formidable resistance, but when a period of tranquillity arrived came +the era of castle-building. The Saxons had their rude fortresses and +intrenched earthworks. But solid walls of stone, for defence and +residence, were to become the local seats of regal and baronial +domination. _Domesday_ contains notices of forty-nine castles; but only +one is mentioned as having existed in the time of Edward the Confessor. +Some which the Conqueror is known to have built are not noticed in the +survey. Among these is the White Tower of London. The site of Rochester +Castle is mentioned. These two buildings are associated by our old +antiquaries as being erected by the same architect. Stow says: "I find +in a fair register-book of the acts of the bishops of Rochester, set +down by Edmund of Hadenham, that William I, surnamed Conqueror, builded +the Tower of London, to wit, the great white and square tower there, +about the year of Christ 1078, appointing Gundulph, then Bishop of +Rochester, to be principal surveyor and overseer of that work, who was +for that time lodged in the house of Edmere, a burghess of London." The +chapel in the White Tower is a remarkable specimen of early Norman +architecture. + +The keep of Rochester Castle, so picturesquely situated on the Medway, +was not a mere fortress without domestic convenience. Here we still look +upon the remains of sculptured columns and arches. We see where there +were spacious fireplaces in the walls, and how each of four floors was +served with water by a well. The third story contains the most +ornamental portions of the building. In the _Domesday_ enumeration of +castles, we have repeated mention of houses destroyed and lands wasted, +for their erection. At Cambridge twenty-seven houses are recorded to +have been thus demolished. This was the fortress to overawe the fen +districts. At Lincoln a hundred and sixty-six mansions were destroyed, +"on account of the castle." + +In the ruins of all these castles we may trace their general plan. There +were an outer court, an inner court, and a keep. Round the whole area +was a wall, with parapets and loopholes. The entrance was defended by an +outwork or barbacan. The prodigious strength of the keep is the most +remarkable characteristic of these fortresses; and thus many of these +towers remain, stripped of every interior fitting by time, but as +untouched in their solid construction as the mounts upon which they +stand. We ascend the steep steps which lead to the ruined keep of +Carisbrook, with all our historical associations directed to the +confinement of Charles I in this castle. But this fortress was +registered in _Domesday Book_. Five centuries and a half had elapsed +between William I and James I. The Norman keep was out of harmony with +the principles of the seventeenth century, as much as the feudal +prerogatives to which Charles unhappily clung. + +We have thus enumerated some of the more prominent statistics of this +ancient survey, which are truly as much matter of history as the events +of this beginning of the Norman period. There is one more feature of +this _Domesday Book_ which we cannot pass over. The number of parish +churches in England in the eleventh century will, in some degree, +furnish an indication of the amount of religious instruction. By some +most extraordinary exaggeration, the number of these churches has been +stated to be above forty-five thousand. In _Domesday_ the number +enumerated is a little above seventeen hundred. No doubt this +enumeration is extremely imperfect. Very nearly half of all the churches +put down are found in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. The +_Register_, in some cases, gives the amount of land with which the +church was endowed. Bosham, in Sussex, the estate of Harold, had, in the +time of King Edward, a hundred and twelve hides of land. At the date of +the survey it had sixty-five hides. This was an enormous endowment. Some +churches had five acres only; some fifty; some a hundred. Some are +without land altogether. But, whether the endowment be large or small, +here is the evidence of a church planted upon the same foundation as the +monarchy, that of territorial possessions. + +The politic ruler of England had, in the completion of _Domesday Book_, +possessed himself of the most perfect instrument for the profitable +administration of his government. He was no longer working in the dark, +whether he called out soldiers or levied taxes. He had carried through a +great measure, rapidly, and with a minuteness which puts to shame some +of our clumsy modern statistics. But the Conqueror did not want his +books for the gratification of official curiosity. He went to work when +he knew how many tenants-in-chief he could command, and how many men +they could bring into the field. He instituted the great feudal +principle of knight-service. His ordinance is in these words: "We +command that all earls, barons, knights, sergeants, and freemen be +always provided with horses and arms as they ought, and that they be +always ready to perform to us their whole service, in manner as they owe +it to us of right for their fees and tenements, and as we have appointed +to them by the common council of our whole kingdom, and as we have +granted to them in fee with right of inheritance." + +These words, "in fee, with right of inheritance," leave no doubt that +the great vassals of the crown were absolute proprietors, and that all +their subvassals had the same right of holding in perpetuity. The +estate, however, reverted to the crown if the race of the original +feoffee became extinct, and in cases, also, of felony and treason. When +Alain of Bretagne, who commanded the rear of the army at the battle of +Hastings, and who had received four hundred and forty-two manors, bowed +before the King at Salisbury, at the great council in 1085, and swore to +be true to him against all manner of men, he also brought with him his +principal _land-sittende_ men (land-owners), who also bowed before the +King and became his men. They had previously taken the oath of fealty to +Alain of Bretagne, and engaged to perform all the customs and services +due to him for their lands and tenements. Alain, and his men, were +proprietors, but with very unequal rights. Alain, by his tenure, was +bound to provide for the King as many armed horsemen as the vast extent +of his estates demanded. But all those whom he had enfeoffed, or made +proprietors, upon his four hundred and forty-two manors, were each bound +to contribute a proportionate number. When the free service of forty +days was to be enforced, the great earl had only to send round to his +vassals, and the men were at his command. + +By this organization, which was universal throughout the kingdom, sixty +thousand cavalry could, with little delay, be called into the field. +Those who held by this military service had their allotments divided +into so many knights' fees, and each knight's fee was to furnish one +mounted and armed soldier. The great vassals retained a portion of their +land as their demesnes, having tenants who paid rents and performed +services not military. But, under any circumstances, the vassal of the +crown was bound to perform his whole free service with men and horses +and arms. It is perfectly clear that this wonderful organization +rendered the whole system of government one great confederacy, in which +the small proprietors, tenants, and villeins had not a chance of +independence; and that their condition could only be ameliorated by +those gradual changes which result from a long intercourse between the +strong and the weak, in which power relaxes its severity and becomes +protection. + +In the ordinance in which the King commanded "free service" he also +says, "we will that all the freemen of the kingdom possess their lands +in peace, free from all tallage and unjust exaction." This, unhappily +for the freemen, was little more than a theory under the Norman kings. +There were various modes of making legal exaction the source of the +grossest injustice. When the heir of an estate entered into possession +he had to pay a "relief," or _heriot_, to the lord. This soon became a +source of oppression in the crown; and enormous sums were exacted from +the great vassals. The lord was not more sparing of his men. He had +another mode of extortion. He demanded "aid" on many occasions, such as +the marriage of his eldest daughter, or when he made his eldest son a +knight. The estate of inheritance, which looks so generous and equitable +an arrangement, was a perpetual grievance; for the possessor could +neither transmit his property by will nor transfer it by sale. The heir, +however remote in blood, was the only legitimate successor. + +The feudal obligation to the lord was, in many other ways, a fruitful +source of tyranny, which lasted up to the time of the Stuarts. If the +heir were a minor, the lord entered into possession of the estate +without any accountability. If it descended to a female, the lord could +compel her to marry according to his will, or could prevent her +marrying. During a long period all these harassing obligations connected +with property were upheld. The crown and the nobles were equally +interested in their enforcement; and there can be little doubt that, +though the great vassals sometimes suffered under these feudal +obligations to the king, the inferior tenants had a much greater amount +of oppression to endure at the hands of their immediate lords. But if +the freemen were oppressed in the tenure of their property, we can +scarcely expect that the landless man had not much more to suffer. If he +committed an offence in the Saxon time, he paid a "mulct"; if in the +Norman, he was subjected to an _amerciament_. His whole personal estate +was at the mercy of the lord. + +Having thus obtained a general notion of the system of society +established in less than twenty years after the Conquest, we see that +there was nothing wanting to complete the most entire subjection of the +great body of the nation. What had been wanting was accomplished in the +practical working out of the theory that the entire land of the country +belonged to the King. It was now established that every tenant-in-chief +should do homage to the king; that every superior tenant should do +homage to his lord; that every villein should be the bondman of the +free; and that every slave should, without any property however limited +and insecure, be the absolute chattel of some master. The whole system +was connected with military service. This was the feudal system. There +was some resemblance to it in parts of the Saxon organization; but under +that organization there was so much of freedom in the allodial or free +tenure of land that a great deal of other freedom went with it. The +casting-off of the chains of feudality was the labor of six centuries. + + + + +DECLINE OF THE MOORISH POWER IN SPAIN + +GROWTH AND DECAY OF THE ALMORAVIDE AND ALMOHADE DYNASTIES + +A.D. 1086-1214 + +S.A. DUNHAM + + +(During the early part of the eleventh century the western caliphate, +which with its splendid capital of Cordova had flourished for almost +three hundred years, entered upon a decline that was the beginning of +its final dissolution. By A.D. 1020 the local governors openly asserted +their independence of Cordova and assumed the title of kings. +Conspicuous among them was Mahomet ben Ismail ben Abid, the _wali_ of +Seville. + +While these petty rulers were determined to renounce allegiance to +Cordova, it was resolved at that capital to elect a sovereign to subdue +them and restore the ancient splendor of the empire. The choice fell +upon Gehwar ben Mahomet, who soon established a degree of tranquillity +and commercial prosperity unknown for many years. But he failed to +reestablish the supremacy of Cordova, which capital Mahomet of Seville +was preparing to invade when he died. His son, Mahomet Almoateded, +having subdued Southern Andalusia, became the ally of Mahomet, son and +successor of Gehwar on the throne of Cordova; but he betrayed the latter +under pretence of aiding him against his enemies, and usurped the +sovereignty. + +On the death of Mahomet Almoateded, his son Mahomet succeeded him at +Cordova. He was already King of Seville, and as he soon occupied many +other cities he became the most independent and powerful sovereign of +Mahometan Spain. His chief rival, Yahia Alkadia, King of Toledo, was so +contemptible to his people that they expelled him. He appealed for aid +to Alfonso VI, King of Leon [Alfonso of Castile]; but that Christian +soldier was persuaded by Mahomet to oppose, instead of assisting, Yahia. +The latter was restored to his throne by the King of Badajoz, but +Alfonso invested Toledo and, after a three-years' siege, reduced the +city, in A.D. 1085. In the history of the events directly following the +capitulation it is shown how costly to himself was the alliance of +Mahomet with Alfonso, and how it played its part in the coming of his +coreligionists from Africa to his assistance, and finally, as it proved, +to his own undoing and the supplanting of the power he represented in +the Mahometan government of Spain.) + + +The fall of Toledo, however it might have been foreseen by the +Mahometans, filled them with equal dismay and indignation. As Mahomet +was too formidable to be openly assailed, they turned their +vociferations of anger against his _hagib_, whom they accused of +betraying the faith of Islam. Alarmed at the universal outcry, Mahomet +was not sorry that he could devolve the heavy load of responsibility on +the shoulders of his minister. The latter fled; but though he procured a +temporary asylum from several princes, he was at length seized by the +emissaries of his offended master; was brought, first to Cordova, next +to Seville; confined within the walls of a dungeon; and soon beheaded by +the royal hand of Mahomet. Thus was a servant of the King sacrificed for +no other reason than that he had served that King too well. + +The conquest of Toledo was far from satisfying the ambition of Alfonso: +he rapidly seized on the fortresses of Madrid, Maqueda, Guadalaxara, and +established his dominion on both banks of the Tagus. Mahomet now began +seriously to repent his treaty with the Christian, and to tremble even +for his own possessions. He vainly endeavored to divert his ally from +the projects of aggrandizement which that ally had evidently formed. The +kings of Badajoz and Saragossa became tributaries to the latter; nay, if +any reliance is to be placed on either Christian or Arabic +historians,[29] the King of Seville himself was subjected to the same +humiliation. However this may have been, Mahomet saw that unless he +leagued himself with those whose subjugation had hitherto been his +constant object--the princes of his faith--his and their destruction was +inevitable. The magnitude of the danger compelled him to solicit their +alliance. + +[Footnote 29: Conde gives the translation of two letters--one from +Alfonso to Mahomet, distinguished for a tone of superiority and even of +arrogance, which could arise only from the confidence felt by the writer +in his own strength; the other from Mahomet to Alfonso, containing a +defiance. The latter begins: + +"To the proud enemy of Allah, Alfonso ben Sancho, who calls himself lord +of both nations and both laws. May God confound his arrogance, and +prosper those who walk in the right way!" + +One passage of the same letter says: "Fatigued with war, we were willing +to offer thee an annual tribute; but this does not satisfy thee: thou +wishest us to deliver into thine hands our towns and fortresses; but are +we thy subjects, that thou makest such demands, or hast thou ever +subdued us? Thine injustice has roused us from our lethargy," etc.] + +As the King of Saragossa was too much in fear of the Christians to enter +into any league against them, and as the one of Valencia (Yahia) reigned +only at the pleasure of Alfonso, the sovereigns of Badajoz, Almeria, and +Granada were the only powers on whose cooeperation he could calculate (he +had annihilated the authority of several petty kings). He invited those +princes to send their representatives to Seville, to consult as to the +measures necessary to protect their threatened independence. The +invitation was readily accepted. On the day appointed, Mahomet, with his +son Al Raxid and a considerable number of his _wazirs_ and _cadis_, was +present at the deliberations. The danger was so imminent--the force of +the Christians was so augmented, and that of the Moslems so weakened-- +that such resistance as Mahometan Spain alone could offer seemed +hopeless. With this conviction in their hearts, two of the most +influential cadis proposed an appeal to the celebrated African +conqueror, Yussef ben Taxfin, whose arm alone seemed able to preserve +the faith of Islam in the Peninsula. + +The proposal was received with general applause by all present: they did +not make the very obvious reflection that when a nation admits into its +bosom an ally more powerful than itself, it admits at the same time a +conqueror. The wali of Malaga alone, Abdallah ben Zagut, had courage to +oppose the dangerous embassy under consideration: "You mean to call in +the aid of the Almoravides! Are you ignorant that these fierce +inhabitants of the desert resemble their own native tigers? Suffer them +not, I beseech you, to enter the fertile plains of Andulasia and +Granada! Doubtless they would break the iron sceptre which Alfonso +intends for us; but you would still be doomed to wear the chains of +slavery. Do you not know that Yussef has taken all the cities of +Almagreb; that he has subdued the powerful tribes of the east and west; +that he has everywhere substituted despotism for liberty and +independence?" The aged Zagut spoke in vain: he was even accused of +being a secret partisan of the Christian; and the embassy was decreed. + +But Zagut was not the only one who foresaw the catastrophe to which that +embassy must inevitably lead: Al Raxid shared the same prophetic +feeling. In reply to his father, who, after the separation of the +assembly, expatiated on the absolute necessity of soliciting the +alliance of Aben Taxfin as the only measure capable of saving the rest +of Mahometan Spain from the yoke of Alfonso, he said: "This Aben Taxfin, +who has subdued all that he pleased, will serve us as he has already +served the people of Almagreb and Mauritania--he will expel us from our +country!" + +"Anything," rejoined the father, "rather than Andalusia should become +the prey of the Christians! Dost thou wish the Mussulmans to curse me? I +would rather become an humble shepherd, a driver of Yussef's camels, +than reign dependent on these Christian dogs! But my trust is in Allah." + +"May Allah protect both thee and thy people!" replied Al Raxid, +mournfully, who saw that the die of fate was cast. + +The course of this history must be interrupted for a moment, while the +origin and exploits of this formidable African are recorded. + +Beyond the chain of Mount Atlas, in the deserts of ancient Getulia, +dwelt two tribes of Arabian descent--both, probably, of the greater one +of Zanhaga, so illustrious in Arabian history. At what time they had +been expelled, or had voluntarily exiled themselves, from their native +Yemen, they knew not; but tradition taught them that they had been +located in the African deserts from ages immemorial. Their life was +passed under the tent; their only possessions were their camels and +their freedom. Yahia ben Ibrahim, belonging to one of these tribes--that +of Gudala--made the pilgrimage of Mecca. On his return through the +province of Cairwan he became acquainted with Abu-Amram, a famous +_alfaqui_, originally of Fez. Being questioned by his new friend as to +the religion and manners of his countrymen, he replied that they were +sunk in ignorance, both from their isolated situation in the desert and +from their want of teachers; he added, however, that they were strangers +to cruelty, and that they would be willing enough to receive instruction +from any quarter. He even entreated the alfaqui to allow some one of his +disciples to accompany him into his native country; but none of those +disciples was willing to undertake so long and perilous a journey, and +it was not without considerable difficulty that Abdallah ben Yassim, the +disciple of another alfaqui, was persuaded to accompany the patriotic +Yahia. + +Abdallah was one of those ruling minds which, fortunately for the peace +of society, nature so seldom produces. Seeing his enthusiastic reception +by the tribe of Gudala, and the influence he was sure of maintaining +over it, he formed the design of founding a sovereignty in the heart of +these vast regions. Under the pretext that to diffuse a holy religion +and useful knowledge was among the most imperative of duties, he +prevailed on his obedient disciples to make war on the kindred tribe of +Lamtuna. That tribe submitted, acknowledging his spiritual authority, +and zealously assisted him in his great purpose of gaining proselytes by +the sword. His ambition naturally increased with his success: in a short +time he had reduced, in a similar manner, the isolated tribes around +him. To his valiant followers of Lamtuna he now gave the name of +_Muraditins_, or _Almoravides_,[30] which signifies men consecrated to +the service of God. + +[Footnote 30: This Moslem dynasty, founded about 1050, ruled in Africa, +and afterward in Spain, until 1147, when it was overthrown and succeeded +by that of the Almohades.] + +The whole country of Darah was gradually subdued by this new apostle, +and his authority was acknowledged over a region extensive enough to +form a respectable kingdom. But though he exercised all the rights of +sovereignty, he prudently abstained from assuming the title: he left to +the emir of Lamtuna the ostensible exercise of temporal power; and when, +in A.D. 1058, that emir fell in battle, he nominated Abu-Bekr ben Omar +to the vacant dignity. His own death, which was that of a warrior, left +Abu-Bekr in possession of an undivided sovereignty. The power and +consequently the reputation of the emir, spread far and wide, and +numbers flocked from distant provinces to share in the advantages of +religion and plunder. His native plains were now too narrow for the +ambition of Abu-Bekr, who crossed the chain of Mount Atlas, and fixed +his residence in the city of Agmat, between those mountains and the sea. + +But even this place was soon too confined for his increased subjects, +and he looked round for a site on which he might lay the foundations of +a great city, the destined metropolis of a great empire. One was at +length found; and the city of Morocco began to rear its head from the +valley of Eylana. Before, however, his great work was half completed, he +received intelligence that the tribe of Gudala had declared a deadly war +against that of Lamtuna; and that the ruin of one at least of the +hostile people was to be apprehended. As he belonged to the latter, he +naturally trembled for the fate of his kindred; and at the head of his +cavalry he departed for his native deserts, leaving the superintendence +of the buildings and the command of the army, during his absence, to his +cousin, Yussef ben Taxfin. + +The person and character of Yussef are drawn in the most favorable +colors by the Arabian writers. We are told that his stature was tall and +noble, his countenance prepossessing, his eye dark and piercing, his +beard long, his tone of voice harmonious, his whole frame, which no +sickness ever assailed, strong, robust, and familiar with fatigue; that +his mind corresponded with his outward appearance, his generosity, his +care of the poor, his sobriety, his justice, his religious zeal, yet +freedom from intolerance, rendering him the admiration of foreigners and +the love of his own people. But whatever were his other virtues, it will +be seen that gratitude, honor, and good faith were not among the number. +Scarcely had his kinsman left the city, than, in pursuance of the design +he had formed of usurping the supreme authority, he began to win the +affection of the troops, partly by his gifts and partly by that winning +affability of manner which he could easily assume. How well he succeeded +will soon appear. Nor was his success in war less agreeable to so fierce +and martial a people as the Almoravides. The Berbers who inhabited the +defiles of Mount Atlas, and who, animated by the spirit of independence +so characteristic of mountaineers, endeavored to vindicate their natural +liberty, were quickly subdued by him. + +But his policy was still superior. He had long loved, or at least long +aspired to the hope of marrying, the beautiful Zainab, sister of +Abu-Bekr; but the fear of a repulse from the proud chief of his family +had caused him to smother his inclination. He now disdained to +supplicate for that chief's consent: he married the lady, and from that +moment proceeded boldly in his projects of ambition. Having put the +finishing touch to his magnificent city of Morocco, he transferred +thither the seat of his empire; and by the encouragement he afforded to +individuals of all nations who chose to settle there, he soon filled it +with a prosperous and numerous population. The augmentation of his army +was his next great object; and so well did he succeed in it that on his +departure, in a hostile expedition against Fez, he found his troops +exceeded one hundred thousand. With so formidable a force, he had little +difficulty in rapidly extending his conquests. + +Yussef had just completed the subjugation of Fez when Abu-Bekr returned +from the desert and encamped in the vicinity of Agmat. He was soon made +acquainted--probably common report had acquainted him long before--with +the usurpation of his kinsman. With a force so far inferior to his +rival's, and still more with the conviction that the hearts of the +people were weaned from him, he might well hesitate as to the course he +should adopt. His greatest mortification was to hear his own horsemen, +whom curiosity drew into Morocco, loud in the praises of Yussef, whose +liberality to the army was the theme of universal admiration, and whose +service for that reason many avowed their intention of embracing. He now +feared that his power was at an end, yet he resolved to have an +interview with his cousin. + +The two chiefs met about half-way between Morocco and Agmat,[31] and +after a formal salutation took their seats on the same carpet. The +appearance of Yussef's formidable guard, the alacrity with which he was +obeyed, and the grandeur which surrounded him convinced Abu-Bekr that +the throne of the usurper was too firmly established to be shaken. The +poor emir, so far from demanding the restitution of his rights, durst +not even utter one word of complaint; on the contrary, he pretended that +he had long renounced empire, and that his only wish was to pass the +remainder of his days in the retirement of the desert. With equal +hypocrisy Yussef humbly thanked him for his abdication; the sheiks and +walis were summoned to witness the renewed declaration of the emir, +after which the two princes separated. The following day, however, +Abu-Bekr received a magnificent present from Yussef,[32] who, indeed, +continued to send him one every year to the period of his death. + +[Footnote 31: The distance is about ten or twelve leagues.] + +[Footnote 32: This present is made to consist of twenty-five thousand +crowns of gold, seventy horses of the best breed, all splendidly +accoutred, one hundred and fifty mules, one hundred magnificent turbans +with as many costly habits, four hundred common turbans, two hundred +white mantles, one thousand pieces of rich stuffs, two hundred pieces of +fine linen, one hundred and fifty black slaves, twenty beautiful young +maidens, with a considerable quantity of perfumes, corn, and cattle. +Such a gift was worthy of royalty. In a similar situation a modern +English sovereign would probably have sent--one hundred pounds.] + +Yussef, who, though he had refused to receive the title of _almumenin_, +which he considered as properly belonging to the Caliph of the East, had +just exchanged his humble one of emir for those of _almuzlemin_, or +prince of the believers, and of _nazaradin_, or defender of the faith, +when the letters of Mahomet reached him. A similar application from +Omar, King of Badajoz, he had disregarded, not because he was +indifferent to the glory of serving his religion, still less to the +advantage of extending his conquests, but because he had not then +sufficiently consolidated his power. Now, however, he was in peaceful +possession of an extended empire, and he assembled his chiefs to hear +their sentiments on an expedition which he had resolved to undertake. +All immediately exclaimed that war should be undertaken in defence of +the tottering throne of Islam. Before, however, he returned a final +answer to the King of Seville, he insisted that the fortress of +Algeziras should be placed in his hands, on the pretence that if fortune +were unpropitious he should have some place to which he might retreat. +That Mahomet should have been so blind as to not perceive the designs +involved in the insidious proposal is almost enough to make one agree +with the Arabic historians that destiny had decreed he should fall by +his own measures. The place was not only surrendered to the artful Moor, +but Mahomet himself went to Morocco to hasten the departure of Yussef. +He was assured of speedy succor and induced to return. He was soon +followed by the ambitious African, at the head of a mighty armament. + +Alfonso was besieging Saragossa, which he had every expectation of +reducing, when intelligence reached him of Yussef's disembarkation. He +resolved to meet the approaching storm. At the head of all the forces he +could muster he advanced toward Andalusia, and encountered Yussef on the +plains of Zalaca, between Badajoz and Merida. As the latter was a strict +observer of the outward forms of his religion, he summoned the Christian +King by letter to embrace the faith of the Prophet or consent to pay an +annual tribute or prepare for immediate battle. "I am told," added the +writer, "that thou wishest for vessels to carry the war into my kingdom; +I spare thee the trouble of the voyage. Allah brings thee into my +presence that I may punish thy presumption and pride!" The indignant +Christian trampled the letter under foot, and at the same time said to +the messenger: "Tell thy master what thou hast seen! Tell him also not +to hide himself during the action: let him meet me face to face!" The +two armies engaged the 13th day of the moon Regeb, A.H. 479.[33] + +[Footnote 33: October 23, A.D. 1086.] + +The onset of Alfonso at the head of the Christian cavalry was so fierce +that the ranks of the Almoravides were thrown into confusion; not less +successful was Sancho, King of Navarre, against the Andalusians, who +retreated toward Badajoz. But the troops of Seville kept the field, and +fought with desperate valor: they would, however, have given way, had +not Yussef at this critical moment advanced with his reserve and his own +guard, consisting of his bravest troops, and assailed the Christians in +the rear and flanks. This unexpected movement decided the fortune of the +day. Alfonso was severely wounded and compelled to retreat, but not +until nightfall, nor until he had displayed a valor worthy of the +greatest heroes. Though his own loss was severe, amounting, according to +the Arabians, to twenty-four thousand men, that of the enemy could +scarcely be inferior, when we consider that this victory had no result; +Yussef was evidently too much weakened to profit by it. + +Not long after the battle, Yussef being called to Africa by the death of +a son, the command of the Almoravides devolved on Syr ben Abu-Bekr, the +ablest of his generals. That general advanced northward, and seized some +insignificant fortresses; but the advantage was but temporary, and was +more than counterbalanced by the disasters of the following year. The +King of Saragossa, Abu-Giafar, had hoped that the defeat of Zalaca would +prevent the Christians from attacking him; but that of his allies, the +Mahometan princes, in the neighborhood, and the taking of Huesca by the +King of Navarre, convinced him how fallacious was his fancied security. +Seeing that no advantage whatever had accrued from his former +expedition, Yussef now proclaimed the Alhiged, or holy war, and invited +all the Andalusian princes to join him. In A.D. 1088, he again +disembarked at Algeziras and joined the confederates. But this present +demonstration of force proved as useless as the preceding: it ended in +nothing; owing partly to the dissensions of Mahometans, and partly to +the activity of the Christians, who not only rendered abortive the +measures of the enemy, but gained some signal advantages over them. +Yussef was forced to retreat on Almeida. Whether through the distrust of +the Mahometan princes, who appear to have penetrated his intention of +subjecting them to his empire, or through his apprehension of Alfonso, +he again returned to Africa, to procure new and more considerable +levies. In A.D. 1091 he landed a third time at Algeziras, not so much +with the view of humbling the Christian King as of executing the +perfidious design he had so long harbored. For form's sake, indeed, he +invested Toledo, but he could have entertained no expectation of +reducing it; and when he perceived that the Andalusian princes refused +to join him, he eagerly left that city, and proceeded to secure far +dearer and easier interests: he openly threw off the mask, and commenced +his career of spoliation. + +The King of Granada, Abdallah ben Balkin, was the first victim to +African perfidy. In the conviction that he must be overwhelmed if +resistance were offered, he left his city to welcome Yussef. His +submission was vain: he was instantly loaded with chains, and with his +family sent to Agmat. Timur ben Balkin, brother of Abdallah, was in the +same violent manner despoiled of Malaga. Mahomet now perceived the +grievous error which he had committed, and the prudent foresight of his +son Al Raxid. "Did not I tell thee," said the latter, mournfully, "what +the consequences would be; that we should be driven from our palace and +country?" + +"Thou wert indeed a true prophet," replied the self-accused father; "but +what power could avert the decrees of fate?" + +It seemed as if fate had indeed resolved that this well-meaning but +misguided prince should fall by his own obstinacy; for though his son +advised him to seek the alliance of Alfonso, he refused to do so until +that alliance could no longer avail him. He himself seemed to think that +the knell of his departing greatness was about to sound; and the most +melancholy images were present to his fancy, even in sleep. "One night," +says an Arabic historian, "he heard in a dream his ruin predicted by one +of his sons: he awoke, and the same verses were repeated: + +"'Once, Fortune carried thee in her car of triumph and thy name was by +renown spread to the ends of the earth. Now, the same renown conveys +only thy sighs. Days and nights pass away, and like them the enjoyments +of the world; thy greatness has vanished like a dream!'" + +But if Mahomet was superstitious--if he felt that fate had doomed him, +and that resistance would be useless--he resolved not to fall ignobly. +His defence was indeed heroic; but it was vain, even though Alfonso sent +him an aid of twenty thousand men: his cities fell one by one; Seville +was constrained to capitulate: he and his family were thrown into prison +until a ship was prepared to convey them into Africa, whither their +perfidious ally had retired some weeks before. His conduct in this +melancholy reverse of fortune is represented as truly great. Not a sigh +escaped him, except for the innocent companions of his misfortune, +especially for his son, Al Raxid, whose virtues and talents deserved a +better destiny. Surrounded by the best beloved of his wives, by his +daughters, and his four surviving sons, he endeavored to console them as +they wept on seeing his royal hands oppressed with fetters, and still +more when the ship conveyed all from the shores of Spain. "My children +and friends," said the suffering monarch, "let us learn to support our +lot with resignation! In this state of being our enjoyments are but lent +us, to be resumed when heaven sees fit. Joy and sorrow, pleasure and +pain, closely follow each other; but the noble heart is above the +inconstancy of fortune!" + +The royal party disembarked at Ceuta, and were conveyed to Agmat, to be +confined in a fortress. We are told that on their journey a +compassionate poet presented the fallen King with a copy of verses +deploring his misfortunes, and