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diff --git a/old/735.txt b/old/735.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ded1acb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/735.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25733 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of The Decline and Fall of the +Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon + +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 History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire + Volume 5 + +Author: Edward Gibbon + +Commentator: H. H. Milman + +Posting Date: June 7, 2008 [EBook #735] +Release Date: November, 1996 +Last Udated: June 8, 2015 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE *** + + + + +Produced by David Reed + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE + +Edward Gibbon, Esq. + +With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman + +Vol. 5 + + + + +Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part I. + + Introduction, Worship, And Persecution Of Images.--Revolt Of + Italy And Rome.--Temporal Dominion Of The Popes.--Conquest + Of Italy By The Franks.--Establishment Of Images.--Character + And Coronation Of Charlemagne.--Restoration And Decay Of The + Roman Empire In The West.--Independence Of Italy.-- + Constitution Of The Germanic Body. + +In the connection of the church and state, I have considered the former +as subservient only, and relative, to the latter; a salutary maxim, +if in fact, as well as in narrative, it had ever been held sacred. The +Oriental philosophy of the Gnostics, the dark abyss of predestination +and grace, and the strange transformation of the Eucharist from the sign +to the substance of Christ's body, [1] I have purposely abandoned to the +curiosity of speculative divines. But I have reviewed, with diligence +and pleasure, the objects of ecclesiastical history, by which the +decline and fall of the Roman empire were materially affected, the +propagation of Christianity, the constitution of the Catholic church, +the ruin of Paganism, and the sects that arose from the mysterious +controversies concerning the Trinity and incarnation. At the head +of this class, we may justly rank the worship of images, so fiercely +disputed in the eighth and ninth centuries; since a question of popular +superstition produced the revolt of Italy, the temporal power of the +popes, and the restoration of the Roman empire in the West. + +[Footnote 1: The learned Selden has given the history of +transubstantiation in a comprehensive and pithy sentence: "This opinion +is only rhetoric turned into logic," (his Works, vol. iii. p. 2037, in +his Table-Talk.)] + +The primitive Christians were possessed with an unconquerable repugnance +to the use and abuse of images; and this aversion may be ascribed to +their descent from the Jews, and their enmity to the Greeks. The Mosaic +law had severely proscribed all representations of the Deity; and that +precept was firmly established in the principles and practice of the +chosen people. The wit of the Christian apologists was pointed against +the foolish idolaters, who bowed before the workmanship of their own +hands; the images of brass and marble, which, had they been endowed with +sense and motion, should have started rather from the pedestal to adore +the creative powers of the artist. [2] Perhaps some recent and imperfect +converts of the Gnostic tribe might crown the statues of Christ and St. +Paul with the profane honors which they paid to those of Aristotle and +Pythagoras; [3] but the public religion of the Catholics was uniformly +simple and spiritual; and the first notice of the use of pictures is in +the censure of the council of Illiberis, three hundred years after the +Christian aera. Under the successors of Constantine, in the peace and +luxury of the triumphant church, the more prudent bishops condescended +to indulge a visible superstition, for the benefit of the multitude; +and, after the ruin of Paganism, they were no longer restrained by the +apprehension of an odious parallel. The first introduction of a symbolic +worship was in the veneration of the cross, and of relics. The saints +and martyrs, whose intercession was implored, were seated on the right +hand if God; but the gracious and often supernatural favors, which, +in the popular belief, were showered round their tomb, conveyed an +unquestionable sanction of the devout pilgrims, who visited, and +touched, and kissed these lifeless remains, the memorials of their +merits and sufferings. [4] But a memorial, more interesting than the +skull or the sandals of a departed worthy, is the faithful copy of his +person and features, delineated by the arts of painting or sculpture. +In every age, such copies, so congenial to human feelings, have been +cherished by the zeal of private friendship, or public esteem: the +images of the Roman emperors were adored with civil, and almost +religious, honors; a reverence less ostentatious, but more sincere, was +applied to the statues of sages and patriots; and these profane virtues, +these splendid sins, disappeared in the presence of the holy men, who +had died for their celestial and everlasting country. At first, the +experiment was made with caution and scruple; and the venerable pictures +were discreetly allowed to instruct the ignorant, to awaken the cold, +and to gratify the prejudices of the heathen proselytes. By a slow +though inevitable progression, the honors of the original were +transferred to the copy: the devout Christian prayed before the image of +a saint; and the Pagan rites of genuflection, luminaries, and incense, +again stole into the Catholic church. The scruples of reason, or piety, +were silenced by the strong evidence of visions and miracles; and the +pictures which speak, and move, and bleed, must be endowed with a +divine energy, and may be considered as the proper objects of religious +adoration. The most audacious pencil might tremble in the rash attempt +of defining, by forms and colors, the infinite Spirit, the eternal +Father, who pervades and sustains the universe. [5] But the +superstitious mind was more easily reconciled to paint and to worship +the angels, and, above all, the Son of God, under the human shape, +which, on earth, they have condescended to assume. The second person of +the Trinity had been clothed with a real and mortal body; but that body +had ascended into heaven: and, had not some similitude been presented +to the eyes of his disciples, the spiritual worship of Christ might +have been obliterated by the visible relics and representations of the +saints. A similar indulgence was requisite and propitious for the Virgin +Mary: the place of her burial was unknown; and the assumption of her +soul and body into heaven was adopted by the credulity of the Greeks and +Latins. The use, and even the worship, of images was firmly established +before the end of the sixth century: they were fondly cherished by the +warm imagination of the Greeks and Asiatics: the Pantheon and Vatican +were adorned with the emblems of a new superstition; but this semblance +of idolatry was more coldly entertained by the rude Barbarians and the +Arian clergy of the West. The bolder forms of sculpture, in brass or +marble, which peopled the temples of antiquity, were offensive to the +fancy or conscience of the Christian Greeks: and a smooth surface +of colors has ever been esteemed a more decent and harmless mode of +imitation. [6] + +[Footnote 2: Nec intelligunt homines ineptissimi, quod si sentire +simulacra et moveri possent, adoratura hominem fuissent a quo sunt +expolita. (Divin. Institut. l. ii. c. 2.) Lactantius is the last, as +well as the most eloquent, of the Latin apologists. Their raillery of +idols attacks not only the object, but the form and matter.] + +[Footnote 3: See Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Augustin, (Basnage, Hist. +des Eglises Reformees, tom. ii. p. 1313.) This Gnostic practice has +a singular affinity with the private worship of Alexander Severus, +(Lampridius, c. 29. Lardner, Heathen Testimonies, vol. iii. p. 34.)] + +[Footnote 4: See this History, vol. ii. p. 261; vol. ii. p. 434; vol. +iii. p. 158-163.] + +[Footnote 5: (Concilium Nicenum, ii. in Collect. Labb. tom. viii. p. +1025, edit. Venet.) Il seroit peut-etre a-propos de ne point souffrir +d'images de la Trinite ou de la Divinite; les defenseurs les plus zeles +des images ayant condamne celles-ci, et le concile de Trente ne parlant +que des images de Jesus Christ et des Saints, (Dupin, Bibliot. Eccles. +tom. vi. p. 154.)] + +[Footnote 6: This general history of images is drawn from the xxiid book +of the Hist. des Eglises Reformees of Basnage, tom. ii. p. 1310-1337. +He was a Protestant, but of a manly spirit; and on this head the +Protestants are so notoriously in the right, that they can venture to +be impartial. See the perplexity of poor Friar Pagi, Critica, tom. i. p. +42.] + +The merit and effect of a copy depends on its resemblance with the +original; but the primitive Christians were ignorant of the genuine +features of the Son of God, his mother, and his apostles: the statue +of Christ at Paneas in Palestine [7] was more probably that of +some temporal savior; the Gnostics and their profane monuments were +reprobated; and the fancy of the Christian artists could only be guided +by the clandestine imitation of some heathen model. In this distress, a +bold and dexterous invention assured at once the likeness of the image +and the innocence of the worship. A new super structure of fable was +raised on the popular basis of a Syrian legend, on the correspondence +of Christ and Abgarus, so famous in the days of Eusebius, so reluctantly +deserted by our modern advocates. The bishop of Caesarea [8] records the +epistle, [9] but he most strangely forgets the picture of Christ; [10] +the perfect impression of his face on a linen, with which he gratified +the faith of the royal stranger who had invoked his healing power, and +offered the strong city of Edessa to protect him against the malice of +the Jews. The ignorance of the primitive church is explained by the long +imprisonment of the image in a niche of the wall, from whence, after an +oblivion of five hundred years, it was released by some prudent bishop, +and seasonably presented to the devotion of the times. Its first and +most glorious exploit was the deliverance of the city from the arms of +Chosroes Nushirvan; and it was soon revered as a pledge of the divine +promise, that Edessa should never be taken by a foreign enemy. It is +true, indeed, that the text of Procopius ascribes the double deliverance +of Edessa to the wealth and valor of her citizens, who purchased +the absence and repelled the assaults of the Persian monarch. He was +ignorant, the profane historian, of the testimony which he is compelled +to deliver in the ecclesiastical page of Evagrius, that the Palladium +was exposed on the rampart, and that the water which had been sprinkled +on the holy face, instead of quenching, added new fuel to the flames +of the besieged. After this important service, the image of Edessa was +preserved with respect and gratitude; and if the Armenians rejected the +legend, the more credulous Greeks adored the similitude, which was not +the work of any mortal pencil, but the immediate creation of the divine +original. The style and sentiments of a Byzantine hymn will declare how +far their worship was removed from the grossest idolatry. "How can we +with mortal eyes contemplate this image, whose celestial splendor +the host of heaven presumes not to behold? He who dwells in heaven, +condescends this day to visit us by his venerable image; He who is +seated on the cherubim, visits us this day by a picture, which the +Father has delineated with his immaculate hand, which he has formed in +an ineffable manner, and which we sanctify by adoring it with fear and +love." Before the end of the sixth century, these images, made without +hands, (in Greek it is a single word, [11] were propagated in the camps +and cities of the Eastern empire: [12] they were the objects of worship, +and the instruments of miracles; and in the hour of danger or tumult, +their venerable presence could revive the hope, rekindle the courage, +or repress the fury, of the Roman legions. Of these pictures, the far +greater part, the transcripts of a human pencil, could only pretend to +a secondary likeness and improper title: but there were some of higher +descent, who derived their resemblance from an immediate contact with +the original, endowed, for that purpose, with a miraculous and prolific +virtue. The most ambitious aspired from a filial to a fraternal relation +with the image of Edessa; and such is the veronica of Rome, or Spain, +or Jerusalem, which Christ in his agony and bloody sweat applied to +his face, and delivered to a holy matron. The fruitful precedent was +speedily transferred to the Virgin Mary, and the saints and martyrs. In +the church of Diospolis, in Palestine, the features of the Mother of God +[13] were deeply inscribed in a marble column; the East and West have +been decorated by the pencil of St. Luke; and the Evangelist, who was +perhaps a physician, has been forced to exercise the occupation of a +painter, so profane and odious in the eyes of the primitive Christians. +The Olympian Jove, created by the muse of Homer and the chisel of +Phidias, might inspire a philosophic mind with momentary devotion; but +these Catholic images were faintly and flatly delineated by monkish +artists in the last degeneracy of taste and genius. [14] + +[Footnote 7: After removing some rubbish of miracle and inconsistency, +it may be allowed, that as late as the year 300, Paneas in Palestine was +decorated with a bronze statue, representing a grave personage wrapped +in a cloak, with a grateful or suppliant female kneeling before him, +and that an inscription was perhaps inscribed on the pedestal. By the +Christians, this group was foolishly explained of their founder and +the poor woman whom he had cured of the bloody flux, (Euseb. vii. 18, +Philostorg. vii. 3, &c.) M. de Beausobre more reasonably conjectures +the philosopher Apollonius, or the emperor Vespasian: in the latter +supposition, the female is a city, a province, or perhaps the queen +Berenice, (Bibliotheque Germanique, tom. xiii. p. 1-92.)] + +[Footnote 8: Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. i. c. 13. The learned Assemannus +has brought up the collateral aid of three Syrians, St. Ephrem, Josua +Stylites, and James bishop of Sarug; but I do not find any notice of the +Syriac original or the archives of Edessa, (Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. +318, 420, 554;) their vague belief is probably derived from the Greeks.] + +[Footnote 9: The evidence for these epistles is stated and rejected by +the candid Lardner, (Heathen Testimonies, vol. i. p. 297-309.) Among +the herd of bigots who are forcibly driven from this convenient, but +untenable, post, I am ashamed, with the Grabes, Caves, Tillemonts, &c., +to discover Mr. Addison, an English gentleman, (his Works, vol. i. p. +528, Baskerville's edition;) but his superficial tract on the Christian +religion owes its credit to his name, his style, and the interested +applause of our clergy.] + +[Footnote 10: From the silence of James of Sarug, (Asseman. Bibliot. +Orient. p. 289, 318,) and the testimony of Evagrius, (Hist. Eccles. l. +iv. c. 27,) I conclude that this fable was invented between the years +521 and 594, most probably after the siege of Edessa in 540, (Asseman. +tom. i. p. 416. Procopius, de Bell. Persic. l. ii.) It is the sword and +buckler of, Gregory II., (in Epist. i. ad. Leon. Isaur. Concil. tom. +viii. p. 656, 657,) of John Damascenus, (Opera, tom. i. p. 281, edit. +Lequien,) and of the second Nicene Council, (Actio v. p. 1030.) The most +perfect edition may be found in Cedrenus, (Compend. p. 175-178.)] + +[Footnote 11: See Ducange, in Gloss. Graec. et Lat. The subject is +treated with equal learning and bigotry by the Jesuit Gretser, (Syntagma +de Imaginibus non Manu factis, ad calcem Codini de Officiis, p. +289-330,) the ass, or rather the fox, of Ingoldstadt, (see the +Scaligerana;) with equal reason and wit by the Protestant Beausobre, in +the ironical controversy which he has spread through many volumes of the +Bibliotheque Germanique, (tom. xviii. p. 1-50, xx. p. 27-68, xxv. p. +1-36, xxvii. p. 85-118, xxviii. p. 1-33, xxxi. p. 111-148, xxxii. p. +75-107, xxxiv. p. 67-96.)] + +[Footnote 12: Theophylact Simocatta (l. ii. c. 3, p. 34, l. iii. c. 1, +p. 63) celebrates it; yet it was no more than a copy, since he adds (of +Edessa). See Pagi, tom. ii. A.D. 588 No. 11.] + +[Footnote 13: See, in the genuine or supposed works of John Damascenus, +two passages on the Virgin and St. Luke, which have not been noticed by +Gretser, nor consequently by Beausobre, (Opera Joh. Damascen. tom. i. p. +618, 631.)] + +[Footnote 14: "Your scandalous figures stand quite out from the canvass: +they are as bad as a group of statues!" It was thus that the ignorance +and bigotry of a Greek priest applauded the pictures of Titian, which he +had ordered, and refused to accept.] + +The worship of images had stolen into the church by insensible +degrees, and each petty step was pleasing to the superstitious mind, as +productive of comfort, and innocent of sin. But in the beginning of the +eighth century, in the full magnitude of the abuse, the more timorous +Greeks were awakened by an apprehension, that under the mask of +Christianity, they had restored the religion of their fathers: they +heard, with grief and impatience, the name of idolaters; the incessant +charge of the Jews and Mahometans, [15] who derived from the Law and the +Koran an immortal hatred to graven images and all relative worship. +The servitude of the Jews might curb their zeal, and depreciate their +authority; but the triumphant Mussulmans, who reigned at Damascus, +and threatened Constantinople, cast into the scale of reproach the +accumulated weight of truth and victory. The cities of Syria, Palestine, +and Egypt had been fortified with the images of Christ, his mother, and +his saints; and each city presumed on the hope or promise of miraculous +defence. In a rapid conquest of ten years, the Arabs subdued those +cities and these images; and, in their opinion, the Lord of Hosts +pronounced a decisive judgment between the adoration and contempt of +these mute and inanimate idols. [1511] For a while Edessa had braved +the Persian assaults; but the chosen city, the spouse of Christ, was +involved in the common ruin; and his divine resemblance became the slave +and trophy of the infidels. After a servitude of three hundred years, +the Palladium was yielded to the devotion of Constantinople, for a +ransom of twelve thousand pounds of silver, the redemption of two +hundred Mussulmans, and a perpetual truce for the territory of Edessa. +[16] In this season of distress and dismay, the eloquence of the monks +was exercised in the defence of images; and they attempted to prove, +that the sin and schism of the greatest part of the Orientals had +forfeited the favor, and annihilated the virtue, of these precious +symbols. But they were now opposed by the murmurs of many simple or +rational Christians, who appealed to the evidence of texts, of facts, +and of the primitive times, and secretly desired the reformation of +the church. As the worship of images had never been established by any +general or positive law, its progress in the Eastern empire had been +retarded, or accelerated, by the differences of men and manners, the +local degrees of refinement, and the personal characters of the bishops. +The splendid devotion was fondly cherished by the levity of the capital, +and the inventive genius of the Byzantine clergy; while the rude and +remote districts of Asia were strangers to this innovation of sacred +luxury. Many large congregations of Gnostics and Arians maintained, +after their conversion, the simple worship which had preceded their +separation; and the Armenians, the most warlike subjects of Rome, were +not reconciled, in the twelfth century, to the sight of images. [17] +These various denominations of men afforded a fund of prejudice and +aversion, of small account in the villages of Anatolia or Thrace, but +which, in the fortune of a soldier, a prelate, or a eunuch, might be +often connected with the powers of the church and state. + +[Footnote 15: By Cedrenus, Zonaras, Glycas, and Manasses, the origin +of the Aconoclcasts is imprinted to the caliph Yezid and two Jews, +who promised the empire to Leo; and the reproaches of these hostile +sectaries are turned into an absurd conspiracy for restoring the purity +of the Christian worship, (see Spanheim, Hist. Imag. c. 2.)] + +[Footnote 1511: Yezid, ninth caliph of the race of the Ommiadae, caused +all the images in Syria to be destroyed about the year 719; hence the +orthodox reproaches the sectaries with following the example of the +Saracens and the Jews Fragm. Mon. Johan. Jerosylym. Script. Byzant. +vol. xvi. p. 235. Hist. des Repub. Ital. par M. Sismondi, vol. i. p. +126.--G.] + +[Footnote 16: See Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 267,) Abulpharagius, +(Dynast. p. 201,) and Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 264,), and the +criticisms of Pagi, (tom. iii. A.D. 944.) The prudent Franciscan refuses +to determine whether the image of Edessa now reposes at Rome or Genoa; +but its repose is inglorious, and this ancient object of worship is no +longer famous or fashionable.] + +[Footnote 17: (Nicetas, l. ii. p. 258.) The Armenian churches are still +content with the Cross, (Missions du Levant, tom. iii. p. 148;) but +surely the superstitious Greek is unjust to the superstition of the +Germans of the xiith century.] + +Of such adventurers, the most fortunate was the emperor Leo the Third, +[18] who, from the mountains of Isauria, ascended the throne of the +East. He was ignorant of sacred and profane letters; but his education, +his reason, perhaps his intercourse with the Jews and Arabs, had +inspired the martial peasant with a hatred of images; and it was held +to be the duty of a prince to impose on his subjects the dictates of +his own conscience. But in the outset of an unsettled reign, during ten +years of toil and danger, Leo submitted to the meanness of hypocrisy, +bowed before the idols which he despised, and satisfied the Roman +pontiff with the annual professions of his orthodoxy and zeal. In the +reformation of religion, his first steps were moderate and cautious: +he assembled a great council of senators and bishops, and enacted, with +their consent, that all the images should be removed from the sanctuary +and altar to a proper height in the churches where they might be visible +to the eyes, and inaccessible to the superstition, of the people. But it +was impossible on either side to check the rapid through adverse impulse +of veneration and abhorrence: in their lofty position, the sacred images +still edified their votaries, and reproached the tyrant. He was himself +provoked by resistance and invective; and his own party accused him +of an imperfect discharge of his duty, and urged for his imitation the +example of the Jewish king, who had broken without scruple the brazen +serpent of the temple. By a second edict, he proscribed the existence +as well as the use of religious pictures; the churches of Constantinople +and the provinces were cleansed from idolatry; the images of Christ, the +Virgin, and the saints, were demolished, or a smooth surface of plaster +was spread over the walls of the edifice. The sect of the Iconoclasts +was supported by the zeal and despotism of six emperors, and the East +and West were involved in a noisy conflict of one hundred and +twenty years. It was the design of Leo the Isaurian to pronounce the +condemnation of images as an article of faith, and by the authority of +a general council: but the convocation of such an assembly was reserved +for his son Constantine; [19] and though it is stigmatized by triumphant +bigotry as a meeting of fools and atheists, their own partial and +mutilated acts betray many symptoms of reason and piety. The debates and +decrees of many provincial synods introduced the summons of the general +council which met in the suburbs of Constantinople, and was composed +of the respectable number of three hundred and thirty-eight bishops of +Europe and Anatolia; for the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria +were the slaves of the caliph, and the Roman pontiff had withdrawn the +churches of Italy and the West from the communion of the Greeks. This +Byzantine synod assumed the rank and powers of the seventh general +council; yet even this title was a recognition of the six preceding +assemblies, which had laboriously built the structure of the Catholic +faith. After a serious deliberation of six months, the three hundred and +thirty-eight bishops pronounced and subscribed a unanimous decree, that +all visible symbols of Christ, except in the Eucharist, were either +blasphemous or heretical; that image-worship was a corruption of +Christianity and a renewal of Paganism; that all such monuments of +idolatry should be broken or erased; and that those who should refuse +to deliver the objects of their private superstition, were guilty of +disobedience to the authority of the church and of the emperor. In +their loud and loyal acclamations, they celebrated the merits of their +temporal redeemer; and to his zeal and justice they intrusted the +execution of their spiritual censures. At Constantinople, as in the +former councils, the will of the prince was the rule of episcopal faith; +but on this occasion, I am inclined to suspect that a large majority of +the prelates sacrificed their secret conscience to the temptations of +hope and fear. In the long night of superstition, the Christians had +wandered far away from the simplicity of the gospel: nor was it easy for +them to discern the clew, and tread back the mazes, of the labyrinth. +The worship of images was inseparably blended, at least to a pious +fancy, with the Cross, the Virgin, the Saints and their relics; the holy +ground was involved in a cloud of miracles and visions; and the nerves +of the mind, curiosity and scepticism, were benumbed by the habits of +obedience and belief. Constantine himself is accused of indulging +a royal license to doubt, or deny, or deride the mysteries of the +Catholics, [20] but they were deeply inscribed in the public and private +creed of his bishops; and the boldest Iconoclast might assault with a +secret horror the monuments of popular devotion, which were consecrated +to the honor of his celestial patrons. In the reformation of the +sixteenth century, freedom and knowledge had expanded all the faculties +of man: the thirst of innovation superseded the reverence of antiquity; +and the vigor of Europe could disdain those phantoms which terrified the +sickly and servile weakness of the Greeks. + +[Footnote 18: Our original, but not impartial, monuments of the +Iconoclasts must be drawn from the Acts of the Councils, tom. viii. +and ix. Collect. Labbe, edit. Venet. and the historical writings of +Theophanes, Nicephorus, Manasses, Cedrenus, Zonoras, &c. Of the modern +Catholics, Baronius, Pagi, Natalis Alexander, (Hist. Eccles. Seculum +viii. and ix.,) and Maimbourg, (Hist. des Iconoclasts,) have treated the +subject with learning, passion, and credulity. The Protestant labors +of Frederick Spanheim (Historia Imaginum restituta) and James Basnage +(Hist. des Eglises Reformees, tom. ii. l. xxiiii. p. 1339-1385) are +cast into the Iconoclast scale. With this mutual aid, and opposite +tendency, it is easy for us to poise the balance with philosophic +indifference. * Note: Compare Schlosser, Geschichte der +Bilder-sturmender Kaiser, Frankfurt am-Main 1812 a book of research and +impartiality--M.] + +[Footnote 19: Some flowers of rhetoric. By Damascenus is styled (Opera, +tom. i. p. 623.) Spanheim's Apology for the Synod of Constantinople (p. +171, &c.) is worked up with truth and ingenuity, from such materials +as he could find in the Nicene Acts, (p. 1046, &c.) The witty John of +Damascus converts it into slaves of their belly, &c. Opera, tom. i. p. +806] + +[Footnote 20: He is accused of proscribing the title of saint; styling +the Virgin, Mother of Christ; comparing her after her delivery to an +empty purse of Arianism, Nestorianism, &c. In his defence, Spanheim (c. +iv. p. 207) is somewhat embarrassed between the interest of a Protestant +and the duty of an orthodox divine.] + +The scandal of an abstract heresy can be only proclaimed to the people +by the blast of the ecclesiastical trumpet; but the most ignorant can +perceive, the most torpid must feel, the profanation and downfall +of their visible deities. The first hostilities of Leo were directed +against a lofty Christ on the vestibule, and above the gate, of the +palace. A ladder had been planted for the assault, but it was furiously +shaken by a crowd of zealots and women: they beheld, with pious +transport, the ministers of sacrilege tumbling from on high and dashed +against the pavement: and the honors of the ancient martyrs were +prostituted to these criminals, who justly suffered for murder and +rebellion. [21] The execution of the Imperial edicts was resisted by +frequent tumults in Constantinople and the provinces: the person of Leo +was endangered, his officers were massacred, and the popular enthusiasm +was quelled by the strongest efforts of the civil and military power. +Of the Archipelago, or Holy Sea, the numerous islands were filled with +images and monks: their votaries abjured, without scruple, the enemy +of Christ, his mother, and the saints; they armed a fleet of boats and +galleys, displayed their consecrated banners, and boldly steered for the +harbor of Constantinople, to place on the throne a new favorite of God +and the people. They depended on the succor of a miracle: but their +miracles were inefficient against the Greek fire; and, after the defeat +and conflagration of the fleet, the naked islands were abandoned to the +clemency or justice of the conqueror. The son of Leo, in the first year +of his reign, had undertaken an expedition against the Saracens: during +his absence, the capital, the palace, and the purple, were occupied by +his kinsman Artavasdes, the ambitious champion of the orthodox faith. +The worship of images was triumphantly restored: the patriarch renounced +his dissimulation, or dissembled his sentiments and the righteous claims +of the usurper was acknowledged, both in the new, and in ancient, Rome. +Constantine flew for refuge to his paternal mountains; but he descended +at the head of the bold and affectionate Isaurians; and his final +victory confounded the arms and predictions of the fanatics. His long +reign was distracted with clamor, sedition, conspiracy, and mutual +hatred, and sanguinary revenge; the persecution of images was the motive +or pretence, of his adversaries; and, if they missed a temporal diadem, +they were rewarded by the Greeks with the crown of martyrdom. In every +act of open and clandestine treason, the emperor felt the unforgiving +enmity of the monks, the faithful slaves of the superstition to which +they owed their riches and influence. They prayed, they preached, they +absolved, they inflamed, they conspired; the solitude of Palestine +poured forth a torrent of invective; and the pen of St. John Damascenus, +[22] the last of the Greek fathers, devoted the tyrant's head, both in +this world and the next. [23] [2311] I am not at leisure to examine how +far the monks provoked, nor how much they have exaggerated, their real +and pretended sufferings, nor how many lost their lives or limbs, their +eyes or their beards, by the cruelty of the emperor. [2312] From the +chastisement of individuals, he proceeded to the abolition of the order; +and, as it was wealthy and useless, his resentment might be stimulated +by avarice, and justified by patriotism. The formidable name and +mission of the Dragon, [24] his visitor-general, excited the terror +and abhorrence of the black nation: the religious communities were +dissolved, the buildings were converted into magazines, or bar racks; +the lands, movables, and cattle were confiscated; and our modern +precedents will support the charge, that much wanton or malicious havoc +was exercised against the relics, and even the books of the monasteries. +With the habit and profession of monks, the public and private worship +of images was rigorously proscribed; and it should seem, that a solemn +abjuration of idolatry was exacted from the subjects, or at least from +the clergy, of the Eastern empire. [25] + +[Footnote 21: The holy confessor Theophanes approves the principle +of their rebellion, (p. 339.) Gregory II. (in Epist. i. ad Imp. Leon. +Concil. tom. viii. p. 661, 664) applauds the zeal of the Byzantine women +who killed the Imperial officers.] + +[Footnote 22: John, or Mansur, was a noble Christian of Damascus, who +held a considerable office in the service of the caliph. His zeal in the +cause of images exposed him to the resentment and treachery of the Greek +emperor; and on the suspicion of a treasonable correspondence, he was +deprived of his right hand, which was miraculously restored by the +Virgin. After this deliverance, he resigned his office, distributed +his wealth, and buried himself in the monastery of St. Sabas, between +Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The legend is famous; but his learned +editor, Father Lequien, has a unluckily proved that St. John Damascenus +was already a monk before the Iconoclast dispute, (Opera, tom. i. Vit. +St. Joan. Damascen. p. 10-13, et Notas ad loc.)] + +[Footnote 23: After sending Leo to the devil, he introduces his heir, +(Opera, Damascen. tom. i. p. 625.) If the authenticity of this piece +be suspicious, we are sure that in other works, no longer extant, +Damascenus bestowed on Constantine the titles. (tom. i. p. 306.)] + +[Footnote 2311: The patriarch Anastasius, an Iconoclast under Leo, an +image worshipper under Artavasdes, was scourged, led through the streets +on an ass, with his face to the tail; and, reinvested in his dignity, +became again the obsequious minister of Constantine in his Iconoclastic +persecutions. See Schlosser p. 211.--M.] + +[Footnote 2312: Compare Schlosser, p. 228-234.