that he rewarded the poet with thirty-six +pieces of gold--the only money he had left, from his once exhaustless +riches. He had little apprehension of what was to follow--that Yussef +would leave him without support; that his future life was to be passed +in penury; nay, that his daughters would be compelled to earn his +subsistence and their own by the labor of their hands. Yet even in that +indigent condition, says Aben Lebuna, and through the sadness which +covered their countenances, there was something about them which +revealed their high origin. The unfortunate monarch outlived the loss of +his crown and liberty about four years. + +After the fall of Mahomet, the general of Yussef had little difficulty +in subduing the princes of Andalusia. Valencia next received the African +yoke. The King of Saragossa was more fortunate. He sent ambassadors to +Yussef, bearing rich presents, and proposing an alliance with a common +league against the Christians. "My dominions," said Abu-Giafar, "are the +only barrier between thee and the Christian princes. Hitherto my +predecessors and myself have withstood all their efforts; with thy +succor I shall fear them still less." Yussef accepted the proposal; a +treaty of alliance was made; and the army of Abu-Giafar was reinforced +by a considerable body of Amoravides, A.H. 486, with whom he repelled an +invasion of Sancho, King of Aragon. A third division of the Africans, +which marched to destroy the sovereignty of Algarve and Badajoz, was no +less successful. Badajoz capitulated; but, in violation of the treaty, +the dethroned Omar, with two of his sons, was surrounded and +assassinated by a body of cavalry, as he was unsuspiciously journeying +from the scene of his past prosperity in search of another asylum. A +third son was placed in close confinement. + +Thus ended the petty kingdoms of Andalusia, after a stormy existence of +about sixty years. + +For some years after the usurpation of Yussef, peace appears to have +existed in Spain between the Mahometans and the Christians. Fearing a +new irruption of Africans, Alfonso contented himself with fortifying +Toledo; and Yussef felt little inclination to renew the war with one +whose prowess he had so fatally experienced. But Christian Spain was, at +one moment, near the brink of ruin. The passion for the crusades was no +less ardently felt by the Spaniards than by other nations of Europe; +thousands of the best warriors were preparing to depart for the Holy +Land, as if there were more merit in contending with the infidels, in a +remote region, for a barren sepulchre, than at home for the dearest +interests of man--for honor, patriotism, and religion. Fortunately for +Spain, Pope Pascal II, in answer to the representations of Alfonso, +declared that the proper post of every Spaniard was at home, and there +were his true enemies. Soon afterward Yussef returned to Morocco, where +he died on the 3d day of the moon Muharram, A.H. 500, after living one +hundred Arabian or about ninety-seven Christian years. + +In A.H. 514 the empire of the Almoravides was tottering to its fall. It +had never been agreeable to the Mahometans of Spain, whose manners, from +their intercourse with a civilized people, were comparatively refined. +The sheiks of Lamtuna were so many insupportable tyrants; the Jews, the +universal agents for the collection of the revenues, were here, as in +Poland, the most pitiless extortioners; every savage from the desert +looked with contempt on the milder inhabitant of the Peninsula. The +domination of these strangers was indeed so odious that, except for the +divisions between Alfonso and his ambitious queen Donna Urraca, who was +sovereign in her own right, all Andalusia might speedily have been +subjected to Christian rule. Alfonso, the King of Aragon, fell at the +siege of Fraga about A.D. 1109, but the Almoravides met an equally +valiant foe in his son and successor, Alfonso Raymond, King of Leon and +Castile. + +After a period of about forty years, during which the Christians were +steadily increasing their dominions, Coria and Mora and other Mahometan +strongholds were acquired by Alfonso, now styled the "Emperor"; and +almost every contest between the two natural enemies had turned to the +advantage of the Christians. So long, indeed, as the walis were eager +only to preserve or to extend their authority, independent of each other +and of every superior, this success need not surprise us--we may rather +be surprised that the Mahometans were allowed to retain any footing in +the Peninsula. Probably they would at this time have been driven from it +but for the seasonable arrival of the victorious Almohades. Both +Christians and Africans now contended for the superiority. While the +troops of Alfonso reduced Baeza, and, with a Mahometan ally, even +Cordova, Malaga, and Seville acknowledged Abu Amram; Calatrava and +Almeria next fell to the Christian Emperor, about the same time that +Lisbon and the neighboring towns received Don Enrique, the new sovereign +of Portugal. Most of these conquests, however, were subsequently +recovered by the Almohades. Being reinforced by a new army from Africa, +the latter pursued their successes with greater vigor. They reduced +Cordova, which was held by an ally of Alfonso; defeated, and forever +paralyzed, the expiring efforts of the Almoravides; and proclaimed their +Emperor Abdelmumen as sovereign of all Mahometan Spain. + +Notwithstanding the destructive wars which had prevailed for nearly a +century, neither Moors nor Christians had acquired much advantage by +them. From the reduction of Saragossa to the present time, the victory, +indeed, had generally declared for the Christians; but their conquests, +with the exception of Lisbon and a few fortresses in Central Spain, were +lost almost as soon as gained; and the same fate attended the equally +transient successes of the Mahometans. The reasons why the former did +not permanently extend their territories, were their internal +dissensions; while Leon was at war with Castile, or Castile with Leon, +or either with Aragon, we need not wonder that the united Almoravides, +or their successors the Almohades, should sometimes triumph; but those +triumphs were sure to be followed by reverses whenever not all, but any +one, of the Christian states was at liberty to assail its natural enemy. +The Christians, when at peace among themselves, were always too many for +their Mahometan neighbors, even when the latter were aided by the whole +power of Western Africa. + +In A.H. 572 (about A.D. 1179) the King of Castile reduced Caenza, and +the Moors were defeated before Toledo. The following year the Portuguese +were no less successful before Abrantes, which the Africans had +besieged. These disasters roused the wrath of Yussef abu Yagur (son and +successor of Abdulmumen who died A.H. 558 = A.D. 1165); but as an +obscure rebellion required his presence at that time in Mauritania, he +did not land in Spain until A.H. 580. He marched without delay against +Santarem, which his soldiers had vainly besieged some years before. +Wishing to divide the Portuguese force, he one night sent an order to +his son Cid Abu Ishac, who lay encamped near him, to march with the +Andalusian cavalry on Lisbon. The officer who carried the order instead +of Lisbon named Seville; the whole Moslem army were sure that some +disaster was impending, and that the siege was to be raised; before +morning the camp was deserted, the guard alone of Yussef remaining. +While he despatched orders to recall the alarmed fugitives, the +Christians, who were soon aware of the retreat, issued from the walls, +surrounded and massacred the guard. Yussef defended himself like a hero: +six of the advancing assailants he laid low, before the same fate was +inflicted on himself. The merciless carnage of the Christians spared not +even his female attendants. At this moment two companies of cavalry +arrived, and, finding their monarch dying, furiously charged the +Christians, whom they soon put to flight. In a few hours the whole army +returned, and, inspired with the same hope of vengeance, they stormed +and took the place, and put every living creature to the sword. + +Yacub ben Yussef, from his victories afterward named Almansor, who was +then in Spain, was immediately declared successor to his father. For +some years he was not personally opposed to the Christians, though his +walis carried on a desultory indecisive war; he was long detained in +Africa, first in quelling some domestic commotions, and afterward by +severe illness. He was scarcely recovered, when the intelligence that +the Christians were making insulting irruptions to the very outworks of +Algeziras made him resolve on punishing their audacity. His preparations +were of the most formidable description. In A.H. 591 he landed in +Andalusia, and proceeded toward Valencia, where the Christian army then +lay. There Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, was awaiting the expected +reinforcements from his allies, the kings of Leon and Navarre. Both +armies pitched their tents on the plains of Alarcon. The following day +the Christians commenced the attack, and with so much impetuosity that +the centre was soon broken. But an Andalusian chief conducted a strong +body of his men against Alfonso, who with the reserve occupied the hill +above the plain. While the struggle was in all its fury, Yacub and his +division took the Christians in flank. The result was fatal to the +Castilian army, which, discouraged at what it considered a new enemy, +gave way in every direction. Alfonso, preferring an honorable death to +the shame of defeat, prepared to plunge into the heart of the Mahometan +squadrons, when his nobles surrounded him and forced him from the field. +His loss must have been immense, amounting probably to twenty thousand +men. With a generosity very rare in a Mahometan, and still more in an +African, Yacub restored his prisoners to liberty--an action for which, +we are informed, he received few thanks from his followers. Alfonso +retreated to Toledo just as the King of Leon arrived with the promised +reinforcement. + +After this signal victory Yacub rapidly reduced Calatrava, Guadalaxara, +Madrid and Esalona, Salamanca, etc. Toledo, too, he invested, but in +vain. He returned to Africa, caused his son Mahomet to be declared _wali +alhadi_, and died, the 22d day of the moon Regeb, A.H. 595.[34] He left +behind him the character of an able, a valiant, a liberal, a just, and +even magnanimous prince--of one who labored more for the real welfare of +his people than any other potentate of his age. He was, beyond doubt, +the greatest and best of the Almohades. + +[Footnote 34: May 19, 1199.] + +The character of Mahomet Abu Abdallah, surnamed Alnassir, was very +different from that of his great father. Absorbed in effeminate +pleasures, he paid little attention to the internal administration of +his empire or to the welfare of his people. Yet he was not insensible to +martial fame; and he accordingly showed no indisposition to forsake his +harem for the field. After quelling two inconsiderable rebellions, he +prepared to punish the audacity of Alfonso of Castile, who made +destructive inroads into Andalusia. Much as the world had been astounded +at the preparations of his grandfather Yussef, they were not surpassed +by his own, if, as we are credibly informed, one alone of the five +divisions of his army amounted to one hundred and sixty thousand men. It +is certain that a year was required for the assembling of this vast +armament, that two months were necessary to convey it across the +straits, and that all Christian Europe was filled with alarm at its +disembarkation. Innocent III proclaimed a crusade to Spain; and Rodrigo +of Toledo, the celebrated historian, accompanied by several prelates, +went from one court to another, to rouse the Christian princes. While +the kings of Aragon and Navarre[35] promised to unite their forces with +their brother of Castile to repel the common danger, great numbers of +volunteers from Portugal[36] and Southern France hastened to the general +rendezvous at Toledo, the Pope ordered fasting, prayers, and processions +to be made, to propitiate the favor of heaven, and to avert from +Christendom the greatest danger that had threatened it since the days of +the emir Abderahman. + +[Footnote 35: Sancho, King of Navarre, is justly accused of backwardness +at least in joining the Christian alliance. He even sought that of Yacub +and Mahomet, on condition that his own states should be spared, or +perhaps amplified at the expense of his neighbors. If the Arabian +writers are correct, he privately waited on Mahomet in Seville; but the +result of the interview is unknown.] + +[Footnote 36: The King of Portugal was not present in this campaign, +confidently as the contrary has been asserted by most historians.--_La +Clede: Histoire Generale de Portugal_, ii.] + +Mahomet opened the campaign of A.H. 608 by the siege of Salvatierra, a +strong but not important fortress of Estremadura, defended by the +knights of Calatrava. That he should waste his forces on objects so +incommensurate with their extent proves how little he was qualified to +wield them. The place stood out for several months, and did not +surrender until the Emperor had sustained a heavy loss, nor until the +season was too far advanced to permit any advantage to be derived from +this partial success. By suspending the execution of his great design +until the following season, he allowed Alfonso time to prepare for the +contest. The following June, the kings of Leon and Castile having +assembled at Toledo, and been joined by a considerable number of foreign +volunteers, the Christian army advanced toward the south. That of the +infidels lay in the neighborhood of Baeza, and extended to the Sierra +Morena. + +On July 12th, A.H. 608, the crusaders reached the mountainous chain +which divides New Castile from Andalusia. They found not only the +passes, but the summits of the mountains, occupied by the Almohades. To +force a passage was impossible; and they even deliberated on retreating, +so as to draw out, if possible, the enemy from positions so formidable, +when a shepherd entered the camp of Alfonso and proposed to conduct the +Christian army, by a path unknown to both armies, to the summit of this +elevated chain--by a path, too, which would be invisible to the enemy's +outposts. A few companies having accompanied the man and found him +equally faithful and well informed, the whole army silently ascended and +intrenched themselves on the summit, the level of which was extensive +enough to contain them all. Below appeared the wide-spread tents of the +Moslems, whose surprise was great on perceiving the heights thus +occupied by the crusaders. For two days the latter, whose fatigues had +been harassing, kept their position; but on the third day they descended +into the plains of Tolosa, which were about to be immortalized by their +valor. Their right wing was led by the King of Navarre, their left by +the King of Aragon, while Alfonso took his station in the centre. +Mahomet had drawn up his army in a similar manner; but, with a strong +body of reserve, he occupied an elevation well defended besides by vast +iron chains, which surrounded his impenetrable guard.[37] In one hand he +held a useless scimitar, in the other the _Koran_. The attack was made +by the Christian centre against that of the Mahometans; and immediately +the two wings moved against those of the enemy. The African centre, +which consisted of the one hundred and sixty thousand volunteers, made a +determined stand; and though it was broken, it soon rallied, on being +reinforced from the reserve. At one time, indeed, the superiority of +numbers was so great on the part of the Moslems that the troops of +Alfonso appeared about to give way. At this moment that King, addressing +the archbishop Rodrigo, who was with him, said, "Let us die here, +prelate!" and he prepared to rush amid the dense ranks of the enemy. The +prelate, however, and a Castilian general, retained him by the bridle of +his horse, representing the rashness of his purpose, and advising him to +reinforce his weak points by new succors. Accordingly those succors, +among which were the vassals with the pennon of the archbishop, advanced +to support the sinking Castilians. This manoeuvre decided the fortune of +the day.[38] The Mahometan centre, after a sharp conflict, was again +broken, this time irretrievably, and a way opened to the intrenchments +of the Emperor. Seeing the success of their allies, the two wings +charged their opponents with double fury and triumphed likewise. But the +Africans[39] rallied round Mahomet, and presented a mass deep and +formidable to the conquerors. Rodrigo, with his brother prelate, the +Archbishop of Narbonne, now incited the Christians to overcome this last +obstacle: both intrepidly accompanied the van of the centre. The +struggle was terrific, but short; myriads of the barbarians fell; the +boundary was first broken down by the King of Navarre; the Castilians +and Aragonese followed; all opponents were massacred or fled; and the +victors began to ascend the eminence on which Mahomet still remained. +Seeing the total destruction or flight of his vast host, the Emperor +sorrowfully exclaimed, "Allah alone is just and powerful; the devil is +false and wicked!" Scarcely had he uttered the truism, when an Alarab +approached, leading by the hand a strong but nimble mule. "Prince of the +faithful!" said the African, "how long wilt thou remain here? Dost thou +not perceive that thy Moslems flee? The will of Allah be done! Mount +this mule, which is fleeter than the bird of heaven, or even the arrow +which strikes it; never yet did she fail her rider; away! for on thy +safety depends that of us all!" Mahomet mounted the beast, while the +Alarab ascended the Emperor's horse, and both soon outstripped not only +the pursuers but the fugitives. The carnage of the latter was dreadful +until darkness put an end to it. The victors now occupied the tents of +the Mahometans, while the two martial prelates sounded the _Te Deum_ for +the most splendid success which had shone on the banners of the +Christians since the time of Charles Martel. The loss of the Africans, +even according to the Arabian writers, who admit that the centre was +wholly destroyed, could not fall short of one hundred and sixty thousand +men.[40] + +[Footnote 37: These chains are not mentioned by the Arabs; but what can +be expected from their brevity?] + +[Footnote 38: The standard-bearer of Rodrigo, don Domingo Pasquel, canon +of Toledo, showed that he was well fitted to serve the church militant; +he twice carried his banner through the heart of the Mahometan forces.] + +[Footnote 39: The Arabian account says that the Andalusians were the +first to flee.] + +[Footnote 40: Of this great battle we have an account by four +eye-witnesses: 1, By King Alfonso, in a letter to the Pope; 2, by the +historian Rodrigo of Toledo; 3, by Arnaud, Archbishop of Narbonne; 4, by +the author of the _Annals of Toledo_. + +The reduction of several towns, from Tolosa to Baeza, immediately +followed this glorious victory--a victory in which Don Alfonso nobly +redeemed his failure in the field of Zalaca--and which, in its immediate +consequences, involved the ruin of the Mahometan empire in Spain. After +an unsuccessful attempt on Ubeda, as the hot season was raging, the +allies returned to Toledo, satisfied that the power of Mahomet was +forever broken. That Emperor, indeed, did not long survive his disaster. +Having precipitately fled to Morocco, he abandoned himself to licentious +pleasures, left the cares of government to his son, or rather his +ministers, and died on the 10th day of the moon Shaffan, A.H. 610 (A.D. +1214), not without suspicion of poison. + +By recent writers of Spain the number of slain on the part of the +Africans was two hundred thousand; on that of the Christians, +twenty-five individuals only. Of course the whole campaign is +represented as miraculous; and, indeed, actual miracles are +recorded--which we have neither space nor inclination to notice.] + + + + +THE FIRST CRUSADE + +A.D. 1096-1099 + +SIR GEORGE W. COX + + +(Religious feeling in the eleventh century rose to a great pitch of +enthusiasm, and led men of various nations, with still more various +motives and aims in worldly affairs, to pursue one common end with their +whole heart. Between the years 1096 and 1270 these attempts of Christian +nations to rescue the Holy Land from the "Infidels," as the Mahometans +were called, added a wholly new character of human enterprise to the +world's history. + +At the time--in the middle of the eleventh century--when the Seljuks, a +Turkish tribe of Western Asia, had overrun Syria and Asia Minor, +throwing the East into a state of anarchy, Europe was beginning to adopt +modes of settled order. Through the Byzantine empire great numbers of +pilgrims for centuries had passed to visit Palestine. With the improved +condition of the western nations, which led to an extension of commerce +in the East, the pilgrimage to that part of the world acquired a new +importance. As early as 1064 a caravan of seven thousand pilgrims made +their way to the neighborhood of Jerusalem, where they narrowly escaped +destruction by the Bedouins, their rescue being effected by a Saracen +emir. + +In 1070 the Seljuks took possession of Jerusalem, inflicting hardships +on the pilgrims by intolerable exactions, insult, and plunder. Besides +outraging Christian sentiment, they ruined the commerce of the western +nations. Throughout Europe arose the cry for vengeance, and men's minds +were fully prepared for an attempt to conquer Palestine when their +leaders began to preach the sacred duty of delivering the Holy Sepulchre +from the hands of the infidels. + +At the Council of Clermont, in 1094, Pope Urban II depicted the miseries +of Christians in Palestine, and, with a power of eloquence unsurpassed +in his day, called upon those who heard him to wipe off from the face of +the earth the impurities which caused them, and to lift their oppressed +fellow-Christians from the depths into which they had been trampled. He +urged them to take up arms in the service of the Cross, at the same time +setting before them the temporal, no less than the spiritual, advantages +that would accrue from the conquest of a land "flowing with milk and +honey," and which, he said, should be divided among them. He likewise +offered them full pardon for all their sins. + +The enthusiasm of his hearers burst all bounds, and with one voice they +cried: "God wills it! God wills it!" To all parts of Europe the fervor +spread. The Pope was powerfully aided by an earnest and eloquent--if +ignorant--monk, Peter the Hermit, of Amiens, who declared that he would +rouse the martial spirit of Europe in the cause, and he himself was the +first--with whatsoever of misguided zeal--to lead the way to the Holy +Land. + +The crusades are so called from the simple circumstance that the badge +chosen for the movement was the cross, which Pope Urban bade the +Christian warriors wear on their breasts or on their shoulders, as the +sign of Him who died for the salvation of their souls, and as the pledge +of a vow that could never be recalled.) + + +In the enterprise to which Latin Christendom stood committed, the +several nations or countries of Europe took equal parts; or, rather, no +_nation_, as such, took any part in it at all; and in this fact we have +the explanation of that want of coherent action, and even decent or +average generalship, which is commonly seen in national undertakings. +For the crusade there was no attempt at a commissariat, no care for a +base of supplies; and the crusading hosts were a collection of +individual adventurers who either went without making any provisions for +their journey or provided for their own needs and those of their +followers from their own resources. The number of these adventurers was +naturally determined by the political conditions of the country from +which they came. In Italy the struggle between the pope and the antipope +went far toward chilling enthusiasm; and the recruits for the crusading +army came chiefly from the Normans who had followed Robert Guiscard to +the sunny southern lands. The Spaniards were busied with a crusade +nearer home, and were already pushing back to the south the Mahometan +dominion which had once threatened to pass the barriers of the Pyrenees +and carry the Crescent to the shores of the Baltic Sea. About ten years +before the council of Clermont the Moslem dynasty of Toledo had been +expelled by Alfonso, King of Galicia: the kingdom of Cordova had fallen +twenty years earlier (1065), and while Peter the Hermit was hurrying +hither and thither through the countries of Northern Europe, the +Christians of Spain were winning victories in Murcia, and the land was +ringing with the exploits of the dauntless Cid, Ruy Diaz de Bivar. By +the Germans the summons to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre was received +with comparative coldness; the partisans of emperors, who had been +humbled to the dust by the predecessors of Urban, if not by himself, +were not vehemently eager to obey it. The bishops of Salzburg, Passau, +and Strasburg, the aged duke Guelph of Bavaria, had undertaken the +toilsome and perilous journey: not one of them saw their homes again, +and their death in the distant East was not regarded by their countrymen +as an encouragement to follow their example. In England the English were +too much weighed down by the miseries of the Conquest, the Normans too +much occupied in strengthening their position, and the King, William the +Red, more ready to take advantage of the needs of his brother Robert +than to incur any risks of his own. The great movement came from the +lands extending from the Scheldt to the Pyrenees. Franks and Normans +alike made ready with impetuous haste for the great adventure; and tens +of thousands, who could not wait for the formation of something like a +regular army, hurried away, under leaders as frantic as themselves, to +their inevitable doom. + +Little more than half the time allowed for the gathering of the +crusaders had passed away, when a crowd of some sixty thousand men and +women, neither caring nor thinking about the means by which their ends +could be attained, insisted that the hermit Peter should lead them at +once to the Holy City. Mere charity may justify the belief that some +even among these may have been folk of decent lives moved by the earnest +conviction that their going to Jerusalem would do some good; that the +vast majority looked upon their vow as a license for the commission of +any sin, there can be no moral doubt; that they exhibited not a single +quality needed for the successful prosecution of their enterprise is +absolutely certain. With a foolhardiness equal to his ignorance Peter +undertook the task, in which he was aided by Walter the Penniless, a man +with some pretensions to the soldier-like character. But the utter +disorder of this motley host made it impossible for them to journey long +together. At Cologne they parted company; and fifteen thousand under the +penniless Walter made their way to the frontiers of Hungary, while Peter +led onward a host which swelled gradually on the march to about forty +thousand. + +Another army or horde of perhaps twenty thousand marched under the +guidance of Emico, Count of Leiningen, a third under that of the monk +Gottschalk, a man not notorious for the purity or disinterestedness of +his motives. Behind these came a rabble, it is said, of two hundred +thousand men, women, and children, preceded by a goose and a goat, or, +as some have supposed, by banners on which, as symbols of the mysterious +faith of Gnostics and Paulicians, the likeness of these animals was +painted. In this vile horde no pretence was kept up of order or of +decency. Sinning freely, it would seem, that grace might abound, they +plundered and harried the lands through which they marched, while three +thousand horsemen, headed by some counts and gentlemen, were not too +dignified to act as their attendants and to share their spoil. + +But if they had no scruple in robbing Christians, their delight was to +prove the reality of their mission as soldiers of the cross by +plundering, torturing, and slaying Jews. The crusade against the Turk +was interpreted as a crusade directed not less explicitly against the +descendants of those who had crucified the Redeemer. The streets of +Verdun and Treves and of the great cities on the Rhine ran red with the +blood of their victims; and if some saved their lives by pretended +conversions, many more cheated their persecutors by throwing their +property and their persons either into the rivers or into the consuming +fires. + +A space of six hundred miles lay between the Austrian frontier and +Constantinople; and across the dreary waste the followers of Walter the +Penniless struggled on, destitute of money, and rousing the hostility of +the inhabitants whom they robbed and ill-used. In Bulgaria their +misdeeds provoked reprisals which threatened their destruction; and none +perhaps would have reached Constantinople if the imperial commander at +Naissos had not rescued them from their enemies, supplied them with +food, and guarded them through the remainder of their journey. These +succors involved some costs; and the costs were paid by the sale of +unarmed men among the pilgrims, and especially of the women and +children, who were seized to provide the necessary funds. Of those who +formed the train of the hermit Peter, seven thousand only, it is said, +reached Constantinople. + +Of such a rabble rout the emperor Alexius[41] needed not to be afraid. +He had already seen and encountered far larger armies of Normans, Turks, +and Romans; and he now extended to this vanguard of the hosts of Latin +Christendom a hospitality which was almost immediately abused. They had +refused to comply with his request that they should quietly await the +arrival of their fellow-crusaders; and consulting the safety of his +people not less than his own, he induced them to cross the Bosporus, and +pitch their camp on Asiatic soil, the land which they had come to wrest +from the unbelievers. + +[Footnote 41: Head of the Byzantine empire.] + +Alexius wished simply to be rid of their presence: they had to deal with +an enemy still more crafty and formidable in the Seljukian sultan David. +The vagrants whom Peter and Walter had brought thus far on the road to +Jerusalem were scattered about the land in search of food; and it was no +hard task for David to cheat the main body with the false tidings that +their companions had carried the walls of Nice, and were revelling in +the pleasures and spoils of his capital. The doomed horde rushed into +the plain which fronts the city; and a vast heap of bones alone remained +to tell the story of the great catastrophe, when the forces which might +more legitimately claim the name of an army passed the spot where the +Seljukian had entrapped and crushed his victims. In this wild expedition +not less, it is said, than three hundred thousand human beings had +already paid the penalty of their lives. + +Still the First Crusade was destined to accomplish more than any of the +seven or eight crusades which followed it; and this measure of success +it achieved probably because none of the great European sovereigns took +part in it. The task of setting up a Latin kingdom in Palestine was to +be achieved by princes of the second order. + +Of these the foremost and the most deservedly illustrious was Godfrey, +of Bouillon in the Ardennes, a kinsman of the counts of Boulogne, and +Duke of Lotharingen (Lorraine). In the service of the emperor Henry IV, +the enemy or the victim of Hildebrand, he had been the first to mount +the walls of Rome and cleave his way into the city; he might now hope +that his crusading vow would be accepted as an atonement for his +sacrilege. Speaking the Frank and Teutonic dialects with equal ease, he +exercised by his bravery, his wisdom, and the uprightness of his life an +influence which brought to his standard, it is said, not less than +eighty thousand infantry and ten thousand horsemen, together with his +brothers Baldwin and Eustace, Count of Boulogne. + +Among the most conspicuous of Godfrey's colleagues was Hugh, Count of +Vermandois. With him may be placed the Norman duke Robert, whose +carelessness had lost him the crown of England, and who had now pawned +his duchy for a pittance scarcely less paltry than that for which Esau +bartered away his birthright. The number of the great chiefs who led the +pilgrims from Northern Europe is completed with the names of Robert, +Count of Flanders, and of Stephen, Count of Chartres, Troyes, and Blois. + +Foremost, by virtue of his title and office, among the leaders of the +southern bands was the papal legate Adhemar (Aymer) Bishop of Puy--a +leader rather as guiding the counsels of the army than as gathering +soldiers under his banner. + +A hundred thousand horse and foot attested, we are told, the greatness, +the wealth, and the zeal of Raymond, Count of Toulouse, lord of Auvergne +and Languedoc, who had grown old in warfare. + +Less tinged with the fanatical enthusiasm of his comrades, and certainly +more cool and deliberate in his ambition, Bohemond, son of Robert +Guiscard, looked to the crusade as a means by which he might regain the +vast regions extending from the Dalmatian coast to the northern shores +of the Aegean. Nay, if we are to believe William of Malmesbury, he urged +Urban to set forward the enterprise for the very purpose, partly, of +thus recovering what he was pleased to regard as his inheritance, and in +part of enabling the Pontiff to suppress all opposition in Rome. +Guiscard had left his Apulian domains to a younger son, and Bohemond was +resolved, it would seem, to add to his principality of Tarentum a +kingdom which would make him a formidable rival of the Eastern Emperor. + +Far above Bohemond rises his cousin Tancred, the son of the marquis Odo, +surnamed the Good, and of Emma, the sister of Robert Guiscard. + +In Tancred was seen the embodiment of those peculiar sentiments and +modes of thought which gave birth to the crusades, and to which the +crusades in their turn imparted marvellous strength and splendor. + +The miserable remnant of three thousand men who escaped from the field +of blood before the city of the Seljukian sultan found a refuge in +Byzantine territory about the time when the better appointed armies of +the crusaders were setting off on their eastward journey. The most +disciplined of these troops set out with a vast following from the banks +of the Meuse and the Moselle under Godfrey of Bouillon, who led them +safely and without opposition to the Hungarian border. Here the armies +of Hungary barred the way against the advance of a host at whose hands +they dreaded a repetition of the havoc wrought by the lawless bands of +Peter the Hermit and his self-chosen colleagues. Three weeks passed away +in vain attempts to get over the difficulty. The Hungarian King demanded +as a hostage Baldwin, the brother of the general: the demand was +refused, and Godfrey put him to shame by surrendering himself. He asked +only for a free passage and a free market; but although these were +granted, it was not in his power to prevent some disorder and some +depredations as his army or horde passed through the country. The +mischief might have been much worse, had not the Hungarian cavalry, +acting professedly as a friendly escort, but really as cautious warders, +kept close to the crusading hosts. + +At length they reached the gates of Philippopolis, and here Godfrey +learned that Hugh of Vermandois, whose coming had been announced to the +Greek emperor Alexius by four-and-twenty knights in golden armor, and +who styled himself the brother of the king of kings and lord of all the +Frankish hosts, was a prisoner within the walls of Constantinople. With +Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders, with Stephen of Chartres and +some lesser chiefs, Hugh had chosen to make his way through Italy; and +the charms of that voluptuous land had a greater effect, it seems, in +breaking up and corrupting their forces than the delights of Capua had +in weakening the soldiers of Hannibal. + +With little regard to order, the chiefs determined to cross the sea as +best they might. Hugh embarked at Bari; and if we may believe Anna +Comnena, the historian and the worshipper of her father Alexius, his +fleet was broken by a tempest which shattered his own ship on the coast +between Palos and Dyrrhachium (Durazzo), of which John Comnenus, the +nephew of the Emperor, was at this time the governor. The Frank chief +was here detained until the good pleasure of Alexius should be known. +That wary and cunning prince saw at once how much might be made of his +prisoner, who was by his orders conducted with careful respect and +ceremony to the capital. Kept here really as a hostage, but welcomed to +outward seeming as a friend, Hugh was so completely won by the charm of +manner which Alexius well knew how and when to put on, that, paying him +homage and declaring himself his man, he promised to do what he could to +induce others to follow his example. + +From Philippopolis Godfrey sent ambassadors to Alexius, demanding the +immediate surrender of Hugh. The request was refused, and Godfrey +resumed his march, treating the land through which he passed as an +enemy's country, until by way of Adrianople he at length appeared before +the walls of the capital at Christmastide, 1096. The fears of Alexius +were aroused by the sight of a host so vast and so formidable: they +quickened into terror as he thought of the armies which were still on +their way under the command of Bohemond and Tancred. Of Godfrey, beyond +the fact of his mission as a crusader, he knew little or nothing; but in +Bohemond he saw one who claimed as his inheritance no small portion of +his empire. This gathering of myriads, whom a false step on his part +might convert into open enemies, was the result of his own entreaties +urged through his envoys before Urban II in the Council of Piacenza; and +his mind was divided between a feverish anxiety to hurry them on to +their destination and so to rid himself of their hateful presence, and +the desire to retain a hold not only on the crusading chiefs but on any +conquests which they might make in Syria. + +Hugh was sent back to Godfrey's camp; but the quarrel was patched up, +rather than ended. It was easier to rouse suspicion and jealousy than to +restore friendship. But it was of the first importance for Alexius that +he should secure the homage of the princes already gathered round his +capital before the arrival of his ancient enemy Bohemond. In this he +succeeded, and a compact was made by which Alexius pledged them his word +that he would supply them with food and aid them in their eastward +march, and would protect all pilgrims passing through his dominions. On +the other hand the crusading chiefs, as already subjects of other +sovereigns, gave their fealty to the Emperor as their liege lord only +for the time during which they might remain within his borders, and +undertook to restore to him such of their conquests as had been recently +wrested from the empire. + +The policy and the bribes of Alexius had overcome the opposition of +Bohemond. He was to experience a stouter resistance from Raymond of +Toulouse, who, though he had been the first to enlist, was the last to +set out on his crusade. + +The Count of Toulouse scarcely regarded himself as the vassal even of +the French King. He was ready, he said, to be the friend of Alexius on +equal terms; but he would not declare himself to be his man. On this +point he was immovable, although Bohemond tried the effect of a threat +(which was never forgiven), that if the quarrel came to blows, he should +be found on the side of the Emperor. But Alexius soon saw that in +Raymond he had to deal with an enthusiast as sincere and persistent as +Godfrey. He took his measures accordingly, winning the heart of the old +warrior, although he failed to compel his obedience. + +While Alexius was busied in dealing with Godfrey and Raymond, Bohemond +and Tancred, he was not less anxiously occupied with the task of sending +across the Bosporus the swarms which might soon become an army of +devouring locusts round his own capital. It was easier to give them a +welcome than to get rid of them: and more than two months had passed +since Christmas, when the followers of Godfrey found themselves on the +soil of Asia. + +Godfrey's men had no sooner been landed on the eastern side of the +Bosporus than all the vessels which had transported them were brought +back to the western shore. With great astuteness, and at the cost of +large gifts, Alexius in like manner freed the neighborhood of his +capital from the invading multitudes. As fast as they came they were +hurried across, and the Emperor breathed more freely when, on the Feast +of Pentecost, not a single Latin pilgrim remained on the European shore. + +The danger of conflict had throughout been imminent; and the danger +arose, not so much from the fact that the crusaders were armed men, +marching through the country of professed allies, but from the thorough +antagonism between Greeks and Latins in modes of thought and habits of +life. Nor must we forget the vast gulf which separated the Eastern from +the Western clergy. The clergy of the West despised their brethren of +the East for their cowardly submission to the secular arm. These, in +their turn, shrunk with horror from the sight of bishops, priests, and +monks riding with blood-stained weapons over fields of battle, and +exhibiting at other times an ignorance equal to their ferocity. + +The strength and valor of the crusaders were soon to be tested. They +were now face to face with the Turks, on whose cowardice Urban II had +enlarged with so much complacency before the Council of Clermont. The +sultan David, or Kilidje Arslan, placed his family and treasures in his +capital city of Nice and retreated with fifty thousand horsemen to the +mountains, whence he swooped down from time to time on the outposts of +the Christians. By these his city was formally invested; and for seven +weeks it was assailed to little purpose by the old instruments of Roman +warfare, while some of the besiegers shot their weapons from the hill on +which were mouldering the bones of the fanatic followers of Peter. It +was protected to the west by the Askanian lake, and so long as the Turks +had command of this lake they felt themselves safe. But Alexius sent +thither on sledges a large number of boats, and the city, subjected to a +double blockade, submitted to the Emperor, who was in no way anxious to +see the crusaders masters of the place. The crusaders were making ready +for the last assault, when they saw the imperial banner floating on the +walls. Their disappointment at the escape of the miscreants, or +unbelievers, for so they delighted to speak of them, was vented in +threats which seemed to bode a renewal of the old troubles; but Alexius, +with gifts, which added force to his words, professed that his only +desire now, as it had been, was to forward them safely on their journey. +Nor had they to go many stages before they found themselves again +confronted with their adversary. + +The conflict took place near the Phrygian Dorylaion, and seemed at first +to portend dire defeat to the crusaders. More than once the issue of the +day seemed to be turned by the indomitable personal bravery of the +Norman Robert, of Tancred, and of Bohemond; and when even those seemed +likely to be borne down, they received timely succors from Godfrey, and +Hugh of Vermandois, from Bishop Adhemar of Puy and from Raymond, Count +of Toulouse. Still the Turks held out, and it seemed likely that they +would long hold out, when the appearance of the last division of +Raymond's army filled them with the fear that a new host was upon them. + +The crusaders had won a considerable victory. Three thousand knights +belonging to the enemy had been slain, and Kilidje Arslan was hurrying +away to enlist the services of his kinsmen. Meanwhile the Latin hosts +were sweeping onward. Hundreds died from the heat, and dogs or goats +took the place of the baggage-horses which had perished. At length +Tancred with his troop found himself before Tarsus, the birthplace and +the home of that single-hearted apostle who long ago had preached a +gospel strangely unlike the creed of the crusaders. Following rapidly +behind him, Baldwin saw with keen jealousy the banner of the Italian +chief floating on its towers, and insisted on taking the precedence. +Tancred pleaded the choice of the people and his own promise to protect +them; but the intrigues of Baldwin changed their humor, and the +rejection of Tancred by the men of Tarsus was followed by an attempt at +private war between Tancred and Baldwin, in which the troops of Tancred +were overborne. So early was the first harvest of murderous discord +reaped among the holy warriors of the Cross. It was ruin, however, to +stay where they were; and the main army again began its march, to +undergo once more the old monotony of hardship and peril. + +A very small force would have sufficed to disorganize and rout them as +they clambered over the defiles of Mount Taurus; nor could Raymond, +recovering from a terrible illness, or Godfrey, suffering from wounds +inflicted by a bear, have done much to help them. But for the present +their enemies were dismayed; and Baldwin, brother of Godfrey, hastened +with eagerness to obey a summons which besought him to aid the Greek or +Armenian tyrant of Edessa. As Alexius had done to his brother, so this +chief welcomed Baldwin as his son; but Baldwin, having once entered into +the city, cared nothing for the means which had brought him thither, and +the death of his adoptive father was followed by the establishment at +Edessa of a Latin principality which lasted for fifty-four, or, as some +have thought, forty-seven years. Baldwin had anticipated the +unconditional surrender of Samosata; but the Turkish governor had some +of the Edessenes in his power, and he refused to give up the city except +on the payment of ten thousand gold pieces. The Turk shortly afterward +fell into Baldwin's hands, and was put to death. + +Meanwhile the main army of the crusaders was advancing toward the Syrian +capital (Antioch), that ancient and luxurious city whose fame had gone +over the whole Roman world for its magnificence, its unbounded wealth, +its soft delights, and its unholy pleasures. The days of its greatest +splendor had passed away. Its walls were partially in ruins; its +buildings were in some parts crumbling away or had already fallen; but +against assailants utterly ignorant and awkward in all that relates to +the blockade of cities it was still a formidable position. Nor could +they invest it until they had passed the iron bridge--so called from its +iron-plated gates--of nine stone arches, which spanned the stream of the +Ifrin at a distance of nine miles from the city. This bridge was carried +by the impetuous charge of Robert of Normandy, aided by the more steady +efforts of Godfrey; and in the language of an age which delighted in +round numbers, a hundred thousand warriors hurried across to seize the +splendid prize which now seemed almost within their grasp. + +But the city was in the hands of men who had been long accustomed to +despise the Greeks, and who had not yet learned to respect the valor of +the Latins. Preparing himself for a resolute defence, the Seljukian +governor Baghasian had sent away as useless, if not mischievous, most of +the Christians within the town; and the crusading chiefs had begun to +discuss the prudence of postponing all operations till the spring, when +Raymond of Toulouse with some other chiefs insisted that delay would +imply fear, and that the imputation of cowardice would insure the +paralysis of their enterprise. The city was therefore at once invested, +so far as the forces of the crusaders could suffice to encircle it; and +a siege began which in the eyes of the military historian must be +absolutely without interest, and of which the issue was decided by +paroxysms of fanatical vehemence on the one side, and by lack, not of +bravery, but of generalship on the other. Of the eastern and northern +walls the blockade was complete; of the west it was partial; and the +failure to invest a portion of the western wall, with two out of the +five gates of the city, left the movements of the Turks in this +direction free. + +But the besiegers were in no hurry to begin the work of death. The +wealth of the harvest and the vintage spread before them its +irresistible temptations, and the herds feeding in the rich pastures +seemed to promise an endless feast. The cattle, the corn, and the wine +were alike wasted with besotted folly, while the Turks within the walls +received tidings, it is said, of all that passed in the crusading camp +from some Greek and Armenian Christians to whom they allowed free egress +and ingress. Of this knowledge they availed themselves in planning the +sallies by which they caused great distress to the besiegers, whose +clumsy engines and devices seemed to produce no result beyond the waste +of time, and who felt perhaps that they had done something when they +blocked up the gate of the bridge with huge stones dug from the +neighboring quarries. + +Three months passed away, and the crusaders found themselves not +conquerors, but in desperate straits from famine. The winter rains had +turned the land round their camp into a swamp, and lack of food left +them more and more unable to resist the pestilential diseases which were +rapidly thinning their numbers. A foraging expedition under Bohemond and +Tancred filled the camp with food; it was again recklessly wasted. The +second famine scared away Tatikios, the lieutenant of the Greek emperor +Alexius; but the crusading chiefs were perhaps still more disgusted by +the desertion of William of Melun, called "the Carpenter," from the +sledgehammer blows which he dealt out in battle. Hunger obtained a +victory even over the hermit Peter, who was stealing away with William +of Melun, when he with his companion was caught by Tancred and brought +back to the tent of Bohemond. + +For a moment the look of things was changed by the arrival of +ambassadors from Egypt. To the Fatimite caliph of that country the +progress of the crusading arms had thus far brought with it but little +dissatisfaction. The humiliation of the Seljukian Turks could not fail +to bring gain to himself, if the flood of Latin conquests could be +checked and turned back in time. His generals besieged Jerusalem and +Tyre; and when the Fatimite once more ruled in Palestine, his envoys +hastened to the crusaders' camp to announce the deliverance of the Holy +Land from its oppressors, to assure to all unarmed and peaceable +pilgrims a month's unmolested sojourn in Jerusalem, and to promise them +his aid during their march, on condition that they should acknowledge +his supremacy within the limits of his Syrian empire. + +The arguments and threats of the Caliph were alike thrown away. The +Latin chiefs disclaimed all interest in the feuds and quarrels of rival +sultans and in the fortunes of Mahometan sects. God himself had destined +Jerusalem for the Christians, and if any held it who were not +Christians, these were usurpers whose resistance must be punished by +their expulsion or their death. The envoys departed not encouraged by +this answer, and still more perplexed by the appearance of plenty and by +the magnificence of a camp in which they had expected to see a terrible +spectacle of disorder and misery. + +The resolute persistence of the besiegers convinced Baghasian of the +need of reinforcements. These were hastening to him from Caesarea, +Aleppo, and other places, when they were cut off by Bohemond and +Raymond, who sent a multitude of heads to the envoys of the Fatimite +Caliph, and discharged many hundreds from their engines into the city of +Antioch. The Turks had their opportunity for reprisals when the arrival +of some Pisan and Genoese ships at the mouth of the Orontes drew off the +greater part of the besieging army. The crusaders were returning with +provisions and arms, when their enemies started upon them from an +ambuscade. The battle was fierce; but the defeat of Raymond, which +threatened dire disaster, was changed into victory on the arrival of +Godfrey and the Norman Robert, whose exploits equalled or surpassed, if +we are to believe the story, even those of Arthur, Lancelot, or +Tristram. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Turks fell. Their bodies were +buried by their comrades in the cemetery without the walls: the +Christians dug them up, severed the heads from the trunks, and paraded +the ghastly trophies on their pikes, not forgetting to send a goodly +number to the Egyptian Caliph, by way of showing how his Seljukian +friends or enemies had fared. The picture is disgusting; but if we shut +our eyes to these loathsome details, the truth of the history is gone. +We are dealing with the wars of savages, and it is right that we should +know this. + +The next scene exhibits Godfrey and Bohemond in fierce quarrel about a +splendid tent, which, being intended as a gift for the former, had been +seized by an Armenian chief and sent to the latter. But there was now +more serious business on hand. Rumor spoke of the near approach of a +Persian army, and the besieged, under the plea of wishing to arrange +terms of capitulation, obtained a truce which they sought probably only +for the sake of gaining time. The days passed by, but no offers were +made; and their disposition was shown by seizing a crusading knight in +the groves near the city and tearing his body in pieces. The Latins +returned with increased fury to the siege: but the defence, although +more feeble, was still protracted, and Bohemond began to feel not only +that fraud might succeed where force had failed, but that from fraud he +might reap, not safety merely, but wealth and greatness. His plans were +laid with a renegade Christian named Phirouz, high in the favor of the +governor, with whom he had come into contact either during the truce or +in some other way. By splendid promises he insured the zealous aid of +his new ally, and then came forward in the council with the assurance +that he could place the city in their hands, but that he could do this +only on condition that he should rule in Antioch as Baldwin ruled in +Edessa. His claim was angrily opposed by the Provencal Raymond; but this +opposition was overruled, and it was resolved that the plan should be +carried out at once. + +There was need for so doing. Rumors spread within the city that some +attempt was to be made to betray the place to the besiegers, and hints +or open accusations pointed out Phirouz as the traitor. Like other +traitors, the renegade thought it best to anticipate the charge by +urging that the guards of the towers should on the very next day be +changed. His proposal was received as indubitable proof of his innocence +and his faithfulness; but he had made up his mind that Antioch should +fall that night, and that night by means of a rope ladder Bohemond with +about sixty followers (the ropes broke before more could ascend) climbed +up the wall. Seizing ten towers, of which all the guards were killed, +they opened a gate, and the Christian host rushed in. The banner of +Bohemond rose on one of the towers; the trumpets sounded for the onset, +and a carnage began in which at first the assailants took no heed to +distinguish between the Christian and the Turk. In the awful confusion +of the moment some of the besieged made their way to the citadel, and +there shut themselves in, ready to resist to the death. Of the rest few +escaped; ten thousand, it is said, were massacred. Baghasian with some +friends passed out beyond the besiegers' lines, but, fainting from loss +of blood, he fell from his horse, and his companions hurried on. A +Syrian Christian heard his groans, and striking off his head carried the +prize to the camp of the conquerors. Phirouz lived to be a second time a +renegade, and to close his career as a thief. + +The victory was for the crusaders a change from famine to abundance; and +their feasting was accompanied by the wildest riot and the most filthy +debauchery. But if heedless waste may have been one of the most venial +of their sins, it was the greatest of their blunders. The reports which +spoke of the approach of the Persians were not false. The Turks within +the citadel suddenly found that they were rather besiegers than +besieged, and that the Christians' were hemmed in by the myriads of +Kerboga, Prince of Mosul, and the warriors of Kilidje Arslan. The old +horrors of famine were now repeated, but in greater intensity; and the +doom of the Latin host seemed now to be sealed. + +Stephen, Count of Chartres, had deserted his companions before the fall +of the city; others now followed his example, and with him set out on +their return to Europe. In Phrygia, Stephen encountered the emperor +Alexius, who was marching to the aid of the crusaders, not only with a +Greek army, but with a force of well-appointed pilgrims who had reached +Constantinople after the departure of Godfrey and his fellows. The story +told by Stephen drove out of his head every thought except that of his +own safety. The order for retreat was given; and the pilgrim warriors, +not less than the Greeks, were compelled to turn their faces westward. + +In Antioch the crusading soldiers were fast sinking into utter despair. +Discipline had well-nigh come to an end, and so obstinate was their +refusal to bear arms any longer that Bohemond resolved to burn them out +of their quarters. These were consumed by the flames, which spread so +rapidly as to fill him with fear that he had destroyed, not only their +dwellings, but his whole principality. His experiment brought the men +back to their duty; but so despondingly was their work done that but for +some signal succor the end, it was manifest, must soon come. In a +credulous age such succor at the darkest hour, if obtained at all, will +generally be obtained through miracle. A Lombard priest came forward, to +whom St. Ambrose of Milan had declared in a vision that the third year +of the crusade should see the conquest of Jerusalem; another had seen +the Saviour himself, attended by his Virgin Mother and the Prince of the +Apostles, had heard from his lips a stern rebuke of the crusaders for +yielding to the seductions of pagan women--as if the profession of +Christianity altered the color and the guilt of a vice--and lastly had +received the distinct assurance that in five days they should have the +help which they needed. + +The hopes of the crusaders were roused; with hope came a return of +vigorous energy; and Peter Barthelemy, chaplain to Raymond of Toulouse, +seized the opportunity for recounting a vision which was to be something +more than a dream. To him St. Andrew had revealed the fact that in the +Church of St. Peter lay hidden the steel head of the spear which had +pierced the side of the Redeemer as he hung upon the cross; and that +Holy Lance should win them victory over all their enemies as surely as +the spear which imparted irresistible power to the Knight of the +Sangreal. After two days of special devotion they were to search for the +long-lost weapon; on the third day the workmen began to dig, but until +the sun had set they toiled in vain. The darkness of night made it +easier for the chaplain to play the part which Sir Walter Scott, in the +_Antiquary_, assigns to Herman Dousterswivel in the ruins of St. Ruth. +Barefooted and with a single garment the priest went down into the pit. +For a time the strokes of his spade were heard, and then the sacred +relic was found, carefully wrapped in a veil of silk and gold. The +priest proclaimed his discovery; the people rushed into the church; and +from the church throughout the city spread the flame of a fierce +enthusiasm. + +Nine or ten months later Peter Barthelemy paid the penalty of his life +for his fraud or his superstition. A bribe taken by his master Raymond +brought that chief into ill odor with his comrades, and let loose +against his chaplain the tongue of Arnold, the chaplain of Bohemond. +Raymond had traded on fresh visions of his clerk; and Arnold boldly +attacked him in his citadel by denying the genuineness of the Holy +Lance. Peter appealed to the ordeal of fire. He passed through the +flames, as it seemed, unhurt. The bystanders pressed to feel his flesh, +and were vehement in their rejoicings at the result which vindicated his +integrity. He had really received fatal injuries. Twelve days afterward +he died, and Raymond suffered greatly in his dignity and his influence. + +The infidel was doomed; but the crusaders resolved to give him one +chance of escape. Peter the Hermit was sent as their envoy to Kerboga to +offer the alternative of departure from a land which St. Peter had +bestowed on the faithful, or of baptism which should leave him master of +the city and territory of Antioch. The reply was short and decisive. The +Turk would not embrace an idolatry which he hated and despised, nor +would he give up soil which belonged to him by right of conquest. The +report of the hermit raised the spirit of the crusaders to fever heat; +and on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul they marched out in twelve +divisions, in remembrance of the mission of the Twelve Apostles, while +Raymond of Toulouse remained to prevent the escape of the Turks shut up +in the citadel. The Holy Lance was borne by the papal legate, Adhemar, +Bishop of Puy; and the morning air laden with the perfume of roses was +now regarded as a sign assuring them of the divine favor. They were +prepared to see good omens in everything; and they went in full +confidence that departed saints would, as they had been told, take part +in the battle and smite down the infidel. The fight--one of brute force +on the Christian side, of some little skill as well as strength on the +other--had gone on for some time when such help seemed to become +needful. Tancred had hurried to the aid of Bohemond, who was grievously +pressed by Kilidje Arslan; and Kerboga was bearing heavily on Godfrey +and Hugh of Vermandois, when, clothed in white armor and riding on white +horses, some human forms were seen on the neighboring heights. "The +saints are coming to your aid," shouted the Bishop of Puy, and the +people saw in these radiant strangers the martyrs St. George, St. +Maurice, and St. Theodore. + +Without awaiting their nearer approach the crusaders turned on the enemy +with a force and fury which were now irresistible. Their cavalry could +do little. Two hundred horses only remained of the sixty thousand which +had filled the plain a few months before. But the hedge of spears +advanced like a wall of iron, and the Turks gave way, broke, and fled. +It was rout, not retreat; and with the crusaders victory was followed by +the massacre of men, women, and children. The garrison in the citadel at +once surrendered. Some declared themselves Christians and were baptized; +those who refused to abandon Islam were taken to the nearest Mohametan +territory. The city was the prize of Bohemond; and in his keeping it +remained, although Raymond of Toulouse had made an effort to seize it by +hoisting his banner on the walls. The work of pillage being ended, the +churches were cleansed and repaired, and their altars blazed with golden +spoils taken from the infidel. The Greek Patriarch was again seated on +his throne; but he held his office at the good pleasure of the Latins, +and two years later he was made to give place to Bernard, a chaplain of +the Bishop of Puy. + +Ten months had passed away after the conquest of Antioch when the main +body of the crusading army set out on its march to Jerusalem. They had +wished to depart at once, but their chiefs dreaded to encounter +waterless wastes at the end of a Syrian summer, and for the present they +were content to send Hugh of Vermandois and Baldwin of Hainault as +envoys to the Greek Emperor, to reproach him with his remissness or his +want of faith. But the miseries endured by Christians and Turks were the +pleasantest tidings in the ears of Alexius, for in the weakening of both +lay his own strength; and he saw with satisfaction the departure of +Hugh, not for Antioch, but for Europe, whither Stephen of Chartres had +preceded him. + +Winter came, but the chiefs still lingered at Antioch. Some were +occupied in expeditions against neighboring cities; but a more pressing +care was the plague which punished the foulness and disorder of the +pilgrims. A band of fifteen hundred Germans, recently landed in strong +health and full equipments, were all, it is said, cut off; and among the +victims the most lamented perhaps was the papal legate Adhemar. A +feeling of discouragement was again spreading through the army +generally. The chiefs vainly entreated the Pope to visit the city where +the disciples of St. Peter first received the Christian name; the people +were disheartened by the animosities and the selfish or crooked policy +of their chiefs. Raymond still hankered after the principality of +Antioch, and insisted that Bohemond and his people should share in the +last great enterprise of the crusade. More disgraceful than these feuds +were the scenes witnessed during the siege and after the conquest of +Marra. Heedlessness and waste soon brought the assailants to devour the +flesh of dogs and of human beings. The bodies of Turks were torn from +their sepulchres, ripped up for the gold which they were supposed to +have swallowed, and the fragments cooked and eaten. Of the besieged many +slew themselves to avoid falling into the hands of the Christians; to +some Bohemond, tempted by a large bribe, gave an assurance of safety. +When the massacre had begun he ordered these to be brought forward. The +weak and old he slaughtered; the rest he sent to the slave markets of +Antioch. + +A weak attempt made by Alexius to detain the crusaders only spurred them +to more vigorous efforts. They had already left Antioch, and Laodicea +was in their hands, when he desired them to await his coming in June. +The chiefs, remembering the departure of Tatikios with his Byzantine +troops for Cyprus, retorted that he had broken his compact, and had +therefore no further claims on their obedience. Hastening on their way, +they crossed the plain of Berytos (Beyrout), overlooked by the eternal +snows of Lebanon, along the narrow strip of land whence the great +Phoenician cities had sent their seamen and their colonists, with all +the wealth of the East, to the shores of the Adriatic and the gates of +the Mediterranean. Having reached Jaffa, they turned inland to Ramlah, a +town sixteen miles only from Jerusalem. + +Two days later the crusaders came in sight of the Holy City, the object +of their long pilgrimage, the cause of wretchedness and death to +millions. As their eyes rested on the scene hallowed to them through all +the associations of their faith, the crusaders passed in an instant from +fierce enthusiasm to a humiliation which showed itself in sighs and +tears. All fell on their knees, to kiss the sacred earth and to pour +forth thanksgivings that they had been suffered to look upon the desire +of their eyes. Putting aside their armor and their weapons, they +advanced in pilgrim's garb and with bare feet toward the spot which the +Saviour had trodden in the hours of his agony and his passion. + +But before their feelings of devotion could be indulged, there was other +work to be done. The chiefs took up their posts on those sides from +which the nature of the ground gave most hope of a successful assault. +On the northern side were Godfrey and Tancred, Robert of Flanders, and +Robert of Normandy; on the west Raymond with his Provencals. On the +fifth day, without siege instruments, with only one ladder, and trusting +to mere weight, the crusaders made a desperate assault upon the walls. +Some succeeded in reaching the summit, and the very rashness of their +attack struck terror for a moment into their enemies. But the garrison +soon rallied, and the invaders were all driven back or hurled from the +ramparts. The task, it was manifest, must be undertaken in a more formal +manner. Siege engines must be made, and the palm and olive of the +immediate neighborhood would not supply fit materials for their +construction. + +These were obtained from the woods of Shechem, a distance of thirty +miles; and the work of preparation was carried on under the guidance of +Gaston of Beam by the crews of some Genoese vessels which had recently +anchored at Jaffa. So passed away more than thirty days, days of intense +suffering to the besiegers. At Antioch they had been distressed chiefly +by famine: in place of this wretchedness they had here the greater +miseries of thirst. The enemy had carefully destroyed every place which +might serve as a receptacle of water; and in seeking for it over miles +of desolate country they were exposed to the harassing attacks of Moslem +horsemen. Nor had visions and miracles improved the morals or discipline +of the camp; and the ghost of Adhemar of Puy appeared to rebuke the +horrible sins which were drawing down upon them the judgments of the +Almighty. Better service was done by the generosity of Tancred, who made +up his quarrel with Raymond: and the enthusiasm of the crusaders was +again roused by the preaching of Arnold and the hermit Peter. The +narrative of the siege of Jericho in the book of Joshua suggested +probably the procession in which the clergy singing hymns preceded the +laity round the walls of the city. + +The Saracens on the ramparts mocked their devotions by throwing dirt +upon crucifixes; but they paid a terrible price for these insults. On +the next day the final assault began, and was carried on through the day +with the same monotony of brute force and carnage which marked all the +operations of this merciless war. The darkness of night brought no rest. +The actual combat was suspended, but the besieged were incessantly +occupied in repairing the breaches made by the assailants, while these +were busied in making their dispositions for the last mortal conflict. +In the midst of that deadly struggle, when it seemed that the Cross must +after all go down before the Crescent, a knight was seen on Mount +Olivet, waving his glistening shield to rouse the champions of the Holy +Sepulchre to the supreme effort. "It is St. George the Martyr who has +come again to help us," cried Godfrey, and at his words the crusaders +started up without a feeling of fatigue and carried everything before +them. + +The day, we are told, was Friday, the hour was three in the afternoon-- +the moment at which the last cry from the cross announced the +accomplishment of the Saviour's passion--when Letold of Tournay stood, +the first victorious champion of the Cross, on the walls of Jerusalem. +Next to him came, we are told, his brother Engelbert; the third was +Godfrey. Tancred with the two Roberts stormed the gate of St. Stephen; +the Provencals climbed the ramparts by ladders, and the conquest of +Jerusalem was achieved. The insults offered a little while ago to the +crucifixes were avenged by Godfrey's orders in the massacre of hundreds; +the carnage in the Mosque of Omar swept away the bodies of thousands in +a deluge of human blood. The Jews were all burnt alive in their +synagogues. The horses of the crusaders, who rode up to the porch of the +Temple, were--so the story goes--up to the knees in the loathsome +stream; and the forms of Christian knights hacking and hewing the bodies +of the living and the dead furnished a pleasant commentary on the sermon +of Urban at Clermont. + +From the duties of slaughter these disciples of the Lamb of God passed +to those of devotion. Bareheaded and barefooted, clad in a robe of pure +white linen, in an ecstasy of joy and thankfulness mingled with profound +contrition, Godfrey entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and knelt +at the tomb of his Lord. With groans and tears his followers came, each +in his turn, to offer his praises for the divine mercy which had +vouchsafed this triumph to the armies of Christendom. With feverish +earnestness they poured forth the vows which bound them to sin no more, +and the excitement of prayer and slaughter, perhaps of both combined, +led them to see everything which might be needed to give effect to the +closing scene of this appalling tragedy. As the saints had arisen from +their graves when the Son of Man gave up the ghost on Calvary, so the +spirits of the pilgrims who had died on the terrible journey came to +take part in the great thanksgiving. Foremost among them was Adhemar of +Puy, rejoicing in the prayers for forgiveness and the resolutions of +repentance which promised a new era of peace upon earth and of good-will +toward all men. + +With departed saints were mingled living men who deserved all the honor +which might be paid to them. The backsliding of the hermit Peter was +blotted out of the memory of those who remembered only the fiery +eloquence which had first called them to their now triumphant +pilgrimage, and the zeal which had stirred the heart of Christendom to +cut short the tyranny of the Unbeliever in the birthland of +Christianity. The assembled throng fell down at his feet, and