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: In the narrative of this persecution from Theophanes and +Cedreves, Spanheim (p. 235-238) is happy to compare the Draco of Leo +with the dragoons (Dracones) of Louis XIV.; and highly solaces himself +with the controversial pun.] + +[Footnote 25: (Damascen. Op. tom. i. p. 625.) This oath and subscription +I do not remember to have seen in any modern compilation] + +The patient East abjured, with reluctance, her sacred images; they were +fondly cherished, and vigorously defended, by the independent zeal of +the Italians. In ecclesiastical rank and jurisdiction, the patriarch +of Constantinople and the pope of Rome were nearly equal. But the Greek +prelate was a domestic slave under the eye of his master, at whose +nod he alternately passed from the convent to the throne, and from +the throne to the convent. A distant and dangerous station, amidst the +Barbarians of the West, excited the spirit and freedom of the Latin +bishops. + +Their popular election endeared them to the Romans: the public and +private indigence was relieved by their ample revenue; and the weakness +or neglect of the emperors compelled them to consult, both in peace and +war, the temporal safety of the city. In the school of adversity the +priest insensibly imbibed the virtues and the ambition of a prince; the +same character was assumed, the same policy was adopted, by the Italian, +the Greek, or the Syrian, who ascended the chair of St. Peter; and, +after the loss of her legions and provinces, the genius and fortune of +the popes again restored the supremacy of Rome. It is agreed, that in +the eighth century, their dominion was founded on rebellion, and +that the rebellion was produced, and justified, by the heresy of the +Iconoclasts; but the conduct of the second and third Gregory, in this +memorable contest, is variously interpreted by the wishes of their +friends and enemies. The Byzantine writers unanimously declare, that, +after a fruitless admonition, they pronounced the separation of the +East and West, and deprived the sacrilegious tyrant of the revenue +and sovereignty of Italy. Their excommunication is still more clearly +expressed by the Greeks, who beheld the accomplishment of the papal +triumphs; and as they are more strongly attached to their religion +than to their country, they praise, instead of blaming, the zeal and +orthodoxy of these apostolical men. [26] The modern champions of +Rome are eager to accept the praise and the precedent: this great and +glorious example of the deposition of royal heretics is celebrated by +the cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine; [27] and if they are asked, +why the same thunders were not hurled against the Neros and Julians of +antiquity, they reply, that the weakness of the primitive church was the +sole cause of her patient loyalty. [28] On this occasion the effects of +love and hatred are the same; and the zealous Protestants, who seek +to kindle the indignation, and to alarm the fears, of princes and +magistrates, expatiate on the insolence and treason of the two Gregories +against their lawful sovereign. [29] They are defended only by the +moderate Catholics, for the most part, of the Gallican church, [30] who +respect the saint, without approving the sin. These common advocates of +the crown and the mitre circumscribe the truth of facts by the rule +of equity, Scripture, and tradition, and appeal to the evidence of the +Latins, [31] and the lives [32] and epistles of the popes themselves. + +[Footnote 26: Theophanes. (Chronograph. p. 343.) For this Gregory is +styled by Cedrenus. (p. 450.) Zonaras specifies the thunder, (tom. ii. +l. xv. p. 104, 105.) It may be observed, that the Greeks are apt to +confound the times and actions of two Gregories.] + +[Footnote 27: See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 730, No. 4, 5; dignum +exemplum! Bellarmin. de Romano Pontifice, l. v. c. 8: mulctavit eum +parte imperii. Sigonius, de Regno Italiae, l. iii. Opera, tom. ii. p. +169. Yet such is the change of Italy, that Sigonius is corrected by the +editor of Milan, Philipus Argelatus, a Bolognese, and subject of the +pope.] + +[Footnote 28: Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem aut +Julianum, id fuit quia deerant vires temporales Christianis, (honest +Bellarmine, de Rom. Pont. l. v. c. 7.) Cardinal Perron adds a +distinction more honorable to the first Christians, but not more +satisfactory to modern princes--the treason of heretics and apostates, +who break their oath, belie their coin, and renounce their allegiance to +Christ and his vicar, (Perroniana, p. 89.)] + +[Footnote 29: Take, as a specimen, the cautious Basnage (Hist. d'Eglise, +p. 1350, 1351) and the vehement Spanheim, (Hist. Imaginum,) who, with a +hundred more, tread in the footsteps of the centuriators of Magdeburgh.] + +[Footnote 30: See Launoy, (Opera, tom. v. pars ii. epist. vii. 7, p. +456-474,) Natalis Alexander, (Hist. Nov. Testamenti, secul. viii. +dissert. i. p. 92-98,) Pagi, (Critica, tom. iii. p. 215, 216,) and +Giannone, (Istoria Civile Napoli, tom. i. p. 317-320,) a disciple of the +Gallican school In the field of controversy I always pity the moderate +party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both +sides.] + +[Footnote 31: They appeal to Paul Warnefrid, or Diaconus, (de Gestis +Langobard. l. vi. c. 49, p. 506, 507, in Script. Ital. Muratori, tom. i. +pars i.,) and the nominal Anastasius, (de Vit. Pont. in Muratori, tom. +iii. pars i. Gregorius II. p. 154. Gregorius III. p. 158. Zacharias, p. +161. Stephanus III. p. 165.; Paulus, p. 172. Stephanus IV. p. 174. +Hadrianus, p. 179. Leo III. p. 195.) Yet I may remark, that the true +Anastasius (Hist. Eccles. p. 134, edit. Reg.) and the Historia Miscella, +(l. xxi. p. 151, in tom. i. Script. Ital.,) both of the ixth century, +translate and approve the Greek text of Theophanes.] + +[Footnote 32: With some minute difference, the most learned critics, +Lucas Holstenius, Schelestrate, Ciampini, Bianchini, Muratori, +(Prolegomena ad tom. iii. pars i.,) are agreed that the Liber +Pontificalis was composed and continued by the apostolic librarians +and notaries of the viiith and ixth centuries; and that the last and +smallest part is the work of Anastasius, whose name it bears. The style +is barbarous, the narrative partial, the details are trifling--yet +it must be read as a curious and authentic record of the times. The +epistles of the popes are dispersed in the volumes of Councils.] + + + + +Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part II. + +Two original epistles, from Gregory the Second to the emperor Leo, are +still extant; [33] and if they cannot be praised as the most perfect +models of eloquence and logic, they exhibit the portrait, or at least +the mask, of the founder of the papal monarchy. "During ten pure and +fortunate years," says Gregory to the emperor, "we have tasted the +annual comfort of your royal letters, subscribed in purple ink, with +your own hand, the sacred pledges of your attachment to the orthodox +creed of our fathers. How deplorable is the change! how tremendous +the scandal! You now accuse the Catholics of idolatry; and, by the +accusation, you betray your own impiety and ignorance. To this ignorance +we are compelled to adapt the grossness of our style and arguments: the +first elements of holy letters are sufficient for your confusion; and +were you to enter a grammar-school, and avow yourself the enemy of our +worship, the simple and pious children would be provoked to cast +their horn-books at your head." After this decent salutation, the pope +attempts the usual distinction between the idols of antiquity and +the Christian images. The former were the fanciful representations of +phantoms or daemons, at a time when the true God had not manifested +his person in any visible likeness. The latter are the genuine forms +of Christ, his mother, and his saints, who had approved, by a crowd +of miracles, the innocence and merit of this relative worship. He must +indeed have trusted to the ignorance of Leo, since he could assert the +perpetual use of images, from the apostolic age, and their venerable +presence in the six synods of the Catholic church. A more specious +argument is drawn from present possession and recent practice the +harmony of the Christian world supersedes the demand of a general +council; and Gregory frankly confesses, than such assemblies can only +be useful under the reign of an orthodox prince. To the impudent and +inhuman Leo, more guilty than a heretic, he recommends peace, silence, +and implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constantinople and +Rome. The limits of civil and ecclesiastical powers are defined by the +pontiff. To the former he appropriates the body; to the latter, the +soul: the sword of justice is in the hands of the magistrate: the more +formidable weapon of excommunication is intrusted to the clergy; and in +the exercise of their divine commission a zealous son will not spare his +offending father: the successor of St. Peter may lawfully chastise +the kings of the earth. "You assault us, O tyrant! with a carnal and +military hand: unarmed and naked we can only implore the Christ, the +prince of the heavenly host, that he will send unto you a devil, for the +destruction of your body and the salvation of your soul. You declare, +with foolish arrogance, I will despatch my orders to Rome: I will break +in pieces the image of St. Peter; and Gregory, like his predecessor +Martin, shall be transported in chains, and in exile, to the foot of the +Imperial throne. Would to God that I might be permitted to tread in the +footsteps of the holy Martin! but may the fate of Constans serve as a +warning to the persecutors of the church! After his just condemnation +by the bishops of Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the fullness of his +sins, by a domestic servant: the saint is still adored by the nations of +Scythia, among whom he ended his banishment and his life. But it is our +duty to live for the edification and support of the faithful people; nor +are we reduced to risk our safety on the event of a combat. Incapable as +you are of defending your Roman subjects, the maritime situation of the +city may perhaps expose it to your depredation but we can remove to +the distance of four-and-twenty stadia, to the first fortress of the +Lombards, and then--you may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the +popes are the bond of union, the mediators of peace, between the East +and West? The eyes of the nations are fixed on our humility; and they +revere, as a God upon earth, the apostle St. Peter, whose image you +threaten to destroy. [35] The remote and interior kingdoms of the West +present their homage to Christ and his vicegerent; and we now prepare to +visit one of their most powerful monarchs, who desires to receive from +our hands the sacrament of baptism. [36] The Barbarians have submitted +to the yoke of the gospel, while you alone are deaf to the voice of the +shepherd. These pious Barbarians are kindled into rage: they thirst +to avenge the persecution of the East. Abandon your rash and fatal +enterprise; reflect, tremble, and repent. If you persist, we are +innocent of the blood that will be spilt in the contest; may it fall on +your own head!" + +[Footnote 33: The two epistles of Gregory II. have been preserved in the +Acta of the Nicene Council, (tom. viii. p. 651-674.) They are without a +date, which is variously fixed, by Baronius in the year 726, by Muratori +(Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 120) in 729, and by Pagi in 730. Such is +the force of prejudice, that some papists have praised the good sense +and moderation of these letters.] + +[Footnote 34: (Epist. i. p. 664.) This proximity of the Lombards is hard +of digestion. Camillo Pellegrini (Dissert. iv. de Ducatu Beneventi, +in the Script. Ital. tom. v. p. 172, 173) forcibly reckons the xxivth +stadia, not from Rome, but from the limits of the Roman duchy, to the +first fortress, perhaps Sora, of the Lombards. I rather believe that +Gregory, with the pedantry of the age, employs stadia for miles, without +much inquiry into the genuine measure.] + +[Footnote 35: {Greek}] + +[Footnote 36: (p. 665.) The pope appears to have imposed on the +ignorance of the Greeks: he lived and died in the Lateran; and in his +time all the kingdoms of the West had embraced Christianity. May not +this unknown Septetus have some reference to the chief of the Saxon +Heptarchy, to Ina king of Wessex, who, in the pontificate of Gregory the +Second, visited Rome for the purpose, not of baptism, but of pilgrimage! +(Pagi. A., 89, No. 2. A.D. 726, No. 15.)] + +The first assault of Leo against the images of Constantinople had been +witnessed by a crowd of strangers from Italy and the West, who related +with grief and indignation the sacrilege of the emperor. But on the +reception of his proscriptive edict, they trembled for their domestic +deities: the images of Christ and the Virgin, of the angels, martyrs, +and saints, were abolished in all the churches of Italy; and a strong +alternative was proposed to the Roman pontiff, the royal favor as the +price of his compliance, degradation and exile as the penalty of his +disobedience. Neither zeal nor policy allowed him to hesitate; and +the haughty strain in which Gregory addressed the emperor displays his +confidence in the truth of his doctrine or the powers of resistance. +Without depending on prayers or miracles, he boldly armed against the +public enemy, and his pastoral letters admonished the Italians of their +danger and their duty. [37] At this signal, Ravenna, Venice, and +the cities of the Exarchate and Pentapolis, adhered to the cause of +religion; their military force by sea and land consisted, for the +most part, of the natives; and the spirit of patriotism and zeal was +transfused into the mercenary strangers. The Italians swore to live and +die in the defence of the pope and the holy images; the Roman people was +devoted to their father, and even the Lombards were ambitious to share +the merit and advantage of this holy war. The most treasonable act, +but the most obvious revenge, was the destruction of the statues of Leo +himself: the most effectual and pleasing measure of rebellion, was the +withholding the tribute of Italy, and depriving him of a power which he +had recently abused by the imposition of a new capitation. [38] A form +of administration was preserved by the election of magistrates and +governors; and so high was the public indignation, that the Italians +were prepared to create an orthodox emperor, and to conduct him with +a fleet and army to the palace of Constantinople. In that palace, the +Roman bishops, the second and third Gregory, were condemned as the +authors of the revolt, and every attempt was made, either by fraud or +force, to seize their persons, and to strike at their lives. The city +was repeatedly visited or assaulted by captains of the guards, and dukes +and exarchs of high dignity or secret trust; they landed with foreign +troops, they obtained some domestic aid, and the superstition of Naples +may blush that her fathers were attached to the cause of heresy. But +these clandestine or open attacks were repelled by the courage and +vigilance of the Romans; the Greeks were overthrown and massacred, their +leaders suffered an ignominious death, and the popes, however inclined +to mercy, refused to intercede for these guilty victims. At Ravenna, +[39] the several quarters of the city had long exercised a bloody and +hereditary feud; in religious controversy they found a new aliment of +faction: but the votaries of images were superior in numbers or spirit, +and the exarch, who attempted to stem the torrent, lost his life in +a popular sedition. To punish this flagitious deed, and restore his +dominion in Italy, the emperor sent a fleet and army into the Adriatic +Gulf. After suffering from the winds and waves much loss and delay, +the Greeks made their descent in the neighborhood of Ravenna: they +threatened to depopulate the guilty capital, and to imitate, perhaps to +surpass, the example of Justinian the Second, who had chastised a +former rebellion by the choice and execution of fifty of the principal +inhabitants. The women and clergy, in sackcloth and ashes, lay prostrate +in prayer: the men were in arms for the defence of their country; the +common danger had united the factions, and the event of a battle was +preferred to the slow miseries of a siege. In a hard-fought day, as the +two armies alternately yielded and advanced, a phantom was seen, a voice +was heard, and Ravenna was victorious by the assurance of victory. The +strangers retreated to their ships, but the populous sea-coast poured +forth a multitude of boats; the waters of the Po were so deeply infected +with blood, that during six years the public prejudice abstained +from the fish of the river; and the institution of an annual feast +perpetuated the worship of images, and the abhorrence of the Greek +tyrant. Amidst the triumph of the Catholic arms, the Roman pontiff +convened a synod of ninety-three bishops against the heresy of the +Iconoclasts. With their consent, he pronounced a general excommunication +against all who by word or deed should attack the tradition of the +fathers and the images of the saints: in this sentence the emperor was +tacitly involved, [40] but the vote of a last and hopeless remonstrance +may seem to imply that the anathema was yet suspended over his guilty +head. No sooner had they confirmed their own safety, the worship of +images, and the freedom of Rome and Italy, than the popes appear to +have relaxed of their severity, and to have spared the relics of the +Byzantine dominion. Their moderate councils delayed and prevented +the election of a new emperor, and they exhorted the Italians not to +separate from the body of the Roman monarchy. The exarch was permitted +to reside within the walls of Ravenna, a captive rather than a master; +and till the Imperial coronation of Charlemagne, the government of Rome +and Italy was exercised in the name of the successors of Constantine. +[41] + +[Footnote 37: I shall transcribe the important and decisive passage +of the Liber Pontificalis. Respiciens ergo pius vir profanam principis +jussionem, jam contra Imperatorem quasi contra hostem se armavit, +renuens haeresim ejus, scribens ubique se cavere Christianos, eo quod +orta fuisset impietas talis. Igitur permoti omnes Pentapolenses, atque +Venetiarum exercitus contra Imperatoris jussionem restiterunt; dicentes +se nunquam in ejusdem pontificis condescendere necem, sed pro ejus magis +defensione viriliter decertare, (p. 156.)] + +[Footnote 38: A census, or capitation, says Anastasius, (p. 156;) a +most cruel tax, unknown to the Saracens themselves, exclaims the zealous +Maimbourg, (Hist. des Iconoclastes, l. i.,) and Theophanes, (p. 344,) +who talks of Pharaoh's numbering the male children of Israel. This mode +of taxation was familiar to the Saracens; and, most unluckily for the +historians, it was imposed a few years afterwards in France by his +patron Louis XIV.] + +[Footnote 39: See the Liber Pontificalis of Agnellus, (in the Scriptores +Rerum Italicarum of Muratori, tom. ii. pars i.,) whose deeper shade +of barbarism marks the difference between Rome and Ravenna. Yet we are +indebted to him for some curious and domestic facts--the quarters and +factions of Ravenna, (p. 154,) the revenge of Justinian II, (p. 160, +161,) the defeat of the Greeks, (p. 170, 171,) &c.] + +[Footnote 40: Yet Leo was undoubtedly comprised in the si quis .... +imaginum sacrarum.... destructor.... extiterit, sit extorris a cor +pore D. N. Jesu Christi vel totius ecclesiae unitate. The canonists may +decide whether the guilt or the name constitutes the excommunication; +and the decision is of the last importance to their safety, since, +according to the oracle (Gratian, Caus. xxiii. q. 5, 47, apud Spanheim, +Hist. Imag. p. 112) homicidas non esse qui excommunicatos trucidant.] + +[Footnote 41: Compescuit tale consilium Pontifex, sperans conversionem +principis, (Anastas. p. 156.) Sed ne desisterent ab amore et fide R. +J. admonebat, (p. 157.) The popes style Leo and Constantine Copronymus, +Imperatores et Domini, with the strange epithet of Piissimi. A famous +Mosaic of the Lateran (A.D. 798) represents Christ, who delivers the +keys to St. Peter and the banner to Constantine V. (Muratori, Annali +d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 337.)] + +The liberty of Rome, which had been oppressed by the arms and arts of +Augustus, was rescued, after seven hundred and fifty years of servitude, +from the persecution of Leo the Isaurian. By the Caesars, the triumphs +of the consuls had been annihilated: in the decline and fall of the +empire, the god Terminus, the sacred boundary, had insensibly receded +from the ocean, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates; and Rome was +reduced to her ancient territory from Viterbo to Terracina, and from +Narni to the mouth of the Tyber. [42] When the kings were banished, +the republic reposed on the firm basis which had been founded by their +wisdom and virtue. Their perpetual jurisdiction was divided between +two annual magistrates: the senate continued to exercise the powers +of administration and counsel; and the legislative authority was +distributed in the assemblies of the people, by a well-proportioned +scale of property and service. Ignorant of the arts of luxury, the +primitive Romans had improved the science of government and war: the +will of the community was absolute: the rights of individuals were +sacred: one hundred and thirty thousand citizens were armed for defence +or conquest; and a band of robbers and outlaws was moulded into a nation +deserving of freedom and ambitious of glory. [43] When the sovereignty +of the Greek emperors was extinguished, the ruins of Rome presented +the sad image of depopulation and decay: her slavery was a habit, her +liberty an accident; the effect of superstition, and the object of her +own amazement and terror. The last vestige of the substance, or even the +forms, of the constitution, was obliterated from the practice and memory +of the Romans; and they were devoid of knowledge, or virtue, again to +build the fabric of a commonwealth. Their scanty remnant, the offspring +of slaves and strangers, was despicable in the eyes of the victorious +Barbarians. As often as the Franks or Lombards expressed their most +bitter contempt of a foe, they called him a Roman; "and in this name," +says the bishop Liutprand, "we include whatever is base, whatever is +cowardly, whatever is perfidious, the extremes of avarice and luxury, +and every vice that can prostitute the dignity of human nature." [44] +[441] By the necessity of their situation, the inhabitants of Rome +were cast into the rough model of a republican government: they were +compelled to elect some judges in peace, and some leaders in war: the +nobles assembled to deliberate, and their resolves could not be executed +without the union and consent of the multitude. The style of the Roman +senate and people was revived, [45] but the spirit was fled; and +their new independence was disgraced by the tumultuous conflict of +vicentiousness and oppression. The want of laws could only be supplied +by the influence of religion, and their foreign and domestic counsels +were moderated by the authority of the bishop. His alms, his sermons, +his correspondence with the kings and prelates of the West, his recent +services, their gratitude, and oath, accustomed the Romans to consider +him as the first magistrate or prince of the city. The Christian +humility of the popes was not offended by the name of Dominus, or Lord; +and their face and inscription are still apparent on the most ancient +coins. [46] Their temporal dominion is now confirmed by the reverence +of a thousand years; and their noblest title is the free choice of a +people, whom they had redeemed from slavery. + +[Footnote 42: I have traced the Roman duchy according to the maps, and +the maps according to the excellent dissertation of father Beretti, +(de Chorographia Italiae Medii Aevi, sect. xx. p. 216-232.) Yet I must +nicely observe, that Viterbo is of Lombard foundation, (p. 211,) and +that Terracina was usurped by the Greeks.] + +[Footnote 43: On the extent, population, &c., of the Roman kingdom, +the reader may peruse, with pleasure, the Discours Preliminaire to the +Republique Romaine of M. de Beaufort, (tom. i.,) who will not be accused +of too much credulity for the early ages of Rome.] + +[Footnote 44: Quos (Romanos) nos, Longobardi scilicet, Saxones, Franci, +Locharingi, Bajoarii, Suevi, Burgundiones, tanto dedignamur ut inimicos +nostros commoti, nil aliud contumeliarum nisi Romane, dicamus: hoc solo, +id est Romanorum nomine, quicquid ignobilitatis, quicquid timiditatis, +quicquid avaritiae, quicquid luxuriae, quicquid mendacii, immo quicquid +vitiorum est comprehendentes, (Liutprand, in Legat Script. Ital. tom. +ii. para i. p. 481.) For the sins of Cato or Tully Minos might have +imposed as a fit penance the daily perusal of this barbarous passage.] + +[Footnote 441: Yet this contumelious sentence, quoted by Robertson +(Charles V note 2) as well as Gibbon, was applied by the angry bishop +to the Byzantine Romans, whom, indeed, he admits to be the genuine +descendants of Romulus.--M.] + +[Footnote 45: Pipino regi Francorum, omnis senatus, atque universa +populi generalitas a Deo servatae Romanae urbis. Codex Carolin. epist. +36, in Script. Ital. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 160. The names of senatus and +senator were never totally extinct, (Dissert. Chorograph. p. 216, +217;) but in the middle ages they signified little more than nobiles, +optimates, &c., (Ducange, Gloss. Latin.)] + +[Footnote 46: See Muratori, Antiquit. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. ii. +Dissertat xxvii. p. 548. On one of these coins we read Hadrianus Papa +(A.D. 772;) on the reverse, Vict. Ddnn. with the word Conob, which +the Pere Joubert (Science des Medailles, tom. ii. p. 42) explains by +Constantinopoli Officina B (secunda.)] + +In the quarrels of ancient Greece, the holy people of Elis enjoyed a +perpetual peace, under the protection of Jupiter, and in the exercise +of the Olympic games. [47] Happy would it have been for the Romans, if +a similar privilege had guarded the patrimony of St. Peter from the +calamities of war; if the Christians, who visited the holy threshold, +would have sheathed their swords in the presence of the apostle and his +successor. But this mystic circle could have been traced only by the +wand of a legislator and a sage: this pacific system was incompatible +with the zeal and ambition of the popes the Romans were not addicted, +like the inhabitants of Elis, to the innocent and placid labors of +agriculture; and the Barbarians of Italy, though softened by the +climate, were far below the Grecian states in the institutions of +public and private life. A memorable example of repentance and piety was +exhibited by Liutprand, king of the Lombards. In arms, at the gate of +the Vatican, the conqueror listened to the voice of Gregory the Second, +[48] withdrew his troops, resigned his conquests, respectfully visited +the church of St. Peter, and after performing his devotions, offered +his sword and dagger, his cuirass and mantle, his silver cross, and his +crown of gold, on the tomb of the apostle. But this religious fervor was +the illusion, perhaps the artifice, of the moment; the sense of interest +is strong and lasting; the love of arms and rapine was congenial to the +Lombards; and both the prince and people were irresistibly tempted +by the disorders of Italy, the nakedness of Rome, and the unwarlike +profession of her new chief. On the first edicts of the emperor, they +declared themselves the champions of the holy images: Liutprand invaded +the province of Romagna, which had already assumed that distinctive +appellation; the Catholics of the Exarchate yielded without reluctance +to his civil and military power; and a foreign enemy was introduced for +the first time into the impregnable fortress of Ravenna. That city and +fortress were speedily recovered by the active diligence and maritime +forces of the Venetians; and those faithful subjects obeyed the +exhortation of Gregory himself, in separating the personal guilt of Leo +from the general cause of the Roman empire. [49] The Greeks were +less mindful of the service, than the Lombards of the injury: the two +nations, hostile in their faith, were reconciled in a dangerous and +unnatural alliance: the king and the exarch marched to the conquest of +Spoleto and Rome: the storm evaporated without effect, but the policy +of Liutprand alarmed Italy with a vexatious alternative of hostility and +truce. His successor Astolphus declared himself the equal enemy of the +emperor and the pope: Ravenna was subdued by force or treachery, [50] +and this final conquest extinguished the series of the exarchs, who had +reigned with a subordinate power since the time of Justinian and +the ruin of the Gothic kingdom. Rome was summoned to acknowledge the +victorious Lombard as her lawful sovereign; the annual tribute of a +piece of gold was fixed as the ransom of each citizen, and the sword of +destruction was unsheathed to exact the penalty of her disobedience. The +Romans hesitated; they entreated; they complained; and the threatening +Barbarians were checked by arms and negotiations, till the popes had +engaged the friendship of an ally and avenger beyond the Alps. [51] + +[Footnote 47: See West's Dissertation on the Olympic Games, (Pindar. +vol. ii. p. 32-36, edition in 12mo.,) and the judicious reflections of +Polybius (tom. i. l. iv. p. 466, edit Gronov.)] + +[Footnote 48: The speech of Gregory to the Lombard is finely composed +by Sigonius, (de Regno Italiae, l. iii. Opera, tom. ii. p. 173,) who +imitates the license and the spirit of Sallust or Livy.] + +[Footnote 49: The Venetian historians, John Sagorninus, (Chron. Venet. +p. 13,) and the doge Andrew Dandolo, (Scriptores Rer. Ital. tom. xii. p. +135,) have preserved this epistle of Gregory. The loss and recovery of +Ravenna are mentioned by Paulus Diaconus, (de Gest. Langobard, l. vi. +c. 42, 54, in Script. Ital. tom. i. pars i. p. 506, 508;) but our +chronologists, Pagi, Muratori, &c., cannot ascertain the date or +circumstances] + +[Footnote 50: The option will depend on the various readings of the Mss. +of Anastasius--deceperat, or decerpserat, (Script. Ital. tom. iii. pars +i. p. 167.)] + +[Footnote 51: The Codex Carolinus is a collection of the epistles of +the popes to Charles Martel, (whom they style Subregulus,) Pepin, and +Charlemagne, as far as the year 791, when it was formed by the last of +these princes. His original and authentic Ms. (Bibliothecae Cubicularis) +is now in the Imperial library of Vienna, and has been published by +Lambecius and Muratori, (Script. Rerum Ital. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 75, +&c.)] + +In his distress, the first [511] Gregory had implored the aid of the +hero of the age, of Charles Martel, who governed the French monarchy +with the humble title of mayor or duke; and who, by his signal victory +over the Saracens, had saved his country, and perhaps Europe, from the +Mahometan yoke. The ambassadors of the pope were received by Charles +with decent reverence; but the greatness of his occupations, and the +shortness of his life, prevented his interference in the affairs of +Italy, except by a friendly and ineffectual mediation. His son Pepin, +the heir of his power and virtues, assumed the office of champion of +the Roman church; and the zeal of the French prince appears to have been +prompted by the love of glory and religion. But the danger was on the +banks of the Tyber, the succor on those of the Seine, and our sympathy +is cold to the relation of distant misery. Amidst the tears of the city, +Stephen the Third embraced the generous resolution of visiting in person +the courts of Lombardy and France, to deprecate the injustice of his +enemy, or to excite the pity and indignation of his friend. After +soothing the public despair by litanies and orations, he undertook this +laborious journey with the ambassadors of the French monarch and the +Greek emperor. The king of the Lombards was inexorable; but his threats +could not silence the complaints, nor retard the speed of the Roman +pontiff, who traversed the Pennine Alps, reposed in the abbey of St. +Maurice, and hastened to grasp the right hand of his protector; a hand +which was never lifted in vain, either in war or friendship. Stephen +was entertained as the visible successor of the apostle; at the next +assembly, the field of March or of May, his injuries were exposed to a +devout and warlike nation, and he repassed the Alps, not as a suppliant, +but as a conqueror, at the head of a French army, which was led by +the king in person. The Lombards, after a weak resistance, obtained an +ignominious peace, and swore to restore the possessions, and to respect +the sanctity, of the Roman church. But no sooner was Astolphus delivered +from the presence of the French arms, than he forgot his promise and +resented his disgrace. Rome was again encompassed by his arms; and +Stephen, apprehensive of fatiguing the zeal of his Transalpine allies +enforced his complaint and request by an eloquent letter in the name and +person of St. Peter himself. [52] The apostle assures his adopted sons, +the king, the clergy, and the nobles of France, that, dead in the flesh, +he is still alive in the spirit; that they now hear, and must obey, the +voice of the founder and guardian of the Roman church; that the Virgin, +the angels, the saints, and the martyrs, and all the host of heaven, +unanimously urge the request, and will confess the obligation; that +riches, victory, and paradise, will crown their pious enterprise, and +that eternal damnation will be the penalty of their neglect, if they +suffer his tomb, his temple, and his people, to fall into the hands of +the perfidious Lombards. The second expedition of Pepin was not less +rapid and fortunate than the first: St. Peter was satisfied, Rome +was again saved, and Astolphus was taught the lessons of justice +and sincerity by the scourge of a foreign master. After this double +chastisement, the Lombards languished about twenty years in a state +of languor and decay. But their minds were not yet humbled to their +condition; and instead of affecting the pacific virtues of the feeble, +they peevishly harassed the Romans with a repetition of claims, +evasions, and inroads, which they undertook without reflection, and +terminated without glory. On either side, their expiring monarchy was +pressed by the zeal and prudence of Pope Adrian the First, the genius, +the fortune, and greatness of Charlemagne, the son of Pepin; these +heroes of the church and state were united in public and domestic +friendship, and while they trampled on the prostrate, they varnished +their proceedings with the fairest colors of equity and moderation. [53] +The passes of the Alps, and the walls of Pavia, were the only defence +of the Lombards; the former were surprised, the latter were invested, by +the son of Pepin; and after a blockade of two years, [531] Desiderius, +the last of their native princes, surrendered his sceptre and his +capital. + +Under the dominion of a foreign king, but in the possession of their +national laws, the Lombards became the brethren, rather than the +subjects, of the Franks; who derived their blood, and manners, and +language, from the same Germanic origin. [54] + +[Footnote 511: Gregory I. had been dead above a century; read Gregory +III.