gave +thanks to God, who had vouchsafed to them such a teacher. His task was +done, and in the annals of the time Peter is heard of no more. + +On this dreadful day Tancred had spared three hundred captives to whom +he had given a standard as a pledge of his protection and a guarantee of +their safety. Such misplaced mercy was a crime in the eyes of the +crusaders. The massacre of the first day may have been aggravated by the +ungovernable excitement of victory; but it was resolved that on the next +day there should be offered up a more solemn and deliberate sacrifice. +The men whom Tancred had spared were all murdered; and the wrath of +Tancred was roused, not by their fate, but by an act which called his +honor into question. The butchery went on with impartial completeness, +old and young, decrepit men and women, mothers with their infants, boys +and girls, young men and maidens in the bloom of their vigor, all were +mowed down, and their bodies mangled until heads and limbs were tossed +together in awful chaos. A few were hidden away by Raymond of Toulouse; +his motive, however, was not mercy, but the prospects of gain in the +slave market. After this great act of faith and devotion the streets of +the Holy City were washed by Saracen prisoners; but whether these were +butchered when their work was ended we are not told. + +Four centuries and a half had passed away, when these things were done, +since Omar had entered Jerusalem as a conqueror and knelt outside the +Church of Constantine, that his followers might not trespass within it +on the privileges of the Christians. The contrast is at the least marked +between the Caliph of the Prophet and the children of the Holy Catholic +Church. + +When, the business of the slaughter being ended, the chiefs met to +choose a king for the realm which they had won with their swords, one +man only appeared to whom the crown could fitly be offered. Baldwin was +lord of Edessa; Bohemond ruled at Antioch; Hugh of Vermandois and +Stephen of Chartres had returned to Europe; Robert of Flanders cared not +to stay; the Norman Robert had no mind to forfeit the duchy which he had +mortgaged; and Raymond was discredited by his avarice, and in part also +by his traffic in the visions of Peter Barthelemy. But in the city where +his Lord had worn the thorny crown, the veteran leader who had looked on +ruthless slaughter without blanching and had borne his share in swelling +the stream of blood would wear no earthly diadem nor take the title of +king. He would watch over his Master's grave and the interests of his +worshippers under the humble guise of Baron and Defender of the Holy +Sepulchre; and as such, a fortnight after his election, Godfrey departed +to do battle with the hosts of the Fatimite Caliph of Egypt, who now +felt that the loss of Jerusalem was too high a price for the humiliation +of his rivals. The conflict took place at Ascalon, and the Fatimite army +was miserably routed. Godfrey returned to Jerusalem, to hang the sword +and standard of the Sultan before the Holy Sepulchre and to bid farewell +to the pilgrims who were now to set out on their homeward journey. He +retained, with three hundred knights under Tancred, only two thousand +foot soldiers for the defence of his kingdom; and so ended the first act +in the great drama of the crusades. + + + + +FOUNDATION OF THE ORDER OF KNIGHTS TEMPLARS + +A.D. 1118 + +CHARLES G. ADDISON + + +(Among the military orders of past ages, that of the Knights Templars, +founded for the defence of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, with its +lofty motive, its superb organization and discipline, and its history +extending over nearly two centuries, is justly accounted one of the most +illustrious. At the period when this extraordinary and romantic order +came into existence, the contrasting spirits of warlike enterprise and +monastic retirement were drawing men, some from the field to the +cloister, others from the life of ascetic piety to the scenes of strife. +There appeared a strange blending of these two tendencies, which indeed +was the leading characteristic of the time. This union of the religious +with the militant spirit had been promoted by the enthusiasm of the +crusades which had already been undertaken, and among the crusaders +themselves the blended spiritual and military ideal of the holy war had +its complete development. Let us recall the reasons and the beginnings +of the crusades themselves. + +Upon the legendary discovery of the Holy Sepulchre by Helena, the mother +of Constantine, about three hundred years after the death of Christ, and +the consequent erection, as it is said, by her great son--the first +Christian emperor of Rome--of the magnificent Church of the Holy +Sepulchre over the sacred spot, a tide of pilgrimage set in toward +Jerusalem which increased in strength as Christianity gradually spread +throughout Europe. When in A.D. 637 the Holy City was surrendered to the +Saracens, the caliph Omar gave guarantees for the security of the +Christian population. Under this safeguard the pilgrimages to Jerusalem +continued to increase, until in 1064 the Holy Sepulchre was visited by +seven thousand pilgrims, led by an archbishop and three bishops. But in +1065 Jerusalem was taken by the Turcomans, who massacred three thousand +citizens, and placed the command of the city in savage hands. Terrible +oppression of the Christians there followed; the Patriarch of Jerusalem +was dragged by the hair of his head over the sacred pavement of the +Church of the Holy Sepulchre and cast into a dungeon for ransom; +extortion, imprisonment, and massacre were indiscriminately visited upon +the people. + +Such were the conditions that aroused the indignant spirit of +Christendom and prepared it for the cry of Peter the Hermit, which awoke +the wild enthusiasm of the crusades. When Jerusalem was captured by the +crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099, the zeal of pilgrimage +burst forth anew. But although Jerusalem was delivered, Palestine was +still infested with the infidels, who made it as hazardous as before for +the pilgrims entering there. Some means for their protection must be +found, and out of this necessity grew the great military order of which +the following pages treat.) + + +To alleviate the dangers and distresses to which the pilgrim enthusiasts +were exposed; to guard the honor of the saintly virgins and matrons, and +to protect the gray hairs of the venerable palmers, nine noble knights +formed a holy brotherhood-in-arms, and entered into a solemn compact to +aid one another in clearing the highways of infidels and robbers, and in +protecting the pilgrims through the passes and defiles of the mountains +to the Holy City. Warmed with the religious and military fervor of the +day, and animated by the sacredness of the cause to which they had +devoted their swords, they called themselves the "Poor Fellow-soldiers +of Jesus Christ." + +They renounced the world and its pleasures, and in the Holy Church of +the Resurrection, in the presence of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, they +embraced vows of perpetual chastity, obedience, and poverty, after the +manner of monks. Uniting in themselves the two most popular qualities of +the age, devotion and valor, and exercising them in the most popular of +all enterprises, the protection of the pilgrims and of the road to the +Holy Sepulchre, they speedily acquired a vast reputation and a splendid +renown. + +At first, we are told, they had no church and no particular place of +abode, but in the year of our Lord 1118--nineteen years after the +conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders--they had rendered such good and +acceptable service to the Christians that Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, +granted them a place of habitation within the sacred enclosure of the +Temple on Mount Moriah, amid those holy and magnificent structures, +partly erected by the Christian emperor Justinian and partly built by +the caliph Omar, which were then exhibited by the monks and priests of +Jerusalem, whose restless zeal led them to practise on the credulity of +the pilgrims, and to multiply relics and all objects likely to be sacred +in their eyes, as the Temple of Solomon, whence the "Poor +Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ" came thenceforth to be known by the +name of "the Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon." + +A few remarks in elucidation of the name "Templars," or "Knights of the +Temple," may not be unacceptable. + +By the Mussulmans the site of the great Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah +has always been regarded with peculiar veneration. Mahomet, in the first +year of the publication of the _Koran_, directed his followers, when at +prayer, to turn their faces toward it, and pilgrimages have constantly +been made to the holy spot by devout Moslems. On the conquest of +Jerusalem by the Arabians, it was the first care of the caliph Omar to +rebuild "the Temple of the Lord." Assisted by the principal chieftains +of his army, the Commander of the Faithful undertook the pious office of +clearing the ground with his own hands, and of tracing out the +foundations of the magnificent mosque which now crowns with its dark and +swelling dome the elevated summit of Mount Moriah. + +This great house of prayer, the most holy Mussulman temple in the world +after that of Mecca, is erected over the spot where "Solomon began to +build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where the Lord +appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in +the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite." + +It remains to this day in a state of perfect preservation, and is one of +the finest specimens of Saracenic architecture in existence. It is +entered by four spacious doorways, each door facing one of the cardinal +points: the _Bab el D'Jannat_ (or "Gate of the Garden"), on the north; +the _Bab el Kebla_, (or "Gate of Prayer"), on the south; the _Bab ibn el +Daoud_ (or "Gate of the Son of David"), on the east; and the _Bab el +Garbi_, on the west. By the Arabian geographers it is called _Beit +Allah_ ("the House of God"), also _Beit Almokaddas_ or _Beit Almacdes_ +("the Holy House"). From it Jerusalem derives its Arabic name, _El Kods_ +("the Holy"), _El Schereef_ ("the Noble"), and _El Mobarek_ ("the +Blessed"); while the governors of the city, instead of the customary +high-sounding titles of sovereignty and dominion, take the simple title +of _Hami_ (or "Protectors"). + +On the conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the crescent was torn +down from the summit of this famous Mussulman temple, and was replaced +by an immense golden cross, and the edifice was then consecrated to the +services of the Christian religion, but retained its simple appellation +of "the Temple of the Lord." William, Archbishop of Tyre and Chancellor +of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, gives an interesting account of this famous +edifice as it existed in his time, during the Latin dominion. He speaks +of the splendid mosaic work, of the Arabic characters setting forth the +name of the founder and the cost of the undertaking, and of the famous +rock under the centre of the dome, which is to this day shown by the +Moslems as the spot whereon the destroying angel stood, "with his drawn +sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." This rock, he informs +us, was left exposed and uncovered for the space of fifteen years after +the conquest of the Holy City by the crusaders, but was, after that +period, cased with a handsome altar of white marble, upon which the +priests daily said mass. + +To the south of this holy Mussulman temple, on the extreme edge of the +summit of Mount Moriah, and resting against the modern walls of the town +of Jerusalem, stands the venerable Church of the Virgin, erected by the +emperor Justinian, whose stupendous foundations, remaining to this day, +fully justify the astonishing description given of the building by +Procopius. That writer informs us that in order to get a level surface +for the erection of the edifice, it was necessary, on the east and south +sides of the hill, to raise up a wall of masonry from the valley below, +and to construct a vast foundation, partly composed of solid stone and +partly of arches and pillars. The stones were of such magnitude that +each block required to be transported in a truck drawn by forty of the +Emperor's strongest oxen; and to admit of the passage of these trucks it +was necessary to widen the roads leading to Jerusalem. The forests of +Lebanon yielded their choicest cedars for the timbers of the roof; and a +quarry of variegated marble, seasonably discovered in the adjoining +mountains, furnished the edifice with superb marble columns. + +The interior of this interesting structure, which still remains at +Jerusalem, after a lapse of more than thirteen centuries, in an +excellent state of preservation, is adorned with six rows of columns, +from whence spring arches supporting the cedar beams and timbers of the +roof; and at the end of the building is a round tower, surmounted by a +dome. The vast stones, the walls of masonry, and the subterranean +colonnade raised to support the southeast angle of the platform whereon +the church is erected are truly wonderful, and may still be seen by +penetrating through a small door and descending several flights of steps +at the southeast corner of the enclosure. Adjoining the sacred edifice +the Emperor erected hospitals, or houses of refuge, for travellers, sick +people, and mendicants of all nations; the foundations whereof, composed +of handsome Roman masonry, are still visible on either side of the +southern end of the building. + +On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Moslems this venerable church was +converted into a mosque, and was called D'Jame al Acsa; it was enclosed, +together with the great Mussulman "Temple of the Lord" erected by the +caliph Omar, within a large area by a high stone wall, which runs around +the edge of the summit of Mount Moriah and guards from the profane tread +of the unbeliever the whole of that sacred ground whereon once stood the +gorgeous Temple of the wisest of kings. + +When the Holy City was taken by the crusaders, the D'Jame al Acsa, with +the various buildings constructed around it, became the property of the +kings of Jerusalem, and is denominated by William of Tyre "the Palace," +or "Royal House to the south of the Temple of the Lord, vulgarly called +the 'Temple of Solomon.'" It was this edifice or temple on Mount Moriah +which was appropriated to the use of the "Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus +Christ," as they had no church and no particular place of abode, and +from it they derived their name of "Knights Templars." + +James of Vitry, Bishop of Acre, who gives an interesting account of the +holy places, thus speaks of the temple of the Knights Templars: "There +is, moreover, at Jerusalem another temple of immense spaciousness and +extent, from which the brethren of the Knighthood of the Temple derive +their name of 'Templars,' which is called the 'Temple of Solomon,' +perhaps to distinguish it from the one above described, which is +specially called the 'Temple of the Lord.'" He moreover informs us in +his oriental history that "in the 'Temple of the Lord' there is an abbot +and canons regular; and be it known that the one is the 'Temple of the +_Lord_,' and the other the 'Temple of the _Chivalry_.' These are +_clerks_; the others are _knights_." + +The canons of the "Temple of the Lord" conceded to the "Poor +Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ" the large court extending between that +building and the Temple of Solomon; the King, the Patriarch, and the +prelates of Jerusalem, and the barons of the Latin kingdom assigned them +various gifts and revenues for their maintenance and support, and, the +order being now settled in a regular place of abode, the knights soon +began to entertain more extended views and to seek a larger theatre for +the exercise of their holy profession. + +Their first aim and object had been, as before mentioned, simply to +protect the poor pilgrims on their journey backward and forward from the +sea-coast to Jerusalem; but as the hostile tribes of Mussulmans, which +everywhere surrounded the Latin kingdom, were gradually recovering from +the stupefying terror into which they had been plunged by the successful +and exterminating warfare of the first crusaders, and were assuming an +aggressive and threatening attitude, it was determined that the holy +warriors of the temple should, in addition to the protection of +pilgrims, make the defence of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, of the +Eastern Church, and of all the holy places a part of their particular +profession. + +The two most distinguished members of the fraternity were Hugh de Payens +and Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, or St. Omer, two valiant soldiers of the +cross, who had fought with great credit and renown at the siege of +Jerusalem. Hugh de Payens was chosen by the knights to be superior of +the new religious and military society, by the title of "the Master of +the Temple"; and he has, in consequence, been generally called the +founder of the order. + +The name and reputation of the Knights Templars speedily spread +throughout Europe, and various illustrious pilgrims of the Far West +aspired to become members of the holy fraternity. Among these was Fulk, +Count of Anjou, who joined the society as a married brother (1120), and +annually remitted the order thirty pounds of silver. Baldwin, King of +Jerusalem, foreseeing that great advantages would accrue to the Latin +kingdom by the increase of the power and numbers of these holy warriors, +exerted himself to extend the order throughout all Christendom, so that +he might, by means of so politic an institution, keep alive the holy +enthusiasm of the West, and draw a constant succor from the bold and +warlike races of Europe for the support of his Christian throne and +kingdom. + +St. Bernard, the holy abbot of Clairvaux, had been a great admirer of +the Templars. He wrote a letter to the Count of Champagne, on his +entering the order (1123), praising the act as one of eminent merit in +the sight of God; and it was determined to enlist the all-powerful +influence of this great ecclesiastic in favor of the fraternity. "By a +vow of poverty and penance, by closing his eyes against the visible +world, by the refusal of all ecclesiastical dignities, the abbot of +Clairvaux became the oracle of Europe and the founder of one hundred and +sixty convents. Princes and pontiffs trembled at the freedom of his +apostolical censures; France, England, and Milan consulted and obeyed +his judgment in a schism of the Church; the debt was repaid by the +gratitude of Innocent II; and his successor, Eugenius III, was the +friend and disciple of the holy St. Bernard." + +To this learned and devout prelate two Knights Templars were despatched +with the following letter: + +"Baldwin, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, King of Jerusalem and +Prince of Antioch, to the venerable Father Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux; +health and regard. + +"The Brothers of the Temple, whom the Lord hath deigned to raise up, and +whom by an especial providence he preserves for the defence of this +kingdom, desiring to obtain from the Holy See the confirmation of their +institution and a rule for their particular guidance, we have determined +to send to you the two knights, Andrew and Gondemar, men as much +distinguished by their military exploits as by the splendor of their +birth, to obtain from the Pope the approbation of their order, and to +dispose his holiness to send succor and subsidies against the enemies of +the faith, reunited in their design to destroy us and to invade our +Christian territories. + +"Well knowing the weight of your mediation with God and his vicar upon +earth, as well as with the princes and powers of Europe, we have thought +fit to confide to you these two important matters, whose successful +issue cannot be otherwise than most agreeable to ourselves. The statutes +we ask of you should be so ordered and arranged as to be reconcilable +with the tumult of the camp and the profession of arms; they must, in +fact, be of such a nature as to obtain favor and popularity with the +Christian princes. + +"Do you then so manage that we may, through you, have the happiness of +seeing this important affair brought to a successful issue, and address +for us to Heaven the incense of your prayers." + +Soon after the above letter had been despatched to St. Bernard, Hugh de +Payens himself proceeded to Rome, accompanied by Geoffrey de St. Aldemar +and four other brothers of the order: namely, Brother Payen de +Montdidier, Brother Gorall, Brother Geoffrey Bisol, and Brother +Archambauld de St. Armand. They were received with great honor and +distinction by Pope Honorius, who warmly approved of the objects and +designs of the holy fraternity. St. Bernard had, in the mean time, taken +the affair greatly to heart; he negotiated with the pope, the legate, +and the bishops of France, and obtained the convocation of a great +ecclesiastical council at Troyes (1128), which Hugh de Payens and his +brethren were invited to attend. This council consisted of several +archbishops, bishops, and abbots, among which last was St. Bernard +himself. The rules to which the Templars had subjected themselves were +there described by the master, and to the holy abbot of Clairvaux was +confided the task of revising and correcting these rules, and of framing +a code of statutes fit and proper for the governance of the great +religious and military fraternity of the temple. + +_The Rule of the Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ and of the Temple +of Solomon_, arranged by St. Bernard, and sanctioned by the holy Fathers +of the Council of Troyes, for the government and regulation of the +monastic and military society of the Temple, is principally of a +religious character and of an austere and gloomy cast. It is divided +into seventy-two heads or chapters, and is preceded by a short prologue +addressed "to all who disdain to follow after their own wills, and +desire with purity of mind to fight for the most high and true King," +exhorting them to put on the armor of obedience, and to associate +themselves together with piety and humility for the defence of the Holy +Catholic Church; and to employ a pure diligence, and a steady +perseverance in the exercise of their sacred profession, so that they +might share in the happy destiny reserved for the holy warriors who had +given up their lives for Christ. + +The rule enjoins severe devotional exercises, self-mortification, +fasting, and prayer, and a constant attendance at matins, vespers, and +on all the services of the Church, "that, being refreshed and satisfied +with heavenly food, instructed and stablished with heavenly precepts, +after the consummation of the divine mysteries," none might be afraid of +the _Fight_, but be prepared for the _Crown_. + +If unable to attend the regular service of God, the absent brother is +for matins to say over thirteen _pater-nosters_, for every hour seven, +and for vespers nine. When any Templar draweth nigh unto death, the +chaplains and clerk are to assemble and offer up a solemn mass for his +soul; the surrounding brethren are to spend the night in prayer, and a +hundred pater-nosters are to be repeated for the dead brother. +"Moreover," say the holy Fathers, "we do strictly enjoin you, that with +divine and most tender charity ye do daily bestow as much meat and drink +as was given to that brother when alive, unto some poor man for forty +days." + +The brethren are, on all occasions, to speak sparingly and to wear a +grave and serious deportment. They are to be constant in the exercise of +charity and almsgiving, to have a watchful care over all sick brethren, +and to support and sustain all old men. They are not to receive letters +from their parents, relations, or friends without the license of the +master, and all gifts are immediately to be taken to the latter or to +the treasurer, to be disposed of as he may direct. They are, moreover, +to receive no service or attendance from a woman, and are commanded, +above all things, to shun feminine kisses. + +"This same year (1128) Hugh of the Temple came from Jerusalem to the +King in Normandy, and the King received him with much honor and gave him +much treasure in gold and silver, and afterward he sent him into +England, and there he was well received by all good men, and all gave +him treasure, and in Scotland also, and they sent in all a great sum in +gold and silver by him to Jerusalem, and there went with him and after +him so great a number as never before since the days of Pope Urban." +Grants of land, as well as of money, were at the same time made to Hugh +de Payens and his brethren, some of which were shortly afterward +confirmed by King Stephen on his accession to the throne (1135). Among +these is a grant of the manor of Bistelesham made to the Templars by +Count Robert de Ferrara, and a grant of the Church of Langeforde in +Bedfordshire made by Simon de Wahull and Sibylla his wife and Walter +their son. + +Hugh de Payens, before his departure, placed a Knight Templar at the +head of the order in England, who was called the prior of the temple and +was the procurator and viceregent of the master. It was his duty to +manage the estates granted to the fraternity, and to transmit the +revenues to Jerusalem. He was also delegated with the power of admitting +members into the order, subject to the control and direction of the +master, and was to provide means of transport for such newly-admitted +brethren to the Far East, to enable them to fulfil the duties of their +profession. As the houses of the Temple increased in number in England, +subpriors came to be appointed, and the superior of the order in this +country was then called the "grand prior," and afterward master, of the +temple. + +Many illustrious knights of the best families in Europe aspired to the +habit and vows, but, however exalted their rank, they were not received +within the bosom of the fraternity until they had proved themselves by +their conduct worthy of such a fellowship. Thus, when Hugh d'Amboise, +who had harassed and oppressed the people of Marmontier by unjust +exactions, and had refused to submit to the judicial decision of the +Count of Anjou, desired to enter the order, Hugh de Payens refused to +admit him to the vows until he had humbled himself, renounced his +pretensions, and given perfect satisfaction to those whom he had +injured. The candidates, moreover, previous to their admission, were +required to make reparation and satisfaction for all damage done by them +at any time to churches and to public or private property. + +An astonishing enthusiasm was excited throughout Christendom in behalf +of the Templars; princes and nobles, sovereigns and their subjects, vied +with each other in heaping gifts and benefits upon them, and scarce a +will of importance was made without an article in it in their favor. +Many illustrious persons on their death-beds took the vows, that they +might be buried in the habit of the order; and sovereigns, quitting the +government of their kingdoms, enrolled themselves among the holy +fraternity, and bequeathed even their dominions to the master and the +brethren of the temple. + +Thus, Raymond Berenger, Count of Barcelona and Provence, at a very +advanced age, abdicating his throne and shaking off the ensigns of royal +authority, retired to the house of the Templars at Barcelona, and +pronounced his vows (1130) before Brother Hugh de Rigauld, the prior. +His infirmities not allowing him to proceed in person to the chief house +of the order at Jerusalem, he sent vast sums of money thither, and +immuring himself in a small cell in the temple at Barcelona, he there +remained in the constant exercise of the religious duties of his +profession until the day of his death. + +At the same period, the emperor Lothair bestowed on the order a large +portion of his patrimony of Supplinburg; and the year following (1131), +Alphonso I, King of Navarre and Aragon, also styled Emperor of Spain, +one of the greatest warriors of the age, by his will declared the +Knights of the Temple his heirs and successors in the crowns of Navarre +and Aragon, and a few hours before his death he caused this will to be +ratified and signed by most of the barons of both kingdoms. The validity +of this document, however, was disputed, and the claims of the Templars +were successfully resisted by the nobles of Navarre; but in Aragon they +obtained, by way of compromise, lands and castles and considerable +dependencies, a portion of the customs and duties levied throughout the +kingdom, and the contributions raised from the Moors. + +To increase the enthusiasm in favor of the Templars, and still further +to swell their ranks with the best and bravest of the European chivalry, +St. Bernard, at the request of Hugh de Payens, took up his powerful pen +in their behalf. In a famous discourse, _In Praise of the New Chivalry_, +the holy abbot sets forth, in eloquent and enthusiastic terms, the +spiritual advantages and blessings enjoyed by the military friars of the +temple over all other warriors. He draws a curious picture of the +relative situations and circumstances of the _secular_ soldiery and the +soldiery of _Christ_, and shows how different in the sight of God are +the bloodshed and slaughter of the one from that committed by the other. + +This extraordinary discourse is written with great spirit; it is +addressed "To Hugh, Knight of Christ, and Master of the Knighthood of +Christ," is divided into fourteen parts or chapters, and commences with +a short prologue. It is curiously illustrative of the spirit of the +times, and some of its most striking passages will be read with +interest. + +The holy abbot thus pursues his comparison between the soldier of the +world and the soldier of Christ--the _secular_ and the _religious_ +warrior: "As often as thou who wagest a secular warfare marchest forth +to battle, it is greatly to be feared lest when thou slayest thine enemy +in the body, he should destroy thee in the spirit, or lest peradventure +thou shouldst be at once slain by him both in body and soul. From the +disposition of the heart, indeed, not by the event of the fight, is to +be estimated either the jeopardy or the victory of the Christian. If, +fighting with the desire of killing another, thou shouldst chance to get +killed thyself, thou diest a manslayer; if, on the other hand, thou +prevailest, and through a desire of conquest or revenge killest a man, +thou livest a manslayer.... O unfortunate victory! when in overcoming +thine adversary thou fallest into sin, and, anger or pride having the +mastery over thee, in vain thou gloriest over the vanquished.... + +"What, therefore, is the fruit of this secular, I will not say +_militia_, but _malitia_, if the slayer committeth a deadly sin, and the +slain perisheth eternally? Verily, to use the words of the apostle, he +that plougheth should plough in hope, and he that thresheth should be +partaker of his hope. Whence, therefore, O soldiers, cometh this so +stupendous error? What insufferable madness is this--to wage war with so +great cost and labor, but with no pay except either death or crime? Ye +cover your horses with silken trappings, and I know not how much fine +cloth hangs pendent from your coats of mail. Ye paint your spears, +shields, and saddles; your bridles and spurs are adorned on all sides +with gold and silver and gems, and with all this pomp, with a shameful +fury and a reckless insensibility, ye rush on to death. Are these +military ensigns, or are they not rather the garnishments of women? Can +it happen that the sharp-pointed sword of the enemy will respect gold, +will it spare gems, will it be unable to penetrate the silken garment? + +"As ye yourselves have often experienced, three things are indispensably +necessary to the success of the soldier: he must, for example, be bold, +active, and circumspect; quick in running, prompt in striking; ye, +however, to the disgust of the eye, nourish your hair after the manner +of women, ye gather around your footsteps long and flowing vestures, ye +bury up your delicate and tender hands in ample and wide-spreading +sleeves. Among you indeed naught provoketh war or awakeneth strife, but +either an irrational impulse of anger or an insane lust of glory or the +covetous desire of possessing another man's lands and possessions. In +such cases it is neither safe to slay nor to be slain.... But the +soldiers of Christ indeed securely fight the battles of their Lord, in +no wise fearing sin, either from the slaughter of the enemy or danger +from their own death. When indeed death is to be given or received for +Christ, it has naught of crime in it, but much of glory.... + +"And now for an example, or to the confusion of our soldiers fighting +not manifestly for God, but for the devil, we will briefly display the +mode of life of the Knights of Christ, such as it is in the field and in +the convent, by which means it will be made plainly manifest to what +extent the soldiery of God and the soldiery of the World differ from one +another.... The soldiers of Christ live together in common in an +agreeable but frugal manner, without wives and without children; and +that nothing may be wanting to evangelical perfection, they dwell +together without property of any kind, in one house, under one rule, +careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. You +may say that to the whole multitude there is but one heart and one soul, +as each one in no respect followeth after his own will or desire, but is +diligent to do the will of the Master. They are never idle nor rambling +abroad, but, when they are not in the field, that they may not eat their +bread in idleness, they are fitting and repairing their armor and their +clothing, or employing themselves in such occupations as the will of the +Master requireth or their common necessities render expedient. Among +them there is no distinction of persons; respect is paid to the best and +most virtuous, not the most noble. They participate in each other's +honor, they bear one anothers' burdens, that they may fulfil the law of +Christ. + +"An insolent expression, a useless undertaking, immoderate laughter, the +least murmur or whispering, if found out, passeth not without severe +rebuke. They detest cards and dice, they shun the sports of the field, +and take no delight in the ludicrous catching of birds (hawking), which +men are wont to indulge in. Jesters and soothsayers and story-tellers, +scurrilous songs, shows, and games, they contemptuously despise and +abominate as vanities and mad follies. They cut their hair, knowing +that, according to the apostle, it is not seemly in a man to have long +hair. They are never combed, seldom washed, but appear rather with rough +neglected hair, foul with dust, and with skins browned by the sun and +their coats of mail. + +"Moreover, on the approach of battle they fortify themselves with faith +within and with steel without, and not with gold, so that, armed and not +adorned, they may strike terror into the enemy, rather than awaken his +lust of plunder. They strive earnestly to possess strong and swift +horses, but not garnished with ornaments or decked with trappings, +thinking of battle and of victory, and not of pomp and show, studying to +inspire fear rather than admiration.... + +"Such hath God chosen for his own, and hath collected together as his +ministers from the ends of the earth, from among the bravest of Israel, +who indeed vigilantly and faithfully guard the Holy Sepulchre, all armed +with the sword, and most learned in the art of war.... + +"There is indeed a temple at Jerusalem in which they dwell together, +unequal, it is true, as a building, to that ancient and most famous one +of Solomon, but not inferior in glory. For truly the entire magnificence +of that consisted in corrupt things, in gold and silver, in carved +stone, and in a variety of woods; but the whole beauty of this resteth +in the adornment of an agreeable conversation, in the godly devotion of +its inmates, and their beautifully ordered mode of life. That was +admired for its various external beauties, this is venerated for its +different virtues and sacred actions, as becomes the sanctity of the +house of God, who delighteth not so much in polished marbles as in +well-ordered behavior, and regardeth pure minds more than gilded walls. +The face likewise of this temple is adorned