--M] + +[Footnote 52: See this most extraordinary letter in the Codex Carolinus, +epist iii. p. 92. The enemies of the popes have charged them with fraud +and blasphemy; yet they surely meant to persuade rather than deceive. +This introduction of the dead, or of immortals, was familiar to the +ancient orators, though it is executed on this occasion in the rude +fashion of the age.] + +[Footnote 53: Except in the divorce of the daughter of Desiderius, whom +Charlemagne repudiated sine aliquo crimine. Pope Stephen IV. had most +furiously opposed the alliance of a noble Frank--cum perfida, horrida +nec dicenda, foetentissima natione Longobardorum--to whom he imputes the +first stain of leprosy, (Cod. Carolin. epist. 45, p. 178, 179.) +Another reason against the marriage was the existence of a first +wife, (Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 232, 233, 236, 237.) But +Charlemagne indulged himself in the freedom of polygamy or concubinage.] + +[Footnote 531: Of fifteen months. James, Life of Charlemagne, p. +187.--M.] + +[Footnote 54: See the Annali d'Italia of Muratori, tom. vi., and the +three first Dissertations of his Antiquitates Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. +i.] + + + + +Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part III. + +The mutual obligations of the popes and the Carlovingian family form +the important link of ancient and modern, of civil and ecclesiastical, +history. In the conquest of Italy, the champions of the Roman church +obtained a favorable occasion, a specious title, the wishes of the +people, the prayers and intrigues of the clergy. But the most essential +gifts of the popes to the Carlovingian race were the dignities of +king of France, [55] and of patrician of Rome. I. Under the sacerdotal +monarchy of St. Peter, the nations began to resume the practice of +seeking, on the banks of the Tyber, their kings, their laws, and the +oracles of their fate. The Franks were perplexed between the name and +substance of their government. All the powers of royalty were exercised +by Pepin, mayor of the palace; and nothing, except the regal title, +was wanting to his ambition. His enemies were crushed by his valor; +his friends were multiplied by his liberality; his father had been the +savior of Christendom; and the claims of personal merit were repeated +and ennobled in a descent of four generations. The name and image of +royalty was still preserved in the last descendant of Clovis, the feeble +Childeric; but his obsolete right could only be used as an instrument +of sedition: the nation was desirous of restoring the simplicity of +the constitution; and Pepin, a subject and a prince, was ambitious to +ascertain his own rank and the fortune of his family. The mayor and the +nobles were bound, by an oath of fidelity, to the royal phantom: the +blood of Clovis was pure and sacred in their eyes; and their common +ambassadors addressed the Roman pontiff, to dispel their scruples, or +to absolve their promise. The interest of Pope Zachary, the successor of +the two Gregories, prompted him to decide, and to decide in their favor: +he pronounced that the nation might lawfully unite in the same person +the title and authority of king; and that the unfortunate Childeric, a +victim of the public safety, should be degraded, shaved, and confined +in a monastery for the remainder of his days. An answer so agreeable to +their wishes was accepted by the Franks as the opinion of a casuist, the +sentence of a judge, or the oracle of a prophet: the Merovingian race +disappeared from the earth; and Pepin was exalted on a buckler by the +suffrage of a free people, accustomed to obey his laws and to march +under his standard. His coronation was twice performed, with the +sanction of the popes, by their most faithful servant St. Boniface, the +apostle of Germany, and by the grateful hands of Stephen the Third, +who, in the monastery of St. Denys placed the diadem on the head of his +benefactor. The royal unction of the kings of Israel was dexterously +applied: [56] the successor of St. Peter assumed the character of a +divine ambassador: a German chieftain was transformed into the Lord's +anointed; and this Jewish rite has been diffused and maintained by the +superstition and vanity of modern Europe. The Franks were absolved from +their ancient oath; but a dire anathema was thundered against them +and their posterity, if they should dare to renew the same freedom of +choice, or to elect a king, except in the holy and meritorious race of +the Carlovingian princes. Without apprehending the future danger, these +princes gloried in their present security: the secretary of Charlemagne +affirms, that the French sceptre was transferred by the authority of +the popes; [57] and in their boldest enterprises, they insist, with +confidence, on this signal and successful act of temporal jurisdiction. + +[Footnote 55: Besides the common historians, three French critics, +Launoy, (Opera, tom. v. pars ii. l. vii. epist. 9, p. 477-487,) Pagi, +(Critica, A.D. 751, No. 1-6, A.D. 752, No. 1-10,) and Natalis Alexander, +(Hist. Novi Testamenti, dissertat, ii. p. 96-107,) have treated this +subject of the deposition of Childeric with learning and attention, but +with a strong bias to save the independence of the crown. Yet they are +hard pressed by the texts which they produce of Eginhard, Theophanes, +and the old annals, Laureshamenses, Fuldenses, Loisielani] + +[Footnote 56: Not absolutely for the first time. On a less conspicuous +theatre it had been used, in the vith and viith centuries, by +the provincial bishops of Britain and Spain. The royal unction of +Constantinople was borrowed from the Latins in the last age of the +empire. Constantine Manasses mentions that of Charlemagne as a foreign, +Jewish, incomprehensible ceremony. See Selden's Titles of Honor, in his +Works, vol. iii. part i. p. 234-249.] + +[Footnote 57: See Eginhard, in Vita Caroli Magni, c. i. p. 9, &c., +c. iii. p. 24. Childeric was deposed--jussu, the Carlovingians were +established--auctoritate, Pontificis Romani. Launoy, &c., pretend that +these strong words are susceptible of a very soft interpretation. Be +it so; yet Eginhard understood the world, the court, and the Latin +language.] + +II. In the change of manners and language the patricians of Rome +[58] were far removed from the senate of Romulus, on the palace of +Constantine, from the free nobles of the republic, or the fictitious +parents of the emperor. After the recovery of Italy and Africa by the +arms of Justinian, the importance and danger of those remote provinces +required the presence of a supreme magistrate; he was indifferently +styled the exarch or the patrician; and these governors of Ravenna, +who fill their place in the chronology of princes, extended their +jurisdiction over the Roman city. Since the revolt of Italy and the loss +of the Exarchate, the distress of the Romans had exacted some sacrifice +of their independence. Yet, even in this act, they exercised the right +of disposing of themselves; and the decrees of the senate and people +successively invested Charles Martel and his posterity with the honors +of patrician of Rome. The leaders of a powerful nation would have +disdained a servile title and subordinate office; but the reign of the +Greek emperors was suspended; and, in the vacancy of the empire, they +derived a more glorious commission from the pope and the republic. The +Roman ambassadors presented these patricians with the keys of the shrine +of St. Peter, as a pledge and symbol of sovereignty; with a holy banner +which it was their right and duty to unfurl in the defence of the +church and city. [59] In the time of Charles Martel and of Pepin, the +interposition of the Lombard kingdom covered the freedom, while it +threatened the safety, of Rome; and the patriciate represented only the +title, the service, the alliance, of these distant protectors. The power +and policy of Charlemagne annihilated an enemy, and imposed a master. +In his first visit to the capital, he was received with all the honors +which had formerly been paid to the exarch, the representative of the +emperor; and these honors obtained some new decorations from the joy and +gratitude of Pope Adrian the First. [60] No sooner was he informed of +the sudden approach of the monarch, than he despatched the magistrates +and nobles of Rome to meet him, with the banner, about thirty miles from +the city. At the distance of one mile, the Flaminian way was lined with +the schools, or national communities, of Greeks, Lombards, Saxons, &c.: +the Roman youth were under arms; and the children of a more tender age, +with palms and olive branches in their hands, chanted the praises of +their great deliverer. At the aspect of the holy crosses, and ensigns +of the saints, he dismounted from his horse, led the procession of his +nobles to the Vatican, and, as he ascended the stairs, devoutly kissed +each step of the threshold of the apostles. In the portico, Adrian +expected him at the head of his clergy: they embraced, as friends and +equals; but in their march to the altar, the king or patrician assumed +the right hand of the pope. Nor was the Frank content with these vain +and empty demonstrations of respect. In the twenty-six years that +elapsed between the conquest of Lombardy and his Imperial coronation, +Rome, which had been delivered by the sword, was subject, as his own, +to the sceptre of Charlemagne. The people swore allegiance to his person +and family: in his name money was coined, and justice was administered; +and the election of the popes was examined and confirmed by his +authority. Except an original and self-inherent claim of sovereignty, +there was not any prerogative remaining, which the title of emperor +could add to the patrician of Rome. [61] + +[Footnote 58: For the title and powers of patrician of Rome, see +Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. v. p. 149-151,) Pagi, (Critica, A.D. 740, +No. 6-11,) Muratori, (Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 308-329,) and St. +Marc, (Abrege Chronologique d'Italie, tom. i. p. 379-382.) Of these the +Franciscan Pagi is the most disposed to make the patrician a lieutenant +of the church, rather than of the empire.] + +[Footnote 59: The papal advocates can soften the symbolic meaning of the +banner and the keys; but the style of ad regnum dimisimus, or direximus, +(Codex Carolin. epist. i. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 76,) seems to allow of +no palliation or escape. In the Ms. of the Vienna library, they read, +instead of regnum, rogum, prayer or request (see Ducange;) and the +royalty of Charles Martel is subverted by this important correction, +(Catalani, in his Critical Prefaces, Annali d'Italia, tom. xvii. p. +95-99.)] + +[Footnote 60: In the authentic narrative of this reception, the Liber +Pontificalis observes--obviam illi ejus sanctitas dirigens venerabiles +cruces, id est signa; sicut mos est ad exarchum, aut patricium +suscipiendum, sum cum ingenti honore suscipi fecit, (tom. iii. pars i. +p. 185.)] + +[Footnote 61: Paulus Diaconus, who wrote before the empire of +Charlemagne describes Rome as his subject city--vestrae civitates +(ad Pompeium Festum) suis addidit sceptris, (de Metensis Ecclesiae +Episcopis.) Some Carlovingian medals, struck at Rome, have engaged +Le Blanc to write an elaborate, though partial, dissertation on their +authority at Rome, both as patricians and emperors, (Amsterdam, 1692, in +4to.)] + +The gratitude of the Carlovingians was adequate to these obligations, +and their names are consecrated, as the saviors and benefactors of the +Roman church. Her ancient patrimony of farms and houses was transformed +by their bounty into the temporal dominion of cities and provinces; and +the donation of the Exarchate was the first-fruits of the conquests of +Pepin. [62] Astolphus with a sigh relinquished his prey; the keys +and the hostages of the principal cities were delivered to the French +ambassador; and, in his master's name, he presented them before the tomb +of St. Peter. The ample measure of the Exarchate [63] might comprise all +the provinces of Italy which had obeyed the emperor and his vicegerent; +but its strict and proper limits were included in the territories +of Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara: its inseparable dependency was the +Pentapolis, which stretched along the Adriatic from Rimini to Ancona, +and advanced into the midland-country as far as the ridges of the +Apennine. In this transaction, the ambition and avarice of the popes +have been severely condemned. Perhaps the humility of a Christian priest +should have rejected an earthly kingdom, which it was not easy for him +to govern without renouncing the virtues of his profession. Perhaps +a faithful subject, or even a generous enemy, would have been less +impatient to divide the spoils of the Barbarian; and if the emperor +had intrusted Stephen to solicit in his name the restitution of the +Exarchate, I will not absolve the pope from the reproach of treachery +and falsehood. But in the rigid interpretation of the laws, every one +may accept, without injury, whatever his benefactor can bestow without +injustice. The Greek emperor had abdicated, or forfeited, his right to +the Exarchate; and the sword of Astolphus was broken by the stronger +sword of the Carlovingian. It was not in the cause of the Iconoclast +that Pepin has exposed his person and army in a double expedition beyond +the Alps: he possessed, and might lawfully alienate, his conquests: +and to the importunities of the Greeks he piously replied that no human +consideration should tempt him to resume the gift which he had conferred +on the Roman Pontiff for the remission of his sins, and the salvation +of his soul. The splendid donation was granted in supreme and absolute +dominion, and the world beheld for the first time a Christian bishop +invested with the prerogatives of a temporal prince; the choice of +magistrates, the exercise of justice, the imposition of taxes, and +the wealth of the palace of Ravenna. In the dissolution of the Lombard +kingdom, the inhabitants of the duchy of Spoleto [64] sought a refuge +from the storm, shaved their heads after the Roman fashion, declared +themselves the servants and subjects of St. Peter, and completed, by +this voluntary surrender, the present circle of the ecclesiastical +state. That mysterious circle was enlarged to an indefinite extent, by +the verbal or written donation of Charlemagne, [65] who, in the first +transports of his victory, despoiled himself and the Greek emperor of +the cities and islands which had formerly been annexed to the Exarchate. +But, in the cooler moments of absence and reflection, he viewed, with +an eye of jealousy and envy, the recent greatness of his ecclesiastical +ally. The execution of his own and his father's promises was +respectfully eluded: the king of the Franks and Lombards asserted the +inalienable rights of the empire; and, in his life and death, Ravenna, +[66] as well as Rome, was numbered in the list of his metropolitan +cities. The sovereignty of the Exarchate melted away in the hands of the +popes; they found in the archbishops of Ravenna a dangerous and domestic +rival: [67] the nobles and people disdained the yoke of a priest; and +in the disorders of the times, they could only retain the memory of an +ancient claim, which, in a more prosperous age, they have revived and +realized. + +[Footnote 62: Mosheim (Institution, Hist. Eccles. p. 263) weighs this +donation with fair and deliberate prudence. The original act has never +been produced; but the Liber Pontificalis represents, (p. 171,) and the +Codex Carolinus supposes, this ample gift. Both are contemporary records +and the latter is the more authentic, since it has been preserved, not +in the Papal, but the Imperial, library.] + +[Footnote 63: Between the exorbitant claims, and narrow concessions, of +interest and prejudice, from which even Muratori (Antiquitat. tom. i. p. +63-68) is not exempt, I have been guided, in the limits of the Exarchate +and Pentapolis, by the Dissertatio Chorographica Italiae Medii Aevi, +tom. x. p. 160-180.] + +[Footnote 64: Spoletini deprecati sunt, ut eos in servitio B. Petri +receperet et more Romanorum tonsurari faceret, (Anastasius, p. 185.) +Yet it may be a question whether they gave their own persons or their +country.] + +[Footnote 65: The policy and donations of Charlemagne are carefully +examined by St. Marc, (Abrege, tom. i. p. 390-408,) who has well studied +the Codex Carolinus. I believe, with him, that they were only verbal. +The most ancient act of donation that pretends to be extant, is that of +the emperor Lewis the Pious, (Sigonius, de Regno Italiae, l. iv. Opera, +tom. ii. p. 267-270.) Its authenticity, or at least its integrity, are +much questioned, (Pagi, A.D. 817, No. 7, &c. Muratori, Annali, tom. +vi. p. 432, &c. Dissertat. Chorographica, p. 33, 34;) but I see no +reasonable objection to these princes so freely disposing of what was +not their own.] + +[Footnote 66: Charlemagne solicited and obtained from the proprietor, +Hadrian I., the mosaics of the palace of Ravenna, for the decoration of +Aix-la-Chapelle, (Cod. Carolin. epist. 67, p. 223.)] + +[Footnote 67: The popes often complain of the usurpations of Leo of +Ravenna, (Codex Carolin, epist. 51, 52, 53, p. 200-205.) Sir corpus St. +Andreae fratris germani St. Petri hic humasset, nequaquam nos Romani +pontifices sic subjugassent, (Agnellus, Liber Pontificalis, in +Scriptores Rerum Ital. tom. ii. pars. i. p. 107.)] + +Fraud is the resource of weakness and cunning; and the strong, though +ignorant, Barbarian was often entangled in the net of sacerdotal +policy. The Vatican and Lateran were an arsenal and manufacture, +which, according to the occasion, have produced or concealed a various +collection of false or genuine, of corrupt or suspicious, acts, as they +tended to promote the interest of the Roman church. Before the end +of the eighth century, some apostolic scribe, perhaps the notorious +Isidore, composed the decretals, and the donation of Constantine, the +two magic pillars of the spiritual and temporal monarchy of the popes. +This memorable donation was introduced to the world by an epistle of +Adrian the First, who exhorts Charlemagne to imitate the liberality, and +revive the name, of the great Constantine. [68] According to the legend, +the first of the Christian emperors was healed of the leprosy, and +purified in the waters of baptism, by St. Silvester, the Roman bishop; +and never was physician more gloriously recompensed. His royal proselyte +withdrew from the seat and patrimony of St. Peter; declared his +resolution of founding a new capital in the East; and resigned to +the popes the free and perpetual sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the +provinces of the West. [69] This fiction was productive of the most +beneficial effects. The Greek princes were convicted of the guilt +of usurpation; and the revolt of Gregory was the claim of his lawful +inheritance. The popes were delivered from their debt of gratitude; and +the nominal gifts of the Carlovingians were no more than the just and +irrevocable restitution of a scanty portion of the ecclesiastical state. +The sovereignty of Rome no longer depended on the choice of a fickle +people; and the successors of St. Peter and Constantine were invested +with the purple and prerogatives of the Caesars. So deep was the +ignorance and credulity of the times, that the most absurd of fables was +received, with equal reverence, in Greece and in France, and is still +enrolled among the decrees of the canon law. [70] The emperors, and the +Romans, were incapable of discerning a forgery, that subverted their +rights and freedom; and the only opposition proceeded from a Sabine +monastery, which, in the beginning of the twelfth century, disputed the +truth and validity of the donation of Constantine. [71] In the revival +of letters and liberty, this fictitious deed was transpierced by the pen +of Laurentius Valla, the pen of an eloquent critic and a Roman patriot. +[72] His contemporaries of the fifteenth century were astonished at his +sacrilegious boldness; yet such is the silent and irresistible progress +of reason, that, before the end of the next age, the fable was rejected +by the contempt of historians [73] and poets, [74] and the tacit or +modest censure of the advocates of the Roman church. [75] The popes +themselves have indulged a smile at the credulity of the vulgar; [76] +but a false and obsolete title still sanctifies their reign; and, by the +same fortune which has attended the decretals and the Sibylline oracles, +the edifice has subsisted after the foundations have been undermined. + +[Footnote 68: Piissimo Constantino magno, per ejus largitatem S. +R. Ecclesia elevata et exaltata est, et potestatem in his Hesperiae +partibus largiri olignatus est.... Quia ecce novus Constantinus his +temporibus, &c., (Codex Carolin. epist. 49, in tom. iii. part ii. p. +195.) Pagi (Critica, A.D. 324, No. 16) ascribes them to an impostor of +the viiith century, who borrowed the name of St. Isidore: his humble +title of Peccator was ignorantly, but aptly, turned into Mercator: his +merchandise was indeed profitable, and a few sheets of paper were sold +for much wealth and power.] + +[Footnote 69: Fabricius (Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p. 4-7) has enumerated +the several editions of this Act, in Greek and Latin. The copy which +Laurentius Valla recites and refutes, appears to be taken either from +the spurious Acts of St. Silvester or from Gratian's Decree, to which, +according to him and others, it has been surreptitiously tacked.] + +[Footnote 70: In the year 1059, it was believed (was it believed?) +by Pope Leo IX. Cardinal Peter Damianus, &c. Muratori places (Annali +d'Italia, tom. ix. p. 23, 24) the fictitious donations of Lewis the +Pious, the Othos, &c., de Donatione Constantini. See a Dissertation of +Natalis Alexander, seculum iv. diss. 25, p. 335-350.] + +[Footnote 71: See a large account of the controversy (A.D. 1105) which +arose from a private lawsuit, in the Chronicon Farsense, (Script. Rerum +Italicarum, tom. ii. pars ii. p. 637, &c.,) a copious extract from the +archives of that Benedictine abbey. They were formerly accessible to +curious foreigners, (Le Blanc and Mabillon,) and would have enriched the +first volume of the Historia Monastica Italiae of Quirini. But they are +now imprisoned (Muratori, Scriptores R. I. tom. ii. pars ii. p. 269) by +the timid policy of the court of Rome; and the future cardinal yielded +to the voice of authority and the whispers of ambition, (Quirini, +Comment. pars ii. p. 123-136.)] + +[Footnote 72: I have read in the collection of Schardius (de Potestate +Imperiali Ecclesiastica, p. 734-780) this animated discourse, which was +composed by the author, A.D. 1440, six years after the flight of Pope +Eugenius IV. It is a most vehement party pamphlet: Valla justifies and +animates the revolt of the Romans, and would even approve the use of a +dagger against their sacerdotal tyrant. Such a critic might expect the +persecution of the clergy; yet he made his peace, and is buried in the +Lateran, (Bayle, Dictionnaire Critique, Valla; Vossius, de Historicis +Latinis, p. 580.)] + +[Footnote 73: See Guicciardini, a servant of the popes, in that long and +valuable digression, which has resumed its place in the last edition, +correctly published from the author's Ms. and printed in four volumes in +quarto, under the name of Friburgo, 1775, (Istoria d'Italia, tom. i. p. +385-395.)] + +[Footnote 74: The Paladin Astolpho found it in the moon, among the +things that were lost upon earth, (Orlando Furioso, xxxiv. 80.) Di vari +fiore ad un grand monte passa, Ch'ebbe gia buono odore, or puzza forte: +Questo era il dono (se pero dir lece) Che Constantino al buon Silvestro +fece. Yet this incomparable poem has been approved by a bull of Leo X.] + +[Footnote 75: See Baronius, A.D. 324, No. 117-123, A.D. 1191, No. 51, +&c. The cardinal wishes to suppose that Rome was offered by Constantine, +and refused by Silvester. The act of donation he considers strangely +enough, as a forgery of the Greeks.] + +[Footnote 76: Baronius n'en dit guerres contre; encore en a-t'il trop +dit, et l'on vouloit sans moi, (Cardinal du Perron,) qui l'empechai, +censurer cette partie de son histoire. J'en devisai un jour avec le +Pape, et il ne me repondit autre chose "che volete? i Canonici la +tengono," il le disoit en riant, (Perroniana, p. 77.)] + +While the popes established in Italy their freedom and dominion, the +images, the first cause of their revolt, were restored in the Eastern +empire. [77] Under the reign of Constantine the Fifth, the union +of civil and ecclesiastical power had overthrown the tree, without +extirpating the root, of superstition. The idols (for such they were +now held) were secretly cherished by the order and the sex most prone +to devotion; and the fond alliance of the monks and females obtained +a final victory over the reason and authority of man. Leo the Fourth +maintained with less rigor the religion of his father and grandfather; +but his wife, the fair and ambitious Irene, had imbibed the zeal of the +Athenians, the heirs of the Idolatry, rather than the philosophy, of +their ancestors. During the life of her husband, these sentiments +were inflamed by danger and dissimulation, and she could only labor +to protect and promote some favorite monks whom she drew from their +caverns, and seated on the metropolitan thrones of the East. But as soon +as she reigned in her own name and that of her son, Irene more seriously +undertook the ruin of the Iconoclasts; and the first step of her future +persecution was a general edict for liberty of conscience. + +In the restoration of the monks, a thousand images were exposed to the +public veneration; a thousand legends were inverted of their sufferings +and miracles. By the opportunities of death or removal, the episcopal +seats were judiciously filled the most eager competitors for earthly +or celestial favor anticipated and flattered the judgment of their +sovereign; and the promotion of her secretary Tarasius gave Irene the +patriarch of Constantinople, and the command of the Oriental church. +But the decrees of a general council could only be repealed by a +similar assembly: [78] the Iconoclasts whom she convened were bold in +possession, and averse to debate; and the feeble voice of the bishops +was reechoed by the more formidable clamor of the soldiers and people of +Constantinople. The delay and intrigues of a year, the separation of the +disaffected troops, and the choice of Nice for a second orthodox synod, +removed these obstacles; and the episcopal conscience was again, after +the Greek fashion, in the hands of the prince. No more than eighteen +days were allowed for the consummation of this important work: the +Iconoclasts appeared, not as judges, but as criminals or penitents: +the scene was decorated by the legates of Pope Adrian and the Eastern +patriarchs, [79] the decrees were framed by the president Taracius, +and ratified by the acclamations and subscriptions of three hundred and +fifty bishops. They unanimously pronounced, that the worship of images +is agreeable to Scripture and reason, to the fathers and councils of the +church: but they hesitate whether that worship be relative or direct; +whether the Godhead, and the figure of Christ, be entitled to the same +mode of adoration. Of this second Nicene council the acts are still +extant; a curious monument of superstition and ignorance, of falsehood +and folly. I shall only notice the judgment of the bishops on the +comparative merit of image-worship and morality. A monk had concluded a +truce with the daemon of fornication, on condition of interrupting his +daily prayers to a picture that hung in his cell. His scruples prompted +him to consult the abbot. "Rather than abstain from adoring Christ and +his Mother in their holy images, it would be better for you," replied +the casuist, "to enter every brothel, and visit every prostitute, in the +city." [80] For the honor of orthodoxy, at least the orthodoxy of the +Roman church, it is somewhat unfortunate, that the two princes who +convened the two councils of Nice are both stained with the blood of +their sons. The second of these assemblies was approved and rigorously +executed by the despotism of Irene, and she refused her adversaries the +toleration which at first she had granted to her friends. During the +five succeeding reigns, a period of thirty-eight years, the contest +was maintained, with unabated rage and various success, between the +worshippers and the breakers of the images; but I am not inclined +to pursue with minute diligence the repetition of the same events. +Nicephorus allowed a general liberty of speech and practice; and the +only virtue of his reign is accused by the monks as the cause of his +temporal and eternal perdition. Superstition and weakness formed the +character of Michael the First, but the saints and images were incapable +of supporting their votary on the throne. In the purple, Leo the Fifth +asserted the name and religion of an Armenian; and the idols, with their +seditious adherents, were condemned to a second exile. Their applause +would have sanctified the murder of an impious tyrant, but his assassin +and successor, the second Michael, was tainted from his birth with +the Phrygian heresies: he attempted to mediate between the contending +parties; and the intractable spirit of the Catholics insensibly cast him +into the opposite scale. His moderation was guarded by timidity; but his +son Theophilus, alike ignorant of fear and pity, was the last and most +cruel of the Iconoclasts. The enthusiasm of the times ran strongly +against them; and the emperors who stemmed the torrent were exasperated +and punished by the public hatred. After the death of Theophilus, the +final victory of the images was achieved by a second female, his widow +Theodora, whom he left the guardian of the empire. Her measures were +bold and decisive. The fiction of a tardy repentance absolved the fame +and the soul of her deceased husband; the sentence of the Iconoclast +patriarch was commuted from the loss of his eyes to a whipping of +two hundred lashes: the bishops trembled, the monks shouted, and the +festival of orthodoxy preserves the annual memory of the triumph of the +images. A single question yet remained, whether they are endowed with +any proper and inherent sanctity; it was agitated by the Greeks of +the eleventh century; [81] and as this opinion has the strongest +recommendation of absurdity, I am surprised that it was not more +explicitly decided in the affirmative. In the West, Pope Adrian the +First accepted and announced the decrees of the Nicene assembly, which +is now revered by the Catholics as the seventh in rank of the general +councils. Rome and Italy were docile to the voice of their father; but +the greatest part of the Latin Christians were far behind in the race +of superstition. The churches of France, Germany, England, and Spain, +steered a middle course between the adoration and the destruction +of images, which they admitted into their temples, not as objects of +worship, but as lively and useful memorials of faith and history. An +angry book of controversy was composed and published in the name of +Charlemagne: [82] under his authority a synod of three hundred +bishops was assembled at Frankfort: [83] they blamed the fury of the +Iconoclasts, but they pronounced a more severe censure against the +superstition of the Greeks, and the decrees of their pretended council, +which was long despised by the Barbarians of the West. [84] Among them +the worship of images advanced with a silent and insensible progress; +but a large atonement is made for their hesitation and delay, by the +gross idolatry of the ages which precede the reformation, and of the +countries, both in Europe and America, which are still immersed in the +gloom of superstition. + +[Footnote 77: The remaining history of images, from Irene to Theodora, +is collected, for the Catholics, by Baronius and Pagi, (A.D. 780-840.) +Natalis Alexander, (Hist. N. T. seculum viii. Panoplia adversus +Haereticos p. 118-178,) and Dupin, (Bibliot. Eccles. tom. vi. p. +136-154;) for the Protestants, by Spanheim, (Hist. Imag. p. 305-639.) +Basnage, (Hist. de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 556-572, tom. ii. p. 1362-1385,) +and Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. secul. viii. et ix.) The +Protestants, except Mosheim, are soured with controversy; but the +Catholics, except Dupin, are inflamed by the fury and superstition of +the monks; and even Le Beau, (Hist. du Bas Empire,) a gentleman and a +scholar, is infected by the odious contagion.] + +[Footnote 78: See the Acts, in Greek and Latin, of the second Council +of Nice, with a number of relative pieces, in the viiith volume of the +Councils, p. 645-1600. A faithful version, with some critical notes, +would provoke, in different readers, a sigh or a smile.] + +[Footnote 79: The pope's legates were casual messengers, two priests +without any special commission, and who were disavowed on their return. +Some vagabond monks were persuaded by the Catholics to represent the +Oriental patriarchs. This curious anecdote is revealed by Theodore +Studites, (epist. i. 38, in Sirmond. Opp. tom. v. p. 1319,) one of the +warmest Iconoclasts of the age.] + +[Footnote 80: These visits could not be innocent since the daemon of +fornication, &c. Actio iv. p. 901, Actio v. p. 1081] + +[Footnote 81: See an account of this controversy in the Alexius of Anna +Compena, (l. v. p. 129,) and Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 371, +372.)] + +[Footnote 82: The Libri Carolini, (Spanheim, p. 443-529,) composed in +the palace or winter quarters of Charlemagne, at Worms, A.D. 790, and +sent by Engebert to Pope Hadrian I., who answered them by a grandis et +verbosa epistola, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 1553.) The Carolines propose +120 objections against the Nicene synod and such words as these are the +flowers of their rhetoric--Dementiam.... priscae Gentilitatis obsoletum +errorem .... argumenta insanissima et absurdissima.... derisione dignas +naenias, &c., &c.] + +[Footnote 83: The assemblies of Charlemagne were political, as well as +ecclesiastical; and the three hundred members, (Nat. Alexander, sec. +viii. p. 53,) who sat and voted at Frankfort, must include not only the +bishops, but the abbots, and even the principal laymen.] + +[Footnote 84: Qui supra sanctissima patres nostri (episcopi et +sacerdotes) omnimodis servitium et adorationem imaginum renuentes +contempserunt, atque consentientes condemnaverunt, (Concil. tom. ix. p. +101, Canon. ii. Franckfurd.) A polemic must be hard-hearted indeed, who +does not pity the efforts of Baronius, Pagi, Alexander, Maimbourg, &c., +to elude this unlucky sentence.] + + + + +Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part IV. + +It was after the Nycene synod, and under the reign of the pious Irene, +that the popes consummated the separation of Rome and Italy, by the +translation of the empire to the less orthodox Charlemagne. They were +compelled to choose between the rival nations: religion was not the sole +motive of their choice; and while they dissembled the failings of +their friends, they beheld, with reluctance and suspicion, the Catholic +virtues of their foes. The difference of language and manners had +perpetuated the enmity of the two capitals; and they were alienated from +each other by the hostile opposition of seventy years. In that schism +the Romans had tasted of freedom, and the popes of sovereignty: their +submission would have exposed them to the revenge of a jealous tyrant; +and the revolution of Italy had betrayed the impotence, as well as the +tyranny, of the Byzantine court. The Greek emperors had restored the +images, but they had not restored the Calabrian estates [85] and the +Illyrian diocese, [86] which the Iconociasts had torn away from the +successors of St. Peter; and Pope Adrian threatens them with a sentence +of excommunication unless they speedily abjure this practical heresy. +[87] The Greeks were now orthodox; but their religion might be tainted +by the breath of the reigning monarch: the Franks were now contumacious; +but a discerning eye might discern their approaching conversion, from +the use, to the adoration, of images. The name of Charlemagne was +stained by the polemic acrimony of his scribes; but the conqueror +himself conformed, with the temper of a statesman, to the various +practice of France and Italy. In his four pilgrimages or visits to the +Vatican, he embraced the popes in the communion of friendship and +piety; knelt before the tomb, and consequently before the image, of the +apostle; and joined, without scruple, in all the prayers and processions +of the Roman liturgy. Would prudence or gratitude allow the pontiffs to +renounce their benefactor? Had they a right to alienate his gift of the +Exarchate? Had they power to abolish his government of Rome? The title +of patrician was below the merit and greatness of Charlemagne; and +it was only by reviving the Western empire that they could pay their +obligations or secure their establishment. By this decisive measure they +would finally eradicate the claims of the Greeks; from the debasement +of a provincial town, the majesty of Rome would be restored: the Latin +Christians would be united, under a supreme head, in their ancient +metropolis; and the conquerors of the West would receive their crown +from the successors of St. Peter. The Roman church would acquire +a zealous and respectable advocate; and, under the shadow of the +Carlovingian power, the bishop might exercise, with honor and safety, +the government of the city. [88] + +[Footnote 85: Theophanes (p. 343) specifies those of Sicily and +Calabria, which yielded an annual rent of three talents and a half of +gold, (perhaps 7000 L. sterling.) Liutprand more pompously enumerates the +patrimonies of the Roman church in Greece, Judaea, Persia, Mesopotamia +Babylonia, Egypt, and Libya, which were detained by the injustice of the +Greek emperor, (Legat. ad Nicephorum, in Script. Rerum Italica rum, tom. +ii. pars i. p. 481.)] + +[Footnote 86: The great diocese of the Eastern Illyricum, with Apulia, +Calabria, and Sicily, (Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. +145: ) by the confession of the Greeks, the patriarch of Constantinople +had detached from Rome the metropolitans of Thessalonica, Athens +Corinth, Nicopolis, and Patrae, (Luc. Holsten. Geograph. Sacra, p. 22) +and his spiritual conquests extended to Naples and Amalphi (Istoria +Civile di Napoli, tom. i. p. 517-524, Pagi, A. D 780, No. 11.)] + +[Footnote 87: In hoc ostenditur, quia ex uno capitulo ab errore +reversis, in aliis duobus, in eodem (was it the same?) permaneant +errore.... de diocessi S. R. E. seu de patrimoniis iterum increpantes +commonemus, ut si ea restituere noluerit hereticum eum pro hujusmodi +errore perseverantia decernemus, (Epist. Hadrian. Papae ad Carolum +Magnum, in Concil. tom. viii. p. 1598;) to which he adds a reason, most +directly opposite to his conduct, that he preferred the salvation of +souls and rule of faith to the goods of this transitory world.] + +[Footnote 88: Fontanini considers the emperors as no more than the +advocates of the church, (advocatus et defensor S. R. E. See Ducange, +Gloss Lat. tom. i. p. 297.) His antagonist Muratori reduces the popes to +be no more than the exarchs of the emperor. In the more equitable view +of Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 264, 265,) they held Rome under +the empire as the most honorable species of fief or benefice--premuntur +nocte caliginosa!] + +Before the ruin of Paganism in Rome, the competition for a wealthy +bishopric had often been productive of tumult and bloodshed. The people +was less numerous, but the times were more savage, the prize more +important, and the chair of St. Peter was fiercely disputed by the +leading ecclesiastics who aspired to the rank of sovereign. The reign of +Adrian the First [89] surpasses the measure of past or succeeding ages; +[90] the walls of Rome, the sacred patrimony, the ruin of the Lombards, +and the friendship of Charlemagne, were the trophies of his fame: he +secretly edified the throne of his successors, and displayed in a narrow +space the virtues of a great prince. His memory was revered; but in the +next election, a priest of the Lateran, Leo the Third, was preferred to +the nephew and the favorite of Adrian, whom he had promoted to the first +dignities of the church. Their acquiescence or repentance disguised, +above four years, the blackest intention of revenge, till the day of a +procession, when a furious band of conspirators dispersed the unarmed +multitude, and assaulted with blows and wounds the sacred person of +the pope. But their enterprise on his life or liberty was disappointed, +perhaps by their own confusion and remorse. Leo was left for dead on the +ground: on his revival from the swoon, the effect of his loss of blood, +he recovered his speech and sight; and this natural event was improved +to the miraculous restoration of his eyes and tongue, of which he had +been deprived, twice deprived, by the knife of the assassins. [91] From +his prison he escaped to the Vatican: the duke of Spoleto hastened to +his rescue, Charlemagne sympathized in his injury, and in his camp of +Paderborn in Westphalia accepted, or solicited, a visit from the Roman +pontiff. Leo repassed the Alps with a commission of counts and bishops, +the guards of his safety and the judges of his innocence; and it was not +without reluctance, that the conqueror of the Saxons delayed till the +ensuing year the personal discharge of this pious office. In his fourth +and last pilgrimage, he was received at Rome with the due honors of king +and patrician: Leo was permitted to purge himself by oath of the crimes +imputed to his charge: his enemies were silenced, and the sacrilegious +attempt against his life was punished by the mild and insufficient +penalty of exile. On the festival of Christmas, the last year of the +eighth century, Charlemagne appeared in the church of St. Peter; and, +to gratify the vanity of Rome, he had exchanged the simple dress of his +country for the habit of a patrician. [92] After the celebration of the +holy mysteries, Leo suddenly placed a precious crown on his head, [93] +and the dome resounded with the acclamations of the people, "Long life +and victory to Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God +the great and pacific emperor of the Romans!" The head and body of +Charlemagne were consecrated by the royal unction: after the example +of the Caesars, he was saluted or adored by the pontiff: his coronation +oath represents a promise to maintain the faith and privileges of the +church; and the first-fruits were paid in his rich offerings to the +shrine of his apostle. In his familiar conversation, the emperor +protested the ignorance of the intentions of Leo, which he would have +disappointed by his absence on that memorable day. But the preparations +of the ceremony must have disclosed the secret; and the journey of +Charlemagne reveals his knowledge and expectation: he had acknowledged +that the Imperial title was the object of his ambition, and a Roman +synod had pronounced, that it was the only adequate reward of his merit +and services. [94] + +[Footnote 89: His merits and hopes are summed up in an epitaph of +thirty-eight-verses, of which Charlemagne declares himself the author, +(Concil. tom. viii. p. 520.) Post patrem lacrymans Carolus haec carmina +scripsi. Tu mihi dulcis amor, te modo plango pater... Nomina jungo simul +titulis, clarissime, nostra Adrianus, Carolus, rex ego, tuque pater. The +poetry might be supplied by Alcuin; but the tears, the most glorious +tribute, can only belong to Charlemagne.] + +[Footnote 90: Every new pope is admonished--"Sancte Pater, non videbis +annos Petri," twenty-five years. On the whole series the average is +about eight years--a short hope for an ambitious cardinal.] + +[Footnote 91: The assurance of Anastasius (tom. iii. pars i. p. 197, +198) is supported by the credulity of some French annalists; but +Eginhard, and other writers of the same age, are more natural and +sincere. "Unus ei oculus paullulum est laesus," says John the deacon of +Naples, (Vit. Episcop. Napol. in Scriptores Muratori, tom. i. pars ii. +p. 312.) Theodolphus, a contemporary bishop of Orleans, observes with +prudence (l. iii. carm. 3.) + + Reddita sunt? mirum est: mirum est auferre nequtsse. + Est tamen in dubio, hinc mirer an inde magis.] + +[Footnote 92: Twice, at the request of Hadrian and Leo, he appeared at +Rome,--longa tunica et chlamyde amictus, et calceamentis quoque +Romano more formatis. Eginhard (c. xxiii. p. 109-113) describes, like +Suetonius the simplicity of his dress, so popular in the nation, +that when Charles the Bald returned to France in a foreign habit, the +patriotic dogs barked at the apostate, (Gaillard, Vie de Charlemagne, +tom. iv. p. 109.)] + +[Footnote 93: See Anastasius (p. 199) and Eginhard, (c.xxviii. p. +124-128.) The unction is mentioned by Theophanes, (p. 399,) the oath +by Sigonius, (from the Ordo Romanus,) and the Pope's adoration more +antiquorum principum, by the Annales Bertiniani, (Script. Murator. tom. +ii. pars ii. p. 505.)] + +[Footnote 94: This great event of the translation or restoration of +the empire is related and discussed by Natalis Alexander, (secul. ix. +dissert. i. p. 390-397,) Pagi, (tom. iii. p. 418,) Muratori, (Annali +d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 339-352,) Sigonius, (de Regno Italiae, l. iv. +Opp. tom. ii. p. 247-251,) Spanheim, (de ficta Translatione Imperii,) +Giannone, (tom. i. p. 395-405,) St. Marc, (Abrege Chronologique, tom. +i. p. 438-450,) Gaillard, (Hist. de Charlemagne, tom. ii. p. 386-446.) +Almost all these moderns have some religious or national bias.] + +The appellation of great has been often bestowed, and sometimes +deserved; but Charlemagne is the only prince in whose favor the title +has been indissolubly blended with the name. That name, with the +addition of saint, is inserted in the Roman calendar; and the saint, +by a rare felicity, is crowned with the praises of the historians and +philosophers of an enlightened age. [95] His real merit is doubtless +enhanced by the barbarism of the nation and the times from which he +emerged: but the apparent magnitude of an object is likewise enlarged by +an unequal comparison; and the ruins of Palmyra derive a casual splendor +from the nakedness of the surrounding desert. Without injustice to his +fame, I may discern some blemishes in the sanctity and greatness of the +restorer of the Western empire. Of his moral virtues, chastity is +not the most conspicuous: [96] but the public happiness could not +be materially injured by his nine wives or concubines, the various +indulgence of meaner or more transient amours, the multitude of his +bastards whom he bestowed on the church, and the long celibacy and +licentious manners of his daughters, [97] whom the father was suspected +of loving with too fond a passion. [971] I shall be scarcely +permitted to accuse the ambition of a conqueror; but in a day of equal +retribution, the sons of his brother Carloman, the Merovingian princes +of Aquitain, and the four thousand five hundred Saxons who were beheaded +on the same spot, would have something to allege against the justice and +humanity of Charlemagne. His treatment of the vanquished Saxons [98] +was an abuse of the right of conquest; his laws were not less sanguinary +than his arms, and in the discussion of his motives, whatever is +subtracted from bigotry must be imputed to temper. The sedentary reader +is amazed by his incessant activity of mind and body; and his subjects +and enemies were not less astonished at his sudden presence, at the +moment when they believed him at the most distant extremity of the +empire; neither peace nor war, nor summer nor winter, were a season of +repose; and our fancy cannot easily reconcile the annals of his reign +with the geography of his expeditions. [981] But this activity was a +national, rather than a personal, virtue; the vagrant life of a Frank +was spent in the chase, in pilgrimage, in military adventures; and the +journeys of Charlemagne were distinguished only by a more numerous train +and a more important purpose. His military renown must be tried by +the scrutiny of his troops, his enemies, and his actions. Alexander +conquered with the arms of Philip, but the two heroes who preceded +Charlemagne bequeathed him their name, their examples, and the +companions of their victories. At the head of his veteran and superior +armies, he oppressed the savage or degenerate nations, who were +incapable of confederating for their common safety: nor did he ever +encounter an equal antagonist in numbers, in discipline, or in arms The +science of war has been lost and revived with the arts of peace; but +his campaigns are not illustrated by any siege or battle of singular +difficulty and success; and he might behold, with envy, the Saracen +trophies of his grandfather. After the Spanish expedition, his +rear-guard was defeated in the Pyrenaean mountains; and the soldiers, +whose situation was irretrievable, and whose valor was useless, might +accuse, with their last breath, the want of skill or caution of their +general. [99] I touch with reverence the laws of Charlemagne, so highly +applauded by a respectable judge. They compose not a system, but a +series, of occasional and minute edicts, for the correction of abuses, +the reformation of manners, the economy of his farms, the care of his +poultry, and even the sale of his eggs. He wished to improve the laws +and the character of the Franks; and his attempts, however feeble and +imperfect, are deserving of praise: the inveterate evils of the +times were suspended or mollified by his government; [100] but in his +institutions I can seldom discover the general views and the immortal +spirit of a legislator, who survives himself for the benefit of +posterity. The union and stability of his empire depended on the life +of a single man: he imitated the dangerous practice of dividing his +kingdoms among his sons; and after his numerous diets, the whole +constitution was left to fluctuate between the disorders of anarchy and +despotism. His esteem for the piety and knowledge of the clergy tempted +him to intrust that aspiring order with temporal dominion and civil +jurisdiction; and his son Lewis, when he was stripped and degraded +by the bishops, might accuse, in some measure, the imprudence of his +father. His laws enforced the imposition of tithes, because the daemons +had proclaimed in the air that the default of payment had been the +cause of the last scarcity. [101] The literary merits of Charlemagne +are attested by the foundation of schools, the introduction of arts, the +works which were published in his name, and his familiar connection with +the subjects and strangers whom he invited to his court to educate +both the prince and people. His own studies were tardy, laborious, +and imperfect; if he spoke Latin, and understood Greek, he derived the +rudiments of knowledge from conversation, rather than from books; +and, in his mature age, the emperor strove to acquire the practice +of writing, which every peasant now learns in his infancy. [102] The +grammar and logic, the music and astronomy, of the times, were only +cultivated as the handmaids of superstition; but the curiosity of +the human mind must ultimately tend to its improvement, and the +encouragement of learning reflects the purest and most pleasing lustre +on the character of Charlemagne. [103] The dignity of his person, [104] +the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vigor of his +government, and the reverence of distant nations, distinguish him from +the royal crowd; and Europe dates a new aera from his restoration of the +Western empire. + +[Footnote 95: By Mably, (Observations sur l'Histoire de France,) +Voltaire, (Histoire Generale,) Robertson, (History of Charles V.,) and +Montesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, l. xxxi. c. 18.) In the year 1782, M. +Gaillard published his Histoire de Charlemagne, (in 4 vols. in 12mo.,) +which I have freely and profitably used. The author is a man of sense +and humanity; and his work is labored with industry and elegance. But I +have likewise examined the original monuments of the reigns of Pepin and +Charlemagne, in the 5th volume of the Historians of France.] + +[Footnote 96: The vision of Weltin, composed by a monk, eleven years +after the death of Charlemagne, shows him in purgatory, with a vulture, +who is perpetually gnawing the guilty member, while the rest of his +body, the emblem of his virtues, is sound and perfect, (see Gaillard +tom. ii. p. 317-360.)] + +[Footnote 97: The marriage of Eginhard with Imma, daughter of +Charlemagne, is, in my opinion, sufficiently refuted by the probum and +suspicio that sullied these fair damsels, without excepting his own +wife, (c. xix. p. 98-100, cum Notis Schmincke.) The husband must have +been too strong for the historian.] + +[Footnote 971: This charge of incest, as Mr. Hallam justly observes, +"seems to have originated in a misinterpreted passage of Eginhard." +Hallam's Middle Ages, vol.i. p. 16.--M.] + +[Footnote 98: Besides the massacres and transmigrations, the pain of +death was pronounced against the following crimes: 1. The refusal of +baptism. 2. The false pretence of baptism. 3. A relapse to idolatry. 4. +The murder of a priest or bishop. 5. Human sacrifices. 6. Eating meat +in Lent. But every crime might be expiated by baptism or penance, +(Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 241-247;) and the Christian Saxons became the +friends and equals of the Franks, (Struv. Corpus Hist. Germanicae, +p.133.)] + +[Footnote 981: M. Guizot (Cours d'Histoire Moderne, p. 270, 273) has +compiled the following statement of Charlemagne's military campaigns:-- + + 1. Against the Aquitanians. + + 18. " the Saxons. + + 5. " the Lombards. + + 7. " the Arabs in Spain. + + 1. " the Thuringians. + + 4. " the Avars. + + 2. " the Bretons. + + 1. " the Bavarians. + + 4. " the Slaves beyond the Elbe + + 5. " the Saracens in Italy. + + 3. " the Danes. + + 2. " the Greeks. + ___ + + 53 total.--M.] + +[Footnote 99: In this action the famous Rutland, Rolando, Orlando, +was slain--cum compluribus aliis. See the truth in Eginhard, (c. 9, p. +51-56,) and the fable in an ingenious Supplement of M. Gaillard, (tom. +iii. p. 474.) The Spaniards are too proud of a victory, which history +ascribes to the Gascons, and romance to the Saracens. * Note: In +fact, it was a sudden onset of the Gascons, assisted by the Beaure +mountaineers, and possibly a few Navarrese.--M.] + +[Footnote 100: Yet Schmidt, from the best authorities, represents the +interior disorders and oppression of his reign, (Hist. des Allemands, +tom. ii. p. 45-49.)] + +[Footnote 101: Omnis homo ex sua proprietate legitimam decimam ad +ecclesiam conferat. Experimento enim didicimus, in anno, quo illa valida +fames irrepsit, ebullire vacuas annonas a daemonibus devoratas, et voces +exprobationis auditas. Such is the decree and assertion of the great +Council of Frankfort, (canon xxv. tom. ix. p. 105.) Both Selden (Hist. +of Tithes; Works, vol. iii. part ii. p. 1146) and Montesquieu (Esprit +des Loix, l. xxxi. c. 12) represent Charlemagne as the first legal +author of tithes. Such obligations have country gentlemen to his +memory!] + +[Footnote 102: Eginhard (c. 25, p. 119) clearly affirms, tentabat et +scribere... sed parum prospere successit labor praeposterus et sero +inchoatus. The moderns have perverted and corrected this obvious +meaning, and the title of M. Gaillard's dissertation (tom. iii. p. +247-260) betrays his partiality. * Note: This point has been contested; +but Mr. Hallam and Monsieur Sismondl concur with Gibbon. See Middle +Ages, iii. 330, Histoire de Francais, tom. ii. p. 318. The sensible +observations of the latter are quoted in the Quarterly Review, vol. +xlviii. p. 451. Fleury, I may add, quotes from Mabillon a remarkable +evidence that Charlemagne "had a mark to himself like an honest, +plain-dealing man." Ibid.--M.] + +[Footnote 103: See Gaillard, tom. iii. p. 138-176, and Schmidt, tom. +ii. p. 121-129.] + +[Footnote 104: M. Gaillard (tom. iii. p. 372) fixes the true stature of +Charlemagne (see a Dissertation of Marquard Freher ad calcem Eginhart, +p. 220, &c.) at five feet nine inches of French, about six feet one inch +and a fourth English, measure. The romance writers have increased it +to eight feet, and the giant was endowed with matchless strength and +appetite: at a single stroke of his good sword Joyeuse, he cut asunder +a horseman and his horse; at a single repast, he devoured a goose, two +fowls, a quarter of mutton, &c.] + +That empire was not unworthy of its title; [105] and some of the fairest +kingdoms of Europe were the patrimony or conquest of a prince, who +reigned at the same time in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Hungary. +[106] I. The Roman province of Gaul had been transformed into the name +and monarchy of France; but, in the decay of the Merovingian line, its +limits were contracted by the independence of the Britons and the revolt +of Aquitain. Charlemagne pursued, and confined, the Britons on the +shores of the ocean; and that ferocious tribe, whose origin and language +are so different from the French, was chastised by the imposition of +tribute, hostages, and peace. After a long and evasive contest, the +rebellion of the dukes of Aquitain was punished by the forfeiture of +their province, their liberty, and their lives. + +Harsh and rigorous would have been such treatment of ambitious +governors, who had too faithfully copied the mayors of the palace. But +a recent discovery [107] has proved that these unhappy princes were the +last and lawful heirs of the blood and sceptre of Clovis, and younger +branch, from the brother of Dagobert, of the Merovingian house. Their +ancient kingdom was reduced to the duchy of Gascogne, to the counties +of Fesenzac and Armagnac, at the foot of the Pyrenees: their race +was propagated till the beginning of the sixteenth century; and after +surviving their Carlovingian tyrants, they were reserved to feel +the injustice, or the favors, of a third dynasty. By the reunion of +Aquitain, France was enlarged to its present boundaries, with the +additions of the Netherlands and Spain, as far as the Rhine. II. + +The Saracens had been expelled from France by the grandfather and father +of Charlemagne; but they still possessed the greatest part of Spain, +from the rock of Gibraltar to the Pyrenees. Amidst their civil +divisions, an Arabian emir of Saragossa implored his protection in the +diet of Paderborn. Charlemagne undertook the expedition, restored +the emir, and, without distinction of faith, impartially crushed the +resistance of the Christians, and rewarded the obedience and services +of the Mahometans. In his absence he instituted the Spanish march, [108] +which extended from the Pyrenees to the River Ebro: Barcelona was the +residence of the French governor: he possessed the counties of Rousillon +and Catalonia; and the infant kingdoms of Navarre and Arragon were +subject to his jurisdiction. III. As king of the Lombards, and patrician +of Rome, he reigned over the greatest part of Italy, [109] a tract of +a thousand miles from the Alps to the borders of Calabria. The duchy of +Beneventum, a Lombard fief, had spread, at the expense of the Greeks, +over the modern kingdom of Naples. But Arrechis, the reigning duke, +refused to be included in the slavery of his country; assumed the +independent title of prince; and opposed his sword to the Carlovingian +monarchy. His defence was firm, his submission was not inglorious, and +the emperor was content with an easy tribute, the demolition of his +fortresses, and the acknowledgement, on his coins, of a supreme lord. +The artful flattery of his son Grimoald added the appellation of father, +but he asserted his dignity with prudence, and Benventum insensibly +escaped from the French yoke. [110] IV. Charlemagne was the first who +united Germany under the same sceptre. The name of Oriental France +is preserved in the circle of Franconia; and the people of Hesse and +Thuringia were recently incorporated with the victors, by the conformity +of religion and government. The Alemanni, so formidable to the Romans, +were the faithful vassals and confederates of the Franks; and their +country was inscribed within the modern limits of Alsace, Swabia, and +Switzerland. The Bavarians, with a similar indulgence of their laws and +manners, were less patient of a master: the repeated treasons of Tasillo +justified the abolition of their hereditary dukes; and their power was +shared among the counts, who judged and guarded that important frontier. +But the north of Germany, from the Rhine and beyond the Elbe, was still +hostile and Pagan; nor was it till after a war of thirty-three years +that the Saxons bowed under the yoke of Christ and of Charlemagne. +The idols and their votaries were extirpated: the foundation of eight +bishoprics, of Munster, Osnaburgh, Paderborn, and Minden, of Bremen, +Verden, Hildesheim, and Halberstadt, define, on either side of the +Weser, the bounds of ancient Saxony these episcopal seats were the first +schools and cities of that savage land; and the religion and humanity +of the children atoned, in some degree, for the massacre of the parents. +Beyond the Elbe, the Slavi, or Sclavonians, of similar manners and +various denominations, overspread the modern dominions of Prussia, +Poland, and Bohemia, and some transient marks of obedience have tempted +the French historian to extend the empire to the Baltic and the Vistula. +The conquest or conversion of those countries is of a more recent age; +but the first union of Bohemia with the Germanic body may be justly +ascribed to the arms of Charlemagne. V. He retaliated on the Avars, or +Huns of Pannonia, the same calamities which they had inflicted on the +nations. Their rings, the wooden fortifications which encircled their +districts and villages, were broken down by the triple effort of a +French army, that was poured into their country by land and water, +through the Carpathian mountains and along the plain of the Danube. +After a bloody conflict of eight years, the loss of some French generals +was avenged by the slaughter of the most noble Huns: the relics of the +nation submitted the royal residence of the chagan was left desolate and +unknown; and the treasures, the rapine of two hundred and fifty years, +enriched the victorious troops, or decorated the churches of Italy and +Gaul. [111] After the reduction of Pannonia, the empire of Charlemagne +was bounded only by the conflux of the Danube with the Teyss and the +Save: the provinces of Istria, Liburnia, and Dalmatia, were an easy, +though unprofitable, accession; and it was an effect of his moderation, +that he left the maritime cities under the real or nominal sovereignty +of the Greeks. But these distant possessions added more to the +reputation than to the power of the Latin emperor; nor did he risk any +ecclesiastical foundations to reclaim the Barbarians from their vagrant +life and idolatrous worship. Some canals of communication between the +rivers, the Saone and the Meuse, the Rhine and the Danube, were faintly +attempted. [112] Their execution would have vivified the empire; and +more cost and labor were often wasted in the structure of a cathedral. +[1121] + +[Footnote 105: See the concise, but correct and original, work of +D'Anville, (Etats Formes en Europe apres la Chute de l'Empire Romain +en Occident, Paris, 1771, in 4to.,) whose map includes the empire of +Charlemagne; the different parts are illustrated, by Valesius (Notitia +Galliacum) for France, Beretti (Dissertatio Chorographica) for Italy, De +Marca (Marca Hispanica) for Spain. For the middle geography of Germany, +I confess myself poor and destitute.] + +[Footnote 106: After a brief relation of his wars and conquests, (Vit. +Carol. c. 5-14,) Eginhard recapitulates, in a few words, (c. 15,) the +countries subject to his empire. Struvius, (Corpus Hist. German. p. +118-149) was inserted in his Notes the texts of the old Chronicles.] + +[Footnote 107: On a charter granted to the monastery of Alaon (A.D. 845) +by Charles the Bald, which deduces this royal pedigree. I doubt whether +some subsequent links of the ixth and xth centuries are equally firm; +yet the whole is approved and defended by M. Gaillard, (tom. ii. +p.60-81, 203-206,) who affirms that the family of Montesquiou (not +of the President de Montesquieu) is descended, in the female line, from +Clotaire and Clovis--an innocent pretension!] + +[Footnote 108: The governors or counts of the Spanish march revolted +from Charles the Simple about the year 900; and a poor pittance, +the Rousillon, has been recovered in 1642 by the kings of France, +(Longuerue, Description de la France, tom i. p. 220-222.) Yet the +Rousillon contains 188,900 subjects, and annually pays 2,600,000 livres, +(Necker, Administration des Finances, tom. i. p. 278, 279;) more people, +perhaps, and doubtless more money than the march of Charlemagne.] + +[Footnote 109: Schmidt, Hist. des Allemands, tom. ii. p. 200, &c.] + +[Footnote 110: See Giannone, tom. i. p 374, 375, and the Annals of +Muratori.] + +[Footnote 111: Quot praelia in eo gesta! quantum sanguinis effusum sit! +Testatur vacua omni habitatione Pannonia, et locus in quo regia Cagani +fuit ita desertus, ut ne vestigium quidem humanae habitationis appareat. +Tota in hoc bello Hunnorum nobilitas periit, tota gloria decidit, omnis +pecunia et congesti ex longo tempore thesauri direpti sunt. Eginhard, +cxiii.] + +[Footnote 112: The junction of the Rhine and Danube was undertaken only +for the service of the Pannonian war, (Gaillard, Vie de Charlemagne, +tom. ii. p. 312-315.) The canal, which would have been only two leagues +in length, and of which some traces are still extant in Swabia, was +interrupted by excessive rains, military avocations, and superstitious +fears, (Schaepflin, Hist. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. p. +256. Molimina fluviorum, &c., jungendorum, p. 59-62.)] + +[Footnote 1121: I should doubt this in the time of Charlemagne, even if +the term "expended" were substituted for "wasted."--M.] + + + + +Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part V. + +If we retrace the outlines of this geographical picture, it will be seen +that the empire of the Franks extended, between east and west, from the +Ebro to the Elbe or Vistula; between the north and south, from the duchy +of Beneventum to the River Eyder, the perpetual boundary of Germany +and Denmark. The personal and political importance of Charlemagne +was magnified by the distress and division of the rest of Europe. The +islands of Great Britain and Ireland were disputed by a crowd of princes +of Saxon or Scottish origin: and, after the loss of Spain, the Christian +and Gothic kingdom of Alphonso the Chaste was confined to the narrow +range of the Asturian mountains. These petty sovereigns revered the +power or virtue of the Carlovingian monarch, implored the honor and +support of his alliance, and styled him their common parent, the sole +and supreme emperor of the West. [113] He maintained a more equal +intercourse with the caliph Harun al Rashid, [114] whose dominion +stretched from Africa to India, and accepted from his ambassadors a +tent, a water-clock, an elephant, and the keys of the Holy Sepulchre. It +is not easy to conceive the private friendship of a Frank and an Arab, +who were strangers to each other's person, and language, and religion: +but their public correspondence was founded on vanity, and their remote +situation left no room for a competition of interest. Two thirds of the +Western empire of Rome were subject to Charlemagne, and the deficiency +was amply supplied by his command of the inaccessible or invincible +nations of Germany. But in the choice of his enemies, [1141] we may be +reasonably surprised that he so often preferred the poverty of the north +to the riches of the south. The three-and-thirty campaigns laboriously +consumed in the woods and morasses of Germany would have sufficed to +assert the amplitude of his title by the expulsion of the Greeks from +Italy and the Saracens from Spain. The weakness of the Greeks would have +insured an easy victory; and the holy crusade against the Saracens +would have been prompted by glory and revenge, and loudly justified by +religion and policy. Perhaps, in his expeditions beyond the Rhine and +the Elbe, he aspired to save his monarchy from the fate of the Roman +empire, to disarm the enemies of civilized society, and to eradicate the +seed of future emigrations. But it has been wisely observed, that, in a +light of precaution, all conquest must be ineffectual, unless it could +be universal, since the increasing circle must be involved in a larger +sphere of hostility. [115] The subjugation of Germany withdrew the veil +which had so long concealed the continent or islands of Scandinavia +from the knowledge of Europe, and awakened the torpid courage of their +barbarous natives. The fiercest of the Saxon idolaters escaped from +the Christian tyrant to their brethren of the North; the Ocean and +Mediterranean were covered with their piratical fleets; and Charlemagne +beheld with a sigh the destructive progress of the Normans, who, in less +than seventy years, precipitated the fall of his race and monarchy. + +[Footnote 113: See Eginhard, c. 16, and Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 361-385, +who mentions, with a loose reference, the intercourse of Charlemagne and +Egbert, the emperor's gift of his own sword, and the modest answer of +his Saxon disciple. The anecdote, if genuine, would have adorned our +English histories.] + +[Footnote 114: The correspondence is mentioned only in the French +annals, and the Orientals are ignorant of the caliph's friendship for +the Christian dog--a polite appellation, which Harun bestows on the +emperor of the Greeks.] + +[Footnote 1141: Had he the choice? M. Guizot has eloquently described +the position of Charlemagne towards the Saxons. Il y fit face par le +conquete; la guerre defensive prit la forme offensive: il transporta la +lutte sur le territoire des peuples qui voulaient envahir le sien: il +travailla a asservir les races etrangeres, et extirper les croyances +ennemies. De la son mode de gouvernement et la fondation de son empire: +la guerre offensive et la conquete voulaient cette vaste et redoutable +unite. Compare observations in the Quarterly Review, vol. xlviii., and +James's Life of Charlemagne.