with arms, not with gems, +and the wall, instead of the ancient golden chapiters, is covered around +with pendent shields. + +"Instead of the ancient candelabra, censers, and lavers, the house is on +all sides furnished with bridles, saddles, and lances, all which plainly +demonstrate that the soldiers burn with the same zeal for the house of +God as that which formerly animated their great Leader, when, vehemently +enraged, he entered into the Temple, and with that most sacred hand, +armed not with steel, but with a scourge which he had made of small +thongs, drove out the merchants, poured out the changers' money, and +overthrew the tables of them that sold doves; most indignantly +condemning the pollution of the house of prayer by the making of it a +place of merchandise. + +"The devout army of Christ, therefore, earnestly incited by the example +of its king, thinking indeed that the holy places are much more +impiously and insufferably polluted by the infidels than when defiled by +merchants, abide in the holy house with horses and with arms, so that +from that, as well as all the other sacred places, all filthy and +diabolical madness of infidelity being driven out, they may occupy +themselves by day and by night in honorable and useful offices. They +emulously honor the temple of God with sedulous and sincere oblations, +offering sacrifices therein with constant devotion, not indeed of the +flesh of cattle after the manner of the ancients, but peaceful +sacrifices, brotherly love, devout obedience, voluntary poverty. + +"These things are done perpetually at Jerusalem, and the world is +aroused, the islands hear, and the nations take heed from afar...." + +St. Bernard then congratulates Jerusalem on the advent of the soldiers +of Christ, and declares that the Holy City will rejoice with a double +joy in being rid of all her oppressors, the ungodly, the robbers, the +blasphemers, murderers, perjurers, and adulterers; and in receiving her +faithful defenders and sweet consolers, under the shadow of whose +protection "Mount Zion shall rejoice, and the daughters of Judah sing +for joy." + + + + +STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN + +HIS CONFLICTS WITH MATILDA: DECISIVE INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH + +A.D. 1135-1154 + +CHARLES KNIGHT + + +(William the Conqueror, King of England, was succeeded by his sons +William Rufus and Henry--on account of his scholarship known as +Beauclerc. Prince William, Henry's only son, was drowned when starting +from Normandy for England in 1120. In the absence of male issue Henry +settled the English and Norman crowns upon his daughter Matilda, and +demanded an oath of fidelity to her from the barons. + +Matilda had been married first to Emperor Henry V of Germany, who died +in 1125, and secondly to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. + +Stephen was the son of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, who had +married Stephen, Count of Blois. Stephen, with his brother Henry, had +been invited to the court of England by their uncle, and had received +honors, preferments, and riches. Henry becoming an ecclesiast was +created abbot of Glastonbury and bishop of Winchester. Stephen, among +other possessions, received the great estate forfeited by Robert Mallet +in England, and that forfeited by the Earl of Mortaigne in Normandy. By +his marriage with Matilda, daughter of the Earl of Boulogne, he had +succeeded also to the territories of his father-in-law. Stephen by +studied arts and personal qualities became a great favorite with the +English barons and the people. + +The empress Matilda and her husband Geoffrey, unfortunately, were +unpopular both in England and Normandy, the English barons especially +viewing with disfavor the prospect of a woman occupying the throne. + +Henry Beauclerc died in 1135 at his favorite hunting-seat, the Castle of +Lions, near Rouen, in Normandy. Stephen, ignoring the oath of fealty to +the daughter of his benefactor, hastened to England, and, +notwithstanding some opposition, with the help of his clerical brother +and other functionaries had himself proclaimed and crowned king. This +act involved England in years of civil war, anarchy, and wretchedness, +which ended only with the accession as Henry II of Empress Matilda's +son, Henry Plantagenet of Anjou.) + + +Of the reign of Stephen, Sir James Mackintosh has said, "It perhaps +contains the most perfect condensation of all the ills of feudality to +be found in history." He adds, "The whole narrative would have been +rejected, as devoid of all likeness to truth, if it had been hazarded in +fiction." As a picture of "all the ills of feudality," this narrative is +a picture of the entire social state--the monarchy, the Church, the +aristocracy, the people--and appears to us, therefore, to demand a more +careful examination than if the historical interest were chiefly centred +in the battles and adventures belonging to a disputed succession, and in +the personal characters of a courageous princess and her knightly rival. + +Stephen, Earl of Boulogne, the nephew of King Henry I, was no stranger +to the country which he aspired to rule. He had lived much in England +and was a universal favorite. "From his complacency of manners, and his +readiness to joke, and sit and regale even with low people, he had +gained so much on their affections as is hardly to be conceived." This +popular man was at the death-bed of his uncle; but before the royal body +was borne on the shoulders of nobles from the Castle of Lions to Rouen, +Stephen was on his road to England. He embarked at Whitsand, undeterred +by boisterous weather, and landed during a winter storm of thunder and +lightning. It was a more evil omen when Dover and Canterbury shut their +gates against him. But he went boldly on to London. There can be no +doubt that his proceedings were not the result of a sudden impulse, and +that his usurpation of the crown was successful through a very powerful +organization. His brother Henry was Bishop of Winchester; and his +influence with the other dignitaries of the Church was mainly +instrumental in the election of Stephen to be king, in open disregard of +the oaths taken a few years before to recognize the succession of +Matilda and of her son. Between the death of a king and the coronation +of his successor there was usually a short interval, in which the form +of election was gone through. But it is held that during that suspension +of the royal functions there was usually a proclamation of "the king's +peace," under which all violations of law were punished as if the head +of the law were in the full exercise of his functions and dignities. +King Henry I died on the 1st of December, 1135. Stephen was crowned on +the 26th of December. The death of Henry would probably have been +generally known in England in a week after the event. There is a +sufficient proof that this succession was considered doubtful, and, +consequently, that there was an unusual delay in the proclamation of +"the king's peace." The Forest Laws were the great grievance of Henry's +reign. His death was the signal for their violation by the whole body of +the people. "It was wonderful how so many myriads of wild animals, which +in large herds before plentifully stocked the country, suddenly +disappeared, so that out of the vast number scarcely two now could be +found together. They seemed to be entirely extirpated." According to the +same authority, "the people also turned to plundering each other without +mercy"; and "whatever the evil passions suggested in peaceable times, +now that the opportunity of vengeance presented itself, was quickly +executed." This is a remarkable condition of a country which, having +been governed by terror, suddenly passed out of the evils of despotism +into the greater evils of anarchy. This temporary confusion must have +contributed to urge on the election of Stephen. By the Londoners he was +received with acclamations; and the _witan_ chose him for king without +hesitation, as one who could best fulfil the duties of the office and +put an end to the dangers of the kingdom. + +Stephen succeeded to a vast amount of treasure. All the rents of Henry I +had been paid in money, instead of in necessaries; and he was rigid in +enforcing the payment in coin of the best quality. With this possession +of means, Stephen surrounded himself with troops from Flanders and +Brittany. The objections to his want of hereditary right appear to have +been altogether laid aside for a time, in the popularity which he +derived from his personal qualities and his command of wealth. Strict +hereditary claims to the choice of the nation had been disregarded since +the time of the Confessor. The oath to Matilda, it was maintained, had +been unwillingly given, and even extorted by force. It is easy to +conceive that, both to Saxon and Norman, the notion of a female +sovereign would be out of harmony with their ancient traditions and +their warlike habits. The king was the great military chief, as well as +the supreme dispenser of justice and guardian of property. The time was +far distant when the sovereign rule might be held to be most +beneficially exercised by a wise choice of administrators, civil and +military; and the power of the crown, being cooerdinate with other +powers, strengthening as well as controlling its final authority, might +be safely and happily exercised by a discreet, energetic, and just +female. King Stephen vindicated the choice of the nation at the very +outset of his reign. He went in person against the robbers who were +ravaging the country. The daughter of "the Lion of Justice" would +probably have done the same. But more than three hundred years had +passed since the Lady of Mercia, the sister of Alfred, had asserted the +courage of her race. Norman and Saxon wanted a king; for though ladies +defended castles, and showed that firmness and bravery were not the +exclusive possession of one sex, no thane or baron had yet knelt before +a queen, and sworn to be her "liege man of life and limb." + +The unanimity which appeared to hail the accession of Stephen was soon +interrupted. David, King of Scotland, had advanced to Carlisle and +Newcastle, to assert the claim of Matilda which he had sworn to uphold. +But Stephen came against him with a great army, and for a time there was +peace. Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of Henry I, had +done homage to Stephen; but his allegiance was very doubtful; and the +general belief that he would renounce his fealty engendered secret +hostility or open resistance among other powerful barons. Robert of +Gloucester very soon defied the King's power. Within two years of his +accession the throne of Stephen was evidently becoming an insecure seat. +To counteract the power of the great nobles, he made a lavish +distribution of crown lands to a large number of tenants-in-chief. Some +of them were called earls; but they had no official charge, as the +greater barons had, but were mere titular lords, made by the royal +bounty. All those who held direct from the Crown were called barons; and +these new barons, who were scattered over the country, had permission +from the King to build castles. Such permission was extended to many +other lay barons. The accustomed manor-house of the land proprietor, in +which he dwelt amid the churls and serfs of his demesne, was now +replaced by a stone tower, surrounded by a moat and a wall. The wooden +one-storied homestead, with its thatched roof, shaded by the "toft" of +ash and elm and maple, was pulled down, and a square fortress with +loopholes and battlement stood in solitary nakedness upon some bleak +hill, ugly and defiant. There with a band of armed men--sometimes with a +wife and children, and not unfrequently with an unhappy victim of his +licentiousness--the baron lived in gloom and gluttony, till the love of +excitement, the approach of want, or the call to battle drove him forth. +His passion for hunting was not always free to be exercised. Venison was +not everywhere to be obtained without danger even to the powerful and +lawless. But within a ride of a few miles there was generally corn in +the barns and herds were in the pastures. The petty baron was almost +invariably a robber--sometimes on his own account, often in some +combined adventure of plunder. The spirit of rapine, always too +prevalent under the strongest government of those times, was now +universal when the government was fighting for its own existence. Bands +of marauders sallied forth from the great towns, especially from +Bristol; and of their proceedings the author of the _Gesta Stephani_ +speaks with the precision of an eye-witness. The Bristolians, under the +instigation of the Earl of Gloucester, were partisans of the ex-empress +Matilda; and wherever the King or his adherents had estates they came to +seize their oxen and sheep, and carried men of substance into Bristol as +captives, with bandaged eyes and bits in their mouths. From other towns +as well as Bristol came forth plunderers, with humble gait and courteous +discourse; who, when they met with a lonely man having the appearance of +being wealthy, would bear him off to starvation and torture, till they +had mulcted him to the last farthing. These and other indications of an +unsettled government took place before the landing of Matilda to assert +her claims. An invasion of England, by the Scottish King, without regard +to the previous pacification, was made in 1138. But this attempt, +although grounded upon the oath which David had sworn to Henry, was +regarded by the Northumbrians as a national hostility which demanded a +national resistance. The course of this invasion has been minutely +described by contemporary chroniclers. + +The author of the _Gesta Stephani_ says: "Scotland, also called Albany, +is a country overspread by extensive moors, but containing flourishing +woods and pastures, which feed large herds of cows and oxen." Of the +mountainous regions he says nothing. Describing the natives as savage, +swift of foot, and lightly armed, he adds, "A confused multitude of this +people being assembled from the lowlands of Scotland, they were formed +into an irregular army and marched for England." From the period of the +Conquest, a large number of Anglo-Saxons had been settled in the +lowlands; and the border countries of Westmoreland and Cumberland were +also occupied, to a considerable extent, by the same race. The people of +Galloway were chiefly of the original British stock. The historians +describe "the confused multitude" as exercising great cruelties in their +advance through the country that lies between the Tweed and the Tees; +and Matthew Paris uses a significant phrase which marks how completely +they spread over the land. He calls them the "Scottish Ants." The +Archbishop of York, Thurstan, an aged but vigorous man, collected a +large army to resist the invaders; and he made a politic appeal to the +old English nationality, by calling out the population under the banners +of their Saxon saints. The Bishop of Durham was the leader of this army, +composed of the Norman chivalry and the English archers. The opposing +forces met at Northallerton, on the 22d of August, 1138. The +Anglo-Norman army was gathered round a tall cross, raised on a car, and +surrounded by the banners of St. Cuthbert and St. Wilfred and St. John +of Beverley. From this incident the bloody day of Northallerton was +called "the Battle of the Standard." Hoveden has given an oration made +by Ralph, Bishop of Durham, in which he addresses the captains as "Brave +nobles of England, Normans by birth"; and pointing to the enemy, who +knew not the use of armor, exclaims, "Your head is covered with the +helmet, your breast with a coat of mail, your legs with greaves, and +your whole body with the shield." Of the Saxon yeomanry he says nothing. +Whether the oration be genuine or not, it exhibits the mode in which the +mass of the people were regarded at that time. Thierry appears to +consider that the bold attempt of David of Scotland was made in reliance +upon the support of the Anglo-Saxon race. But it is perfectly clear that +they bore the brunt of the English battle; and whatever might be their +wrongs, were not disposed to yield their fields and houses to a fierce +multitude who came for spoil and for possession. The Scotch fought with +darts and long spears, and attacked the solid mass of Normans and +English gathered round the standard. Prince Henry, the son of the King +of Scotland, made a vigorous onslaught with a body of horse, composed of +English and Normans attached to his father's household. These were, +without doubt, especial partisans of the claim to the English crown of +the ex-empress Matilda; and, as the King of Scotland himself is +described, were "inflamed with zeal for a just cause."[42] The issue of +the battle was the signal defeat of the Scottish army, with the loss of +eleven thousand men upon the field. A peace was concluded with King +Stephen in the following year. + +[Footnote 42: Scott has given a picturesque account of the battle in his +_Tales of a Grandfather_. Writing, as he often did, from general +impressions, in describing the gallant charge of Prince Henry, he states +that he broke the English line "as if it had been a spider's web." +Hoveden, the historian to whom Scott alludes, applies this strong image +to the scattering of the men of Lothian: "For the Almighty was offended +at them, and their strength was rent like a cobweb."] + +The issue of the battle of the Standard might have given rest to England +if Stephen had understood the spirit of his age. In 1139 he engaged in a +contest more full of peril than the assaults of Scotland or the +disturbances of Wales. He had been successful against some of the +disaffected barons. He had besieged and taken Hereford Castle and +Shrewsbury Castle. Dover Castle had surrendered to his Queen. Robert, +Earl of Gloucester, kept possession of the castles of Bristol and Leeds; +and other nobles held out against him in various strong places. London +and some of the larger towns appear to have steadily clung to his +government. The influence of the Church, by which he had been chiefly +raised to sovereignty, had supported him during his four years of +struggle. But that influence was now to be shaken. + +The rapid and steady growth of the ecclesiastical power in England, from +the period of the Conquest, is one of the most remarkable +characteristics of that age. This progress we must steadily keep in view +if we would rightly understand the general condition of society. All the +great offices of the Church, with scarcely an exception, were filled by +Normans. The Conqueror sternly resisted any attempts of bishops or +abbots to control his civil government. The "Red King" misappropriated +their revenues in many cases. Henry I quarrelled with Anselm about the +right of investiture, which the Pope declared should not be in the hands +of any layman, but Henry compromised a difficult question with his usual +prudence. Whatever difficulties the Church encountered, during seventy +years, and especially during the whole course of Henry's reign, wealth +flowed in upon the ecclesiastics, from king and noble, from burgess and +socman; and every improvement of the country increased the value of +church possessions. It was not only from the lands of the Crown and the +manors of earls that bishoprics and monasteries derived their large +endowments. Henry I founded the Abbey of Reading, but the _mimus_ of +Henry I built the priory and hospital of St. Bartholomew. This +"pleasant-witted gentleman," as Stow calls the royal mimus (which Percy +interprets "minstrel"), having, according to the legend, "diverted the +palaces of princes with courtly mockeries and triflings" for many years, +bethought himself at last of more serious matters, and went to do +penance at Rome. He returned to London; and obtaining a grant of land in +a part of the King's market of Smithfield, which was a filthy marsh +where the common gallows stood, there erected the priory, whose Norman +arches as satisfactorily attest its date as Henry's charter. The piety +of a court jester in the twelfth century, when the science of medicine +was wholly empirical, founded one of the most valuable medical schools +of the nineteenth century. The desire to raise up splendid churches in +the place of the dilapidated Saxon buildings was a passion with Normans, +whether clerics or laymen. Ralph Flambard, the bold and unscrupulous +minister of William II, erected the great priory of Christchurch, in his +capacity of bishop. But he raised the necessary funds with his usual +financial vigor. He took the revenues of the canons into his hands, and +put the canons upon a short allowance till the work was completed. The +Cistercian order of monks was established in England late in the reign +of Henry I. Their rule was one of the most severe mortification and of +the strictest discipline. Their lives were spent in labor and in prayer, +and their one frugal daily meal was eaten in silence. While other +religious orders had their splendid abbeys amid large communities, the +Cistercians humbly asked grants of land in the most solitary places, +where the recluse could meditate without interruption by his fellow-men, +amid desolate moors and in the uncultivated gorges of inaccessible +mountains. In such a barren district Walter l'Espee, who had fought at +Northallerton, founded Rievaulx Abbey. It was "a solitary place in +Blakemore," in the midst of hills. The Norman knight had lost his son, +and here he derived a holy comfort in seeing the monastic buildings rise +under his munificent care, and the waste lands become fertile under the +incessant labors of the devoted monks. The ruins of Tintern Abbey and +Melrose Abbey, whose solemn influences have inspired the poets of our +own age with thoughts akin to the contemplations of their Cistercian +founders, belong to a later period of ecclesiastical architecture; for +the dwellings of the original monks have perished, and the "broken +arches," and "shafted oriel," the "imagery," and "the scrolls that teach +thee to live and die," speak of another century, when the Norman +architecture, like the Norman character, was losing its distinctive +features and becoming "Early English." We dwell a little upon these +Norman foundations, to show how completely the Church was spreading +itself over the land, and asserting its influence in places where man +had seldom trod, as well as in populous towns, where the great cathedral +was crowded with earnest votaries, and the lessons of peace were +proclaimed amid the distractions of unsettled government and the +oppressions of lordly despotism. Whatever was the misery of the country, +the ordinary family ties still bound the people to the universal +Christian church, whether the priest were Norman or English. The +new-born infant was dipped in the great Norman font, as the children of +the Confessor's time had been dipped in the ruder Saxon. The same Latin +office, unintelligible in words, but significant in its import, was said +and sung when the bride stood at the altar and the father was laid in +his grave. The vernacular tongue gradually melted into one dialect; and +the penitent and the confessor were the first to lay aside the great +distinction of race and country--that of language. + +The Norman prelates were men of learning and ability, of taste and +magnificence; and, whatever might have been the luxury and even vices of +some among them, the vast revenues of the great sees were not wholly +devoted to worldly pomp, but were applied to noble uses. After the lapse +of seven centuries we still tread with reverence those portions of our +cathedrals in which the early Norman architecture is manifest. There is +no English cathedral in which we are so completely impressed with the +massive grandeur of the round-arched style as by Durham. Durham +Cathedral was commenced in the middle of the reign of Rufus, and the +building went on through the reign of Henry I. Canterbury was commenced +by Archbishop Lanfranc, soon after the Conquest, and was enlarged and +altered in various details, till it was burned in 1174. Some portions of +the original building remain. Rochester was commenced eleven years after +the Conquest; and its present nave is an unaltered part of the original +building. Chichester has nearly the same date of its commencement; and +the building of this church was continued till its dedication in 1148. +Norwich was founded in 1094, and its erection was carried forward so +rapidly that in seven years there were sixty monks here located. +Winchester is one of the earliest of these noble cathedrals; but its +Norman feature of the round arch is not the general characteristic of +the edifice, the original piers having been recased in the pointed +style, in the reign of Edward III. The dates of these buildings, so +grand in their conception, so solid in their execution, would be +sufficient of themselves to show the wealth and activity of the Church +during the reigns of the Conqueror and his sons. But, during this period +of seventy years, and in part of the reign of Stephen, the erection of +monastic buildings was universal in England, as in Continental Europe. +The crusades gave a most powerful impulse to the religious fervor. In +the enthusiasm of chivalry, which covered many of its enormities with +outward acts of piety, vows were frequently made by wealthy nobles that +they would depart for the Holy Wars. But sometimes the vow was +inconvenient. The lady of the castle wept at the almost certain perils +of her lord, and his projects of ambition often kept the lord at home to +look after his own especial interests. Then the vow to wear the cross +might be commuted by the foundation of a religious house. Death-bed +repentance for crimes of violence and a licentious life increased the +number of these endowments. It has been computed that three hundred +monastic establishments were founded in England during the reigns of +Henry I, Stephen, and Henry II. + +We have briefly stated these few general facts regarding the outward +manifestation of the power and the wealth of the Church at this period, +to show how important an influence it must have exercised upon all +questions of government. But its organization was of far greater +importance than the aggregate wealth of the sees and abbeys. The English +Church, during the troubled reign of Stephen, had become more completely +under the papal dominion than at any previous period of its history. The +King attempted, rashly perhaps, but honestly, to interpose some check to +the ecclesiastical desire for supremacy; but from the hour when he +entered into a contest with bishops and synods, his reign became one of +kingly trouble and national misery. + +The Norman bishops not only combined in their own persons the functions +of the priest and of the lawyer, but were often military leaders. As +barons they had knight-service to perform; and this condition of their +tenures naturally surrounded them with armed retainers. That this +anomalous position should have corrupted the ambitious churchman into a +proud and luxurious lord was almost inevitable. The authority of the +Crown might have been strong enough to repress the individual +discontent, or to punish the individual treason, of these great +prelates; but every one of them was doubly formidable as a member of a +confederacy over which a foreign head claimed to preside. There were +three bishops whose intrigues King Stephen had especially to dread at +the time when an open war for the succession of Matilda was on the point +of bursting forth. Roger, the Bishop of Salisbury, had been promoted +from the condition of a parish priest at Caen, to be chaplain, +secretary, chancellor, and chief justiciary of Henry I. He was +instrumental in the election of Stephen to the throne; and he was +rewarded with extravagant gifts, as he had been previously rewarded by +Henry. Stephen appears to have fostered his rapacity, in the conviction +that his pride would have a speedier fall; the King often saying, "I +would give him half England, if he asked for it: till the time be ripe +he shall tire of asking ere I tire of giving." The time was ripe in +1139. The Bishop had erected castles at Devizes, at Sherborne, and at +Malmesbury. King Henry had given him the castle of Salisbury. This lord +of four castles had powerful auxiliaries in his nephews, the Bishop of +Lincoln and the Bishop of Ely. Alexander of Lincoln had built the +castles of Newark and Sleaford, and was almost as powerful as his uncle. +In July, 1139, a great council was held at Oxford; and thither came +these three bishops with military and secular pomp, and with an escort +that became "the wonder of all beholders." A quarrel ensued between the +retainers of the bishops and those of Alain, Earl of Brittany, about a +right to quarters; and the quarrel went on to a battle, in which men +were slain on both sides. The bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln were +arrested, as breakers of the king's peace. The Bishop of Ely fled to his +uncle's castle of Devizes. The King, under the advice of the sagacious +Earl Millent, resolved to dispossess these dangerous prelates of their +fortresses, which were all finally surrendered. "The bishops, humbled +and mortified, and stripped of all pomp and vainglory, were reduced to a +simple ecclesiastical life, and to the possessions belonging to them as +churchmen." The contemporary who writes this--the author of the _Gesta +Stephani_--although a decided partisan of Stephen, speaks of this event +as the result of mad counsels, and a grievous sin that resembled the +wickedness of the sons of Korah and of Saul. The great body of the +ecclesiastics were indignant at what they considered an offence to their +order. The Bishop of Winchester, the brother of Stephen, had become the +Pope's legate in England, and he summoned the King to attend a synod at +Winchester. He there produced his authority as legate from Pope +Innocent, and denounced the arrest of the bishops as a dreadful crime. +The King had refused to attend the council, but he sent Alberic de Vere, +"a man deeply versed in legal affairs," to represent him. This advocate +urged that the Bishop of Lincoln was the author of the tumult at Oxford; +that whenever Bishop Roger came to court, his people, presuming on his +power, excited tumults; that the Bishop secretly favored the King's +enemies, and was ready to join the party of the Empress. The council was +adjourned, but on a subsequent day came the Archbishop of Rouen, as the +champion of the King, and contended that it was against the canons that +the bishops should possess castles; and that even if they had the right, +they were bound to deliver them up to the will of the King, as the times +were eventful, and the King was bound to make war for the common +security. The Archbishop of Rouen reasoned as a statesman; the Bishop of +Winchester as the Pope's legate. Some of the bishops threatened to +proceed to Rome; and the King's advocate intimated that if they did so, +their return might not be so easy. Swords were at last unsheathed. The +King and the earls were now in open hostility with the legate and the +bishops. Excommunication of the King was hinted at; but persuasion was +resorted to. Stephen, according to one authority, made humble +submission, and thus "abated the rigor of ecclesiastical discipline." If +he did submit, his submission was too late. Within a month Earl Robert +and the empress Matilda were in England. + +Matilda and the Earl of Gloucester landed at Arundel, where the widow of +Henry I was dwelling. They had a very small force to support their +pretensions. The Earl crossed the country to Bristol. "All England was +struck with alarm, and men's minds were agitated in various ways. Those +who secretly or openly favored the invaders were roused to more than +usual activity against the King, while his own partisans were terrified +as if a thunderbolt had fallen." Stephen invested the castle of Arundel. +But in the most romantic spirit of chivalry he permitted the Empress to +pass out, and to set forward to join her brother at Bristol, under a +safe-conduct. In 1140 the whole kingdom appears to have been subjected +to the horrors of a partisan warfare. The barons in their castles were +making a show of "defending their neighborhoods, but, more properly to +speak, were laying them waste." The legate and the bishops were +excommunicating the plunderers of churches, but the plunderers laughed +at their anathemas. Freebooters came over from Flanders, not to practise +the industrial arts as in the time of Henry I, but to take their part in +the general pillage. There was frightful scarcity in the country, and +the ordinary interchange of man with man was unsettled by the debasement +of the coin. "All things," says Malmesbury, "became venial in England; +and churches and abbeys were no longer secretly but even publicly +exposed to sale." All things become venial, under a government too weak +to repress plunder or to punish corruption. The strong aim to be rich by +rapine, and the cunning by fraud, when the confusion of a kingdom is +grown so great that, as is recorded of this period, "the neighbor could +put no faith in his nearest neighbor, nor the friend in his friend, nor +the brother in his own brother." The demoralization of anarchy is even +more terrible than its bloodshed. + +The marches and sieges, the revolts and treacheries, of this evil time +are occasionally varied by incidents which illustrate the state of +society. Robert Fitz-Herbert, with a detachment of the Earl of +Gloucester's soldiers, surprised the castle of Devizes, which the King +had taken from the Bishop of Salisbury. Robert Fitz-Herbert varies the +atrocities of his fellow-barons, by rubbing his prisoners with honey, +and exposing them naked to the sun. But Robert, having obtained Devizes, +refused to admit the Earl of Gloucester to any advantage of its +possession, and commenced the subjection of the neighborhood on his own +account. Another crafty baron, John Fitz-Gilbert, held the castle of +Marlborough; and Robert Fitz-Herbert, having an anxious desire to be +lord of that castle also, endeavoring to cajole Fitz-Gilbert into the +admission of his followers, went there as a guest, but was detained as a +prisoner. Upon this the Earl of Gloucester came in force for revenge +against his treacherous ally, Fitz-Herbert, and, conducting him to +Devizes, there hanged him. The surprise of Lincoln Castle, upon which +the events of 1141 mainly turned, is equally characteristic of the age. +Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and William de Roumare, his half-brother, were +avowed friends of King Stephen. But their ambition took a new direction +for the support of Matilda. The garrison of Lincoln had no apprehension +of a surprise, and were busy in those sports which hardy men enjoy even +amid the rougher sport of war. The Countess of Chester and her +sister-in-law, with a politeness that the ladies of the court of Louis +le Grand could not excel, paid a visit to the wife of the knight who had +the defence of the castle. While there, at this pleasant morning call, +"talking and joking" with the unsuspecting matron, as Ordericus relates, +the Earl of Chester came in, "without his armor or even his mantle," +attended only by three soldiers. His courtesy was as flattering as that +of his countess and her friend. But his men-at-arms suddenly mastered +the unprepared guards, and the gates were thrown open to Earl William +and his numerous followers. The earls, after this stratagem, held the +castle against the King, who speedily marched to Lincoln. But the Earl +of Chester contrived to leave the castle, and soon raised a powerful +army of his own vassals. The Earl of Gloucester joined him with a +considerable force, and they together advanced to the relief of the +besieged city. The battle of Lincoln was preceded by a trifling incident +to which the chroniclers have attached importance. It was the Feast of +the Purification; and at the mass which was celebrated at the dawn of +day, when the King was holding a lighted taper in his hand it was +suddenly extinguished. "This was an omen of sorrow to the King," says +Hoveden. But another chronicler, the author of the _Gesta Stephain_, +tells us, in addition, that the wax candle was suddenly relighted; and +he accordingly argues that this incident was "a token that for his sins +he should be deprived of his crown, but on his repentance, through God's +mercy, he should wonderfully and gloriously recover it." The King had +been more than a month laying siege to the castle, and his army was +encamped around the city of Lincoln. When it was ascertained that his +enemies were at hand