--M.] + +[Footnote 115: Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 361-365, 471-476, 492. I have +borrowed his judicious remarks on Charlemagne's plan of conquest, and +the judicious distinction of his enemies of the first and the second +enceinte, (tom. ii. p. 184, 509, &c.)] + +Had the pope and the Romans revived the primitive constitution, the +titles of emperor and Augustus were conferred on Charlemagne for +the term of his life; and his successors, on each vacancy, must have +ascended the throne by a formal or tacit election. But the association +of his son Lewis the Pious asserts the independent right of monarchy and +conquest, and the emperor seems on this occasion to have foreseen and +prevented the latent claims of the clergy. The royal youth was commanded +to take the crown from the altar, and with his own hands to place it on +his head, as a gift which he held from God, his father, and the nation. +[116] The same ceremony was repeated, though with less energy, in +the subsequent associations of Lothaire and Lewis the Second: the +Carlovingian sceptre was transmitted from father to son in a lineal +descent of four generations; and the ambition of the popes was reduced +to the empty honor of crowning and anointing these hereditary princes, +who were already invested with their power and dominions. The +pious Lewis survived his brothers, and embraced the whole empire +of Charlemagne; but the nations and the nobles, his bishops and his +children, quickly discerned that this mighty mass was no longer inspired +by the same soul; and the foundations were undermined to the centre, +while the external surface was yet fair and entire. After a war, or +battle, which consumed one hundred thousand Franks, the empire was +divided by treaty between his three sons, who had violated every filial +and fraternal duty. The kingdoms of Germany and France were forever +separated; the provinces of Gaul, between the Rhone and the Alps, the +Meuse and the Rhine, were assigned, with Italy, to the Imperial dignity +of Lothaire. In the partition of his share, Lorraine and Arles, two +recent and transitory kingdoms, were bestowed on the younger children; +and Lewis the Second, his eldest son, was content with the realm of +Italy, the proper and sufficient patrimony of a Roman emperor. On his +death without any male issue, the vacant throne was disputed by his +uncles and cousins, and the popes most dexterously seized the occasion +of judging the claims and merits of the candidates, and of bestowing on +the most obsequious, or most liberal, the Imperial office of advocate of +the Roman church. The dregs of the Carlovingian race no longer exhibited +any symptoms of virtue or power, and the ridiculous epithets of the +bard, the stammerer, the fat, and the simple, distinguished the tame and +uniform features of a crowd of kings alike deserving of oblivion. By the +failure of the collateral branches, the whole inheritance devolved to +Charles the Fat, the last emperor of his family: his insanity authorized +the desertion of Germany, Italy, and France: he was deposed in a diet, +and solicited his daily bread from the rebels by whose contempt his life +and liberty had been spared. According to the measure of their force, +the governors, the bishops, and the lords, usurped the fragments of +the falling empire; and some preference was shown to the female or +illegitimate blood of Charlemagne. Of the greater part, the title +and possession were alike doubtful, and the merit was adequate to the +contracted scale of their dominions. Those who could appear with an army +at the gates of Rome were crowned emperors in the Vatican; but their +modesty was more frequently satisfied with the appellation of kings of +Italy: and the whole term of seventy-four years may be deemed a vacancy, +from the abdication of Charles the Fat to the establishment of Otho the +First. + +[Footnote 116: Thegan, the biographer of Lewis, relates this coronation: +and Baronius has honestly transcribed it, (A.D. 813, No. 13, &c. See +Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 506, 507, 508,) howsoever adverse to the claims +of the popes. For the series of the Carlovingians, see the historians of +France, Italy, and Germany; Pfeffel, Schmidt, Velly, Muratori, and even +Voltaire, whose pictures are sometimes just, and always pleasing.] + +Otho [117] was of the noble race of the dukes of Saxony; and if he truly +descended from Witikind, the adversary and proselyte of Charlemagne, +the posterity of a vanquished people was exalted to reign over their +conquerors. His father, Henry the Fowler, was elected, by the suffrage +of the nation, to save and institute the kingdom of Germany. Its limits +[118] were enlarged on every side by his son, the first and greatest of +the Othos. A portion of Gaul, to the west of the Rhine, along the banks +of the Meuse and the Moselle, was assigned to the Germans, by whose +blood and language it has been tinged since the time of Caesar and +Tacitus. + +Between the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Alps, the successors of Otho +acquired a vain supremacy over the broken kingdoms of Burgundy and +Arles. In the North, Christianity was propagated by the sword of Otho, +the conqueror and apostle of the Slavic nations of the Elbe and Oder: +the marches of Brandenburgh and Sleswick were fortified with German +colonies; and the king of Denmark, the dukes of Poland and Bohemia, +confessed themselves his tributary vassals. At the head of a victorious +army, he passed the Alps, subdued the kingdom of Italy, delivered the +pope, and forever fixed the Imperial crown in the name and nation of +Germany. From that memorable aera, two maxims of public jurisprudence +were introduced by force and ratified by time. I. That the prince, who +was elected in the German diet, acquired, from that instant, the subject +kingdoms of Italy and Rome. II. But that he might not legally assume the +titles of emperor and Augustus, till he had received the crown from the +hands of the Roman pontiff. [119] + +[Footnote 117: He was the son of Otho, the son of Ludolph, in whose +favor the Duchy of Saxony had been instituted, A.D. 858. Ruotgerus, the +biographer of a St. Bruno, (Bibliot. Bunavianae Catalog. tom. iii. vol. +ii. p. 679,) gives a splendid character of his family. Atavorum atavi +usque ad hominum memoriam omnes nobilissimi; nullus in eorum stirpe +ignotus, nullus degener facile reperitur, (apud Struvium, Corp. Hist. +German. p. 216.) Yet Gundling (in Henrico Aucupe) is not satisfied of +his descent from Witikind.] + +[Footnote 118: See the treatise of Conringius, (de Finibus Imperii +Germanici, Francofurt. 1680, in 4to.: ) he rejects the extravagant and +improper scale of the Roman and Carlovingian empires, and discusses with +moderation the rights of Germany, her vassals, and her neighbors.] + +[Footnote 119: The power of custom forces me to number Conrad I. and +Henry I., the Fowler, in the list of emperors, a title which was never +assumed by those kings of Germany. The Italians, Muratori for instance, +are more scrupulous and correct, and only reckon the princes who have +been crowned at Rome.] + +The Imperial dignity of Charlemagne was announced to the East by the +alteration of his style; and instead of saluting his fathers, the Greek +emperors, he presumed to adopt the more equal and familiar appellation +of brother. [120] Perhaps in his connection with Irene he aspired to +the name of husband: his embassy to Constantinople spoke the language of +peace and friendship, and might conceal a treaty of marriage with +that ambitious princess, who had renounced the most sacred duties of a +mother. The nature, the duration, the probable consequences of such a +union between two distant and dissonant empires, it is impossible to +conjecture; but the unanimous silence of the Latins may teach us to +suspect, that the report was invented by the enemies of Irene, to charge +her with the guilt of betraying the church and state to the strangers +of the West. [121] The French ambassadors were the spectators, and +had nearly been the victims, of the conspiracy of Nicephorus, and the +national hatred. Constantinople was exasperated by the treason and +sacrilege of ancient Rome: a proverb, "That the Franks were good friends +and bad neighbors," was in every one's mouth; but it was dangerous to +provoke a neighbor who might be tempted to reiterate, in the church of +St. Sophia, the ceremony of his Imperial coronation. After a tedious +journey of circuit and delay, the ambassadors of Nicephorus found him +in his camp, on the banks of the River Sala; and Charlemagne affected to +confound their vanity by displaying, in a Franconian village, the pomp, +or at least the pride, of the Byzantine palace. [122] The Greeks were +successively led through four halls of audience: in the first they were +ready to fall prostrate before a splendid personage in a chair of state, +till he informed them that he was only a servant, the constable, or +master of the horse, of the emperor. The same mistake, and the same +answer, were repeated in the apartments of the count palatine, the +steward, and the chamberlain; and their impatience was gradually +heightened, till the doors of the presence-chamber were thrown open, +and they beheld the genuine monarch, on his throne, enriched with +the foreign luxury which he despised, and encircled with the love and +reverence of his victorious chiefs. A treaty of peace and alliance was +concluded between the two empires, and the limits of the East and West +were defined by the right of present possession. But the Greeks [123] +soon forgot this humiliating equality, or remembered it only to hate the +Barbarians by whom it was extorted. During the short union of virtue +and power, they respectfully saluted the august Charlemagne, with the +acclamations of basileus, and emperor of the Romans. As soon as these +qualities were separated in the person of his pious son, the Byzantine +letters were inscribed, "To the king, or, as he styles himself, the +emperor of the Franks and Lombards." When both power and virtue were +extinct, they despoiled Lewis the Second of his hereditary title, and +with the barbarous appellation of rex or rega, degraded him among the +crowd of Latin princes. His reply [124] is expressive of his weakness: +he proves, with some learning, that, both in sacred and profane history, +the name of king is synonymous with the Greek word basileus: if, at +Constantinople, it were assumed in a more exclusive and imperial sense, +he claims from his ancestors, and from the popes, a just participation +of the honors of the Roman purple. The same controversy was revived +in the reign of the Othos; and their ambassador describes, in lively +colors, the insolence of the Byzantine court. [125] The Greeks affected +to despise the poverty and ignorance of the Franks and Saxons; and in +their last decline refused to prostitute to the kings of Germany the +title of Roman emperors. + +[Footnote 120: Invidiam tamen suscepti nominis (C. P. imperatoribus +super hoc indignantibus) magna tulit patientia, vicitque eorum +contumaciam... mittendo ad eos crebras legationes, et in epistolis +fratres eos appellando. Eginhard, c. 28, p. 128. Perhaps it was on their +account that, like Augustus, he affected some reluctance to receive the +empire.] + +[Footnote 121: Theophanes speaks of the coronation and unction of +Charles (Chronograph. p. 399,) and of his treaty of marriage with +Irene, (p. 402,) which is unknown to the Latins. Gaillard relates his +transactions with the Greek empire, (tom. ii. p. 446-468.)] + +[Footnote 122: Gaillard very properly observes, that this pageant was a +farce suitable to children only; but that it was indeed represented in +the presence, and for the benefit, of children of a larger growth.] + +[Footnote 123: Compare, in the original texts collected by Pagi, +(tom. iii. A.D. 812, No. 7, A.D. 824, No. 10, &c.,) the contrast of +Charlemagne and his son; to the former the ambassadors of Michael (who +were indeed disavowed) more suo, id est lingua Graeca laudes dixerunt, +imperatorem eum et appellantes; to the latter, Vocato imperatori +Francorum, &c.] + +[Footnote 124: See the epistle, in Paralipomena, of the anonymous writer +of Salerno, (Script. Ital. tom. ii. pars ii. p. 243-254, c. 93-107,) +whom Baronius (A.D. 871, No. 51-71) mistook for Erchempert, when he +transcribed it in his Annals.] + +[Footnote 125: Ipse enim vos, non imperatorem, id est sua lingua, sed +ob indignationem, id est regem nostra vocabat, Liutprand, in Legat. in +Script. Ital. tom. ii. pars i. p. 479. The pope had exhorted Nicephorus, +emperor of the Greeks, to make peace with Otho, the august emperor of +the Romans--quae inscriptio secundum Graecos peccatoria et temeraria... +imperatorem inquiunt, universalem, Romanorum, Augustum, magnum, solum, +Nicephorum, (p. 486.)] + +These emperors, in the election of the popes, continued to exercise the +powers which had been assumed by the Gothic and Grecian princes; and the +importance of this prerogative increased with the temporal estate +and spiritual jurisdiction of the Roman church. In the Christian +aristocracy, the principal members of the clergy still formed a senate +to assist the administration, and to supply the vacancy, of the bishop. +Rome was divided into twenty-eight parishes, and each parish was +governed by a cardinal priest, or presbyter, a title which, however +common or modest in its origin, has aspired to emulate the purple of +kings. Their number was enlarged by the association of the seven deacons +of the most considerable hospitals, the seven palatine judges of the +Lateran, and some dignitaries of the church. This ecclesiastical senate +was directed by the seven cardinal-bishops of the Roman province, who +were less occupied in the suburb dioceses of Ostia, Porto, Velitrae, +Tusculum, Praeneste, Tibur, and the Sabines, than by their weekly +service in the Lateran, and their superior share in the honors and +authority of the apostolic see. On the death of the pope, these bishops +recommended a successor to the suffrage of the college of cardinals, +[126] and their choice was ratified or rejected by the applause or +clamor of the Roman people. But the election was imperfect; nor could +the pontiff be legally consecrated till the emperor, the advocate of the +church, had graciously signified his approbation and consent. The +royal commissioner examined, on the spot, the form and freedom of +the proceedings; nor was it till after a previous scrutiny into the +qualifications of the candidates, that he accepted an oath of fidelity, +and confirmed the donations which had successively enriched the +patrimony of St. Peter. In the frequent schisms, the rival claims were +submitted to the sentence of the emperor; and in a synod of bishops he +presumed to judge, to condemn, and to punish, the crimes of a guilty +pontiff. Otho the First imposed a treaty on the senate and people, who +engaged to prefer the candidate most acceptable to his majesty: [127] +his successors anticipated or prevented their choice: they bestowed +the Roman benefice, like the bishoprics of Cologne or Bamberg, on their +chancellors or preceptors; and whatever might be the merit of a Frank or +Saxon, his name sufficiently attests the interposition of foreign power. +These acts of prerogative were most speciously excused by the vices of a +popular election. The competitor who had been excluded by the cardinals +appealed to the passions or avarice of the multitude; the Vatican and +the Lateran were stained with blood; and the most powerful senators, the +marquises of Tuscany and the counts of Tusculum, held the apostolic see +in a long and disgraceful servitude. The Roman pontiffs, of the ninth +and tenth centuries, were insulted, imprisoned, and murdered, by their +tyrants; and such was their indigence, after the loss and usurpation +of the ecclesiastical patrimonies, that they could neither support +the state of a prince, nor exercise the charity of a priest. [128] The +influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora, was founded +on their wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues: the +most strenuous of their lovers were rewarded with the Roman mitre, and +their reign [129] may have suggested to the darker ages [130] the fable +[131] of a female pope. [132] The bastard son, the grandson, and the +great-grandson of Marozia, a rare genealogy, were seated in the chair +of St. Peter, and it was at the age of nineteen years that the second of +these became the head of the Latin church. [1321] His youth and manhood +were of a suitable complexion; and the nations of pilgrims could bear +testimony to the charges that were urged against him in a Roman synod, +and in the presence of Otho the Great. As John XII. had renounced the +dress and decencies of his profession, the soldier may not perhaps be +dishonored by the wine which he drank, the blood that he spilt, the +flames that he kindled, or the licentious pursuits of gaming and +hunting. His open simony might be the consequence of distress; and his +blasphemous invocation of Jupiter and Venus, if it be true, could not +possibly be serious. But we read, with some surprise, that the worthy +grandson of Marozia lived in public adultery with the matrons of Rome; +that the Lateran palace was turned into a school for prostitution, and +that his rapes of virgins and widows had deterred the female pilgrims +from visiting the tomb of St. Peter, lest, in the devout act, they +should be violated by his successor. [133] The Protestants have dwelt +with malicious pleasure on these characters of Antichrist; but to a +philosophic eye, the vices of the clergy are far less dangerous than +their virtues. After a long series of scandal, the apostolic see was +reformed and exalted by the austerity and zeal of Gregory VII. That +ambitious monk devoted his life to the execution of two projects. I. +To fix in the college of cardinals the freedom and independence of +election, and forever to abolish the right or usurpation of the emperors +and the Roman people. II. To bestow and resume the Western empire as +a fief or benefice [134] of the church, and to extend his temporal +dominion over the kings and kingdoms of the earth. After a contest of +fifty years, the first of these designs was accomplished by the firm +support of the ecclesiastical order, whose liberty was connected with +that of their chief. But the second attempt, though it was crowned with +some partial and apparent success, has been vigorously resisted by the +secular power, and finally extinguished by the improvement of human +reason. + +[Footnote 126: The origin and progress of the title of cardinal may be +found in Themassin, (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 1261-1298,) +Muratori, (Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. vi. Dissert. lxi. p. +159-182,) and Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 345-347,) +who accurately remarks the form and changes of the election. The +cardinal-bishops so highly exalted by Peter Damianus, are sunk to a +level with the rest of the sacred college.] + +[Footnote 127: Firmiter jurantes, nunquam se papam electuros aut +audinaturos, praeter consensum et electionem Othonis et filii sui. +(Liutprand, l. vi. c. 6, p. 472.) This important concession may either +supply or confirm the decree of the clergy and people of Rome, so +fiercely rejected by Baronius, Pagi, and Muratori, (A.D. 964,) and so +well defended and explained by St. Marc, (Abrege, tom. ii. p. 808-816, +tom. iv. p. 1167-1185.) Consult the historical critic, and the Annals +of Muratori, for for the election and confirmation of each pope.] + +[Footnote 128: The oppression and vices of the Roman church, in the xth +century, are strongly painted in the history and legation of Liutprand, +(see p. 440, 450, 471-476, 479, &c.;) and it is whimsical enough to +observe Muratori tempering the invectives of Baronius against the +popes. But these popes had been chosen, not by the cardinals, but by +lay-patrons.] + +[Footnote 129: The time of Pope Joan (papissa Joanna) is placed somewhat +earlier than Theodora or Marozia; and the two years of her imaginary +reign are forcibly inserted between Leo IV. and Benedict III. But the +contemporary Anastasius indissolubly links the death of Leo and +the elevation of Benedict, (illico, mox, p. 247;) and the accurate +chronology of Pagi, Muratori, and Leibnitz, fixes both events to the +year 857.] + +[Footnote 130: The advocates for Pope Joan produce one hundred and fifty +witnesses, or rather echoes, of the xivth, xvth, and xvith centuries. +They bear testimony against themselves and the legend, by multiplying +the proof that so curious a story must have been repeated by writers +of every description to whom it was known. On those of the ixth and +xth centuries, the recent event would have flashed with a double force. +Would Photius have spared such a reproach? Could Liutprand have missed +such scandal? It is scarcely worth while to discuss the various readings +of Martinus Polonus, Sigeber of Gamblours, or even Marianus Scotus; +but a most palpable forgery is the passage of Pope Joan, which has been +foisted into some Mss. and editions of the Roman Anastasius.] + +[Footnote 131: As false, it deserves that name; but I would not +pronounce it incredible. Suppose a famous French chevalier of our own +times to have been born in Italy, and educated in the church, instead +of the army: her merit or fortune might have raised her to St. Peter's +chair; her amours would have been natural: her delivery in the streets +unlucky, but not improbable.] + +[Footnote 132: Till the reformation the tale was repeated and believed +without offence: and Joan's female statue long occupied her place among +the popes in the cathedral of Sienna, (Pagi, Critica, tom. iii. p. +624-626.) She has been annihilated by two learned Protestants, Blondel +and Bayle, (Dictionnaire Critique, Papesse, Polonus, Blondel;) but their +brethren were scandalized by this equitable and generous criticism. +Spanheim and Lenfant attempt to save this poor engine of controversy, +and even Mosheim condescends to cherish some doubt and suspicion, (p. +289.)] + +[Footnote 1321: John XI. was the son of her husband Alberic, not of her +lover, Pope Sergius III., as Muratori has distinctly proved, Ann. ad +ann. 911, tom. p. 268. Her grandson Octavian, otherwise called John +XII., was pope; but a great-grandson cannot be discovered in any of +the succeeding popes; nor does our historian himself, in his subsequent +narration, (p. 202,) seem to know of one. Hobhouse, Illustrations of +Childe Harold, p. 309.--M.] + +[Footnote 133: Lateranense palatium... prostibulum meretricum ... Testis +omnium gentium, praeterquam Romanorum, absentia mulierum, quae sanctorum +apostolorum limina orandi gratia timent visere, cum nonnullas ante dies +paucos, hunc audierint conjugatas, viduas, virgines vi oppressisse, +(Liutprand, Hist. l. vi. c. 6, p. 471. See the whole affair of John +XII., p. 471-476.)] + +[Footnote 134: A new example of the mischief of equivocation is the +beneficium (Ducange, tom. i. p. 617, &c.,) which the pope conferred on +the emperor Frederic I., since the Latin word may signify either a legal +fief, or a simple favor, an obligation, (we want the word bienfait.) +(See Schmidt, Hist. des Allemands, tom. iii. p. 393-408. Pfeffel, +Abrege Chronologique, tom. i. p. 229, 296, 317, 324, 420, 430, 500, 505, +509, &c.)] + +In the revival of the empire of empire of Rome, neither the bishop nor +the people could bestow on Charlemagne or Otho the provinces which were +lost, as they had been won, by the chance of arms. But the Romans were +free to choose a master for themselves; and the powers which had been +delegated to the patrician, were irrevocably granted to the French +and Saxon emperors of the West. The broken records of the times [135] +preserve some remembrance of their palace, their mint, their tribunal, +their edicts, and the sword of justice, which, as late as the thirteenth +century, was derived from Caesar to the praefect of the city. [136] +Between the arts of the popes and the violence of the people, this +supremacy was crushed and annihilated. Content with the titles of +emperor and Augustus, the successors of Charlemagne neglected to assert +this local jurisdiction. In the hour of prosperity, their ambition was +diverted by more alluring objects; and in the decay and division of +the empire, they were oppressed by the defence of their hereditary +provinces. Amidst the ruins of Italy, the famous Marozia invited one +of the usurpers to assume the character of her third husband; and Hugh, +king of Burgundy was introduced by her faction into the mole of Hadrian +or Castle of St. Angelo, which commands the principal bridge and +entrance of Rome. Her son by the first marriage, Alberic, was compelled +to attend at the nuptial banquet; but his reluctant and ungraceful +service was chastised with a blow by his new father. The blow was +productive of a revolution. "Romans," exclaimed the youth, "once you +were the masters of the world, and these Burgundians the most abject of +your slaves. They now reign, these voracious and brutal savages, and +my injury is the commencement of your servitude." [137] The alarum bell +rang to arms in every quarter of the city: the Burgundians retreated +with haste and shame; Marozia was imprisoned by her victorious son, and +his brother, Pope John XI., was reduced to the exercise of his spiritual +functions. With the title of prince, Alberic possessed above twenty +years the government of Rome; and he is said to have gratified the +popular prejudice, by restoring the office, or at least the title, +of consuls and tribunes. His son and heir Octavian assumed, with +the pontificate, the name of John XII.: like his predecessor, he was +provoked by the Lombard princes to seek a deliverer for the church +and republic; and the services of Otho were rewarded with the Imperial +dignity. But the Saxon was imperious, the Romans were impatient, the +festival of the coronation was disturbed by the secret conflict of +prerogative and freedom, and Otho commanded his sword-bearer not to stir +from his person, lest he should be assaulted and murdered at the foot of +the altar. [138] Before he repassed the Alps, the emperor chastised +the revolt of the people and the ingratitude of John XII. The pope was +degraded in a synod; the praefect was mounted on an ass, whipped through +the city, and cast into a dungeon; thirteen of the most guilty were +hanged, others were mutilated or banished; and this severe process was +justified by the ancient laws of Theodosius and Justinian. The voice +of fame has accused the second Otho of a perfidious and bloody act, the +massacre of the senators, whom he had invited to his table under the +fair semblance of hospitality and friendship. [139] In the minority of +his son Otho the Third, Rome made a bold attempt to shake off the Saxon +yoke, and the consul Crescentius was the Brutus of the republic. From +the condition of a subject and an exile, he twice rose to the command +of the city, oppressed, expelled, and created the popes, and formed a +conspiracy for restoring the authority of the Greek emperors. [1391] In +the fortress of St. Angelo, he maintained an obstinate siege, till the +unfortunate consul was betrayed by a promise of safety: his body was +suspended on a gibbet, and his head was exposed on the battlements of +the castle. By a reverse of fortune, Otho, after separating his troops, +was besieged three days, without food, in his palace; and a disgraceful +escape saved him from the justice or fury of the Romans. The senator +Ptolemy was the leader of the people, and the widow of Crescentius +enjoyed the pleasure or the fame of revenging her husband, by a poison +which she administered to her Imperial lover. It was the design of Otho +the Third to abandon the ruder countries of the North, to erect his +throne in Italy, and to revive the institutions of the Roman monarchy. +But his successors only once in their lives appeared on the banks of the +Tyber, to receive their crown in the Vatican. [140] Their absence was +contemptible, their presence odious and formidable. They descended +from the Alps, at the head of their barbarians, who were strangers and +enemies to the country; and their transient visit was a scene of tumult +and bloodshed. [141] A faint remembrance of their ancestors still +tormented the Romans; and they beheld with pious indignation the +succession of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bohemians, who usurped the +purple and prerogatives of the Caesars. + +[Footnote 135: For the history of the emperors in Rome and Italy, see +Sigonius, de Regno Italiae, Opp. tom. ii., with the Notes of Saxius, and +the Annals of Muratori, who might refer more distinctly to the authors +of his great collection.] + +[Footnote 136: See the Dissertations of Le Blanc at the end of his +treatise des Monnoyes de France, in which he produces some Roman coins +of the French emperors.] + +[Footnote 137: Romanorum aliquando servi, scilicet Burgundiones, Romanis +imperent?.... Romanae urbis dignitas ad tantam est stultitiam ducta, +ut meretricum etiam imperio pareat? (Liutprand, l. iii. c. 12, p. +450.) Sigonius (l. vi. p. 400) positively affirms the renovation of the +consulship; but in the old writers Albericus is more frequently styled +princeps Romanorum.] + +[Footnote 138: Ditmar, p. 354, apud Schmidt, tom. iii. p. 439.] + +[Footnote 139: This bloody feast is described in Leonine verse in the +Pantheon of Godfrey of Viterbo, (Script. Ital. tom. vii. p. 436, 437,) +who flourished towards the end of the xiith century, (Fabricius Bibliot. +Latin. Med. et Infimi Aevi, tom. iii. p. 69, edit. Mansi;) but his +evidence, which imposed on Sigonius, is reasonably suspected by Muratori +(Annali, tom. viii. p. 177.)] + +[Footnote 1391: The Marquis Maffei's gallery contained a medal with Imp. +Caes August. P. P. Crescentius. Hence Hobhouse infers that he affected +the empire. Hobhouse, Illustrations of Childe Harold, p. 252.--M.] + +[Footnote 140: The coronation of the emperor, and some original +ceremonies of the xth century are preserved in the Panegyric on +Berengarius, (Script. Ital. tom. ii. pars i. p. 405-414,) illustrated +by the Notes of Hadrian Valesius and Leibnitz. Sigonius has related +the whole process of the Roman expedition, in good Latin, but with some +errors of time and fact, (l. vii. p. 441-446.)] + +[Footnote 141: In a quarrel at the coronation of Conrad II. Muratori +takes leave to observe--doveano ben essere allora, indisciplinati, +Barbari, e bestials Tedeschi. Annal. tom. viii. p. 368.] + + + + +Chapter XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part VI. + +There is nothing perhaps more adverse to nature and reason than to hold +in obedience remote countries and foreign nations, in opposition to +their inclination and interest. A torrent of Barbarians may pass over +the earth, but an extensive empire must be supported by a refined system +of policy and oppression; in the centre, an absolute power, prompt in +action and rich in resources; a swift and easy communication with the +extreme parts; fortifications to check the first effort of rebellion; +a regular administration to protect and punish; and a well-disciplined +army to inspire fear, without provoking discontent and despair. Far +different was the situation of the German Caesars, who were ambitious to +enslave the kingdom of Italy. Their patrimonial estates were stretched +along the Rhine, or scattered in the provinces; but this ample domain +was alienated by the imprudence or distress of successive princes; +and their revenue, from minute and vexatious prerogative, was scarcely +sufficient for the maintenance of their household. Their troops were +formed by the legal or voluntary service of their feudal vassals, who +passed the Alps with reluctance, assumed the license of rapine and +disorder, and capriciously deserted before the end of the campaign. +Whole armies were swept away by the pestilential influence of the +climate: the survivors brought back the bones of their princes and +nobles, [142] and the effects of their own intemperance were often +imputed to the treachery and malice of the Italians, who rejoiced at +least in the calamities of the Barbarians. This irregular tyranny might +contend on equal terms with the petty tyrants of Italy; nor can the +people, or the reader, be much interested in the event of the quarrel. +But in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Lombards rekindled the +flame of industry and freedom; and the generous example was at length +imitated by the republics of Tuscany. [1421] In the Italian cities a +municipal government had never been totally abolished; and their first +privileges were granted by the favor and policy of the emperors, who +were desirous of erecting a plebeian barrier against the independence of +the nobles. But their rapid progress, the daily extension of their power +and pretensions, were founded on the numbers and spirit of these rising +communities. [143] Each city filled the measure of her diocese or +district: the jurisdiction of the counts and bishops, of the marquises +and counts, was banished from the land; and the proudest nobles were +persuaded or compelled to desert their solitary castles, and to embrace +the more honorable character of freemen and magistrates. The legislative +authority was inherent in the general assembly; but the executive powers +were intrusted to three consuls, annually chosen from the three orders +of captains, valvassors, [144] and commons, into which the republic was +divided. Under the protection of equal law, the labors of agriculture +and commerce were gradually revived; but the martial spirit of the +Lombards was nourished by the presence of danger; and as often as the +bell was rung, or the standard [145] erected, the gates of the city +poured forth a numerous and intrepid band, whose zeal in their own cause +was soon guided by the use and discipline of arms. At the foot of these +popular ramparts, the pride of the Caesars was overthrown; and the +invincible genius of liberty prevailed over the two Frederics, the +greatest princes of the middle age; the first, superior perhaps in +military prowess; the second, who undoubtedly excelled in the softer +accomplishments of peace and learning. + +[Footnote 142: After boiling away the flesh. The caldrons for that +purpose were a necessary piece of travelling furniture; and a German who +was using it for his brother, promised it to a friend, after it should +have been employed for himself, (Schmidt, tom. iii. p. 423, 424.) The +same author observes that the whole Saxon line was extinguished in +Italy, (tom. ii. p. 440.)] + +[Footnote 1421: Compare Sismondi, Histoire des Republiques Italiannes. +Hallam Middle Ages. Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstauffen. Savigny, +Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, vol. iii. p. 19 with the authors +quoted.--M.] + +[Footnote 143: Otho, bishop of Frisingen, has left an important passage +on the Italian cities, (l. ii. c. 13, in Script. Ital. tom. vi. p. +707-710: ) and the rise, progress, and government of these republics +are perfectly illustrated by Muratori, (Antiquitat. Ital. Medii Aevi, +tom. iv. dissert xlv.--lii. p. 1-675. Annal. tom. viii. ix. x.)] + +[Footnote 144: For these titles, see Selden, (Titles of Honor, vol. iii. +part 1 p. 488.) Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. ii. p. 140, tom. vi. p. +776,) and St. Marc, (Abrege Chronologique, tom. ii. p. 719.)] + +[Footnote 145: The Lombards invented and used the carocium, a standard +planted on a car or wagon, drawn by a team of oxen, (Ducange, tom. ii. +p. 194, 195. Muratori Antiquitat tom. ii. dis. xxvi. p. 489-493.)] + +Ambitious of restoring the splendor of the purple, Frederic the First +invaded the republics of Lombardy, with the arts of a statesman, the +valor of a soldier, and the cruelty of a tyrant. The recent discovery of +the Pandects had renewed a science most favorable to despotism; and his +venal advocates proclaimed the emperor the absolute master of the lives +and properties of his subjects. His royal prerogatives, in a less odious +sense, were acknowledged in the diet of Roncaglia; and the revenue of +Italy was fixed at thirty thousand pounds of silver, [146] which were +multiplied to an indefinite demand by the rapine of the fiscal officers. +The obstinate cities were reduced by the terror or the force of his +arms: his captives were delivered to the executioner, or shot from +his military engines; and. after the siege and surrender of Milan, +the buildings of that stately capital were razed to the ground, three +hundred hostages were sent into Germany, and the inhabitants were +dispersed in four villages, under the yoke of the inflexible conqueror. +[147] But Milan soon rose from her ashes; and the league of Lombardy was +cemented by distress: their cause was espoused by Venice, Pope +Alexander the Third, and the Greek emperor: the fabric of oppression +was overturned in a day; and in the treaty of Constance, Frederic +subscribed, with some reservations, the freedom of four-and-twenty +cities. His grandson contended with their vigor and maturity; but +Frederic the Second [148] was endowed with some personal and peculiar +advantages. His birth and education recommended him to the Italians; +and in the implacable discord of the two factions, the Ghibelins were +attached to the emperor, while the Guelfs displayed the banner of +liberty and the church. The court of Rome had slumbered, when his father +Henry the Sixth was permitted to unite with the empire the kingdoms of +Naples and Sicily; and from these hereditary realms the son derived an +ample and ready supply of troops and treasure. Yet Frederic the Second +was finally oppressed by the arms of the Lombards and the thunders of +the Vatican: his kingdom was given to a stranger, and the last of his +family was beheaded at Naples on a public scaffold. During sixty years, +no emperor appeared in Italy, and the name was remembered only by the +ignominious sale of the last relics of sovereignty. + +[Footnote 146: Gunther Ligurinus, l. viii. 584, et seq., apud Schmidt, +tom. iii. p. 399.] + +[Footnote 147: Solus imperator faciem suam firmavit ut petram, (Burcard. +de Excidio Mediolani, Script. Ital. tom. vi. p. 917.) This volume of +Muratori contains the originals of the history of Frederic the First, +which must be compared with due regard to the circumstances and +prejudices of each German or Lombard writer. * Note: Von Raumer has +traced the fortunes of the Swabian house in one of the ablest historical +works of modern times. He may be compared with the spirited and +independent Sismondi.--M.] + +[Footnote 148: For the history of Frederic II. and the house of Swabia +at Naples, see Giannone, Istoria Civile, tom. ii. l. xiv. -xix.] + +The Barbarian conquerors of the West were pleased to decorate their +chief with the title of emperor; but it was not their design to invest +him with the despotism of Constantine and Justinian. The persons of the +Germans were free, their conquests were their own, and their +national character was animated by a spirit which scorned the servile +jurisprudence of the new or the ancient Rome. It would have been a vain +and dangerous attempt to impose a monarch on the armed freemen, who +were impatient of a magistrate; on the bold, who refused to obey; on the +powerful, who aspired to command. The empire of Charlemagne and Otho was +distributed among the dukes of the nations or provinces, the counts of +the smaller districts, and the margraves of the marches or frontiers, +who all united the civil and military authority as it had been delegated +to the lieutenants of the first Caesars. The Roman governors, who, +for the most part, were soldiers of fortune, seduced their mercenary +legions, assumed the Imperial purple, and either failed or succeeded in +their revolt, without wounding the power and unity of government. If the +dukes, margraves, and counts of Germany, were less audacious in +their claims, the consequences of their success were more lasting and +pernicious to the state. Instead of aiming at the supreme rank, +they silently labored to establish and appropriate their provincial +independence. Their ambition was seconded by the weight of their estates +and vassals, their mutual example and support, the common interest +of the subordinate nobility, the change of princes and families, the +minorities of Otho the Third and Henry the Fourth, the ambition of the +popes, and the vain pursuit of the fugitive crowns of Italy and Rome. +All the attributes of regal and territorial jurisdiction were gradually +usurped by the commanders of the provinces; the right of peace and war, +of life and death, of coinage and taxation, of foreign alliance and +domestic economy. Whatever had been seized by violence, was ratified +by favor or distress, was granted as the price of a doubtful vote or a +voluntary service; whatever had been granted to one could not, without +injury, be denied to his successor or equal; and every act of local or +temporary possession was insensibly moulded into the constitution of the +Germanic kingdom. In every province, the visible presence of the duke or +count was interposed between the throne and the nobles; the subjects of +the law became the vassals of a private chief; and the standard which he +received from his sovereign, was often raised against him in the field. +The temporal power of the clergy was cherished and exalted by the +superstition or policy of the Carlovingian and Saxon dynasties, who +blindly depended on their moderation and fidelity; and the bishoprics of +Germany were made equal in extent and privilege, superior in wealth and +population, to the most ample states of the military order. As long +as the emperors retained the prerogative of bestowing on every vacancy +these ecclesiastic and secular benefices, their cause was maintained +by the gratitude or ambition of their friends and favorites. But in the +quarrel of the investitures, they were deprived of their influence over +the episcopal chapters; the freedom of election was restored, and the +sovereign was reduced, by a solemn mockery, to his first prayers, the +recommendation, once in his reign, to a single prebend in each church. +The secular governors, instead of being recalled at the will of a +superior, could be degraded only by the sentence of their peers. In the +first age of the monarchy, the appointment of the son to the duchy +or county of his father, was solicited as a favor; it was gradually +obtained as a custom, and extorted as a right: the lineal succession was +often extended to the collateral or female branches; the states of the +empire (their popular, and at length their legal, appellation) were +divided and alienated by testament and sale; and all idea of a public +trust was lost in that of a private and perpetual inheritance. The +emperor could not even be enriched by the casualties of forfeiture and +extinction: within the term of a year, he was obliged to dispose of the +vacant fief; and, in the choice of the candidate, it was his duty to +consult either the general or the provincial diet. + +After the death of Frederic the Second, Germany was left a monster with +a hundred heads. A crowd of princes and prelates disputed the ruins of +the empire: the lords of innumerable castles were less prone to obey, +than to imitate, their superiors; and, according to the measure of their +strength, their incessant hostilities received the names of conquest +or robbery. Such anarchy was the inevitable consequence of the laws and +manners of Europe; and the kingdoms of France and Italy were shivered +into fragments by the violence of the same tempest. But the Italian +cities and the French vassals were divided and destroyed, while the +union of the Germans has produced, under the name of an empire, a +great system of a federative republic. In the frequent and at last the +perpetual institution of diets, a national spirit was kept alive, and +the powers of a common legislature are still exercised by the three +branches or colleges of the electors, the princes, and the free and +Imperial cities of Germany. I. Seven of the most powerful feudatories +were permitted to assume, with a distinguished name and rank, the +exclusive privilege of choosing the Roman emperor; and these electors +were the king of Bohemia, the duke of Saxony, the margrave of +Brandenburgh, the count palatine of the Rhine, and the three archbishops +of Mentz, of Treves, and of Cologne. II. The college of princes and +prelates purged themselves of a promiscuous multitude: they reduced to +four representative votes the long series of independent counts, and +excluded the nobles or equestrian order, sixty thousand of whom, as in +the Polish diets, had appeared on horseback in the field of election. +III. The pride of birth and dominion, of the sword and the mitre, wisely +adopted the commons as the third branch of the legislature, and, in the +progress of society, they were introduced about the same aera into the +national assemblies of France England, and Germany. + +The Hanseatic League commanded the trade and navigation of the north: +the confederates of the Rhine secured the peace and intercourse of the +inland country; the influence of the cities has been adequate to their +wealth and policy, and their negative still invalidates the acts of the +two superior colleges of electors and princes. [149] + +[Footnote 149: In the immense labyrinth of the jus publicum of Germany, +I must either quote one writer or a thousand; and I had rather trust to +one faithful guide, than transcribe, on credit, a multitude of names +and passages. That guide is M. Pfeffel, the author of the best legal +and constitutional history that I know of any country, (Nouvel Abrege +Chronologique de l'Histoire et du Droit public Allemagne; Paris, 1776, +2 vols. in 4to.) His learning and judgment have discerned the most +interesting facts; his simple brevity comprises them in a narrow space. +His chronological order distributes them under the proper dates; and +an elaborate index collects them under their respective heads. To this +work, in a less perfect state, Dr. Robertson was gratefully indebted +for that masterly sketch which traces even the modern changes of the +Germanic body. The Corpus Historiae Germanicae of Struvius has been +likewise consulted, the more usefully, as that huge compilation is +fortified in every page with the original texts. * Note: For the rise +and progress of the Hanseatic League, consult the authoritative history +by Sartorius; Geschichte des Hanseatischen Bandes & Theile, Gottingen, +1802. New and improved edition by Lappenberg Elamburg, 1830. The +original Hanseatic League comprehended Cologne and many of the great +cities in the Netherlands and on the Rhine.--M.] + +It is in the fourteenth century that we may view in the strongest light +the state and contrast of the Roman empire of Germany, which no longer +held, except on the borders of the Rhine and Danube, a single province +of Trajan or Constantine. Their unworthy successors were the counts of +Hapsburgh, of Nassau, of Luxemburgh, and Schwartzenburgh: the emperor +Henry the Seventh procured for his son the crown of Bohemia, and +his grandson Charles the Fourth was born among a people strange and +barbarous in the estimation of the Germans themselves. [150] After the +excommunication of Lewis of Bavaria, he received the gift or promise +of the vacant empire from the Roman pontiffs, who, in the exile and +captivity of Avignon, affected the dominion of the earth. The death +of his competitors united the electoral college, and Charles was +unanimously saluted king of the Romans, and future emperor; a title +which, in the same age, was prostituted to the Caesars of Germany and +Greece. The German emperor was no more than the elective and impotent +magistrate of an aristocracy of princes, who had not left him a village +that he might call his own. His best prerogative was the right of +presiding and proposing in the national senate, which was convened at +his summons; and his native kingdom of Bohemia, less opulent than the +adjacent city of Nuremberg, was the firmest seat of his power and the +richest source of his revenue. The army with which he passed the Alps +consisted of three hundred horse. In the cathedral of St. Ambrose, +Charles was crowned with the iron crown, which tradition ascribed to the +Lombard monarchy; but he was admitted only with a peaceful train; the +gates of the city were shut upon him; and the king of Italy was held +a captive by the arms of the Visconti, whom he confirmed in the +sovereignty of Milan. In the Vatican he was again crowned with the +golden crown of the empire; but, in obedience to a secret treaty, the +Roman emperor immediately withdrew, without reposing a single night +within the walls of Rome. The eloquent Petrarch, [151] whose fancy +revived the visionary glories of the Capitol, deplores and upbraids the +ignominious flight of the Bohemian; and even his contemporaries could +observe, that the sole exercise of his authority was in the lucrative +sale of privileges and titles. The gold of Italy secured the election +of his son; but such was the shameful poverty of the Roman emperor, that +his person was arrested by a butcher in the streets of Worms, and was +detained in the public inn, as a pledge or hostage for the payment of +his expenses. + +[Footnote 150: Yet, personally, Charles IV. must not be considered as +a Barbarian. After his education at Paris, he recovered the use of the +Bohemian, his native, idiom; and the emperor conversed and wrote with +equal facility in French, Latin, Italian, and German, (Struvius, p. 615, +616.) Petrarch always represents him as a polite and learned prince.] + +[Footnote 151: Besides the German and Italian historians, the expedition +of Charles IV. is painted in lively and original colors in the curious +Memoires sur la Vie de Petrarque, tom. iii. p. 376-430, by the Abbe de +Sade, whose prolixity has never been blamed by any reader of taste and +curiosity.] + +From this humiliating scene, let us turn to the apparent majesty of the +same Charles in the diets of the empire. The golden bull, which fixes +the Germanic constitution, is promulgated in the style of a sovereign +and legislator. A hundred princes bowed before his throne, and exalted +their own dignity by the voluntary honors which they yielded to their +chief or minister. At the royal banquet, the hereditary great officers, +the seven electors, who in rank and title were equal to kings, performed +their solemn and domestic service of the palace. The seals of the triple +kingdom were borne in state by the archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, and +Treves, the perpetual arch-chancellors of Germany, Italy, and Arles. +The great marshal, on horseback, exercised his function with a silver +measure of oats, which he emptied on the ground, and immediately +dismounted to regulate the order of the guests The great steward, the +count palatine of the Rhine, place the dishes on the table. The great +chamberlain, the margrave of Brandenburgh, presented, after the repast, +the golden ewer and basin, to wash. The king of Bohemia, as great +cup-bearer, was represented by the emperor's brother, the duke of +Luxemburgh and Brabant; and the procession was closed by the great +huntsmen, who introduced a boar and a stag, with a loud chorus of horns +and hounds. [152] Nor was the supremacy of the emperor confined +to Germany alone: the hereditary monarchs of Europe confessed the +preeminence of his rank and dignity: he was the first of the Christian +princes, the temporal head of the great republic of the West: [153] to +his person the title of majesty was long appropriated; and he disputed +with the pope the sublime prerogative of creating kings and assembling +councils. The oracle of the civil law, the learned Bartolus, was a +pensioner of Charles the Fourth; and his school resounded with the +doctrine, that the Roman emperor was the rightful sovereign of the +earth, from the rising to the setting sun. The contrary opinion was +condemned, not as an error, but as a heresy, since even the gospel had +pronounced, "And there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that +all the world should be taxed." [154] + +[Footnote 152: See the whole ceremony in Struvius, p. 629] + +[Footnote 153: The republic of Europe, with the pope and emperor at its +head, was never represented with more dignity than in the council of +Constance. See Lenfant's History of that assembly.] + +[Footnote 154: Gravina, Origines Juris Civilis, p. 108.] + +If we annihilate the interval of time and space between Augustus and +Charles, strong and striking will be the contrast between the two +Caesars; the Bohemian who concealed his weakness under the mask of +ostentation, and the Roman, who disguised his strength under the +semblance of modesty. At the head of his victorious legions, in his +reign over the sea and land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic +Ocean, Augustus professed himself the servant of the state and the equal +of his fellow-citizens. The conqueror of Rome and her provinces assumed +a popular and legal form of a censor, a consul, and a tribune. His will +was the law of mankind, but in the declaration of his laws he borrowed +the voice of the senate and people; and from their decrees their +master accepted and renewed his temporary commission to administer the +republic. In his dress, his domestics, [155] his titles, in all the +offices of social life, Augustus maintained the character of a private +Roman; and his most artful flatterers respected the secret of his +absolute and perpetual monarchy. + +[Footnote 155: Six thousand urns have been discovered of the slaves and +freedmen of Augustus and Livia. So minute was the division of office, +that one slave was appointed to weigh the wool which was spun by the +empress's maids, another for the care of her lap-dog, &c., (Camera +Sepolchrale, by Bianchini. Extract of his work in the Bibliotheque +Italique, tom. iv. p. 175. His Eloge, by Fontenelle, tom. vi. p. 356.) +But these servants were of the same rank, and possibly not more numerous +than those of Pollio or Lentulus. They only prove the general riches of +the city.] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part I. + + Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Birth, + Character, And Doctrine Of Mahomet.--He Preaches At Mecca.-- + Flies To Medina.--Propagates His Religion By The Sword.-- + Voluntary Or Reluctant Submission Of The Arabs.--His Death + And Successors.--The Claims And Fortunes Of Ali And His + Descendants. + +After pursuing above six hundred years the fleeting Caesars of +Constantinople and Germany, I now descend, in the reign of Heraclius, on +the eastern borders of the Greek monarchy. While the state was exhausted +by the Persian war, and the church was distracted by the Nestorian and +Monophysite sects, Mahomet, with the sword in one hand and the Koran in +the other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of Rome. +The genius of the Arabian prophet, the manners of his nation, and the +spirit of his religion, involve the causes of the decline and fall of +the Eastern empire; and our eyes are curiously intent on one of the most +memorable revolutions, which have impressed a new and lasting character +on the nations of the globe. [1] + +[Footnote 1: As in this and the following chapter I shall display much +Arabic learning, I must profess my total ignorance of the Oriental +tongues, and my gratitude to the learned interpreters, who have +transfused their science into the Latin, French, and English languages. +Their collections, versions, and histories, I shall occasionally +notice.] + +In the vacant space between Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Aethiopia, the +Arabian peninsula [2] may be conceived as a triangle of spacious but +irregular dimensions. From the northern point of Beles [3] on the +Euphrates, a line of fifteen hundred miles is terminated by the Straits +of Bebelmandel and the land of frankincense. About half this length may +be allowed for the middle breadth, from east to west, from Bassora +to Suez, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. [4] The sides of the +triangle are gradually enlarged, and the southern basis presents a +front of a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean. The entire surface of the +peninsula exceeds in a fourfold proportion that of Germany or France; +but the far greater part has been justly stigmatized with the epithets +of the stony and the sandy. Even the wilds of Tartary are decked, by the +hand of nature, with lofty trees and luxuriant herbage; and the lonesome +traveller derives a sort of comfort and society from the presence of +vegetable life. But in the dreary waste of Arabia, a boundless level of +sand is intersected by sharp and naked mountains; and the face of the +desert, without shade or shelter, is scorched by the direct and intense +rays of a tropical sun. Instead of refreshing breezes, the winds, +particularly from the south-west, diffuse a noxious and even deadly +vapor; the hillocks of sand which they alternately raise and scatter, +are compared to the billows of the ocean, and whole caravans, whole +armies, have been lost and buried in the whirlwind. The common benefits +of water are an object of desire and contest; and such is the scarcity +of wood, that some art is requisite to preserve and propagate the +element of fire. Arabia is destitute of navigable rivers, which +fertilize the soil, and convey its produce to the adjacent regions: the +torrents that fall from the hills are imbibed by the thirsty earth: the +rare and hardy plants, the tamarind or the acacia, that strike their +roots into the clefts of the rocks, are nourished by the dews of the +night: a scanty supply of rain is collected in cisterns and aqueducts: +the wells and springs are the secret treasure of the desert; and the +pilgrim of Mecca, [5] after many a dry and sultry march, is disgusted by +the taste of the waters which have rolled over a bed of sulphur or salt. +Such is the general and genuine picture of the climate of Arabia. +The experience of evil enhances the value of any local or partial +enjoyments. A shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of fresh water, are +sufficient to attract a colony of sedentary Arabs to the fortunate spots +which can afford food and refreshment to themselves and their cattle, +and which encourage their industry in the cultivation of the palmtree +and the vine. The high lands that border on the Indian Ocean are +distinguished by their superior plenty of wood and water; the air is +more temperate, the fruits are more delicious, the animals and the human +race more numerous: the fertility of the soil invites and rewards the +toil of the husbandman; and the peculiar gifts of frankincense [6] and +coffee have attracted in different ages the merchants of the world. If +it be compared with the rest of the peninsula, this sequestered region +may truly deserve the appellation of the happy; and the splendid +coloring of fancy and fiction has been suggested by contrast, and +countenanced by distance. It was for this earthly paradise that Nature +had reserved her choicest favors and her most curious workmanship: the +incompatible blessings of luxury and innocence were ascribed to the +natives: the soil was impregnated with gold [7] and gems, and both the +land and sea were taught to exhale the odors of aromatic sweets. This +division of the sandy, the stony, and the happy, so familiar to the +Greeks and Latins, is unknown to the Arabians themselves; and it is +singular enough, that a country, whose language and inhabitants have +ever been the same, should scarcely retain a vestige of its ancient +geography. The maritime districts of Bahrein and Oman are opposite to +the realm of Persia. The kingdom of Yemen displays the limits, or at +least the situation, of Arabia Felix: the name of Neged is extended over +the inland space; and the birth of Mahomet has illustrated the province +of Hejaz along the coast of the Red Sea. [8] + +[Footnote 2: The geographers of Arabia may be divided into three +classes: 1. The Greeks and Latins, whose progressive knowledge may be +traced in Agatharcides, (de Mari Rubro, in Hudson, Geograph. Minor. tom. +i.,) Diodorus Siculus, (tom. i. l. ii. p. 159-167, l. iii. p. 211-216, +edit. Wesseling,) Strabo, (l. xvi. p. 1112-1114, from Eratosthenes, p. +1122-1132, from Artemidorus,) Dionysius, (Periegesis, 927-969,) Pliny, +(Hist. Natur. v. 12, vi. 32,) and Ptolemy, (Descript. et Tabulae Urbium, +in Hudson, tom. iii.) 2. The Arabic writers, who have treated the +subject with the zeal of patriotism or devotion: the extracts of Pocock +(Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 125-128) from the Geography of the Sherif +al Edrissi, render us still more dissatisfied with the version or +abridgment (p. 24-27, 44-56, 108, &c., 119, &c.) which the Maronites +have published under the absurd title of Geographia Nubiensis, (Paris, +1619;) but the Latin and French translators, Greaves (in Hudson, tom. +iii.) and Galland, (Voyage de la Palestine par La Roque, p. 265-346,) +have opened to us the Arabia of Abulfeda, the most copious and correct +account of the peninsula, which may be enriched, however, from the +Bibliotheque Orientale of D'Herbelot, p. 120, et alibi passim. 3. +The European travellers; among whom Shaw (p. 438-455) and Niebuhr +(Description, 1773; Voyages, tom. i. 1776) deserve an honorable +distinction: Busching (Geographie par Berenger, tom. viii. p. 416-510) +has compiled with judgment, and D'Anville's Maps (Orbis Veteribus +Notus, and 1re Partie de l'Asie) should lie before the reader, with his +Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 208-231. * Note: Of modern travellers +may be mentioned the adventurer who called himself Ali Bey; but above +all, the intelligent, the enterprising the accurate Burckhardt.--M.] + +[Footnote 3: Abulfed. Descript. Arabiae, p. 1. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et +le Tigre, p. 19, 20. It was in this place, the paradise or garden of +a satrap, that Xenophon and the Greeks first passed the Euphrates, +(Anabasis, l. i. c. 10, p. 29, edit. Wells.)] + +[Footnote 4: Reland has proved, with much superfluous learning, + +1. That our Red Sea (the Arabian Gulf) is no more than a part of the +Mare Rubrum, which was extended to the indefinite space of the Indian +Ocean. + +2. That the synonymous words, allude to the color of the blacks or +negroes, (Dissert Miscell. tom. i. p. 59-117.)] + +[Footnote 5: In the thirty days, or stations, between Cairo and Mecca, +there are fifteen destitute of good water. See the route of the Hadjees, +in Shaw's Travels, p. 477.] + +[Footnote 6: The aromatics, especially the thus, or frankincense, of +Arabia, occupy the xiith book of Pliny. Our great poet (Paradise Lost, +l. iv.) introduces, in a simile, the spicy odors that are blown by the +north-east wind from the Sabaean coast:----Many a league, Pleased with +the grateful scent, old Ocean smiles. (Plin. Hist. Natur. xii. 42.)] + +[Footnote 7: Agatharcides affirms, that lumps of pure gold were found, +from the size of an olive to that of a nut; that iron was twice, and +silver ten times, the value of gold, (de Mari Rubro, p. 60.) These real +or imaginary treasures are vanished; and no gold mines are at present +known in Arabia, (Niebuhr, Description, p. 124.) * Note: A brilliant +passage in the geographical poem of Dionysius Periegetes embodies the +notions of the ancients on the wealth and fertility of Yemen. Greek +mythology, and the traditions of the "gorgeous east," of India as well +as Arabia, are mingled together in indiscriminate splendor. Compare on +the southern coast of Arabia, the recent travels of Lieut. Wellsted--M.] + +[Footnote 8: Consult, peruse, and study the Specimen Hostoriae Arabum of +Pocock, (Oxon. 1650, in 4to.) The thirty pages of text and version are +extracted from the Dynasties of Gregory Abulpharagius, which Pocock +afterwards translated, (Oxon. 1663, in 4to.;) the three hundred and +fifty-eight notes form a classic and original work on the Arabian +antiquities.] + +The measure of population is regulated by the means of subsistence; +and the inhabitants of this vast peninsula might be outnumbered by the +subjects of a fertile and industrious province. Along the shores of the +Persian Gulf, of the ocean, and even of the Red Sea, the Icthyophagi, +[9] or fish eaters, continued to wander in quest of their precarious +food. In this primitive and abject state, which ill deserves the name of +society, the human brute, without arts or laws, almost without sense or +language, is poorly distinguished from the rest of the animal creation. +Generations and ages might roll away in silent oblivion, and the +helpless savage was restrained from multiplying his race by the wants +and pursuits which confined his existence to the narrow margin of the +seacoast. But in an early period of antiquity the great body of the +Arabs had emerged from this scene of misery; and as the naked wilderness +could not maintain a people of hunters, they rose at once to the more +secure and plentiful condition of the pastoral life. The same life +is uniformly pursued by the roving tribes of the desert; and in the +portrait of the modern Bedoweens, we may trace the features of their +ancestors, [10] who, in the age of Moses or Mahomet, dwelt under similar +tents, and conducted their horses, and camels, and sheep, to the same +springs and the same pastures. Our toil is lessened, and our wealth +is increased, by our dominion over the useful animals; and the Arabian +shepherd had acquired the absolute possession of a faithful friend and +a laborious slave. [11] Arabia, in the opinion of the naturalist, is the +genuine and original country of the horse; the climate most propitious, +not indeed to the size, but to the spirit and swiftness, of that +generous animal. The merit of the Barb, the Spanish, and the English +breed, is derived from a mixture of Arabian blood: [12] the Bedoweens +preserve, with superstitious care, the honors and the memory of the +purest race: the males are sold at a high price, but the females are +seldom alienated; and the birth of a noble foal was esteemed among the +tribes, as a subject of joy and mutual congratulation. These horses are +educated in the tents, among the children of the Arabs, with a +tender familiarity, which trains them in the habits of gentleness +and attachment. They are accustomed only to walk and to gallop: their +sensations are not blunted by the incessant abuse of the spur and the +whip: their powers are reserved for the moments of flight and pursuit: +but no sooner do they feel the touch of the hand or the stirrup, than +they dart away with the swiftness of the wind; and if their friend +be dismounted in the rapid career, they instantly stop till he has +recovered his seat. In the sands of Africa and Arabia, the camel is a +sacred and precious gift. That strong and patient beast of burden can +perform, without eating or drinking, a journey of several days; and a +reservoir of fresh water is preserved in a large bag, a fifth stomach +of the animal, whose body is imprinted with the marks of servitude: the +larger breed is capable of transporting a weight of a thousand pounds; +and the dromedary, of a lighter and more active frame, outstrips the +fleetest courser in the race. Alive or dead, almost every part of the +camel is serviceable to man: her milk is plentiful and nutritious: the +young and tender flesh has the taste of veal: [13] a valuable salt is +extracted from the urine: the dung supplies the deficiency of fuel; +and the long hair, which falls each year and is renewed, is coarsely +manufactured into the garments, the furniture, and the tents of the +Bedoweens. In the rainy seasons, they consume the rare and insufficient +herbage of the desert: during the heats of summer and the scarcity of +winter, they remove their encampments to the sea-coast, the hills of +Yemen, or the neighborhood of the Euphrates, and have often extorted the +dangerous license of visiting the banks of the Nile, and the villages +of Syria and Palestine. The life of a wandering Arab is a life of +danger and distress; and though sometimes, by rapine or exchange, he may +appropriate the fruits of industry, a private citizen in Europe is in +the possession of more solid and pleasing luxury than the proudest emir, +who marches in the field at the head of ten thousand horse. + +[Footnote 9: Arrian remarks the Icthyophagi of the coast of Hejez, +(Periplus Maris Erythraei, p. 12,) and beyond Aden, (p. 15.) It seems +probable that the shores of the Red Sea (in the largest sense) were +occupied by these savages in the time, perhaps, of Cyrus; but I can +hardly believe that any cannibals were left among the savages in the +reign of Justinian. (Procop. de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 19.)] + +[Footnote 10: See the Specimen Historiae Arabum of Pocock, p. 2, 5, 86, +&c. The journey of M. d'Arvieux, in 1664, to the camp of the emir of +Mount Carmel, (Voyage de la Palestine, Amsterdam, 1718,) exhibits a +pleasing and original picture of the life of the Bedoweens, which may +be illustrated from Niebuhr (Description de l'Arabie, p. 327-344) and +Volney, (tom. i. p. 343-385,) the last and most judicious of our Syrian +travellers.] + +[Footnote 11: Read (it is no unpleasing task) the incomparable articles +of the Horse and the Camel, in the Natural History of M. de Buffon.] + +[Footnote 12: For the Arabian horses, see D'Arvieux (p. 159-173) and +Niebuhr, (p. 142-144.) At the end of the xiiith century, the horses of +Neged were esteemed sure-footed, those of Yemen strong and serviceable, +those of Hejaz most noble. The horses of Europe, the tenth and last +class, were generally despised as having too much body and too little +spirit, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 339: ) their strength was +requisite to bear the weight of the knight and his armor] + +[Footnote 13: Qui carnibus camelorum vesci solent odii tenaces sunt, was +the opinion of an Arabian physician, (Pocock, Specimen, p. 88.) Mahomet +himself, who was fond of milk, prefers the cow, and does not even +mention the camel; but the diet of Mecca and Medina was already more +luxurious, (Gagnier Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 404.)] + +Yet an essential difference may be found between the hordes of Scythia +and the Arabian tribes; since many of the latter were collected into +towns, and employed in the labors of trade and agriculture. A part of +their time and industry was still devoted to the management of their +cattle: they mingled, in peace and war, with their brethren of the +desert; and the Bedoweens derived from their useful intercourse some +supply of their wants, and some rudiments of art and knowledge. Among +the forty-two cities of Arabia, [14] enumerated by Abulfeda, the most +ancient and populous were situate in the happy Yemen: the towers of +Saana, [15] and the marvellous reservoir of Merab, [16] were constructed +by the kings of the Homerites; but their profane lustre was eclipsed by +the prophetic glories of Medina [17] and Mecca, [18] near the Red Sea, +and at the distance from each other of two hundred and seventy miles. +The last of these holy places was known to the Greeks under the name +of Macoraba; and the termination of the word is expressive of its +greatness, which has not, indeed, in the most flourishing period, +exceeded the size and populousness of Marseilles. Some latent motive, +perhaps of superstition, must have impelled the founders, in the choice +of a most unpromising situation. They erected their habitations of mud +or stone, in a plain about two miles long and one mile broad, at the +foot of three barren mountains: the soil is a rock; the water even of +the holy well of Zemzem is bitter or brackish; the pastures are remote +from the city; and grapes are transported above seventy miles from the +gardens of Tayef. The fame and spirit of the Koreishites, who reigned in +Mecca, were conspicuous among the Arabian tribes; but their ungrateful +soil refused the labors of agriculture, and their position was favorable +to the enterprises of trade. By the seaport of Gedda, at the distance +only of forty miles, they maintained an easy correspondence with +Abyssinia; and that Christian kingdom afforded the first refuge to the +disciples of Mahomet. The treasures of Africa were conveyed over the +Peninsula to Gerrha or Katif, in the province of Bahrein, a city built, +as it is said, of rock-salt, by the Chaldaean exiles; [19] and from +thence with the native pearls of the Persian Gulf, they were floated on +rafts to the mouth of the Euphrates. Mecca is placed almost at an equal +distance, a month's journey, between Yemen on the right, and Syria on +the left hand. The former was the winter, the latter the summer, station +of her caravans; and their seasonable arrival relieved the ships of +India from the tedious and troublesome navigation of the Red Sea. In the +markets of Saana and Merab, in the harbors of Oman and Aden, the camels +of the Koreishites were laden with a precious cargo of aromatics; a +supply of corn and manufactures was purchased in the fairs of Bostra +and Damascus; the lucrative exchange diffused plenty and riches in the +streets of Mecca; and the noblest of her sons united the love of arms +with the profession of merchandise. [20] + +[Footnote 14: Yet Marcian of Heraclea (in Periplo, p. 16, in tom. i. +Hudson, Minor. Geograph.) reckons one hundred and sixty-four towns in +Arabia Felix. The size of the towns might be small--the faith of the +writer might be large.] + +[Footnote 15: It is compared by Abulfeda (in Hudson, tom. ii. p. 54) to +Damascus, and is still the residence of the Iman of Yemen, (Voyages +de Niebuhr, tom. i. p. 331-342.) Saana is twenty-four parasangs from +Dafar, (Abulfeda, p. 51,) and sixty-eight from Aden, (p. 53.)] + +[Footnote 16: Pocock, Specimen, p. 57. Geograph. Nubiensis, p. 52. +Meriaba, or Merab, six miles in circumference, was destroyed by the +legions of Augustus, (Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 32,) and had not revived in +the xivth century, (Abulfed. Descript. Arab. p. 58.) * Note: See note +2 to chap. i. The destruction of Meriaba by the Romans is doubtful. The +town never recovered the inundation which took place from the bursting +of a large reservoir of water--an event of great importance in +the Arabian annals, and discussed at considerable length by modern +Orientalists.--M.] + +[Footnote 17: The name of city, Medina, was appropriated, to Yatreb. +(the Iatrippa of the Greeks,) the seat of the prophet. The distances +from Medina are reckoned by Abulfeda in stations, or days' journey of a +caravan, (p. 15: ) to Bahrein, xv.; to Bassora, xviii.; to Cufah, xx.; +to Damascus or Palestine, xx.; to Cairo, xxv.; to Mecca. x.; from Mecca +to Saana, (p. 52,) or Aden, xxx.; to Cairo, xxxi. days, or 412 hours, +(Shaw's Travels, p. 477;) which, according to the estimate of D'Anville, +(Mesures Itineraires, p. 99,) allows about twenty-five English miles +for a day's journey. From the land of frankincense (Hadramaut, in Yemen, +between Aden and Cape Fartasch) to Gaza in Syria, Pliny (Hist. Nat. xii. +32) computes lxv. mansions of camels. These measures may assist fancy +and elucidate facts.] + +[Footnote 18: Our notions of Mecca must be drawn from the Arabians, +(D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 368-371. Pocock, Specimen, p. +125-128. Abulfeda, p. 11-40.) As no unbeliever is permitted to enter +the city, our travellers are silent; and the short hints of Thevenot +(Voyages du Levant, part i. p. 490) are taken from the suspicious mouth +of an African renegado. Some Persians counted 6000 houses, (Chardin. +tom. iv. p. 167.) * Note: Even in the time of Gibbon, Mecca had not been +so inaccessible to Europeans. It had been visited by Ludovico Barthema, +and by one Joseph Pitts, of Exeter, who was taken prisoner by the Moors, +and forcibly converted to Mahometanism. His volume is a curious, though +plain, account of his sufferings and travels. Since that time Mecca has +been entered, and the ceremonies witnessed, by Dr. Seetzen, whose papers +were unfortunately lost; by the Spaniard, who called himself Ali Bey; +and, lastly, by Burckhardt, whose description leaves nothing wanting to +satisfy the curiosity.--M.] + +[Footnote 19: Strabo, l. xvi. p. 1110. See one of these salt houses near +Bassora, in D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 6.] + +[Footnote 20: Mirum dictu ex innumeris populis pars aequa in commerciis +aut in latrociniis degit, (Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 32.) See Sale's Koran, +Sura. cvi. p. 503. Pocock, Specimen, p. 2. D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. +p. 361. Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 5. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. +i. p. 72, 120, 126, &c.] + +The perpetual independence of the Arabs has been the theme of praise +among strangers and natives; and the arts of controversy transform this +singular event into a prophecy and a miracle, in favor of the posterity +of Ismael. [21] Some exceptions, that can neither be dismissed +nor eluded, render this mode of reasoning as indiscreet as it is +superfluous; the kingdom of Yemen has been successively subdued by the +Abyssinians, the Persians, the sultans of Egypt, [22] and the Turks; +[23] the holy cities of Mecca and Medina have repeatedly bowed under +a Scythian tyrant; and the Roman province of Arabia [24] embraced the +peculiar wilderness in which Ismael and his sons must have pitched their +tents in the face of their brethren. Yet these exceptions are temporary +or local; the body of the nation has escaped the yoke of the most +powerful monarchies: the arms of Sesostris and Cyrus, of Pompey +and Trajan, could never achieve the conquest of Arabia; the present +sovereign of the Turks [25] may exercise a shadow of jurisdiction, but +his pride is reduced to solicit the friendship of a people, whom it is +dangerous to provoke, and fruitless to attack. The obvious causes of +their freedom are inscribed on the character and country of the Arabs. +Many ages before Mahomet, [26] their intrepid valor had been severely +felt by their neighbors in offensive and defensive war. The patient +and active virtues of a soldier are insensibly nursed in the habits +and discipline of a pastoral life. The care of the sheep and camels is +abandoned to the women of the tribe; but the martial youth, under the +banner of the emir, is ever on horseback, and in the field, to practise +the exercise of the bow, the javelin, and the cimeter. The long memory +of their independence is the firmest pledge of its perpetuity and +succeeding generations are animated to prove their descent, and to +maintain their inheritance. Their domestic feuds are suspended on the +approach of a common enemy; and in their last hostilities against the +Turks, the caravan of Mecca was attacked and pillaged by fourscore +thousand of the confederates. When they advance to battle, the hope of +victory is in the front; in the rear, the assurance of a retreat. Their +horses and camels, who, in eight or ten days, can perform a march of +four or five hundred miles, disappear before the conqueror; the secret +waters of the desert elude his search, and his victorious troops +are consumed with thirst, hunger, and fatigue, in the pursuit of an +invisible foe, who scorns his efforts, and safely reposes in the heart +of the burning solitude. The arms and deserts of the Bedoweens are not +only the safeguards of their own freedom, but the barriers also of the +happy Arabia, whose inhabitants, remote from war, are enervated by the +luxury of the soil and climate. The legions of Augustus melted away in +disease and lassitude; [27] and it is only by a naval power that the +reduction of Yemen has been successfully attempted. When Mahomet erected +his holy standard, [28] that kingdom was a province of the Persian +empire; yet seven princes of the Homerites still reigned in the +mountains; and the vicegerent of Chosroes was tempted to forget his +distant country and his unfortunate master. The historians of the age of +Justinian represent the state of the independent Arabs, who were divided +by interest or affection in the long quarrel of the East: the tribe of +Gassan was allowed to encamp on the Syrian territory: the princes of +Hira were permitted to form a city about forty miles to the southward +of the ruins of Babylon. Their service in the field was speedy and +vigorous; but their friendship was venal, their faith inconstant, their +enmity capricious: it was an easier task to excite than to disarm these +roving barbarians; and, in the familiar intercourse of war, they learned +to see, and to despise, the splendid weakness both of Rome and of +Persia. From Mecca to the Euphrates, the Arabian tribes [29] were +confounded by the Greeks and Latins, under the general appellation of +Saracens, [30] a name which every Christian mouth has been taught to +pronounce with terror and abhorrence. + +[Footnote 21: A nameless doctor (Universal Hist. vol. xx. octavo +edition) has formally demonstrated the truth of Christianity by the +independence of the Arabs. A critic, besides the exceptions of fact, +might dispute the meaning of the text (Gen. xvi. 12,) the extent of the +application, and the foundation of the pedigree. * Note: See note 3 to +chap. xlvi. The atter point is probably the least contestable of the +three.--M.] + +[Footnote 22: It was subdued, A.D. 1173, by a brother of the great +Saladin, who founded a dynasty of Curds or Ayoubites, (Guignes, Hist. +des Huns, tom. i. p. 425. D'Herbelot, p. 477.)] + +[Footnote 23: By the lieutenant of Soliman I. (A.D. 1538) and Selim +II., (1568.) See Cantemir's Hist. of the Othman Empire, p. 201, 221. The +pacha, who resided at Saana, commanded twenty-one beys; but no revenue +was ever remitted to the Porte, (Marsigli, Stato Militare dell' Imperio +Ottomanno, p. 124,) and the Turks were expelled about the year 1630, +(Niebuhr, p. 167, 168.)] + +[Footnote 24: Of the Roman province, under the name of Arabia and the +third Palestine, the principal cities were Bostra and Petra, which +dated their aera from the year 105, when they were subdued by Palma, a +lieutenant of Trajan, (Dion. Cassius, l. lxviii.) Petra was the capital +of the Nabathaeans; whose name is derived from the eldest of the sons +of Ismael, (Gen. xxv. 12, &c., with the Commentaries of Jerom, Le Clerc, +and Calmet.) Justinian relinquished a palm country of ten days' journey +to the south of Aelah, (Procop. de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 19,) and the +Romans maintained a centurion and a custom-house, (Arrian in Periplo +Maris Erythraei, p. 11, in Hudson, tom. i.,) at a place (Pagus Albus, +Hawara) in the territory of Medina, (D'Anville, Memoire sur l'Egypte, p. +243.) These real possessions, and some naval inroads of Trajan, (Peripl. +p. 14, 15,) are magnified by history and medals into the Roman conquest +of Arabia. * Note: On the ruins of Petra, see the travels of Messrs. +Irby and Mangles, and of Leon de Laborde.--M.] + +[Footnote 25: Niebuhr (Description de l'Arabie, p. 302, 303, 329-331) +affords the most recent and authentic intelligence of the Turkish empire +in Arabia. * Note: Niebuhr's, notwithstanding the multitude of later +travellers, maintains its ground, as the classical work on Arabia.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: Diodorus Siculus (tom. ii. l. xix. p. 390-393, edit. +Wesseling) has clearly exposed the freedom of the Nabathaean Arabs, who +resisted the arms of Antigonus and his son.] + +[Footnote 27: Strabo, l. xvi. p. 1127-1129. Plin. Hist. Natur. vi. 32. +Aelius Gallus landed near Medina, and marched near a thousand miles into +the part of Yemen between Mareb and the Ocean. The non ante devictis +Sabeae regibus, (Od. i. 29,) and the intacti Arabum thesanri (Od. iii. +24) of Horace, attest the virgin purity of Arabia.] + +[Footnote 28: See the imperfect history of Yemen in Pocock, Specimen, p. +55-66, of Hira, p. 66-74, of Gassan, p. 75-78, as far as it could be +known or preserved in the time of ignorance. * Note: Compare the +Hist. Yemanae, published by Johannsen at Bonn 1880 particularly the +translator's preface.--M.] + +[Footnote 29: They are described by Menander, (Excerpt. Legation p. +149,) Procopius, (de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 17, 19, l. ii. c. 10,) and, +in the most lively colors, by Ammianus Marcellinus, (l. xiv. c. 4,) who +had spoken of them as early as the reign of Marcus.] + +[Footnote 30: The name which, used by Ptolemy and Pliny in a more +confined, by Ammianus and Procopius in a larger, sense, has been +derived, ridiculously, from Sarah, the wife of Abraham, obscurely from +the village of Saraka, (Stephan. de Urbibus,) more plausibly from the +Arabic words, which signify a thievish character, or Oriental situation, +(Hottinger, Hist. Oriental. l. i. c. i. p. 7, 8. Pocock, Specimen, p. +33, 35. Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. 567.) Yet the last and +most popular of these etymologies is refuted by Ptolemy, (Arabia, p. 2, +18, in Hudson, tom. iv.,) who expressly remarks the western and southern +position of the Saracens, then an obscure tribe on the borders of Egypt. +The appellation cannot therefore allude to any national character; and, +since it was imposed by strangers, it must be found, not in the Arabic, +but in a foreign language. * Note: Dr. Clarke, (Travels, vol. ii. p. +491,) after expressing contemptuous pity for Gibbon's ignorance, derives +the word from Zara, Zaara, Sara, the Desert, whence Saraceni, the +children of the Desert. De Marles adopts the derivation from Sarrik, a +robber, (Hist. des Arabes, vol. i. p. 36, S.L. Martin from Scharkioun, +or Sharkun, Eastern, vol. xi. p. 55.)--M.] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part II. + +The slaves of domestic tyranny may vainly exult in their national +independence: but the Arab is personally free; and he enjoys, in some +degree, the benefits of society, without forfeiting the prerogatives +of nature. In every tribe, superstition, or gratitude, or fortune, +has exalted a particular family above the heads of their equals. The +dignities of sheick and emir invariably descend in this chosen race; but +the order of succession is loose and precarious; and the most worthy or +aged of the noble kinsmen are preferred to the simple, though important, +office of composing disputes by their advice, and guiding valor by their +example. Even a female of sense and spirit has been permitted to command +the countrymen of Zenobia. [31] The momentary junction of several tribes +produces an army: their more lasting union constitutes a nation; and +the supreme chief, the emir of emirs, whose banner is displayed at their +head, may deserve, in the eyes of strangers, the honors of the kingly +name. + +If the Arabian princes abuse their power, they are quickly punished by +the desertion of their subjects, who had been accustomed to a mild and +parental jurisdiction. Their spirit is free, their steps are unconfined, +the desert is open, and the tribes and families are held together by a +mutual and voluntary compact. The softer natives of Yemen supported +the pomp and majesty of a monarch; but if he could not leave his palace +without endangering his life, [32] the active powers of government must +have been devolved on his nobles and magistrates. The cities of Mecca +and Medina present, in the heart of Asia, the form, or rather the +substance, of a commonwealth. The grandfather of Mahomet, and his lineal +ancestors, appear in foreign and domestic transactions as the princes of +their country; but they reigned, like Pericles at Athens, or the +Medici at Florence, by the opinion of their wisdom and integrity; +their influence was divided with their patrimony; and the sceptre was +transferred from the uncles of the prophet to a younger branch of the +tribe of Koreish. On solemn occasions they convened the assembly of +the people; and, since mankind must be either compelled or persuaded to +obey, the use and reputation of oratory among the ancient Arabs is the +clearest evidence of public freedom. [33] But their simple freedom was +of a very different cast from the nice and artificial machinery of the +Greek and Roman republics, in which each member possessed an undivided +share of the civil and political rights of the community. In the more +simple state of the Arabs, the nation is free, because each of her +sons disdains a base submission to the will of a master. His breast is +fortified by the austere virtues of courage, patience, and sobriety; the +love of independence prompts him to exercise the habits of self-command; +and the fear of dishonor guards him from the meaner apprehension of +pain, of danger, and of death. The gravity and firmness of the mind is +conspicuous in his outward demeanor; his speech is low, weighty, and +concise; he is seldom provoked to laughter; his only gesture is that of +stroking his beard, the venerable symbol of manhood; and the sense of +his own importance teaches him to accost his equals without levity, and +his superiors without awe. [34] The liberty of the Saracens survived +their conquests: the first caliphs indulged the bold and familiar +language of their subjects; they ascended the pulpit to persuade and +edify the congregation; nor was it before the seat of empire was +removed to the Tigris, that the Abbasides adopted the proud and pompous +ceremonial of the Persian and Byzantine courts. + +[Footnote 31: Saraceni... mulieres aiunt in eos regnare, (Expositio +totius Mundi, p. 3, in Hudson, tom. iii.) The reign of Mavia is famous +in ecclesiastical story Pocock, Specimen, p. 69, 83.] + +[Footnote 32: The report of Agatharcides, (de Mari Rubro, p. 63, 64, in +Hudson, tom. i.) Diodorus Siculus, (tom. i. l. iii. c. 47, p. 215,) and +Strabo, (l. xvi. p. 1124.) But I much suspect that this is one of +the popular tales, or extraordinary accidents, which the credulity of +travellers so often transforms into a fact, a custom, and a law.] + +[Footnote 33: Non gloriabantur antiquitus Arabes, nisi gladio, hospite, +et eloquentia (Sephadius apud Pocock, Specimen, p. 161, 162.) This gift +of speech they shared only with the Persians; and the sententious +Arabs would probably have disdained the simple and sublime logic of +Demosthenes.] + +[Footnote 34: I must remind the reader that D'Arvieux, D'Herbelot, +and Niebuhr, represent, in the most lively colors, the manners and +government of the Arabs, which are illustrated by many incidental +passages in the Life of Mahomet. * Note: See, likewise the curious +romance of Antar, the most vivid and authentic picture of Arabian +manners.--M.] + +In the study of nations and men, we may observe the causes that render +them hostile or friendly to each other, that tend to narrow or enlarge, +to mollify or exasperate, the social character. The separation of the +Arabs from the rest of mankind has accustomed them to confound the ideas +of stranger and enemy; and the poverty of the land has introduced a +maxim of jurisprudence, which they believe and practise to the present +hour. They pretend, that, in the division of the earth, the rich and +fertile climates were assigned to the other branches of the human +family; and that the posterity of the outlaw Ismael might recover, by +fraud or force, the portion of inheritance of which he had been unjustly +deprived. According to the remark of Pliny, the Arabian tribes are +equally addicted to theft and merchandise; the caravans that traverse +the desert are ransomed or pillaged; and their neighbors, since the +remote times of Job and Sesostris, [35] have been the victims of +their rapacious spirit. If a Bedoween discovers from afar a solitary +traveller, he rides furiously against him, crying, with a loud voice, +"Undress thyself, thy aunt (my wife) is without a garment." A ready +submission entitles him to mercy; resistance will provoke the aggressor, +and his own blood must expiate the blood which he presumes to shed in +legitimate defence. A single robber, or a few associates, are branded +with their genuine name; but the exploits of a numerous band assume the +character of lawful and honorable war. The temper of a people thus armed +against mankind was doubly inflamed by the domestic license of rapine, +murder, and revenge. In the constitution of Europe, the right of peace +and war is now confined to a small, and the actual exercise to a much +smaller, list of respectable potentates; but each Arab, with impunity +and renown, might point his javelin against the life of his countrymen. +The union of the nation consisted only in a vague resemblance of +language and manners; and in each community, the jurisdiction of +the magistrate was mute and impotent. Of the time of ignorance which +preceded Mahomet, seventeen hundred battles [36] are recorded by +tradition: hostility was imbittered with the rancor of civil faction; +and the recital, in prose or verse, of an obsolete feud, was sufficient +to rekindle the same passions among the descendants of the hostile +tribes. In private life every man, at least every family, was the judge +and avenger of his own cause. The nice sensibility of honor, which +weighs the insult rather than the injury, sheds its deadly venom on the +quarrels of the Arabs: the honor of their women, and of their beards, +is most easily wounded; an indecent action, a contemptuous word, can be +expiated only by the blood of the offender; and such is their patient +inveteracy, that they expect whole months and years the opportunity of +revenge. A fine or compensation for murder is familiar to the Barbarians +of every age: but in Arabia the kinsmen of the dead are at liberty to +accept the atonement, or to exercise with their own hands the law of +retaliation. The refined malice of the Arabs refuses even the head +of the murderer, substitutes an innocent for the guilty person, and +transfers the penalty to the best and most considerable of the race +by whom they have been injured. If he falls by their hands, they are +exposed, in their turn, to the danger of reprisals, the interest and +principal of the bloody debt are accumulated: the individuals of +either family lead a life of malice and suspicion, and fifty years may +sometimes elapse before the account of vengeance be finally settled. +[37] This sanguinary spirit, ignorant of pity or forgiveness, has been +moderated, however, by the maxims of honor, which require in every +private encounter some decent equality of age and strength, of numbers +and weapons. An annual festival of two, perhaps of four, months, was +observed by the Arabs before the time of Mahomet, during which their +swords were religiously sheathed both in foreign and domestic hostility; +and this partial truce is more strongly expressive of the habits of +anarchy and warfare. [38] + +[Footnote 35: Observe the first chapter of Job, and the long wall of +1500 stadia which Sesostris built from Pelusium to Heliopolis, (Diodor. +Sicul. tom. i. l. i. p. 67.) Under the name of Hycsos, the shepherd +kings, they had formerly subdued Egypt, (Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. +98-163) &c.) * Note: This origin of the Hycsos, though probable, is +by no means so certain here is some reason for supposing them +Scythians.--M] + +[Footnote 36: Or, according to another account, 1200, (D'Herbelot, +Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 75: ) the two historians who wrote of the +Ayam al Arab, the battles of the Arabs, lived in the 9th and 10th +century. The famous war of Dahes and Gabrah was occasioned by two +horses, lasted forty years, and ended in a proverb, (Pocock, Specimen, +p. 48.)] + +[Footnote 37: The modern theory and practice of the Arabs in the revenge +of murder are described by Niebuhr, (Description, p. 26-31.) The harsher +features of antiquity may be traced in the Koran, c. 2, p. 20, c. 17, p. +230, with Sale's Observations.] + +[Footnote 38: Procopius (de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 16) places the two +holy months about the summer solstice. The Arabians consecrate four +months of the year--the first, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth; and +pretend, that in a long series of ages the truce was infringed only four +or six times, (Sale's Preliminary Discourse, p. 147-150, and Notes +on the ixth chapter of the Koran, p. 154, &c. Casiri, Bibliot. +Hispano-Arabica, tom. ii. p. 20, 21.)] + +But the spirit of rapine and revenge was attempered by the milder +influence of trade and literature. The solitary peninsula is encompassed +by the most civilized nations of the ancient world; the merchant is the +friend of mankind; and the annual caravans imported the first seeds +of knowledge and politeness into the cities, and even the camps of the +desert. Whatever may be the pedigree of the Arabs, their language is +derived from the same original stock with the Hebrew, the Syriac, and +the Chaldaean tongues; the independence of the tribes was marked by +their peculiar dialects; [39] but each, after their own, allowed a just +preference to the pure and perspicuous idiom of Mecca. In Arabia, as +well as in Greece, the perfection of language outstripped the refinement +of manners; and her speech could diversify the fourscore names of honey, +the two hundred of a serpent, the five hundred of a lion, the thousand +of a sword, at a time when this copious dictionary was intrusted to +the memory of an illiterate people. The monuments of the Homerites +were inscribed with an obsolete and mysterious character; but the Cufic +letters, the groundwork of the present alphabet, were invented on the +banks of the Euphrates; and the recent invention was taught at Mecca by +a stranger who settled in that city after the birth of Mahomet. The +arts of grammar, of metre, and of rhetoric, were unknown to the freeborn +eloquence of the Arabians; but their penetration was sharp, their +fancy luxuriant, their wit strong and sententious, [40] and their more +elaborate compositions were addressed with energy and effect to the +minds of their hearers. The genius and merit of a rising poet was +celebrated by the applause of his own and the kindred tribes. A solemn +banquet was prepared, and a chorus of women, striking their tymbals, +and displaying the pomp of their nuptials, sung in the presence of their +sons and husbands the felicity of their native tribe; that a champion +had now appeared to vindicate their rights; that a herald had raised +his voice to immortalize their renown. The distant or hostile tribes +resorted to an annual fair, which was abolished by the fanaticism of the +first Moslems; a national assembly that must have contributed to refine +and harmonize the Barbarians. Thirty days were employed in the exchange, +not only of corn and wine, but of eloquence and poetry. The prize +was disputed by the generous emulation of the bards; the victorious +performance was deposited in the archives of princes and emirs; and +we may read in our own language, the seven original poems which were +inscribed in letters of gold, and suspended in the temple of Mecca. [41] +The Arabian poets were the historians and moralists of the age; and +if they sympathized with the prejudices, they inspired and crowned the +virtues, of their countrymen. The indissoluble union of generosity and +valor was the darling theme of their song; and when they pointed +their keenest satire against a despicable race, they affirmed, in the +bitterness of reproach, that the men knew not how to give, nor the women +to deny. [42] The same hospitality, which was practised by Abraham, and +celebrated by Homer, is still renewed in the camps of the Arabs. The +ferocious Bedoweens, the terror of the desert, embrace, without inquiry +or hesitation, the stranger who dares to confide in their honor and to +enter their tent. His treatment is kind and respectful: he shares the +wealth, or the poverty, of his host; and, after a needful repose, he +is dismissed on his way, with thanks, with blessings, and perhaps with +gifts. The heart and hand are more largely expanded by the wants of a +brother or a friend; but the heroic acts that could deserve the public +applause, must have surpassed the narrow measure of discretion and +experience. A dispute had arisen, who, among the citizens of Mecca, was +entitled to the prize of generosity; and a successive application was +made to the three who were deemed most worthy of the trial. Abdallah, +the son of Abbas, had undertaken a distant journey, and his foot was in +the stirrup when he heard the voice of a suppliant, "O son of the uncle +of the apostle of God, I am a traveller, and in distress!" He instantly +dismounted to present the pilgrim with his camel, her rich caparison, +and a purse of four thousand pieces of gold, excepting only the sword, +either for its intrinsic value, or as the gift of an honored kinsman. +The servant of Kais informed the second suppliant that his master was +asleep: but he immediately added, "Here is a purse of seven thousand +pieces of gold, (it is all we have in the house,) and here is an order, +that will entitle you to a camel and a slave;" the master, as soon as +he awoke, praised and enfranchised his faithful steward, with a gentle +reproof, that by respecting his slumbers he had stinted his bounty. +The third of these heroes, the blind Arabah, at the hour of prayer, was +supporting his steps on the shoulders of two slaves. "Alas!" he replied, +"my coffers are empty! but these you may sell; if you refuse, I renounce +them." At these words, pushing away the youths, he groped along the wall +with his staff. + +The character of Hatem is the perfect model of Arabian virtue: [43] he +was brave and liberal, an eloquent poet, and a successful robber; forty +camels were roasted at his hospitable feast; and at the prayer of a +suppliant enemy he restored both the captives and the spoil. The freedom +of his countrymen disdained the laws of justice; they proudly indulged +the spontaneous impulse of pity and benevolence. + +[Footnote 39: Arrian, in the second century, remarks (in Periplo Maris +Erythraei, p. 12) the partial or total difference of the dialects of +the Arabs. Their language and letters are copiously treated by Pocock, +(Specimen, p. 150-154,) Casiri, (Bibliot. Hispano-Arabica, tom. i. p. +1, 83, 292, tom. ii. p. 25, &c.,) and Niebuhr, (Description de l'Arabie, +p. 72-36) I pass slightly; I am not fond of repeating words like a +parrot.] + +[Footnote 40: A familiar tale in Voltaire's Zadig (le Chien et le +Cheval) is related, to prove the natural sagacity of the Arabs, +(D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 120, 121. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. +i. p. 37-46: ) but D'Arvieux, or rather La Roque, (Voyage de Palestine, +p. 92,) denies the boasted superiority of the Bedoweens. The one hundred +and sixty-nine sentences of Ali (translated by Ockley, London, 1718) +afford a just and favorable specimen of Arabian wit. * Note: Compare the +Arabic proverbs translated by Burckhardt. London. 1830--M.] + +[Footnote 41: Pocock (Specimen, p. 158-161) and Casiri (Bibliot. +Hispano-Arabica, tom. i. p. 48, 84, &c., 119, tom. ii. p. 17, &c.) speak +of the Arabian poets before Mahomet; the seven poems of the Caaba +have been published in English by Sir William Jones; but his honorable +mission to India has deprived us of his own notes, far more interesting +than the obscure and obsolete text.] + +[Footnote 42: Sale's Preliminary Discourse, p. 29, 30] + +[Footnote 43: D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 458. Gagnier, Vie de +Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 118. Caab and Hesnus (Pocock, Specimen, p. 43, 46, +48) were likewise conspicuous for their liberality; and the latter +is elegantly praised by an Arabian poet: "Videbis eum cum accesseris +exultantem, ac si dares illi quod ab illo petis." * Note: See the +translation of the amusing Persian romance of Hatim Tai, by Duncan +Forbes, Esq., among the works published by the Oriental Translation +Fund.