he was advised to raise the siege and march out to +strengthen his power by a general levy. He decided upon instant battle. +He was then exhorted not to fight on the solemn festival of the +Purification. But his courage was greater than his prudence or his +piety. He set forth to meet the insurgent earls. The best knights were +in his army; but the infantry of his rivals was far more numerous. +Stephen detached a strong body of horse and foot to dispute the passage +of a ford of the Trent. But Gloucester by an impetuous charge obtained +possession of the ford, and the battle became general. The King's +horsemen fled. The desperate bravery of Stephen, and the issue of the +battle, have been described by Henry of Huntingdon with singular +animation: "King Stephen, therefore, with his infantry, stood alone in +the midst of the enemy. These surrounded the royal troops, attacking the +columns on all sides, as if they were assaulting a castle. Then the +battle raged terribly round this circle; helmets and swords gleamed as +they clashed, and the fearful cries and shouts reechoed from the +neighboring hills and city walls. The cavalry, furiously charging the +royal column, slew some and trampled down others; some were made +prisoners. No respite, no breathing time, was allowed; except in the +quarter in which the King himself had taken his stand, where the +assailants recoiled from the unmatched force of his terrible arm. The +Earl of Chester seeing this, and envious of the glory the King was +gaining, threw himself upon him with the whole weight of his +men-at-arms. Even then the King's courage did not fail, but his heavy +battle-axe gleamed like lightning, striking down some, bearing back +others. At length it was shattered by repeated blows. Then he drew his +well-tried sword, with which he wrought wonders, until that too was +broken. Perceiving which, William de Kaims, a brave soldier, rushed on +him, and seizing him by his helmet, shouted, 'Here, here, I have taken +the King!' Others came to his aid, and the King was made prisoner." + +After the capture of King Stephen, at this brief but decisive battle, he +was kept a close prisoner at Bristol Castle. Then commenced what might +be called the reign of Queen Matilda, which lasted about eight months. +The defeat of Stephen was the triumph of the greater ecclesiastics. On +the third Sunday in Lent, 1141, there was a conference on the plain in +the neighborhood of Winchester--a day dark and rainy, which portended +disasters. The Bishop of Winchester came forth from his city with all +the pomp of the pope's legate; and there Matilda swore that in all +matters of importance, and especially in the bestowal of bishoprics and +abbeys, she would submit to the Church; and the Bishop and his +supporters pledged their faith to the Empress on these conditions. After +Easter, a great council was held at Winchester, which the Bishop called +as the Pope's vicegerent. The unscrupulous churchman boldly came +forward, and denounced his brother, inviting the assembly to elect a +sovereign; and, with an amount of arrogance totally unprecedented, thus +asserted the notorious untruth that the right of electing a king of +England principally belonged to the clergy: "The case was yesterday +agitated before a part of the higher clergy of England, to whose right +it principally pertains to elect the sovereign, and also to crown him. +First, then, as is fitting, invoking God's assistance, we elect the +daughter of that peaceful, that glorious, that rich, that good, and in +our times incomparable king, as sovereign of England and Normandy, and +promise her fidelity and support." The Bishop then said to the +applauding assembly: "We have despatched messengers for the Londoners, +who, from the importance of their city in England, are almost nobles, as +it were, to meet us on this business." The next day the Londoners came. +They were sent, they said, by their fraternity to entreat that their +lord, the King, might be liberated from captivity. The legate refused +them, and repeated his oration against his brother. It was a work of +great difficulty to soothe the minds of the Londoners; and St. John's +Day had arrived before they would consent to acknowledge Matilda. Many +parts of the kingdom had then submitted to her government, and she +entered London with great state. Her nature seems to have been rash and +imperious. Her first act was to demand subsidies of the citizens; and +when they said that their wealth was greatly diminished by the troubled +state of the kingdom, she broke forth into insufferable rage. The +vigilant queen of Stephen, who kept possession of Kent, now approached +the city with a numerous force, and by her envoys demanded her husband's +freedom. Of course her demand was made in vain. She then put forth a +front of battle. Instead of being crowned at Westminster, the daughter +of Henry I fled in terror; for "the whole city flew to arms at the +ringing of the bells, which was the signal for war, and all with one +accord rose upon the Countess [of Anjou] and her adherents, as swarms of +wasps issue from their hives." + +William Fitzstephen, the biographer of Thomas a Becket, in his +_Description of London_, supposed to be written about the middle of the +reign of Henry II, says of this city, "ennobled by her men, graced by +her arms, and peopled by a multitude of inhabitants," that "in the wars +under King Stephen there went out to a muster of armed horsemen, +esteemed fit for war, twenty thousand, and of infantry, sixty thousand." +In general, the _Description of London_ appears trustworthy, and in some +instances is supported by other authorities. But this vast number of +fighting men must, unquestionably, be exaggerated: unless, as Lyttelton +conjectures, such a muster included the militia of Middlesex, Kent, and +other counties adjacent to London. Peter of Blois, in the reign of Henry +II, reckons the inhabitants of the city at forty thousand. That the +citizens were trained to warlike exercises, and that their manly sports +nurtured them in the hardihood of military habits, we may well conclude +from Fitzstephen's account of this community at a little later period +than that of which we are writing. To the north of the city were pasture +lands, with streams on whose banks the clack of many mills was pleasing +to the ear; and beyond was an immense forest, with densely wooded +thickets, where stags, fallow-deer, boars, and wild bulls had their +coverts. We have seen that in the charter of Henry I the citizens had +liberty to hunt through a very extensive district, and hawking was also +among their free recreations. Football was the favorite game; and the +boys of the schools, and the various guilds of craftsmen, had each their +ball. The elder citizens came on horseback to see these contests of the +young men. Every Sunday in Lent a company with lances and shields went +out to joust. In the Easter holidays they had river tournaments. During +the summer the youths exercised themselves in leaping, archery, +wrestling, stone-throwing, slinging javelins, and fighting with +bucklers. When the great marsh which washed the walls of the city on the +north was frozen over, sliding, sledging, and skating were the sports of +crowds. They had sham fights on the ice, and legs and arms were +sometimes broken. "But," says Fitzstephen, "youth is an age eager for +glory and desirous of victory, and so young men engage in counterfeit +battles, that they may conduct themselves more valiantly in real ones." +That universal love of hardy sports, which is one of the greatest +characteristics of England, and from which we derive no little of that +spirit which keeps our island safe, is not of modern growth. It was one +of the most important portions of the education of the people seven +centuries ago. + +It was this community, then, so brave, so energetic, so enriched by +commerce above all the other cities of England, that resolutely abided +by the fortunes of King Stephen. They had little to dread from any +hostile assaults of the rival faction; for the city was strongly +fortified on all sides except to the river; but on that side it was +secure, after the Tower was built. The palace of Westminster had also a +breastwork and bastions. After Matilda had taken her hasty departure, +the indignant Londoners marched out, and they sustained a principal part +in what has been called "the rout of Winchester," in which Robert, Earl +of Gloucester, was taken prisoner. The ex-Empress escaped to Devizes. +The capture of the Earl of Gloucester led to important results. A +convention was agreed to between the adherents of each party that the +King should be exchanged for the Earl. Stephen was once more "every inch +a king." But still there was no peace in the land. + +The Bishop of Winchester had again changed his side. In the hour of +success the empress Matilda had refused the reasonable request that +Prince Eustace, the son of Stephen, should be put in possession of his +father's earldom of Boulogne. Malmesbury says, "A misunderstanding arose +between the legate and the Empress which may be justly considered as the +melancholy cause of every subsequent evil in England." The chief actors +in this extraordinary drama present a curious study of human character. +Matilda, resting her claim to the throne upon her legitimate descent +from Henry I, who had himself usurped the throne--possessing her +father's courage and daring, with some of his cruelty--haughty, +vindictive--furnishes one of the most striking portraits of the proud +lady of the feudal period, who shrank from no danger by reason of her +sex, but made the homage of chivalry to woman a powerful instrument for +enforcing her absolute will. The Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate +brother of Matilda, brave, steadfast, of a free and generous nature, a +sagacious counsellor, a lover of literature, appears to have had few of +the vices of that age, and most of its elevating qualities. Of Stephen +it has been said, "He deserves no other reproach than that of having +embraced the occupation of a captain of banditti." This appears rather a +harsh judgment from a philosophical writer. Bearing in mind that the +principle of election prevailed in the choice of a king, whatever was +the hereditary claim, and seeing how welcome was the advent of Stephen +when he came, in 1135, to avert the dangers of the kingdom, he merits +the title of "a captain of banditti" no more than Harold or William the +Conqueror. After the contests of six years--the victories, the defeats, +the hostility of the Church, his capture and imprisonment--the +attachment of the people of the great towns to his person and government +appears to have been unshaken. When he was defeated at Lincoln, and led +captive through the city, "the surrounding multitude were moved with +pity, shedding tears and uttering cries of grief." Ordericus says: "The +King's disaster filled with grief the clergy and monks and the common +people; because he was condescending and courteous to those who were +good and quiet, and if his treacherous nobles had allowed it, he would +have put an end to their rapacious enterprises, and been a generous +protector and benevolent friend of the country." The fourth and not +least remarkable personage of this history is Henry, the Bishop of +Winchester, and the Pope's legate. At that period, when the functions of +churchman and statesman were united, we find this man the chief +instrument for securing the crown for his brother. He subsequently +becomes the vicegerent of the papal see. Stephen, with more justice than +discretion, is of opinion that bishops are not doing their duty when +they build castles, ride about in armor, with crowds of retainers, and +are not at all scrupulous in appropriating some of the booty of a +lawless time. From the day when he exhibited his hostility to fighting +bishops, the Pope's legate was his brother's deadly enemy. But he found +that the rival whom he had set up was by no means a pliant tool in his +hands, and he then turned against Matilda. When Stephen had shaken off +the chains with which he was loaded in Bristol Castle, the Bishop +summoned a council at Westminster, on his legatine authority; and there +"by great powers of eloquence, endeavored to extenuate the odium of his +own conduct"; affirming that he had supported the Empress, "not from +inclination, but necessity." He then "commanded on the part of God and +of the Pope, that they should strenuously assist the King, appointed by +the will of the people, and by the approbation of the Holy See." +Malmesbury, who records these doings, adds that a layman sent from the +Empress affirmed that "her coming to England had been effected by the +legate's frequent letters"; and that "her taking the King, and holding +him in captivity, had been done principally by his connivance." The +reign of Stephen is not only "the most perfect condensation of all the +ills of feudality," but affords a striking picture of the ills which +befall a people when an ambitious hierarchy, swayed to and fro at the +will of a foreign power, regards the supremacy of the Church as the one +great object to be attained, at whatever expense of treachery and +falsehood, of national degradation and general suffering. + +In 1142 the civil war is raging more fiercely than ever. Matilda is at +Oxford, a fortified city, protected by the Thames, by a wall, and by an +impregnable castle. Stephen, with a body of veterans, wades across the +river and enters the city. Matilda and her followers take refuge in the +keep. For three months the King presses the siege, surrounding the +fortress on all sides. Famine is approaching to the helpless garrison. +It is the Christmas season. The country is covered with a deep snow. The +Thames and the tributary rivers are frozen over. With a small escort +Matilda contrives to escape, and passes undiscovered through the royal +posts, on a dark and silent night, when no sound is heard but the clang +of a trumpet or the challenge of a sentinel. In the course of the night +she went to Abingdon on foot, and afterwards reached Wallingford on +horseback. The author of the _Gesta Stephani_ expresses his wonder at +the marvellous escapes of this courageous woman. The changes of her +fortune are equally remarkable. After the flight from Oxford the arms of +the Earl of Gloucester are again successful. Stephen is beaten at +Wilton, and retreats precipitately with his military brother, the Bishop +of Winchester. There are now in the autumn of 1142 universal turmoil and +desolation. Many people emigrate. Others crowd round the sanctuary of +the churches, and dwell there in mean hovels. Famine is general. Fields +are white with ripened corn, but the cultivators have fled, and there is +none to gather the harvest. Cities are deserted and depopulated. Fierce +foreign mercenaries, for whom the barons have no pay, pillage the farms +and the monasteries. The bishops, for the most part, rest supine amid +all this storm of tyranny. When they rouse themselves they increase +rather than mitigate the miseries of the people. Milo, Earl of Hereford, +has demanded money of the Bishop of Hereford to pay his troops. The +Bishop refuses, and Milo seizes his lands and goods. The Bishop then +pronounces sentence of excommunication against Milo and his adherents, +and lays an interdict upon the country subject to the Earl's authority. +We might hastily think that the solemn curse pronounced against a +nation, or a district, was an unmeaning ceremony, with its "bell, book, +and candle," to terrify only the weakminded. It was one of the most +outrageous of the numerous ecclesiastical tyrannies. The consolations of +religion were eagerly sought for and justly prized by the great body of +the people, who earnestly believed that a happy future would be a reward +for the patient endurance of a miserable present. As they were admitted +to the holy communion, they recognized an acknowledgment of the equality +of men before the great Father of all. Their marriages were blessed and +their funerals were hallowed. Under an interdict all the churches were +shut. No knell was tolled for the dead, for the dead remained unburied. +No merry peals welcomed the bridal procession, for no couple could be +joined in wedlock. The awe-stricken mother might have her infant +baptized, and the dying might receive extreme unction. But all public +offices of the Church were suspended. If we imagine such a condition of +society in a village devastated by fire and sword, we may wonder how a +free government and a Christian church have ever grown up among us. + +If Stephen had quietly possessed the throne, and his heir had succeeded +him, the crowns of England and Normandy would have been disconnected +before the thirteenth century. Geoffrey of Anjou, while his duchess was +in England, had become master of Normandy, and its nobles had +acknowledged his son Henry as their rightful duke. The boy was in +England, under the protection of the Earl of Gloucester, who attended to +his education. The great Earl died in 1147. For a few years there had +been no decided contest between the forces of the King and the Empress. +After eight years of terrible hostility, and of desperate adventure, +Matilda left the country. Stephen made many efforts to control the +license of the barons, but with little effect. He was now engaged in +another quarrel with the Church. His brother had been superseded as +legate by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, in consequence of the +death of the Pope who had supported the Bishop of Winchester. Theobald +was Stephen's enemy, and his hostility was rendered formidable by his +alliance with Bigod, the Earl of Norfolk. The Archbishop excommunicated +Stephen and his adherents, and the King was enforced to submission. In +1150 Stephen, having been again reconciled to the Church, sought the +recognition of his son Eustace as the heir to the kingdom. This +recognition was absolutely refused by the Archbishop, who said that +Stephen was regarded by the papal see as an usurper. But time was +preparing a solution of the difficulties of the kingdom. Henry of Anjou +was grown into manhood. Born in 1133, he had been knighted by his uncle, +David of Scotland, in 1149. His father died in 1151, and he became not +only Duke of Normandy, but Earl of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine. In 1152 +he contracted a marriage of ambition with Eleanor, the divorced wife of +Louis of France, and thus became Lord of Aquitaine and Poitou, which +Eleanor possessed in her own right. Master of all the western coast of +France, from the Somme to the Pyrenees, with the exception of Brittany, +his ambition, thus strengthened by his power, prepared to dispute the +sovereignty of England with better hopes than ever waited on his +mother's career. He landed with a well-appointed band of followers in +1153, and besieged various castles. But no general encounter took place. +The King and the Duke had a conference, without witnesses, across a +rivulet, and this meeting prepared the way for a final pacification. The +negotiators were Henry, the Bishop, on the one part, and Theobald, the +Archbishop, on the other. Finally Stephen led the Prince in solemn +procession through the streets of Winchester, "and all the great men of +the realm, by the King's command, did homage, and pronounced the fealty +due to their liege lord, to the Duke of Normandy, saving only their +allegiance to King Stephen during his life." Stephen's son Eustace had +died during the negotiations. The troublesome reign of Stephen was soon +after brought to a close. He died on the 25th of October, 1154. His +constant and heroic queen had died three years before him. + + + + +ANTIPAPAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT: ARNOLD OF BRESCIA + +ST. BERNARD AND THE SECOND CRUSADE + +A.D. 1145-1155 + +JOHANN A.W. NEANDER + + +(During the first half of the twelfth century--a period marked by +conflicting spiritual tendencies--in Italy began a work of political and +religious reform, which has ever since been associated with the name of +its chief originator and apostle, Arnold of Brescia, so called from his +native city in Lombardy. He was born about the year 1100, became a +disciple of Abelard--whose teachings fired him with enthusiasm--and +entered the priesthood. + +Although quite orthodox in doctrine, he rebelled against the +secularization of the Church--which had given to the pope almost supreme +power in temporal affairs--and against the worldly disposition and life +then prevalent among ecclesiastics and monks. His own life was sternly +simple and ascetic, and this habit had been strongly confirmed by the +ethical passion which burned in the religious and philosophical +instructions of Abelard. With the popular religion Arnold had earnest +sympathy, but he would reduce the clergy to their primitive and +apostolic poverty, depriving them of individual wealth and of all +temporal power. + +The inspiring idea of Arnold's movement was that of a holy and pure +church, a renovation of the spiritual order after the pattern of the +apostolic church. He conformed in dress as well as in his mode of life +to the principles he taught. The worldly and often corrupt clergy, he +maintained, were unfit to discharge the priestly functions--they were no +longer priests, and the secularized Church was no longer the house of +God. + +Arnold dreamed of a great Christian republic and labored to establish +it, insomuch that his ideal, never realized in concrete form, either in +church or state, took, and in history has kept, the name of republic. +His eloquence and sincerity brought him powerful popular support, and +even a large part of the nobility were won to his side. But of course, +among those whom his aims condemned or antagonized, there were many who +spared no pains to place him in an unfavorable light and to bring his +labors to naught. In the simple story of his career, as here told by the +great church historian, his figure appears in an attitude of heroism, +which the pathos of his end can only make the reader more deeply +appreciate. Through all this agitation is heard the voice of St. Bernard +urging the religious conscience and better aspiration of the time, +preaching the Second Crusade, and speeding its eastward march with +earnest expectation--his high hope doomed to perish with its inglorious +result.) + + +Arnold's discourses were directly calculated by their tendency to find +ready entrance into the minds of the laity, before whose eyes the +worldly lives of the ecclesiastics and monks were constantly present, +and to create a faction in deadly hostility to the clergy. Superadded to +this was the inflammable matter already prepared by the collision of the +spirit of political freedom with the power of the higher clergy. Thus +Arnold's addresses produced in the minds of the Italian people, quite +susceptible to such excitements, a prodigious effect, which threatened +to spread more widely, and Pope Innocent felt himself called upon to +take preventive measures against it. At the Lateran Council, in the year +1139, he declared against Arnold's proceedings, and commanded him to +quit Italy--the scene of the disturbances thus far--and not to return +again without express permission from the Pope. Arnold, moreover, is +said to have bound himself by an oath to obey this injunction, which +probably was expressed in such terms as to leave him free to interpret +it as referring exclusively to the person of Pope Innocent. If the oath +was not so expressed, he might afterward have been accused of violating +that oath. It is to be regretted that the form in which the sentence was +pronounced against Arnold has not come down to us; but from its very +character it is evident that he could not have been convicted of any +false doctrine, since otherwise the Pope would certainly not have +treated him so mildly--would not have been contented with merely +banishing him from Italy, since teachers of false doctrine would be +dangerous to the Church everywhere. + +Bernard, moreover, in his letter directed against Arnold, states that he +was accused before the Pope of being the author of a very bad schism. +Arnold now betook himself to France, and here he became entangled in the +quarrels with his old teacher Abelard, to whom he was indebted for the +first impulse of his mind toward this more serious and free bent of the +religious spirit. Expelled from France, he directed his steps to +Switzerland, and sojourned in Zurich. The abbot Bernard thought it +necessary to caution the Bishop of Constance against him; but the man +who had been condemned by the Pope found protection there from the papal +legate, Cardinal Guido, who, indeed, made him a member of his household +and companion of his table. The abbot Bernard severely censured the +prelate, on the ground that Arnold's connection with him would +contribute, without fail, to give importance and influence to that +dangerous man. This deserves to be noticed on two accounts, for it makes +it evident what power he could exercise over men's minds, and that no +false doctrines could be charged to his account. + +But independent of Arnold's personal presence, the impulse which he had +given continued to operate in Italy, and the effects of it extended even +to Rome. By the papal condemnation, public attention was only more +strongly drawn to the subject. + +The Romans certainly felt no great sympathy for the religious element in +that serious spirit of reform which animated Arnold; but the political +movements, which had sprung out of his reforming tendency, found a point +of attachment in their love of liberty, and their dreams of the ancient +dominion of Rome over the world. The idea of emancipating themselves +from the yoke of the Pope, and of reestablishing the old Republic, +flattered their Roman pride. Espousing the principles of Arnold, they +required that the Pope, as spiritual head of the Church, should confine +himself to the administration of spiritual affairs; and they committed +to a senate the supreme direction of civil affairs. + +Innocent could do nothing to stem such a violent current; and he died in +the midst of these disturbances, in the year 1143. The mild Cardinal +Guido, the friend of Abelard and Arnold, became his successor, and +called himself, when pope, Celestine II. By his gentleness, quiet was +restored for a short time. Perhaps it was the news of the elevation of +this friendly man to the papal throne that encouraged Arnold himself to +come to Rome. But Celestine died after six months, and Lucius II was his +successor. Under his reign the Romans renewed the former agitations with +more violence; they utterly renounced obedience to the Pope, whom they +recognized only in his priestly character, and the restored Roman +Republic sought to strike a league in opposition to the Pope and to +papacy with the new Emperor, Conrad III. + +In the name of the "senate and Roman people," a pompous letter was +addressed to Conrad. The Emperor was invited to come to Rome, that from +thence, like Justinian and Constantine, in former days, he might give +laws to the world. + +Caesar should have the things that are Caesar's; the priest the things +that are the priest's, as Christ ordained when Peter paid the tribute +money. Long did the tendency awakened by Arnold's principles continue to +agitate Rome. In the letters written amidst these commotions, by +individual noblemen of Rome to the Emperor, we perceive a singular +mixing together of the Arnoldian spirit with the dreams of Roman vanity; +a radical tendency to the separation of secular from spiritual things +which if it had been capable enough in itself, and if it could have +found more points of attachment in the age, would have brought +destruction on the old theocratical system of the Church. They said that +the Pope could claim no political sovereignty in Rome; he could not even +be consecrated without the consent of the Emperor--a rule which had in +fact been observed till the time of Gregory VII. Men complained of the +worldliness of the clergy, of their bad lives, of the contradiction +between their conduct and the teachings of Scripture. + +The popes were accused as the instigators of the wars. "The popes," it +was said, "should no longer unite the cup of the eucharist with the +sword; it was their vocation to preach, and to confirm what they +preached by good works. How could those who eagerly grasped at all the +wealth of this world, and corrupted the true riches of the Church, the +doctrine of salvation obtained by Christ, by their false doctrines and +their luxurious living, receive that word of our Lord, 'Blessed are the +poor in spirit,' when they were poor themselves neither in fact nor in +disposition?" Even the donative of Constantine to the Roman bishop +Silvester was declared to be a pitiable fiction. This lie had been so +clearly exposed that it was obvious to the very day-laborers and to +women, and that these could put to silence the most learned men if they +ventured to defend the genuineness of this donative; so that the Pope, +with his cardinals, no longer dared to appear in public. But Arnold was +perhaps the only individual in whose case such a tendency was deeply +rooted in religious conviction; with many it was but a transitory +intoxication, in which their political interests had become merged for +the moment. + +The pope Lucius II was killed as early as 1145, in the attack on the +Capitol. A scholar of the great abbot Bernard, the abbot Peter Bernard +of Pisa, now mounted the papal chair under the name of Eugene III. As +Eugene honored and loved the abbot Bernard as his spiritual father and +old preceptor, so the latter took advantage of his relation to the Pope +to speak the truth to him with a plainness which no other man would +easily have ventured to use. In congratulating him upon his elevation to +the papal dignity, he took occasion to exhort him to do away with the +many abuses which had become so widely spread in the Church by worldly +influences. "Who will give me the satisfaction," said he in his letter, +"of beholding the Church of God, before I die, in a condition like that +in which it was in ancient days, when the apostles threw out their nets, +not for silver and gold, but for souls? How fervently I wish thou +mightest inherit the word of that apostle whose episcopal seat thou hast +acquired, of him who said, 'Thy gold perish with thee.' Oh that all the +enemies of Zion might tremble before this dreadful word, and shrink back +abashed! This, thy mother indeed expects and requires of thee, for this +long and sigh the sons of thy mother, small and great, that every plant +which our Father in heaven has not planted may be rooted up by thy +hands." He then alluded to the sudden deaths of the last predecessors of +the Pope, exhorting him to humility, and reminding him of his +responsibility. "In all thy works," he wrote, "remember that thou art a +man; and let the fear of Him who taketh away the breath of rulers be +ever before thine eyes." + +Eugene was soon forced to yield, it is true, to the superior force of +the insurrectionary spirit in Rome, and in 1146 to take refuge in +France; but, like Urban and Innocent, he too, from this country, +attained to the highest triumph of the papal power. Like Innocent, he +found there, in the abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, a mightier instrument +for operating on the minds of the age than he could have found in any +other country; and like Urban, when banished from the ancient seat of +the papacy, he was enabled to place himself at the head of a crusade +proclaimed in his name, and undertaken with great enthusiasm; an +enterprise from which a new impression of sacredness would be reflected +back upon his own person. + +The news of the success which had attended the arms of the Saracens in +Syria, the defeat of the Christians, the conquest of the ancient +Christian territory of Edessa, the danger which threatened the new +Christian kingdom of Jerusalem and the Holy City, had spread alarm among +the Western nations, and the Pope considered himself bound to summon the +Christians of the West to the assistance of their hard-pressed brethren +in the faith and to the recovery of the holy places. By a letter +directed to the abbot Bernard he commissioned him to exhort the Western +Christians in his name, that, for penance and forgiveness of sins, they +should march to the East, to deliver their brethren, or to give up their +lives for them. Enthusiastic for the cause himself Bernard communicated, +through the power of the living word and by letters, his enthusiasm to +the nations. He represented the new crusade as a means furnished by God +to the multitudes sunk in sin, of calling them to repentance, and of +paving the way, by devout participation in a pious work, for the +forgiveness of their sins. Thus, in his letter to the clergy and people +in East Frankland (Germany), he exhorts them eagerly to lay hold on this +opportunity; he declares that the Almighty condescended to invite +murderers, robbers, adulterers, perjurers, and those sunk in other +crimes, into his service, as well as the righteous. He calls upon them +to make an end of waging war with one another, and to seek an object for +their warlike prowess in this holy contest. "Here, brave warrior," he +exclaims, "thou hast a field where thou mayest fight without danger, +where victory is glory and death is gain. Take the sign of the cross, +and thou shalt obtain the forgiveness of all the sins which thou hast +never confessed with a contrite heart." By Bernard's fiery discourses +men of all ranks were carried away. In France and in Germany he +travelled about, conquering by an effort his great bodily infirmities, +and the living word from his lips produced even mightier effects than +his letters. + +A peculiar charm, and a peculiar power of moving men's minds, must have +existed in the tones of his voice; to this must be added the +awe-inspiring effect of his whole appearance, the way in which his whole +being and the motions of his bodily frame joined in testifying of that +which seized and inspired him. Thus it admits of being explained how, in +Germany, even those who understood but little, or in fact nothing, of +what he said, could be so moved as to shed tears and smite their +breasts; could, by his own speeches in a foreign language, be more +strongly affected and agitated than by the immediate interpretation of +his words by another. From all quarters sick persons were conveyed to +him by the friends who sought from him a cure; and the power of his +faith, the confidence he inspired in the minds of men, might sometimes +produce remarkable effects. With this enthusiasm, however, Bernard +united a degree of prudence and a discernment of character such as few +of that age possessed, and such qualities were required to counteract +the multiform excitements of the wild spirit of fanaticism which mixed +in with this great ferment of minds. + +Thus, he warned the Germans not to suffer themselves to be misled so far +as to follow certain independent enthusiasts, ignorant of war, who were +bent on moving forward the bodies of the crusaders prematurely. He held +up as a warning the example of Peter the Hermit, and declared himself +very decidedly opposed to the proposition of an abbot who was disposed +to march with a number of monks to Jerusalem; "for," said he, "fighting +warriors are more needed there than singing monks." At an assembly held +at Chartres it was proposed that he himself should take the lead of the +expedition; but he rejected the proposition at once, declaring that it +was beyond his power and contrary to his calling. Having, perhaps, +reason to fear that the Pope might be hurried on, by the shouts of the +many, to lay upon him some charge to which he did not feel himself +called, he besought the Pope that he would not make him a victim to +men's arbitrary will, but that he would inquire, as it was his duty to +do, how God had determined to dispose of him. + +With the preaching of this Second Crusade, as with the invitation to the +First, was connected an extraordinary awakening. Many who had hitherto +given themselves up to their unrestrained passions and desires, and +become strangers to all higher feelings, were seized with compunction. +Bernard's call to repentance penetrated many a heart; people who had +lived in all manner of crime were seen following this voice and flocking +together in troops to receive the badge of the cross. Bishop Otto of +Freisingen, the historian, who himself took the cross at that time, +expresses it as his opinion "that every man of sound understanding would +be forced to acknowledge so sudden and uncommon a change could have been +produced in no other way than by the right hand of the Lord." The +provost Gerhoh of Reichersberg, who wrote in the midst of these +movements, was persuaded that he saw here a work of the Holy Spirit, +designed to counteract the vices and corruptions which had got the upper +hand in the Church. + +Many who had been awakened to repentance confessed what they had taken +from others by robbery or fraud, and hastened, before they went to the +holy war, to seek reconciliation with their enemies. The Christian +enthusiasm of the German people found utterance in songs in the German +tongue; and even now the peculiar adaptation of this language to sacred +poetry began to be remarked. Indecent songs could no longer venture to +appear abroad. + +While some were awakened by Bernard's preaching from a life of crime to +repentance, and by taking part in the holy war strove to obtain the +remission of their sins, others again, who though hitherto borne along +in the current of ordinary worldly pursuits, yet had not given +themselves up to vice, were filled by Bernard's words with loathing of +the worldly life, inflamed with a vehement longing after a higher stage +of Christian perfection, after a life of entire consecration to God. +They longed rather to enter upon the pilgrimage to the heavenly than to +an earthly Jerusalem; they resolved to become monks, and would fain have +the man of God himself, whose words had made so deep an impression on +their hearts, as their guide in the spiritual life, and commit +themselves to his directions, in the monastery of Clairvaux. But here +Bernard showed his prudence and knowledge of mankind; he did not allow +all to become monks who wished to do so. Many he rejected because he +perceived they were not fitted for the quiet of the contemplative life, +but needed to be disciplined by the conflicts and cares of a life of +action. + +As contemporaries themselves acknowledge, these first impressions, in +the case of many who went to the crusades, were of no permanent +duration, and their old nature broke forth again the more strongly under +the manifold temptations to which they were exposed, in proportion to +the facility with which, through the confidence they reposed in a +plenary indulgence, without really laying to heart the condition upon +which it was bestowed, they could flatter themselves with security in +their sins. + +Gerhoh of Reichersberg, in describing the blessed effects of that +awakening which accompanied the preaching of the crusader, yet says: "We +doubt not that among so vast a multitude some became in the true sense +and in all sincerity soldiers of Christ. Some, however, were led to +embark in the enterprise by various other occasions, concerning whom it +does not belong to us to judge, but only to Him who alone knows the +hearts of those who marched to the contest either in the right or not in +the right spirit. Yet this we do confidently affirm, that to this +crusade many were called, but few were chosen." And it was said that +many returned from this expedition, not better, but worse than they +went. Therefore the monk Cesarius of Heisterbach, who states this, adds: +"All depends on bearing the yoke of Christ not _one_ year or _two_ +years, but daily, if a man is really intent on doing it in truth, and in +that sense in which our Lord requires it to be done, in order to follow +him." + +When it turned out, however, that the event did not answer the +expectations excited by Bernard's enthusiastic confidence, but the +crusade came to that unfortunate issue which was brought about +especially by the treachery of the princes and nobles of the Christian +kingdom in Syria, this was a source of great chagrin to Bernard, who had +been so active in setting it in motion, and who had inspired such +confident hopes by his promises. He appeared now in the light of a bad +prophet, and he was reproached by many with having incited men to engage +in an enterprise which had cost so much blood to no purpose; but +Bernard's friends alleged, in his defence, that he had not excited such +a popular movement single-handed, but as the organ of the Pope, in whose +name he acted; and they appealed to the facts by which his preaching of +the cross was proved to be a work of God--to the wonders which attended +it. Or they ascribed the failure of the undertaking to the bad conduct +of the crusaders themselves, to the unchristian mode of life which many +of them led, as one of these friends maintained, in a consoling letter +to Bernard himself, adding, "God, however, has turned it to good. +Numbers who, if they had returned home, would have continued to live a +life of crime, disciplined and purified by many sufferings, have passed +into the life eternal." + +But Bernard himself could not be staggered in his faith by this event. +In writing to Pope Eugene on this subject, he refers to the +incomprehensibleness of the divine ways and judgments; to the example of +Moses, who, although his work carried on its face incontestable evidence +of being a work of God, yet was not permitted himself to conduct the +Jews into the Promised Land. As this was owing to the fault of the Jews +themselves, so too the crusaders had none to blame but themselves for +the failure of the divine work. "But," says he, "it will be said, +perhaps, how do we know that this work came from the Lord? What miracle +dost thou work that we should believe thee? To this question I need not +give an answer; it is a point on which my modesty asks to be excused +from speaking. Do you answer," says he to the Pope, "for me and for +yourself, according to that which you have seen and heard." So firmly +was Bernard convinced that God had sustained his labors by miracles. + +Eugene was at length enabled, in the year 1149, after having for a long +time excited against himself the indignation of the cardinals by his +dependence on the French abbot, with the assistance of Roger, King of +the Sicilies, to return to Rome; where, however, he still had to +maintain a struggle with the party of Arnold. + +The provost Gerhoh finds something to complain of in the fact that the +Church of St. Peter wore so warlike an aspect that men beheld the tomb +of the apostle surrounded with bastions and the implements of war. + +As Bernard was no longer sufficiently near the Pope to exert on him the +same immediate personal influence as in times past, he addressed to him +a voice of admonition and warning, such as the mighty of the earth +seldom enjoy the privilege of hearing. With the frankness of a love +which, as he himself expresses it, knew not the master, but recognized +the son, even under the pontifical robes, he set before him, in his four +books _On Meditation_, which he sent to him singly at different times, +the duties of his office, and the faults against which, in order to +fulfil these duties, he needed especially to guard. + +Bernard was penetrated with a conviction that to the Pope, as St. +Peter's successor, was committed by God a sovereign power of church +government over all, and responsible to no other tribunal; that to this +church theocracy, guided by the Pope, the administration even of the +secular power, though independent within its own peculiar sphere, should +be subjected, for the service of the kingdom of God; but he also +perceived, with the deepest pain, how very far the papacy was from +corresponding to this its idea and destination; what prodigious +corruption had sprung and continued to spring from the abuse of papal +authority; he perceived already, with prophetic eye, that this very +abuse of arbitrary will must eventually bring about the destruction of +this power. He desired that the Pope should disentangle himself from the +secular part of his office, and reduce that office within the purely +spiritual domain; and that, above all, he should learn to govern and +restrict himself. + +But to the close of his life, in the year 1153, Pope Eugene had to +contend with the turbulent spirit of the Romans and the influences of +the principles disseminated by Arnold; and this contest was prolonged +into the reign of his second successor, Adrian IV. Among the people and +among the nobles, a considerable party had arisen who would concede to +the Pope no kind of secular dominion. And there seems to have been a +shade of difference among the members of this party. A mob of the people +is said to have gone to such an extreme of arrogance as to propose the +choosing of a new emperor from among the Romans themselves, the +restoration of a Roman empire independent of the Pope. The other party, +to which belonged the nobles, were for placing the emperor Frederick I +at the head of the Roman Republic, and uniting themselves with him in a +common interest against the Pope. They invited him to receive the +imperial crown, in the ancient manner, from the "senate and Roman +people," and not from the heretical and recreant clergy and false monks, +who acted in contradiction to their calling, exercising lordship despite +of the evangelical and apostolical doctrine; and in contempt of all +laws, divine and human, brought the Church of God and the kingdom of the +world into confusion. Those who pretend that they are the +representatives of Peter, it was said, in a letter addressed in the +spirit of this party to the emperor Frederick I, "act in contradiction +to the doctrines which that apostle teaches in his epistles. How can +they say with the apostle Peter, 'Lo, we have left all and followed +thee,' and, 'Silver and gold have I none'? How can our Lord say to such, +'Ye are the light of the world,' 'the salt of the earth'? Much rather is +to be applied to them what our Lord says of the salt that has lost its +savor. 'Eager after earthly riches, they spoil the true riches, from +which the salvation of the world has proceeded.' How can the saying be +applied to them, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'? for they are neither +poor in spirit nor in fact." + +Pope Adrian IV was first enabled, under more favorable circumstances, +and assisted by the Emperor Frederick I, to deprive the Arnold party of +its leader, and then to suppress it entirely. It so happened that, in +the first year of Adrian's reign, 1155, a cardinal, on his way to visit +the Pope, was attacked and wounded by followers of Arnold. This induced +the Pope to put all Rome under the interdict, with a view to force the +expulsion of Arnold and his party. This means did not fail of its +effect. The people who could not bear the suspension of divine worship, +now themselves compelled the nobles to bring about the ejection of +Arnold and his friends. Arnold, on leaving Rome, found protection from +Italian nobles. By the order, however, of the emperor Frederick, who had +come into Italy, he was torn from his protectors and surrendered up to +the papal authority. The Prefect of Rome then took possession of his +person and caused him to be hanged. His body was burned, and its ashes +thrown into the Tiber, lest his bones might be preserved as the relics +of a martyr by the Romans, who were enthusiastically devoted to him. +Worthy men, who were in other respects zealous defenders of the church +orthodoxy and of the hierarchy--as, for example, Gerhoh of +Reichersberg--expressed their disapprobation, first, that Arnold should +be punished with death on account of the errors which he disseminated; +secondly, that the sentence of death should proceed from a spiritual +tribunal, or that such a tribunal should at least have subjected itself +to that bad appearance. + +But on the part of the Roman court it was alleged, in defence of this +proceeding, that "it was done without the knowledge and contrary to the +will of the Roman curia." "The Prefect of Rome had forcibly removed +Arnold from the prison where he was kept, and his servants had put him +to death in revenge for injuries they had suffered from Arnold's party. +Arnold, therefore, was executed, not on account of his doctrines, but in +consequence of tumults excited by himself." It may be a question whether +this was said with sincerity, or whether, according to the proverb, a +confession of guilt is not implied in the excuse. But Gerhoh was of the +opinion that in this case they should at least have done as David did, +in the case of Abner's death, and, by allowing Arnold to be buried, and +his death to be mourned over, instead of causing his body to be burned, +and the remains thrown into the Tiber, washed their hands of the whole +transaction. + +But the idea for which Arnold had contended, and for which he died, +continued to work in various forms, even after his death--the idea of a +purification of the Church from the foreign worldly elements with which +it had become vitiated, of its restoration to its original spiritual +character. + + + + +DECLINE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE: RAVAGES OF ROGER OF SICILY + +A.D. 1146 + +GEORGE FINLAY + + +(From the enthronement of the Commenian dynasty in A.D. 1081, which was +accomplished through a successful rebellion, attended by shameful +treachery and rapine, the Byzantine empire, and especially +Constantinople, its capital, passed through many vicissitudes; but the +sack of the city by Alexius Commenus, the founder of the line, was +remembered by the populace to the disadvantage of all his successors; +the last of whom, Andronicus I, ended his reign in 1185. John, the son +of Alexius [1118-1143], ruled with discretion and ability, and recovered +some territory from the Turks. + +Manuel I, the son of John [1143-1181], ruled during a period of almost +constant war, and for a time he held the enemies of the empire in check. +But he appears to have been more endowed with courage and the spirit of +enterprise than with good judgment, and his conduct of the empire +coincided with events that, as seen in history, contributed to its +decline, which after his death followed rapidly. As this decline is to +be dated especially from the passing but not ineffectual invasion of +Roger II, King of Sicily, in 1146, some account of that, together with a +view of conditions immediately preceding, becomes important in a work +like this. + +The century and a half before Roger's invasion had been a period of +tranquillity for the distinctively Greek people of the empire, who had +increased rapidly in numbers and wealth, and were in possession of an +extensive commerce and many manufactures. Therefore they were perhaps +the greatest sufferers from the adverse events which befell the State.) + + +The emperor Alexius I had concluded a commercial treaty with Pisa toward +the end of his reign. Manuel renewed this alliance, and he appears to +have been the first of the Byzantine emperors who concluded a public +treaty with Genoa. The pride of the emperors of the Romans--as the +sovereigns of Constantinople were styled--induced them to treat the +Italian republics as municipalities still dependent on the Empire of the +Caesars, of which they had once formed a part; and the rulers both of +Pisa and Genoa yielded to this assumption of supremacy, and consented to +appear as vassals and liegemen of the Byzantine emperors, in order to +participate in the profits which they saw the Venetians gained by +trading in their dominions. + +Several commercial treaties with Pisa and Genoa, as well as with Venice, +have been preserved. The obligations of the republics are embodied in +the charter enumerating the concessions granted by the Emperor, and the +document is called a _chrysobulum_, or golden bull, from the golden seal +of the Emperor attached to it as the certificate of its authenticity. + +In Manuel's treaties with the Genoese and Pisans, the republics bind +themselves never to engage in hostilities against the empire; but, on +the contrary, all the subjects of the republics residing in the +Emperor's dominions become bound to assist him against all assailants; +they engage to act with their own ships, or to serve on board the +imperial fleet, for the usual pay granted to Latin mercenaries. They +promise to offer no impediment to the extension of the empire in Syria, +reserving to themselves the factories and privileges they already +possess in any place that may be conquered. They submit their civil and +criminal affairs to the jurisdiction of the Byzantine courts of justice, +as was then the case with the Venetians and other foreigners in the +empire. Acts of piracy and armed violence, unless the criminals were +taken in the act, were to be reported to the rulers of the republic +whose subjects had committed the crime, and the Byzantine authorities +were not to render the innocent traders in the empire responsible for +the injuries inflicted by these brigands. The republicans engaged to +observe all the stipulations in their treaties, in defiance of +ecclesiastical excommunication or the prohibition of any individual, +crowned or not crowned. + +Manuel, in return, granted to the republicans the right of forming a +factory, erecting a quay for landing their goods, and building a church; +and the Genoese received their grant in an agreeable position on the +side of the port opposite Constantinople, where in after-times their +great colony of Galata was formed. The Emperor promised to send an +annual of from four hundred to five hundred gold bezants, with two +pieces of a rich brocade then manufactured only in the Byzantine empire, +to the republican governments, and sixty bezants, with one piece of +brocade, to their archbishops. These treaties fixed the duty levied on +the goods imported or exported from Constantinople by the Italians at 4 +per cent.; but in the other cities of the empire, the Pisans and Genoese +were to pay the same duties as other Latin traders, excepting, of +course, the privileged Venetians. These duties generally amounted to 10 +per cent. The republics were expressly excluded, by the Genoese treaty, +from the Black Sea trade, except when they received a special license +from the Emperor. In case of shipwreck, the property of the foreigners +was to be protected by the imperial authorities and respected by the +people, and every assistance was to be granted to the unfortunate +sufferers. This humane clause was not new in Byzantine commercial +treaties, for it is contained in the earliest treaty concluded by +Alexius I with the Pisans. On the whole, the arrangements for the +administration of justice in these treaties prove that the Byzantine +empire still enjoyed a greater degree of order than the rest of Europe. + +The state of civilization in the Eastern Empire rendered the public +finances the moving power of the government, as in the nations of modern +Europe. This must always tend to the centralization of political +authority, for the highest branch of the executive will always endeavor +to dispose of the revenues of the State according to its views of +necessity. This centralizing policy led Manuel to order all the money +which the Greek commercial communities had hitherto devoted to +maintaining local squadrons of galleys for the defence of the islands +and coasts of the Aegean to be remitted to the treasury at +Constantinople. The ships were compelled to visit the imperial dockyard +in the capital to undergo repairs and to receive provisions and pay. + +A navy is a most expensive establishment; kings, ministers, and people +are all very apt to think that when it is not wanted at any particular +time, the cost of its maintenance may be more profitably applied to +other objects. Manuel, after he had secured the funds of the Greeks for +his own treasury, soon left their ships to rot, and the commerce of +Greece became exposed to the attacks of small squadrons of Italian +pirates who previously would not have dared to plunder in the +Archipelago. It may be thought by some that Manuel acted wisely in +centralizing the naval administration of his empire; but the great +number, the small size, and the relative position of many of the Greek +islands with regard to the prevailing winds render the permanent +establishment of naval stations at several points necessary to prevent +piracy. + +Manuel and Otho ruined the navy of Greece by their unwise measures of +centralization; Pericles, by prudently centralizing the maritime forces +of the various states, increased the naval power of Athens, and gave +additional security to every Greek ship that navigated the sea. + +The same fiscal views which induced Manuel to centralize the naval +administration when it was injurious to the interests of the empire, +prompted him to act diametrically opposite with regard to the army. The +emperor John had added greatly to the efficiency of the Byzantine +military force by improving and centralizing its administration, and he +left Manuel an excellent army, which rendered the Eastern Empire the +most powerful state in Europe. But Manuel, from motives of economy, +abandoned his father's system. Instead of assembling all the military +forces of the empire annually in camps, where they received pay and were +subjected to strict discipline, toward the end of his reign he +distributed even the regular army in cities and provinces, where they +were quartered far apart, in order that each district, by maintaining a +certain number of men, might relieve the treasury from the burden of +their pay and subsistence while they were not on actual service. The +money thus retained in the central treasury was spent in idle festivals +at Constantinople, and the troops, dispersed and neglected, became +careless of their military exercises, and lived in a state of relaxed +discipline. Other abuses were quickly introduced; resident yeomen, +shopkeepers, and artisans were enrolled in the legions, with the +connivance of the officers. The burden of maintaining the troops was in +this way diminished, but the army was deteriorated. + +In other districts, where the divisions were exposed to be called into +action, or were more directly under central inspection, the effective +force was kept up at its full complement, but the people were compelled +to submit to every kind of extortion and tyranny. The tendency of +absolute power being always to weaken the power of the law, and to +increase the authority of the executive agents of the sovereign, soon +manifested its effects in the rapid progress of administrative +corruption. The Byzantine garrisons in a few years became prototypes of +the shopkeeping janizaries of the Ottoman empire, and bore no +resemblance to the feudal militia of Western Europe, which Manuel had +proposed as the model of his reform. This change produced a rapid +decline in the military strength of the Byzantine army and accelerated +the fall of the empire. + +For a considerable period the Byzantine emperors had been gradually +increasing the proportion of foreign mercenaries in their service; this +practice Manuel carried further than any of his predecessors. Besides +the usual Varangian, Italian, and German guards, we find large corps of +Patzinaks, Franks, and Turks enrolled in his armies, and officers of +these nations occupying situations of the highest rank. A change had +taken place in the military tactics, caused by the heavy armor and +powerful horses which the crusaders brought into the field, and by the +greater personal strength and skill in warlike exercises of the Western +troops, who had no occupation from infancy but gymnastic exercises and +athletic amusements. The nobility of the feudal nations expended more +money on arms and armor than on other luxuries; and this becoming the +general fashion, the Western troops were much better armed than the +Byzantine soldiers. War became the profession of the higher ranks, and +the expense of military undertakings was greatly increased by the +military classes being completely separated from the rest of society. +The warlike disposition of Manuel led him to favor the military nobles +of the West who took service at his court; while his confidence in his +own power, and in the political superiority of his empire, deluded him +with the hope of being able to quell the turbulence of the Franks, and +set bounds to the ambition and power of the popes. + +The wars of Manuel were sometimes forced on him by foreign powers, and +sometimes commenced for temporary objects; but he appears never to have +formed any fixed idea of the permanent policy which ought to have +determined the constant employment of all the military resources at his +command, for the purpose of advancing the interest of his empire and +giving security to his subjects. His military exploits may be considered +under three heads: His wars with the Franks, whether in Asia or Europe; +his wars with the Hungarians and Servians; and his wars with the Turks. + +His first operations were against the principality of Antioch. The death +of John II caused the dispersion of the fine army he had assembled for +the conquest of Syria; but Manuel sent a portion of that army, and a +strong fleet, to attack the principality. One of the generals of the +land forces was Prosuch, a Turkish officer in high favor with his +father. Raymond of Antioch was no longer the idle gambler he had shown +himself in the camp of the emperor John; but though he was now +distinguished by his courage and skill in arms, he was completely +defeated, and the imperial army carried its ravages up to the very walls +of Antioch, while the fleet laid waste the coast. Though the Byzantine +troops retired, the losses of the campaign convinced Raymond that it +would be impossible to defend Antioch should Manuel take the field in +person. He therefore hastened to Constantinople, as a suppliant, to sue +for peace; but Manuel, before admitting him to an audience, required +that he should repair to the tomb of the emperor John and ask pardon for +having violated his former promises. When the Hercules of the Franks, as +Raymond was called, had submitted to this humiliation, he was admitted +to the imperial presence, swore fealty to the Byzantine empire as Prince +of Antioch, and became the vassal of the emperor Manuel. The conquest of +Edessa by the Mahometans, which took place in the month of December, +1144, rendered the defence of Antioch by the Latins a doubtful +enterprise, unless they could secure the assistance of the Greeks. + +Manuel involved himself in a war with Roger, King of Sicily, which +perhaps he might have avoided by more prudent conduct. An envoy he had +sent to the Sicilian court concluded a treaty, which Manuel thought fit +to disavow with unsuitable violence. This gave the Sicilian King a +pretext for commencing war, but the real cause of hostilities must be +sought in the ambition of Roger and the hostile feelings of Manuel. +Roger was one of the wealthiest princes of his time; he had united under +his sceptre both Sicily and all the Norman possessions in Southern +Italy; his ambition was equal to his wealth and power, and he aspired at +eclipsing the glory of Robert Guiscard and Bohemund by some permanent +conquests in the Byzantine empire. On the other hand, the renown of +Roger excited the envy of Manuel, who, proud of his army and confident +of his own valor and military skill, hoped to reconquer Sicily. His +passion made him forget that he was surrounded by numerous enemies, who +would combine to prevent his employing all his forces against one +adversary. Manuel consequently acted imprudently in revealing his +hostile intentions; while Roger could direct all his forces against one +point, and avail himself of Manuel's embarrassments. He commenced +hostilities by inflicting a blow on the wealth and prosperity of Greece, +from which it never recovered. + +At the commencement of the Second Crusade, when the attention of Manuel +was anxiously directed to the movements of Louis VII of France, and +Conrad, Emperor of Germany, Roger, who had collected a powerful fleet at +Brindisi, for the purpose either of attacking the Byzantine empire or +transporting the crusaders to Palestine, availed himself of an +insurrection in Corfu to conclude a convention with the inhabitants, who +admitted a garrison of one thousand Norman troops into their citadel. +The Corfutes complained with great reason of the intolerable weight of +taxation to which they were subjected; of the utter neglect of their +interests by the central government, which consumed their wealth, and of +the great abuses which prevailed in the administration of justice; but +the remedy they adopted, by placing themselves under the rule of foreign +masters, was not likely to alleviate these evils. + +The Sicilian admiral, after landing the Norman garrison at Corfu, sailed +to Monembasia, then one of the principal commercial cities in the East, +hoping to gain possession of it without difficulty; but the maritime +population of this impregnable fortress gave him a warm reception and +easily repulsed his attack. After plundering the coasts of Euboea and +Attica, the Sicilian fleet returned to the West, and laid waste +Acarnania and Etolia; it then entered the Gulf of Corinth, and debarked +a body of troops at Crissa. This force marched through the country to +Thebes, plundering every town and village on the way. Thebes offered no +resistance and was plundered in the most deliberate and barbarous +manner. The inhabitants were numerous and wealthy. The soil of Boeotia +is extremely productive, and numerous manufactures established in the +city of Thebes gave additional value to the abundant produce of +agricultural industry. + +A century had elapsed since the citizens of Thebes had gone out +valiantly to fight the army of Slavonian rebels in the reign of Michael +IV (the Paphlagonian), and that defeat had long been forgotten. But all +military spirit was now dead, and the Thebans had so long lived without +any fear of invasion that they had forgotten the use of arms. The +Sicilians found them not only unprepared to offer any resistance, but so +surprised that they had not even adopted any effectual measures to +secure or conceal their movable property. The conquerors, secure against +all danger of interruption, plundered Thebes at their leisure. Not only +gold, silver, jewels, and church plate were carried off, but even the +goods found in the warehouses, and the rarest articles of furniture in +private houses, were transported to the ships. Bales of silk and dyed +leather were sent off to the fleet as deliberately as if they had been +legally purchased in time of peace. When all ordinary means of +collecting booty were exhausted, the citizens were compelled to take an +oath on the Holy Scriptures that they had not concealed any portion of +their property; yet many of the wealthiest were dragged away captive, in +order to profit by their ransom; and many of the most skilful workmen in +the silk manufactories, for which Thebes had long been famous, were +pressed on board the fleet to labor at the oar. + +From Boeotia the army passed to Corinth. Nicephorus Caluphes, the +governor, retired into the Acro-Corinth, but the garrison appeared to +his cowardly heart not strong enough to defend this impregnable +fortress, and he surrendered it to George Antiochenus, the Sicilian +admiral, on the first summons. On examining the fortress of which he had +thus unexpectedly gained possession, the admiral could not help +exclaiming that he fought under the protection of heaven, for if +Caluphes had not been more timid than a virgin, Corinth should have +repulsed every attack. + +Corinth was sacked as cruelly as Thebes; men of rank, beautiful women, +and skilful artisans, with their wives and families, were carried away +into captivity. Even the relics of St. Theodore were taken from the +church in which they were preserved; and it was not until the whole +Sicilian fleet was laden with as much of the wealth of Greece as it was +capable of transporting that the admiral ordered it to sail. The +Sicilians did not venture to retain possession of the impregnable +citadel of Corinth, as it would have been extremely difficult for them +to keep up their communications with the garrison. This invasion of +Greece was conducted entirely as a plundering expedition, having for its +object to inflict the greatest possible injury on the Byzantine empire, +while it collected the largest possible quantity of booty for the +Sicilian troops. Corfu was the only conquest of which Roger retained +possession. + +The ruin of the Greek commerce and manufactures has been ascribed to the +transference of the silk trade from Thebes and Corinth to Palermo, under +the judicious protection it received from Roger; but it would be more +correct to say that the injudicious and oppressive financial +administration of the Byzantine emperors destroyed the commercial +prosperity and manufacturing industry of the Greeks; while the wise +liberality and intelligent protection of the Norman kings extended the +commerce and increased the industry of the Sicilians. + +When the Sicilian fleet returned to Palermo, Roger determined to employ +all the silk manufacturers in their original occupations. He +consequently collected all their families together, and settled them at +Palermo, supplying them with the means of exercising their industry with +profit to themselves, and inducing them to teach his own subjects to +manufacture the richest brocades and to rival the rarest productions of +the East. + +Roger, unlike most of the monarchs of his age, paid particular attention +to improving the wealth of his dominions by increasing the prosperity of +his subjects. During his reign the cultivation of the sugar-cane was +introduced into Sicily. The conduct of Manuel was very different; when +he concluded peace with William, the son and successor of Roger, in +1158, he paid no attention to the commercial interests of his Greek +subjects; the silk manufactures of Thebes and Corinth were not reclaimed +and reinstated in their native seats; they were left to exercise their +industry for the profit of their new prince, while their old sovereign +would have abandoned them to perish from want. Under such circumstances +it is not remarkable that the commerce and the manufactures of Greece +were transferred in the course of another century to Sicily and Italy. + + + + +CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY + +EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME + +A.D. 843-1161 + +JOHN RUDD, LL.D. + + +Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals +following give volume and page. + +Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of +famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page +references showing where the several events are fully treated. + +A.D. + +843. Messina in Sicily captured by the Saracens. + +Feudalism may be said to become an actuality from about this time. See +"FEUDALISM: ITS FRANKISH BIRTH AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT," v, 1. + +The Danes--called by Arabian writers "_Magioges_," people of Gog and +Magog--land at Lisbon from fifty-four ships and carry off a rich booty. + +The treaty of Verdun, between the three sons of Louis _le Debonnaire_. +See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +844. Lothair gives the title king of Italy to his son Louis, who is +crowned at Rome. + +Abderrahman fits out a fleet to resist the Danes who have infested the +neighborhood of Cadiz and Seville. + +845. Paris is pillaged for the first time by the Danes or Northmen. See +"DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +Hamburg is looted and destroyed by the Danes. + +846. Rome is attacked by the Saracens, who, after plundering the +country, lay siege to Gaeta. + +Spain afflicted by a great drought and swarms of locusts. + +847. A violent storm drives the Saracens from the siege of Gaeta. The +distress in Spain is relieved by Abderrahman, who remits the taxes and +constructs aqueducts and fountains. + +848. Louis, King of Italy, drives the Saracens out of Beneventum. + +Bordeaux is assailed by the Northmen, but they are vigorously repulsed. +See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +Pope Leo IV adds a new quarter to the city of Rome by surrounding the +Vatican with walls. + +849. Birth of Alfred the Great. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49. + +Gottschalk, a German bishop who preached the doctrine of twofold +predestination, sentenced by the Council of Quincy to be flogged and +suffer perpetual imprisonment. + +The Saracens range at will through the Mediterranean; they are defeated +at the mouth of the Tiber by the combined fleets of Naples, Gaeta, and +Amalphi. + +On Gallic soil the _benificium_ and practice of commendation is +specially fostered. See "FEUDALISM: ITS FRANKISH BIRTH AND ENGLISH +DEVELOPMENT," v, 1. + +850. Roric, a nephew of Harold, collects a piratical armament in +Friesland and attacks adjacent coasts; Lothair grants Durstadt to him to +secure his own lands. + +Pepin strengthens himself in Aquitaine by leagues with the Northmen. See +"DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +851. Danes ascend the Rhine with 252 ships and plunder Ghent, Cologne, +Treves, and Aix-la-Chapelle. + +Roric, with 350 sail, proceeds up the Thames and pillages Canterbury and +London, after defeating the King of Mercia; he is at last defeated by +Ethelwulf, with great slaughter, at Ockley. + +852. A revolt against the Moslems in Armenia. + +853. Hastings' (the Danish chief) ruse at Tuscany. See "DECAY OF THE +FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +855. Death of Lothair, Emperor of the Franks; civil war between his +sons. + +A band of Danes keep the Isle of Sheppey through the winter; their first +foothold in England. + +860. Iceland discovered by the Northmen. + +862. Rurik, the Varangian chief, conquers Novgorod and Kiov and lays the +foundation of the Russian empire. + +863. Cyril and Methodius, the "apostles of the Slavs," undertake the +conversion of the Moravians. + +Pope Nicholas deposes Photius and declares Ignatius to be the patriarch +of Constantinople; Photius in turn excommunicates the Pope. + +Charles the Bald founds the County of Flanders. + +864. Pope Nicholas asserts his exclusive right to appoint and depose +bishops; the sovereigns and prelates of France and Germany resist his +claim. + +Christianity first introduced into Russia; it makes little progress. + +865. First naval expedition of the Varangians or Russians against +Constantinople; their fleet is dispersed by a storm. + +866. East Anglia invaded by a numerous body of Danes. + +Accession of Alfonso the Great of Asturias. + +868. Nottingham captured by the Danes; they are besieged by Burhred, +Alfred, and his brother, who allow them to return to York with their +booty. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49. + +869. Eighth general council held at Constantinople; the deposition of +Photius confirmed and all iconoclasts anathematized. + +870. Malta captured by the Saracens. + +East Anglia captured by the Danes; Edmund, titular king of the country, +is treacherously slain by them; is afterward canonized. + +871. Hincmar, a French prelate, encourages Charles the Bald to resist the +authority assumed by the Pope over the church of France. + +Bari, a Saracen fortress in Southern Italy, is surrendered to the Franks +and Greeks. + +Alfred ascends the throne of Wessex. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," +v, 49. + +872. Louis of Germany relinquishes to Emperor Louis his portion of +Lorraine. + +873. On the approach of Emperor Louis with an army the Saracens, who +were besieging Salerno, retire; they land in Calabria and commit great +depredations. + +Locusts lay waste Italy, France, and Germany. + +Organs introduced into the churches of Germany. + +874. Mercia is conquered by the Danes, who set up Ceolwulf as their +king. + +Iceland is settled by the Danes. + +875. Death of Emperor Louis; Charles the Bald and Louis of Germany +contend for the succession. The former, by granting new privileges to +the Church of Rome, obtains the support of the Pope, and is acknowledged +as the king of Italy and emperor of the West. + +Alfred, King of Wessex, fits out a fleet and conquers the Danes in a +great sea battle. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49. + +876. Death of Louis of Germany; division of his kingdom among his three +sons: Bavaria to Carloman; Saxony to Louis the Stammerer; and East +France (Franconia and Swabia) to Charles the Fat. Their uncle, Charles +the Bald, attempts to dispossess them, but is defeated by Louis at +Andernach. + +Rollo, at the head of the Northmen, enters the Seine and makes his first +settlement in Normandy. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +877. No emperor of the West for three years. + +Carloman acquires the crown of Italy; the Pope, who opposes him, is +driven from Rome by Lambert, Duke of Spoleto, and takes refuge in +France. + +A large traffic in slaves carried on by the Venetians. + +Count Boso founds the kingdom of Florence. + +878. Alfred defeats a great host of the Danes at Eddington. See "CAREER +OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49. + +Syracuse captured by the Saracens, who become the masters of Sicily. + +879. Methodius forbidden by the Pope to perform the services of the +Church for the Slavonians in their own language. + +The kingdom of Cisjurane, Burgundy, founded; it included Provence, +Dauphine, and the southern part of Savoy. + +880. Germany is ravaged by the Northmen. + +Alfred, the English King, defeats the Danes at the battle of Ethandun; +by treaty he gives them equal rights, and they acknowledge his +supremacy. See "CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49. + +881. Methodius gets leave to use the Slavonic tongue in the churches. +Charles the Fat ascends the throne of Italy and Germany; is emperor of +the West. + +882. Albategni, the Arabian astronomer, observes the autumnal equinox, +September 19th. + +883. Alfred sends Singhelm and Athelstan on missions to Rome and the +Christian church in India. + +884. Charles the Fat reunites the Frankish empire of Charlemagne. + +885. Siege of Paris by the Northmen. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," +v, 22. + +886. Alfred the Great said to have founded the University of Oxford. + +887. Deposition of Charles the Fat; Arnulf, natural son of Carloman of +Bavaria, elected by the nobles. + +888. Death of Charles the Fat; final disruption of the Frankish empire; +the crown of France in dispute between the Count of Paris, Eudes, and +Charles the Simple. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, 22. + +Founding of the kingdom of Transjurane, Burgundy, which includes the +northern part of Savoy and all Switzerland between the Reuss and the +Jura. + +Alfred the Great begins his translations from Latin into Anglo-Saxon. +See "AUGUSTINE'S MISSIONARY WORK IN ENGLAND," iv, 182. + +890. Southern Italy constituted a province of the Greek empire and +called Lombardia. + +891. King Arnulf, of Germany, defeats the Northmen or Danes at Louvain. + +894. Arnulf becomes emperor of Germany. + +Hungarians (Magyars) cross the Carpathians and occupy the plains of the +Theiss. + +895. Rome is captured by Emperor Arnulf of Germany; he is crowned +emperor of the West. + +896. Pope Stephen VII declares the election of his predecessor, +Formosus, invalid; disinters his body and has it thrown in the Tiber. + +897. Pope Stephen imprisoned and strangled. + +Alfred constructs a powerful navy and defeats Hastings the Dane. See +"CAREER OF ALFRED THE GREAT," v, 49. + +899. Accession of Louis the Child, on the death of Arnulf, to the German +throne. + +900. Hungarians ravage Northern Italy. + +901. Death of Alfred the Great, King of England; his son, Edward the +Elder, succeeds. + +904. Russians, with a large naval force, attack Constantinople, and the +Saracens Thessalonica. + +907. Bavaria desolated by the Hungarians. + +909. Founding of the Fatimite caliphate in Africa. See "CONQUEST OF +EGYPT BY THE FATIMITES," v, 94. + +911. End of the Carlovingian line in Germany. See "HENRY THE FOWLER +FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82. + +912. Rollo, converted to Christianity, takes the name of Robert and +receives from Peter the Simple the province afterward called Normandy, +of which he is the first duke. See "DECAY OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE," v, +22. + +913. Igor, son of Rurik, by the death of his guardian, Oleg, is invested +with the government of Russia. + +Bodies of Hungarians and Slavs make inroads on German territory. See +"HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82. + +914. John X elected pope through the intrigues of Theodora. + +916. Berengar is crowned emperor of the West, in Italy. + +918. Death of Conrad, the King of Germany. See "HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS +THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82. + +919. Founding of the Danish kingdom of Dublin, Ireland. "HENRY THE +FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS." See v, 82. + +923. Rudolph of Burgundy disputes with Charles the Simple for the crown +of France. + +924. Germany is overrun and devastated by the Hungarians. Death of +Berengar, upon which the imperial title lapses. + +925. Edward the Elder is succeeded by his son Athelstan, in England. + +926. Henry the Fowler conquers the Slavonians; he establishes the +margravate of Brandenburg. + +928. Guido and Marozia usurp supreme temporal power in Rome and confine +Pope John X in prison, where he dies. (Date uncertain.) + +929. Charles the Simple dies in captivity at Peronne. + +Abu Taher, the Carmathian leader, plunders Mecca and massacres the +pilgrims. + +930. Prague is besieged by Henry the Fowler, who becomes superior lord +of Bohemia; his son, Otho, marries Eadgith, sister of Athelstan, King of +England. + +931. Marozia still rules in Rome; she makes her son pope John XI. + +932. Hugh marries Marozia and is expelled from Rome by her son Alberic, +who confines his mother, and his brother, Pope John, in St. Angelo and +governs the city. + +933. Henry the Fowler is victorious over the Hungarians at Merseburg. +See "HENRY THE FOWLER FOUNDS THE SAXON LINE OF GERMAN KINGS," v, 82. + +Union of Cis- and Transjurane Burgundy into one realm, the kingdom of +Arles. + +Saracens invade Castile and are defeated at Uxama. + +936. Death of Henry the Fowler; accession of Otho the Great in Germany +and of Louis _d'Outre-Mer_ in France. Louis was given the surname for +having been in exile in England, whence he was recalled to the crown. + +From this time chivalry may be said to arise. See "GROWTH AND DECADENCE +OF CHIVALRY," v, 109. + +937. Confederation of Scots and Irish with the Danes of Northumberland, +totally defeated by Athelstan, at Brunanburh. + +France is invaded by the Hungarians. + +939. The Marquis of Istria levies imposts on Venetian merchants, the +repeal of which is enforced by the Doge suspending all intercourse +between the two states. + +940. Death of King Athelstan; his brother Edmund succeeds to the English +throne. + +941. Constantinople attacked by the Russians under Igor; they are +repelled by Romanus. + +945. Death of Igor; his widow, Olga, governs the Russians during the +minority of their son Swatoslaus. + +Cumberland and Westmoreland, England, granted as a fief to Malcolm, King +of Scotland. + +946. Edmund, who had conquered Mercia and the "Five Boroughs" of the +Danish confederacy, England, slain by an outlaw; his brother Edred +succeeds. + +951. Otho the Great marches an army in to Italy; he dethrones Berengar +for cruelly ill-treating Adelaide. + +952. Otho restores Italy to Berengar and his son; they do homage to him +at the Diet of Augsburg. + +955. Otho vanquishes the Hungarians on the Lech; he afterward conquers +the Slavonians. + +Olga, the Russian Princess, baptized at Constantinople; she carries back +into her own country some beginnings of civilization. + +956. Many provinces, including Armenia, recovered from the Saracens by +the Eastern Empire. + +959. St. Dunstan made archbishop of Canterbury on the accession of +Edgar. + +961. Berengar finally dethroned by Otho the Great; the sovereignty of +Italy passes from Charlemagne's descendants to German rulers. + +962. Otho the Great, master of Italy; his coronation as emperor of the +Romans by Pope John XII; establishment of the Holy Roman Empire of the +German nation. + +963. Nicephorus Phocas defeats the Saracens and recovers the former +provinces of the empire as far as the Euphrates. + +Al Hakem, Caliph of Cordova, famous as a patron of literature and +learning, and who is said to have collected a library of 600,000 +volumes, employs agents in Africa and Arabia to purchase or copy +manuscripts. + +King Edgar, England, defeats the Welsh and exacts an annual tribute of +three hundred wolves' heads. + +964. Pope Leo VIII is expelled; John XII reinstated, he dies soon after; +Rome is besieged and captured by the Emperor, after a revolt encouraged +by Berengar. + +966. After 328 years' subjection Antioch is recovered from the Saracens. + +Bulgaria invaded by the Russians, who also extend their dominion to the +Black Sea. + +Miecislas, ruler of Poland, embraces Christianity. + +969. Kahira (now Cairo) built by the Fatimites, who establish a +caliphate in Egypt. See "CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY THE FATIMITES," v, 94. + +Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of the East, murdered by John Zimisces, who +succeeds. + +971. All munitions of war and arms are by the Venetians forbidden to be +sold by their merchants to the Saracens. + +973. On the death of his father, Otho the Great, Otho II ascends the +throne of the German empire. His Empress, Theophania, introduces Greek +customs and manners into Germany. + +976. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, defeated by Otho II and deposed, takes +refuge in Bohemia. + +Death of Al Hakem; his reign the most glorious of the Saracenic dominion +in Spain. + +Commotion in Venice; the Doge attempts to introduce mercenary troops and +is slain; his palace, St. Mark's, and other churches burned. + +978. Otho II makes a victorious movement into France. + +979. King Edward the Martyr assassinated by command of his +mother-in-law, Elfrida; Ethelred the Unready succeeds. (Date uncertain.) + +980. Theophania urges her husband, Otho II, to claim the Greek provinces +in Italy; he advances with his army to Ravenna. + +Vladimir obtains the assistance of the sea-kings, defeats his brother, +Jaropolk, puts him to death, and becomes sole ruler of Russia. + +982. Saracens of Africa are invited by the Greek emperors to join them +in opposing Otho; battle of Basientello, total defeat of Otho; he is +taken prisoner, but escapes by swimming. + +983. Eric the Red, a Norseman, first visits Greenland, which he thus +names, and afterward settles. See "LEIF ERICSON DISCOVERS AMERICA," v, +141. + +Death of Otho II; Otho III succeeds to the throne of Germany under the +regency of his mother, Theophania. + +987. Death of Louis V, the last of the Carlovingian line; Hugh Capet is +elected king of France; this inaugurates the Capetian dynasty. + +988. Vladimir the Great of Russia embraces Christianity. See "CONVERSION +OF VLADIMIR THE GREAT," v, 128. + +989. Sedition in Rome; Empress Theophania arrives there and suppresses +it. + +In Germany rural counts and barons commence their depredations on the +properties of their neighbors. + +Learned men from all parts of the East flock to Cordova, Almansor, the +Saracen regent, having set apart a fund to promote literature. + +991. Archbishop Gerbert, of Rheims, introduces the use of Arabic +numerals, which he had learned at Cordova. + +Ipswich and Maldon, England, ravaged by the Danes; a tribute raised for +them by means of the "Danegild" tax. + +994. Hugh Capet maintains Gerbert in the see of Rheims, against the +opposition of the Pope. + +With a fleet of ninety-four ships the kings of Norway and Denmark attack +London; they are beaten off by the citizens. + +996. Death of Hugh Capet; his son Robert succeeds. + +997. Venetians conquer the coast and islands of the Adriatic as far as +Ragusa; their Doge styles himself duke of Dalmatia. + +Death of Gejza, first Christian prince of Hungary. + +Insurrection of peasants in Normandy. + +998. Crescentius, having usurped power in Rome and expelled the Pope, is +defeated, captured, and put to death by Otho III. + +1000. Leif Ericson and Biorn discover America. See "LEIF ERICSON +DISCOVERS AMERICA," v, 141. + +Otho III and Boleslas the Valiant, King of Poland, meet at Gnesen. + +Expectation of the end of the world causes the sowing of seed and other +agricultural work to be neglected; famine ensues therefrom. + +Duke Stephen of Hungary receives the royal title from Pope Sylvester II. + +First invasion of India by Mahmud. See "MAHOMETANS IN INDIA," v, 151. + +1002. Massacre of Danes in England; the Day of St. Brice. + +Henry, Duke of Bavaria, elected king of Germany on the death of Otho +III. + +1003. Sweyn of Denmark invades England to avenge the massacre of his +people. + +1013. After various repulses and successes Sweyn takes nearly the whole +of England; King Ethelred and his Queen flee to her brother Richard, +Duke of Normandy. + +Imperial coronation of Henry II. + +1014. Death of Sweyn. Ethelred returns to England; he battles with the +Danes, under Sweyn's son, Canute, who is driven from the country. + +King Brian, the Brian Boroimhe or Boru, the most famous of Irish kings, +defeats the Danes at the battle of Clontarf, but perishes in the +conflict. + +1016. Pope Benedict VIII repulses the Saracens at Luni, Tuscany; they +besiege Salerno and are defeated by the aid of a band of Norman pilgrims +returning from Jerusalem. + +Edmund "Ironsides," the English King, assassinated. See "CANUTE BECOMES +KING OF ENGLAND," v, 164. + +1017. Swatopolk, Grand Duke of Russia, defeated by his brother, +Jaroslav, Prince of Novgorod, seeks an asylum in Poland. + +All England acknowledges Canute as king. See "CANUTE BECOMES KING OF +ENGLAND," v, 164. + +1018. Complete destruction of the Bulgarian realm by the Eastern emperor +Basil II. + +Swatopolk finally expelled from Russia by Jaroslav, who becomes ruler. + +1020. Death of Firdusi, a famous Persian poet. + +1022. Guido Aretinus invents the staff, and is the first to adopt as +names for the notes of the musical scale the initial syllables of the +hemistichs of a hymn in honor of St. John the Baptist. + +1024. Death of the emperor Henry II of Germany; the Franconian dynasty +inaugurated by Conrad II. + +1027. Conrad II crowned emperor at Rome; Canute of England and Rudolph +of Burgundy attend the ceremony. + +Schleswig is formally ceded to Denmark by Conrad II. + +1028. Canute invades Norway; he conquers King Olaf and annexes his +dominions. See "CANUTE BECOMES KING OF ENGLAND," v, 164. + +1031. End of the Ommiad caliphate of Cordova; Spain divided by the +Moorish chiefs into many states. + +1033. Institution of the "Truce of God." A suspension of private feuds +observed in England, France, Italy, and elsewhere. Such a truce provided +that these feuds should cease on all the more important church festivals +and fasts, from Thursday evening to Monday morning, during Lent, or +similar occasions. + +Castile created an independent kingdom by Sancho the Great, King of +Navarre. + +Conrad II extends his dominion over the Arletan territories. + +1035. Death of King Canute; his sons, Hardicanute in Denmark, Harold in +England, and Sweyn in Norway, succeed him. See "CANUTE BECOMES KING OF +ENGLAND," v, 164. + +Aragon created an independent kingdom. + +1037. Avicenna, Arabian physician and scholar, dies. (Date uncertain.) + +Harold becomes king of all England. + +1039. Murder of King Duncan, of Scotland, by Macbeth, who succeeds. + +1042. End of the Danish rule in England; Hardicanute succeeded by Edward +the Confessor. + +1045. Ferdinand of Castile exacts tribute from his Moorish neighbors. + +1046. Henry III holds a council at Sutri on the question of the papacy. +See "HENRY III DEPOSES THE SIMONIACAL POPES," v, 177. + +1047. Count Guelf given the duchy Carinthia by Emperor Henry III. + +1048. On the death of Clement II, the deposed Pope again intrudes +himself. See "HENRY III DEPOSES THE SIMONIACAL POPES," v, 177. + +1049. Hildebrand, the monk, assumes charge of the patrimony of St. +Peter, at Rome. + +1050. Berenger of Tours condemned and imprisoned for denying the +doctrine of transubstantiation. + +1051. William of Normandy visits England; he confers with Edward the +Confessor. + +1052. Archbishop Robert, with the Norman bishops and nobles, driven out +of England. + +1053. In Italy the Norman conquests of that country are conferred on +them as a fief of the Church. + +1054. Separation of the Greek and Latin churches. See "DISSENSION AND +SEPARATION OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN CHURCHES," v, 189. + +1055. Togrul Beg drives the Buyides from Bagdad and establishes his +authority there. + +1056. Death of Emperor Henry III; his son, Henry IV, is elected king +under the regency of his mother, Agnes. + +Malcolm defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland, at Dunsinane. + +1057. Harold, son of Earl Godwin, is designated heir to the throne of +England. See "NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND," v, 204. + +1059. Nicholas II and the Council of Rome decree that future popes shall +be elected by the college of cardinals, but confirmed by the people and +clergy of Rome and the emperor. + +1060. King Andrew slain in battle by his brother, Bela, who ascends the +throne of Hungary. + +1061. Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger, at the head of the Normans, +engage in the conquest of Sicily from the Saracens. + +1062. The Archbishop of Cologne, Anno, assumes the reins of government +after seizing the young emperor Henry IV. + +1066. Death of Edward the Confessor, who is succeeded by Harold II. The +Norwegians invade England; they are defeated by Harold. William, Duke of +Normandy, invades and conquers England. See "NORMAN CONQUEST OF +ENGLAND," v, 204. + +1067. Council of Mantua; Hildebrand denies the imperial right to +interfere in the election of a pope. + +1068. Carrier pigeons are employed by the Saracens to convey +intelligence to the besieged in Palermo. + +1069. Morocco founded by Abu-Bekr, Ameer of Lantuna. + +1071. Alp Arslan, the Seljuk Sultan, defeats and captures the Eastern +Emperor, Romanus Diogenes. + +1072. Palermo is taken by the Normans, who reduce the whole of Sicily. + +1073. Lissa, taken by the Normans, is recovered by the Venetians. + +Hildebrand elected pope; he takes the name of Gregory VII; the sale of +church benefices in Germany forbidden by him. See "TRIUMPHS OF +HILDEBRAND," v, 231. + +1074. Gregory VII suggests the first idea of a general crusade against +the Turks. + +1075. Lay investiture prohibited by a council called by Gregory VII. See +"TRIUMPHS OF HILDEBRAND," v, 231. + +1076. Atziz, Malek Shah's lieutenant, conquers Syria from the Fatimites +of Egypt, and takes Jerusalem. + +Christian pilgrims are persecuted by the Seljukian Turks. + +Henry IV, Emperor of Germany, holds a council at Rome which deposes +Gregory VII. In union with the German princes the Pope deposes the +Emperor. + +1077. Pope Gregory exacts an annual tribute from Alfonso, King of +Castile. + +At Canossa Henry IV humbles himself before the Pope and is absolved. See +"TRIUMPHS OF HILDEBRAND," v, 231. + +1079. Boleslas of Poland excommunicated by Gregory and expelled by his +subjects. + +1080. Henry IV convenes a council which deposes Gregory VII; it elects +Guibert, Antipope Clement III, in his stead. + +End of the war between Henry and Rudolph of Saxony caused by the death +of the latter. + +1081. Constantinople captured by Alexis Comnenus, who is placed by his +soldiers on the Byzantine throne. + +1084. Gregory VII is besieged in the castle of St. Angelo; Robert +Guiscard delivers the Pope. See "TRIUMPHS OF HILDEBRAND," v, 231. + +1085. Death of Gregory VII, in exile at Salerno; the papacy vacant till +the following year. + +Conquest of Toledo from the Moors by Alfonso of Castile. + +1086. "COMPLETION OF THE DOMESDAY BOOK." See v, 242. + +The Mahometans of Spain invite the chief of the Almoravides to assist +them. See "DECLINE OF THE MOORISH POWER IN SPAIN," v, 256. + +1087. King William of England invades France; he dies at Rouen. His +eldest son, Robert, inherits Normandy; his second son, William Rufus, +secures the throne of England. + +1088. Yussef is called into Spain by the Moorish princes; their +jealousies and discords render his assistance unavailing. See "DECLINE +OF THE MOORISH POWER IN SPAIN," v, 256. + +1089. Henry IV excommunicated by Pope Urban II. A violent earthquake in +England. + +The disease known as St. Anthony's fire breaks out in Lorraine. + +1090. Hasan, Subah of Nishapur, collects a band of Carmathians who are +named after him, "Assassins." + +William Rufus, King of England, invades Normandy and captures St. +Valery. + +1091. Yussef conquers Seville and Almeria, sends Almoatamad to Africa, +and becomes supreme ruler in Mahometan Spain. See "DECLINE OF THE +MOORISH POWER IN SPAIN," v, 256. + +1092. Guibert's party hold the castle of St. Angelo; Guibert's title to +the papacy is still asserted by Henry IV. + +Complete disruption of the empire of the Seljuks follows the death of +Shah Malek. + +1093. King Malcolm of Scotland invades England; he is killed near +Alnwick, by Roger de Mowbray. + +1094. Sancho, King of Aragon and Navarre, falls in battle; he is +succeeded by his son Pedro. + +Peter the Hermit goes on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. See "THE FIRST +CRUSADE," v, 276. + +1095. Philip and Henry again excommunicated by Pope Urban II. + +Henry of Besangon marries Theresa, daughter of Alfonso the Valiant, who +erects Portugal into a county for his son-in-law. + +1096. Aphdal, the Fatimite, expels the sons of Ortok from Jerusalem. + +Movement of the first crusading armies; massacre of Jews in Europe. See +"THE FIRST CRUSADE," v, 276. + +1097. William Rufus expels Archbishop Anselm, from England in defiance +of the papal legate. + +Emperor Henry IV protects the German Jews. + +Death of Albert Azzo, Marquis of Lombardy, more than 100 years old; he +was father of Guelf IV, the progenitor of the Brunswick family, +afterward one of the English royal lines. + +The crusaders take Nicaea; the Eastern emperor Alexius, suspicious of +the crusaders, obtains the city of Nicasa for himself. See "THE FIRST +CRUSADE," v, 276. + +1098. Edgar, son of Malcolm, seated on the throne of Scotland by Edgar +Atheling with an English army. + +Pope Urban II holds a council at Bari to condemn the doctrines of the +Greek Church. + +1099. Jerusalem captured by the crusaders. See "THE FIRST CRUSADE," v, +276. + +Founding of the order of the Knights Hospitallers; Gerard of Jerusalem +the first provost or grand master. + +Coronation of Henry V, second son of the Emperor, as king of the Romans. + +1100. New antipopes arise on the death of Guibert (Clement III), one of +whom assumes the name of Sylvester IV. + +William Rufus accidentally slain; Henry I becomes king of England; he +renews the laws of Edward the Confessor and unites the Saxon and Norman +races by his marriage with Matilda, granddaughter of Edmund "Ironside." + +1101. Robert, Duke of Normandy, invades England and makes war on his +brother, Henry I. + +Guelf, Duke of Bavaria, and William, Duke of Aquitaine, conduct a large +body of crusaders to the East. United with those who set out in the +preceding year, they are met by Kilidsch Arslan, on entering Asia Minor, +and are cut to pieces or dispersed. + +1102. Pope Paschal II obtains from Matilda a deed of gift of all her +states to the Church. + +Coloman, King of Hungary, conquers Croatia and Dalmatia. + +1103. Yussef's son Ali recognized as heir to the thrones of Spain and +Africa. + +1104. Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, defeats the Turks and captures Acre. + +Emperor Henry IV faces a rebellion of his son, incited by the papal +party. + +1105. Interview between Emperor Henry and his son at Elbingen; a diet is +called to be held at Mainz for the settlement of their dispute. + +The English, under King Henry, take Caen and Bayeux in Normandy. + +Defeat of the Turks in an attempt to retake Jerusalem; Bohemond, Prince +of Tarentum, who had taken Antioch from the Turks, made prisoner. + +1106. King Henry I overthrows Duke Robert, who is captured, and secures +Normandy. + +Death of Henry IV and accession of his son Henry V to the German throne; +the new Emperor asserts his right to appoint bishops. + +1108. Death of Philip, King of France; Louis VI, the Fat, succeeds. + +1109. Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, assisted by a Venetian fleet, captures +Tripoli. + +Portugal declared independent and the hereditary succession established +in Count Henry's family. + +1111. Emperor Henry V enters Rome; bloody contests between his soldiers +and the people. Pope Paschal II, a prisoner, resigns the right of +investiture and crowns the Emperor. + +1113. Death of Swatopolk, Duke of Russia; his brother Vladimir succeeds. + +1114. War in Wales; King Henry I erects castles there to secure his +conquests. + +1117. The Doge of Venice falls at Zara in defending Dalmatia against the +Hungarians. + +1118. "FOUNDATION OF THE ORDER OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR." See v, 301. + +On the death of Paschal II the cardinals elect Gelasius II; the Emperor +appoints the Archbishop of Braga to assume the papal dignity under the +name of Gregory VIII. The factions afterward known as the Guelfs and +Ghibellines arose from this event. + +1119. Battle of Noyon, by which Henry I reestablishes his ascendency in +Normandy. + +Defeat of the Turks at Antioch by King Baldwin II and the Knights +Hospitallers. + +Henry I resists the papal claim to investiture in England; banishment of +Thurstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. + +1120. Sinking of the White Ship (_La Blanche Nef_), in which Prince +William, son of Henry I, was lost. The King is said to have "never +smiled again" after the receipt of the news. + +1121. Siege of Sutri by the army of Pope Calixtus II, and surrender of +Antipope Gregory. + +1122. Henry V and Calixtus II compromise, at the Diet of Worms, the +dispute respecting the right of investiture. + +Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, and Jocelyn de Courtenay made prisoners by +the Turks. + +Abelard, a noted French theologian, accused of heresy at the Council of +Soissons, is condemned to burn his writings. + +1123. Ninth general council; First Lateran Council. + +War renewed in Normandy by the rebellion of certain powerful barons; +Henry I, King of England, takes their castles. + +1124. A rich Pisan convoy, on its voyage from Sardinia, captured by the +Genoese. + +1125. Death of the emperor Henry V of Germany, which ends the Franconian +dynasty; the Duke of Saxony, Lothair II, elected his successor; he +declares war against the Hohenstaufens. + +Punishment of the mintmen in England for issuing base coin. + +1126. King Henry leaves Normandy and takes his prisoners to England. + +1127. Marriage of Henry's daughter, Matilda, to Geoffrey Plantagenet; +she is acknowledged by the English barons as heiress to her father's +throne. See "STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN," v, 317. + +Death of William, Duke of Apulia; Roger II, Great Count of Sicily, +succeeds. This unites the Norman conquests in Italy with Sicily; the +Pope excommunicates him. + +1128. Conrad, Duke of Franconia, of the Hohenstaufen house, crowned king +of Italy at Milan, in opposition to Lothair II; he is excommunicated by +the Pope. + +Roger II overcomes the papal resistance and is formally acknowledged +duke of Apulia and Calabria. + +1129. King Henry of England releases his Norman prisoners and restores +their lands to them. + +1130. On the death of Pope Honorius II the cardinals divide into two +factions, one of which elects Innocent II, and the other the antipope +Anacletus II. The latter gains possession of the Lateran and is there +consecrated; Innocent takes refuge in France. + +1131. Birth of Maimonides, who, next to Moses, is believed to have had +the greatest influence on Jewish thought. (Date uncertain.) + +1132. Lothair II goes to Rome in support of Pope Innocent II against +Antipope Anacletus II; he expels Conrad. + +Wool-spinning is introduced into England by the Flemings at Worstead; +hence the name "worsted." + +1133. Lothair conducts Innocent to Rome and is there crowned emperor by +him. + +1134. Aragon and Navarre choose separate sovereigns, who are protected +by Alfonso the Noble, King of Castile. + +1135. Death of Henry I of England; Stephen usurps the throne. See +"STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN," v, 317. + +A copy of Justinian's _Pandects_ said to have been discovered at Amalfi. + +The house of Hohenstaufen forced into submission by Lothair. + +1136. Lothair marches into Italy with a large army; the cities make +submission. + +Matilda resists Stephen's usurpation of the English crown, and invades +Normandy. + +1137. Death of Louis VI; his son, Louis VII, succeeds to the French +crown. + +1138. David I of Scotland defeated at the Battle of the Standard. See +"STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN," v, 317. + +Conrad, Duke of Franconia, elected emperor of Germany; he founds the +Hohenstaufen dynasty. From his castle of Wiblingen his party takes the +name of Ghibellines; his opponent, Henry Guelf, is put under the ban of +the empire, hence the papal party were called Guelfs. + +1139. Pope Innocent II taken prisoner by Roger; a treaty of peace +confirms Roger's title. Arnold of Brescia is banished Italy. See +"ANTI-PAPAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT," v, 340. + +Robert, Earl of Gloucester, a natural son of Henry I, promises +assistance to Matilda in her war against King Stephen of England. See +"STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN," v, 317. + +1140. Conrad III defeats the forces of Guelf VI, uncle of Henry the +Lion, while attempting to gain possession of Bavaria. + +1141. Battle of Lincoln; King Stephen defeated and carried prisoner to +Bristol. See "STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN," v, 317. + +1142. Henry the Lion is invested with the duchy of Saxony by Conrad III. +His rival, Albert the Bear, created margrave of Brandenburg. + +1143. Geisa, King of Hungary, invites German emigrants to join the +colony of that people in Transylvania. + +1144. Edessa, Turkey, stormed and captured by Zenghi, Sultan of Aleppo. + +1145. Arnold of Brescia initiates the antipapal democratic movement. See +"ANTIPAPAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT," v, 340. + +Disruption of the Almoravide kingdom in Spain. + +1146. Prince Henry inherits Anjou and Maine; Normandy submits to him. + +St. Bernard, at the instance of Pope Eugenius, preaches a crusade for +the protection of the Holy Land against Noureddin, Sultan of Aleppo. + +Byzantium is ravaged by Roger, King of Sicily. See "DECLINE OF THE +BYZANTINE EMPIRE," v, 353. + +Crusaders and mobs massacre Jews in Germany. + +1147. Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III lead the Second +Crusade. + +Lisbon, after being taken from the Moors, is made the capital of +Portugal. + +Moscow, Russia, is founded by the Prince of Suzdal, Dolgoucki. + +1148. Unsuccessful sieges of Damascus and Ascalon by the crusaders. + +1149. Louis, returning by sea from his crusade, is captured by the +Greeks, and rescued by the Sicilian fleet. + +1150. Victory of Manuel, the Byzantine Emperor, over the Servians, who +become vassals of that empire. + +1151. Manuel invades Hungary, crosses the Danube, grants a truce to +Geisa, and carries a large booty to Constantinople. + +1152. Death of Conrad III; Frederick I, Barbarossa, elected emperor. + +1153. Treaty by King Stephen and Henry Plantagenet concerning the +succession of the English crown. See "STEPHEN USURPS THE ENGLISH CROWN," +v, 317. + +1154. A large portion of France united with the crown of England on the +accession of Henry II, who founds the Plantagenet line, following +Stephen's death. + +The first Italian expedition of Frederick Barbarossa. + +Pope Adrian IV, by a bull, grants Ireland to the English crown. + +1155. Frederick reestablishes the papal rule in Rome. Pope Adrian IV +orders the execution of Arnold. See "ANTIPAPAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT," v, +340. + +1156. Henry the Lion, of the Guelf line, has Bavaria restored to him. +Austria erected into a duchy. + +1157. Pope Adrian, in a letter to the German Emperor, asserts Germany to +be a papal benefice; Frederick resists the claim. + +Poland is compelled by Emperor Frederick I to pay him homage. + +1158. Eric IX of Sweden conquers the coast of Finland and builds Abo. + +Frederick I, Barbarossa, a second time invades Italy; he captures Milan. + +1159. Election of Pope Alexander III; Frederick I creates an anti-pope, +Victor IV. + +War ensues between Henry II of England and Louis VII of France; the +former claiming the county of Toulouse, Southern France. + +1160. Emperor Frederick I calls the Council of Pavia; it declares Victor +to be pope; Alexander excommunicates them all. + +1161. Peace concluded between Henry II and Louis VII; they acknowledge +Alexander as pope. The kings of Denmark, Norway, Bohemia, and Hungary +declare in favor of Victor. + +Henry II limits the papal authority in England. + +END OF VOLUME V + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS +HISTORIANS, VOLUME 5*** + + +******* This file should be named 10151.txt or 10151.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/1/5/10151 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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