--M.] + +The religion of the Arabs, [44] as well as of the Indians, consisted in +the worship of the sun, the moon, and the fixed stars; a primitive and +specious mode of superstition. The bright luminaries of the sky display +the visible image of a Deity: their number and distance convey to a +philosophic, or even a vulgar, eye, the idea of boundless space: +the character of eternity is marked on these solid globes, that seem +incapable of corruption or decay: the regularity of their motions may +be ascribed to a principle of reason or instinct; and their real, or +imaginary, influence encourages the vain belief that the earth and +its inhabitants are the object of their peculiar care. The science of +astronomy was cultivated at Babylon; but the school of the Arabs was +a clear firmament and a naked plain. In their nocturnal marches, they +steered by the guidance of the stars: their names, and order, and daily +station, were familiar to the curiosity and devotion of the Bedoween; +and he was taught by experience to divide, in twenty-eight parts, the +zodiac of the moon, and to bless the constellations who refreshed, with +salutary rains, the thirst of the desert. The reign of the heavenly orbs +could not be extended beyond the visible sphere; and some metaphysical +powers were necessary to sustain the transmigration of souls and the +resurrection of bodies: a camel was left to perish on the grave, that he +might serve his master in another life; and the invocation of departed +spirits implies that they were still endowed with consciousness and +power. I am ignorant, and I am careless, of the blind mythology of the +Barbarians; of the local deities, of the stars, the air, and the earth, +of their sex or titles, their attributes or subordination. Each tribe, +each family, each independent warrior, created and changed the rites and +the object of his fantastic worship; but the nation, in every age, has +bowed to the religion, as well as to the language, of Mecca. The genuine +antiquity of the Caaba ascends beyond the Christian aera; in describing +the coast of the Red Sea, the Greek historian Diodorus [45] has +remarked, between the Thamudites and the Sabaeans, a famous temple, +whose superior sanctity was revered by all the Arabians; the linen or +silken veil, which is annually renewed by the Turkish emperor, was first +offered by a pious king of the Homerites, who reigned seven hundred +years before the time of Mahomet. [46] A tent, or a cavern, might +suffice for the worship of the savages, but an edifice of stone and clay +has been erected in its place; and the art and power of the monarchs +of the East have been confined to the simplicity of the original model. +[47] A spacious portico encloses the quadrangle of the Caaba; a square +chapel, twenty-four cubits long, twenty-three broad, and twenty-seven +high: a door and a window admit the light; the double roof is supported +by three pillars of wood; a spout (now of gold) discharges the +rain-water, and the well Zemzen is protected by a dome from accidental +pollution. The tribe of Koreish, by fraud and force, had acquired the +custody of the Caaba: the sacerdotal office devolved through four +lineal descents to the grandfather of Mahomet; and the family of the +Hashemites, from whence he sprung, was the most respectable and sacred +in the eyes of their country. [48] The precincts of Mecca enjoyed the +rights of sanctuary; and, in the last month of each year, the city and +the temple were crowded with a long train of pilgrims, who presented +their vows and offerings in the house of God. The same rites which are +now accomplished by the faithful Mussulman, were invented and practised +by the superstition of the idolaters. At an awful distance they cast +away their garments: seven times, with hasty steps, they encircled the +Caaba, and kissed the black stone: seven times they visited and adored +the adjacent mountains; seven times they threw stones into the valley +of Mina; and the pilgrimage was achieved, as at the present hour, by a +sacrifice of sheep and camels, and the burial of their hair and nails +in the consecrated ground. Each tribe either found or introduced in the +Caaba their domestic worship: the temple was adorned, or defiled, with +three hundred and sixty idols of men, eagles, lions, and antelopes; and +most conspicuous was the statue of Hebal, of red agate, holding in +his hand seven arrows, without heads or feathers, the instruments and +symbols of profane divination. But this statue was a monument of Syrian +arts: the devotion of the ruder ages was content with a pillar or a +tablet; and the rocks of the desert were hewn into gods or altars, in +imitation of the black stone [49] of Mecca, which is deeply tainted with +the reproach of an idolatrous origin. From Japan to Peru, the use of +sacrifice has universally prevailed; and the votary has expressed his +gratitude, or fear, by destroying or consuming, in honor of the gods, +the dearest and most precious of their gifts. The life of a man [50] is +the most precious oblation to deprecate a public calamity: the altars of +Phoenicia and Egypt, of Rome and Carthage, have been polluted with human +gore: the cruel practice was long preserved among the Arabs; in the +third century, a boy was annually sacrificed by the tribe of the +Dumatians; [51] and a royal captive was piously slaughtered by the +prince of the Saracens, the ally and soldier of the emperor Justinian. +[52] A parent who drags his son to the altar, exhibits the most painful +and sublime effort of fanaticism: the deed, or the intention, was +sanctified by the example of saints and heroes; and the father of +Mahomet himself was devoted by a rash vow, and hardly ransomed for the +equivalent of a hundred camels. In the time of ignorance, the Arabs, +like the Jews and Egyptians, abstained from the taste of swine's flesh; +[53] they circumcised [54] their children at the age of puberty: the +same customs, without the censure or the precept of the Koran, have +been silently transmitted to their posterity and proselytes. It has +been sagaciously conjectured, that the artful legislator indulged the +stubborn prejudices of his countrymen. It is more simple to believe that +he adhered to the habits and opinions of his youth, without foreseeing +that a practice congenial to the climate of Mecca might become useless +or inconvenient on the banks of the Danube or the Volga. + +[Footnote 44: Whatever can now be known of the idolatry of the ancient +Arabians may be found in Pocock, (Specimen, p. 89-136, 163, 164.) His +profound erudition is more clearly and concisely interpreted by Sale, +(Preliminary Discourse, p. 14-24;) and Assemanni (Bibliot. Orient tom. +iv. p. 580-590) has added some valuable remarks.] + +[Footnote 45: (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. iii. p. 211.) The character and +position are so correctly apposite, that I am surprised how this curious +passage should have been read without notice or application. Yet this +famous temple had been overlooked by Agatharcides, (de Mari Rubro, +p. 58, in Hudson, tom. i.,) whom Diodorus copies in the rest of the +description. Was the Sicilian more knowing than the Egyptian? Or was the +Caaba built between the years of Rome 650 and 746, the dates of their +respective histories? (Dodwell, in Dissert. ad tom. i. Hudson, p. +72. Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. ii. p. 770.) * Note: Mr. Forster +(Geography of Arabia, vol. ii. p. 118, et seq.) has raised an objection, +as I think, fatal to this hypothesis of Gibbon. The temple, situated in +the country of the Banizomeneis, was not between the Thamudites and +the Sabaeans, but higher up than the coast inhabited by the former. Mr. +Forster would place it as far north as Moiiah. I am not quite satisfied +that this will agree with the whole description of Diodorus--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 46: Pocock, Specimen, p. 60, 61. From the death of Mahomet we +ascend to 68, from his birth to 129, years before the Christian aera. +The veil or curtain, which is now of silk and gold, was no more than a +piece of Egyptian linen, (Abulfeda, in Vit. Mohammed. c. 6, p. 14.)] + +[Footnote 47: The original plan of the Caaba (which is servilely copied +in Sale, the Universal History, &c.) was a Turkish draught, which Reland +(de Religione Mohammedica, p. 113-123) has corrected and explained +from the best authorities. For the description and legend of the Caaba, +consult Pocock, (Specimen, p. 115-122,) the Bibliotheque Orientale +of D'Herbelot, (Caaba, Hagir, Zemzem, &c.,) and Sale (Preliminary +Discourse, p. 114-122.)] + +[Footnote 48: Cosa, the fifth ancestor of Mahomet, must have usurped the +Caaba A.D. 440; but the story is differently told by Jannabi, (Gagnier, +Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 65-69,) and by Abulfeda, (in Vit. Moham. c. +6, p. 13.)] + +[Footnote 49: In the second century, Maximus of Tyre attributes to the +Arabs the worship of a stone, (Dissert. viii. tom. i. p. 142, edit. +Reiske;) and the reproach is furiously reechoed by the Christians, +(Clemens Alex. in Protreptico, p. 40. Arnobius contra Gentes, l. vi. +p. 246.) Yet these stones were no other than of Syria and Greece, so +renowned in sacred and profane antiquity, (Euseb. Praep. Evangel. l. i. +p. 37. Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 54-56.)] + +[Footnote 50: The two horrid subjects are accurately discussed by +the learned Sir John Marsham, (Canon. Chron. p. 76-78, 301-304.) +Sanchoniatho derives the Phoenician sacrifices from the example of +Chronus; but we are ignorant whether Chronus lived before, or after, +Abraham, or indeed whether he lived at all.] + +[Footnote 51: The reproach of Porphyry; but he likewise imputes to the +Roman the same barbarous custom, which, A. U. C. 657, had been finally +abolished. Dumaetha, Daumat al Gendai, is noticed by Ptolemy (Tabul. +p. 37, Arabia, p. 9-29) and Abulfeda, (p. 57,) and may be found in +D'Anville's maps, in the mid-desert between Chaibar and Tadmor.] + +[Footnote 52: Prcoopius, (de Bell. Persico, l. i. c. 28,) Evagrius, +(l. vi. c. 21,) and Pocock, (Specimen, p. 72, 86,) attest the human +sacrifices of the Arabs in the vith century. The danger and escape of +Abdallah is a tradition rather than a fact, (Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, +tom. i. p. 82-84.)] + +[Footnote 53: Suillis carnibus abstinent, says Solinus, (Polyhistor. c. +33,) who copies Pliny (l. viii. c. 68) in the strange supposition, that +hogs can not live in Arabia. The Egyptians were actuated by a natural +and superstitious horror for that unclean beast, (Marsham, Canon. p. +205.) The old Arabians likewise practised, post coitum, the rite of +ablution, (Herodot. l. i. c. 80,) which is sanctified by the Mahometan +law, (Reland, p. 75, &c., Chardin, or rather the Mollah of Shah Abbas, +tom. iv. p. 71, &c.)] + +[Footnote 54: The Mahometan doctors are not fond of the subject; yet +they hold circumcision necessary to salvation, and even pretend that +Mahomet was miraculously born without a foreskin, (Pocock, Specimen, p. +319, 320. Sale's Preliminary Discourse, p. 106, 107.)] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part III. + +Arabia was free: the adjacent kingdoms were shaken by the storms of +conquest and tyranny, and the persecuted sects fled to the happy land +where they might profess what they thought, and practise what they +professed. The religions of the Sabians and Magians, of the Jews and +Christians, were disseminated from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. In +a remote period of antiquity, Sabianism was diffused over Asia by the +science of the Chaldaeans [55] and the arms of the Assyrians. From +the observations of two thousand years, the priests and astronomers of +Babylon [56] deduced the eternal laws of nature and providence. They +adored the seven gods or angels, who directed the course of the seven +planets, and shed their irresistible influence on the earth. The +attributes of the seven planets, with the twelve signs of the zodiac, +and the twenty-four constellations of the northern and southern +hemisphere, were represented by images and talismans; the seven days of +the week were dedicated to their respective deities; the Sabians prayed +thrice each day; and the temple of the moon at Haran was the term of +their pilgrimage. [57] But the flexible genius of their faith was always +ready either to teach or to learn: in the tradition of the creation, the +deluge, and the patriarchs, they held a singular agreement with their +Jewish captives; they appealed to the secret books of Adam, Seth, and +Enoch; and a slight infusion of the gospel has transformed the last +remnant of the Polytheists into the Christians of St. John, in the +territory of Bassora. [58] The altars of Babylon were overturned by the +Magians; but the injuries of the Sabians were revenged by the sword of +Alexander; Persia groaned above five hundred years under a foreign yoke; +and the purest disciples of Zoroaster escaped from the contagion of +idolatry, and breathed with their adversaries the freedom of the desert. +[59] Seven hundred years before the death of Mahomet, the Jews were +settled in Arabia; and a far greater multitude was expelled from the +Holy Land in the wars of Titus and Hadrian. The industrious exiles +aspired to liberty and power: they erected synagogues in the cities, and +castles in the wilderness, and their Gentile converts were confounded +with the children of Israel, whom they resembled in the outward mark +of circumcision. The Christian missionaries were still more active and +successful: the Catholics asserted their universal reign; the sects +whom they oppressed, successively retired beyond the limits of the +Roman empire; the Marcionites and Manichaeans dispersed their fantastic +opinions and apocryphal gospels; the churches of Yemen, and the princes +of Hira and Gassan, were instructed in a purer creed by the Jacobite +and Nestorian bishops. [60] The liberty of choice was presented to the +tribes: each Arab was free to elect or to compose his private religion: +and the rude superstition of his house was mingled with the sublime +theology of saints and philosophers. A fundamental article of faith was +inculcated by the consent of the learned strangers; the existence of one +supreme God who is exalted above the powers of heaven and earth, but who +has often revealed himself to mankind by the ministry of his angels +and prophets, and whose grace or justice has interrupted, by seasonable +miracles, the order of nature. The most rational of the Arabs +acknowledged his power, though they neglected his worship; [61] and it +was habit rather than conviction that still attached them to the relics +of idolatry. The Jews and Christians were the people of the Book; the +Bible was already translated into the Arabic language, [62] and the +volume of the Old Testament was accepted by the concord of these +implacable enemies. In the story of the Hebrew patriarchs, the Arabs +were pleased to discover the fathers of their nation. They applauded the +birth and promises of Ismael; revered the faith and virtue of Abraham; +traced his pedigree and their own to the creation of the first man, and +imbibed, with equal credulity, the prodigies of the holy text, and the +dreams and traditions of the Jewish rabbis. + +[Footnote 55: Diodorus Siculus (tom. i. l. ii. p. 142-145) has cast +on their religion the curious but superficial glance of a Greek. Their +astronomy would be far more valuable: they had looked through the +telescope of reason, since they could doubt whether the sun were in the +number of the planets or of the fixed stars.] + +[Footnote 56: Simplicius, (who quotes Porphyry,) de Coelo, l. ii. com. +xlvi p. 123, lin. 18, apud Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 474, who doubts +the fact, because it is adverse to his systems. The earliest date of +the Chaldaean observations is the year 2234 before Christ. After the +conquest of Babylon by Alexander, they were communicated at the request +of Aristotle, to the astronomer Hipparchus. What a moment in the annals +of science!] + +[Footnote 57: Pocock, (Specimen, p. 138-146,) Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. +p. 162-203,) Hyde, (de Religione Vet. Persarum, p. 124, 128, &c.,) +D'Herbelot, (Sabi, p. 725, 726,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. +14, 15,) rather excite than gratify our curiosity; and the last of these +writers confounds Sabianism with the primitive religion of the Arabs.] + +[Footnote 58: D'Anville (l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 130-137) will +fix the position of these ambiguous Christians; Assemannus (Bibliot. +Oriental. tom. iv. p. 607-614) may explain their tenets. But it is a +slippery task to ascertain the creed of an ignorant people afraid +and ashamed to disclose their secret traditions. * Note: The Codex +Nasiraeus, their sacred book, has been published by Norberg whose +researches contain almost all that is known of this singular people. But +their origin is almost as obscure as ever: if ancient, their creed +has been so corrupted with mysticism and Mahometanism, that its native +lineaments are very indistinct.--M.] + +[Footnote 59: The Magi were fixed in the province of Bhrein, (Gagnier, +Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 114,) and mingled with the old Arabians, +(Pocock, Specimen, p. 146-150.)] + +[Footnote 60: The state of the Jews and Christians in Arabia is +described by Pocock from Sharestani, &c., (Specimen, p. 60, 134, &c.,) +Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p. 212-238,) D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. +p. 474-476,) Basnage, (Hist. des Juifs, tom. vii. p. 185, tom. viii. p. +280,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 22, &c., 33, &c.)] + +[Footnote 61: In their offerings, it was a maxim to defraud God for the +profit of the idol, not a more potent, but a more irritable, patron, +(Pocock, Specimen, p. 108, 109.)] + +[Footnote 62: Our versions now extant, whether Jewish or Christian, +appear more recent than the Koran; but the existence of a prior +translation may be fairly inferred,--1. From the perpetual practice of +the synagogue of expounding the Hebrew lesson by a paraphrase in the +vulgar tongue of the country; 2. From the analogy of the Armenian, +Persian, Aethiopic versions, expressly quoted by the fathers of the +fifth century, who assert that the Scriptures were translated into all +the Barbaric languages, (Walton, Prolegomena ad Biblia Polyglot, p. 34, +93-97. Simon, Hist. Critique du V. et du N. Testament, tom. i. p. 180, +181, 282-286, 293, 305, 306, tom. iv. p. 206.)] + +The base and plebeian origin of Mahomet is an unskilful calumny of +the Christians, [63] who exalt instead of degrading the merit of their +adversary. His descent from Ismael was a national privilege or fable; +but if the first steps of the pedigree [64] are dark and doubtful, he +could produce many generations of pure and genuine nobility: he sprung +from the tribe of Koreish and the family of Hashem, the most illustrious +of the Arabs, the princes of Mecca, and the hereditary guardians of the +Caaba. The grandfather of Mahomet was Abdol Motalleb, the son of Hashem, +a wealthy and generous citizen, who relieved the distress of famine with +the supplies of commerce. Mecca, which had been fed by the liberality +of the father, was saved by the courage of the son. The kingdom of Yemen +was subject to the Christian princes of Abyssinia; their vassal Abrahah +was provoked by an insult to avenge the honor of the cross; and the holy +city was invested by a train of elephants and an army of Africans. A +treaty was proposed; and, in the first audience, the grandfather of +Mahomet demanded the restitution of his cattle. "And why," said Abrahah, +"do you not rather implore my clemency in favor of your temple, which I +have threatened to destroy?" "Because," replied the intrepid chief, "the +cattle is my own; the Caaba belongs to the gods, and they will defend +their house from injury and sacrilege." The want of provisions, or +the valor of the Koreish, compelled the Abyssinians to a disgraceful +retreat: their discomfiture has been adorned with a miraculous flight +of birds, who showered down stones on the heads of the infidels; and the +deliverance was long commemorated by the aera of the elephant. [65] The +glory of Abdol Motalleb was crowned with domestic happiness; his life +was prolonged to the age of one hundred and ten years; and he became the +father of six daughters and thirteen sons. His best beloved Abdallah +was the most beautiful and modest of the Arabian youth; and in the first +night, when he consummated his marriage with Amina, [651] of the noble +race of the Zahrites, two hundred virgins are said to have expired of +jealousy and despair. Mahomet, or more properly Mohammed, the only son +of Abdallah and Amina, was born at Mecca, four years after the death +of Justinian, and two months after the defeat of the Abyssinians, [66] +whose victory would have introduced into the Caaba the religion of the +Christians. In his early infancy, he was deprived of his father, his +mother, and his grandfather; his uncles were strong and numerous; and, +in the division of the inheritance, the orphan's share was reduced to +five camels and an Aethiopian maid-servant. At home and abroad, in peace +and war, Abu Taleb, the most respectable of his uncles, was the guide +and guardian of his youth; in his twenty-fifth year, he entered into the +service of Cadijah, a rich and noble widow of Mecca, who soon rewarded +his fidelity with the gift of her hand and fortune. The marriage +contract, in the simple style of antiquity, recites the mutual love of +Mahomet and Cadijah; describes him as the most accomplished of the tribe +of Koreish; and stipulates a dowry of twelve ounces of gold and twenty +camels, which was supplied by the liberality of his uncle. [67] By +this alliance, the son of Abdallah was restored to the station of +his ancestors; and the judicious matron was content with his domestic +virtues, till, in the fortieth year of his age, [68] he assumed the +title of a prophet, and proclaimed the religion of the Koran. + +[Footnote 63: In eo conveniunt omnes, ut plebeio vilique genere ortum, +&c, (Hottinger, Hist. Orient. p. 136.) Yet Theophanes, the most ancient +of the Greeks, and the father of many a lie, confesses that Mahomet was +of the race of Ismael, (Chronograph. p. 277.)] + +[Footnote 64: Abulfeda (in Vit. Mohammed. c. 1, 2) and Gagnier (Vie de +Mahomet, p. 25-97) describe the popular and approved genealogy of the +prophet. At Mecca, I would not dispute its authenticity: at Lausanne, +I will venture to observe, 1. That from Ismael to Mahomet, a period of +2500 years, they reckon thirty, instead of seventy five, generations: 2. +That the modern Bedoweens are ignorant of their history, and careless +of their pedigree, (Voyage de D'Arvieux p. 100, 103.) * Note: The most +orthodox Mahometans only reckon back the ancestry of the prophet for +twenty generations, to Adnan. Weil, Mohammed der Prophet, p. 1.--M. +1845.] + +[Footnote 65: The seed of this history, or fable, is contained in the +cvth chapter of the Koran; and Gagnier (in Praefat. ad Vit. Moham. p. +18, &c.) has translated the historical narrative of Abulfeda, which may +be illustrated from D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 12) and Pocock, +(Specimen, p. 64.) Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 48) calls it a lie of +the coinage of Mahomet; but Sale, (Koran, p. 501-503,) who is half a +Mussulman, attacks the inconsistent faith of the Doctor for believing +the miracles of the Delphic Apollo. Maracci (Alcoran, tom. i. part ii. +p. 14, tom. ii. p. 823) ascribes the miracle to the devil, and extorts +from the Mahometans the confession, that God would not have defended +against the Christians the idols of the Caaba. * Note: Dr. Weil says +that the small-pox broke out in the army of Abrahah, but he does not +give his authority, p. 10.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 651: Amina, or Emina, was of Jewish birth. V. Hammer, +Geschichte der Assass. p. 10.--M.] + +[Footnote 66: The safest aeras of Abulfeda, (in Vit. c. i. p. 2,) of +Alexander, or the Greeks, 882, of Bocht Naser, or Nabonassar, 1316, +equally lead us to the year 569. The old Arabian calendar is too dark +and uncertain to support the Benedictines, (Art. de Verifer les Dates, +p. 15,) who, from the day of the month and week, deduce a new mode of +calculation, and remove the birth of Mahomet to the year of Christ 570, +the 10th of November. Yet this date would agree with the year 882 of +the Greeks, which is assigned by Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 5) and +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 101, and Errata, Pocock's version.) While we +refine our chronology, it is possible that the illiterate prophet was +ignorant of his own age. * Note: The date of the birth of Mahomet is not +yet fixed with precision. It is only known from Oriental authors that +he was born on a Monday, the 10th Reby 1st, the third month of the +Mahometan year; the year 40 or 42 of Chosroes Nushirvan, king of Persia; +the year 881 of the Seleucidan aera; the year 1316 of the aera of +Nabonassar. This leaves the point undecided between the years 569, 570, +571, of J. C. See the Memoir of M. Silv. de Sacy, on divers events in +the history of the Arabs before Mahomet, Mem. Acad. des Loscript. vol. +xlvii. p. 527, 531. St. Martin, vol. xi. p. 59.--M. ----Dr. Weil decides +on A.D. 571. Mahomet died in 632, aged 63; but the Arabs reckoned his +life by lunar years, which reduces his life nearly to 61 (p. 21.)--M. +1845] + +[Footnote 67: I copy the honorable testimony of Abu Taleb to his family +and nephew. Laus Dei, qui nos a stirpe Abrahami et semine Ismaelis +constituit, et nobis regionem sacram dedit, et nos judices hominibus +statuit. Porro Mohammed filius Abdollahi nepotis mei (nepos meus) quo +cum ex aequo librabitur e Koraishidis quispiam cui non praeponderaturus +est, bonitate et excellentia, et intellectu et gloria, et acumine etsi +opum inops fuerit, (et certe opes umbra transiens sunt et depositum +quod reddi debet,) desiderio Chadijae filiae Chowailedi tenetur, et +illa vicissim ipsius, quicquid autem dotis vice petieritis, ego in me +suscipiam, (Pocock, Specimen, e septima parte libri Ebn Hamduni.)] + +[Footnote 68: The private life of Mahomet, from his birth to his +mission, is preserved by Abulfeda, (in Vit. c. 3-7,) and the Arabian +writers of genuine or apocryphal note, who are alleged by Hottinger, +(Hist. Orient. p. 204-211) Maracci, (tom. i. p. 10-14,) and Gagnier, +(Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 97-134.)] + +According to the tradition of his companions, Mahomet [69] was +distinguished by the beauty of his person, an outward gift which is +seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused. Before +he spoke, the orator engaged on his side the affections of a public or +private audience. They applauded his commanding presence, his majestic +aspect, his piercing eye, his gracious smile, his flowing beard, his +countenance that painted every sensation of the soul, and his gestures +that enforced each expression of the tongue. In the familiar offices of +life he scrupulously adhered to the grave and ceremonious politeness +of his country: his respectful attention to the rich and powerful was +dignified by his condescension and affability to the poorest citizens of +Mecca: the frankness of his manner concealed the artifice of his views; +and the habits of courtesy were imputed to personal friendship or +universal benevolence. His memory was capacious and retentive; his wit +easy and social; his imagination sublime; his judgment clear, rapid, +and decisive. He possessed the courage both of thought and action; and, +although his designs might gradually expand with his success, the first +idea which he entertained of his divine mission bears the stamp of an +original and superior genius. The son of Abdallah was educated in the +bosom of the noblest race, in the use of the purest dialect of Arabia; +and the fluency of his speech was corrected and enhanced by the practice +of discreet and seasonable silence. With these powers of eloquence, +Mahomet was an illiterate Barbarian: his youth had never been instructed +in the arts of reading and writing; [70] the common ignorance exempted +him from shame or reproach, but he was reduced to a narrow circle of +existence, and deprived of those faithful mirrors, which reflect to our +mind the minds of sages and heroes. Yet the book of nature and of man +was open to his view; and some fancy has been indulged in the political +and philosophical observations which are ascribed to the Arabian +traveller. [71] He compares the nations and the regions of the earth; +discovers the weakness of the Persian and Roman monarchies; beholds, +with pity and indignation, the degeneracy of the times; and resolves +to unite under one God and one king the invincible spirit and primitive +virtues of the Arabs. Our more accurate inquiry will suggest, that, +instead of visiting the courts, the camps, the temples, of the East, the +two journeys of Mahomet into Syria were confined to the fairs of Bostra +and Damascus; that he was only thirteen years of age when he accompanied +the caravan of his uncle; and that his duty compelled him to return as +soon as he had disposed of the merchandise of Cadijah. In these hasty +and superficial excursions, the eye of genius might discern some objects +invisible to his grosser companions; some seeds of knowledge might be +cast upon a fruitful soil; but his ignorance of the Syriac language +must have checked his curiosity; and I cannot perceive, in the life +or writings of Mahomet, that his prospect was far extended beyond the +limits of the Arabian world. From every region of that solitary world, +the pilgrims of Mecca were annually assembled, by the calls of devotion +and commerce: in the free concourse of multitudes, a simple citizen, in +his native tongue, might study the political state and character of the +tribes, the theory and practice of the Jews and Christians. Some +useful strangers might be tempted, or forced, to implore the rights of +hospitality; and the enemies of Mahomet have named the Jew, the Persian, +and the Syrian monk, whom they accuse of lending their secret aid to the +composition of the Koran. [72] Conversation enriches the understanding, +but solitude is the school of genius; and the uniformity of a work +denotes the hand of a single artist. From his earliest youth Mahomet +was addicted to religious contemplation; each year, during the month of +Ramadan, he withdrew from the world, and from the arms of Cadijah: in +the cave of Hera, three miles from Mecca, [73] he consulted the spirit +of fraud or enthusiasm, whose abode is not in the heavens, but in +the mind of the prophet. The faith which, under the name of Islam, he +preached to his family and nation, is compounded of an eternal truth, +and a necessary fiction, That there is only one God, and that Mahomet is +the apostle of God. + +[Footnote 69: Abulfeda, in Vit. c. lxv. lxvi. Gagnier, Vie de +Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 272-289. The best traditions of the person +and conversation of the prophet are derived from Ayesha, Ali, and Abu +Horaira, (Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 267. Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. +ii. p. 149,) surnamed the Father of a Cat, who died in the year 59 of +the Hegira. * Note: Compare, likewise, the new Life of Mahomet (Mohammed +der prophet) by Dr. Weil, (Stuttgart, 1843.) Dr. Weil has a new +tradition, that Mahomet was at one time a shepherd. This assimilation +to the life of Moses, instead of giving probability to the story, as Dr. +Weil suggests, makes it more suspicious. Note, p. 34.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 70: Those who believe that Mahomet could read or write are +incapable of reading what is written with another pen, in the Suras, or +chapters of the Koran, vii. xxix. xcvi. These texts, and the tradition +of the Sonna, are admitted, without doubt, by Abulfeda, (in Vit. vii.,) +Gagnier, (Not. ad Abulfed. p. 15,) Pocock, (Specimen, p. 151,) Reland, +(de Religione Mohammedica, p. 236,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, +p. 42.) Mr. White, almost alone, denies the ignorance, to accuse the +imposture, of the prophet. His arguments are far from satisfactory. Two +short trading journeys to the fairs of Syria were surely not sufficient +to infuse a science so rare among the citizens of Mecca: it was not in +the cool, deliberate act of treaty, that Mahomet would have dropped +the mask; nor can any conclusion be drawn from the words of disease +and delirium. The lettered youth, before he aspired to the prophetic +character, must have often exercised, in private life, the arts of +reading and writing; and his first converts, of his own family, would +have been the first to detect and upbraid his scandalous hypocrisy, +(White's Sermons, p. 203, 204, Notes, p. xxxvi.--xxxviii.) * Note: +(Academ. des Inscript. I. p. 295) has observed that the text of the +seveth Sura implies that Mahomet could read, the tradition alone denies +it, and, according to Dr. Weil, (p. 46,) there is another reading of +the tradition, that "he could not read well." Dr. Weil is not quite so +successful in explaining away Sura xxix. It means, he thinks that he had +not read any books, from which he could have borrowed.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 71: The count de Boulainvilliers (Vie de Mahomet, p. 202-228) +leads his Arabian pupil, like the Telemachus of Fenelon, or the Cyrus of +Ramsay. His journey to the court of Persia is probably a fiction nor +can I trace the origin of his exclamation, "Les Grecs sont pour tant des +hommes." The two Syrian journeys are expressed by almost all the Arabian +writers, both Mahometans and Christians, (Gagnier Abulfed. p. 10.)] + +[Footnote 72: I am not at leisure to pursue the fables or conjectures +which name the strangers accused or suspected by the infidels of Mecca, +(Koran, c. 16, p. 223, c. 35, p. 297, with Sale's Remarks. Prideaux's +Life of Mahomet, p. 22-27. Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. p. 11, 74. +Maracci, tom. ii. p. 400.) Even Prideaux has observed, that the +transaction must have been secret, and that the scene lay in the heart +of Arabia.] + +[Footnote 73: Abulfeda in Vit. c. 7, p. 15. Gagnier, tom. i. p. 133, +135. The situation of Mount Hera is remarked by Abulfeda (Geograph. Arab +p. 4.) Yet Mahomet had never read of the cave of Egeria, ubi nocturnae +Numa constituebat amicae, of the Idaean Mount, where Minos conversed +with Jove, &c.] + +It is the boast of the Jewish apologists, that while the learned nations +of antiquity were deluded by the fables of polytheism, their simple +ancestors of Palestine preserved the knowledge and worship of the true +God. The moral attributes of Jehovah may not easily be reconciled with +the standard of human virtue: his metaphysical qualities are darkly +expressed; but each page of the Pentateuch and the Prophets is an +evidence of his power: the unity of his name is inscribed on the first +table of the law; and his sanctuary was never defiled by any visible +image of the invisible essence. After the ruin of the temple, the +faith of the Hebrew exiles was purified, fixed, and enlightened, by the +spiritual devotion of the synagogue; and the authority of Mahomet will +not justify his perpetual reproach, that the Jews of Mecca or Medina +adored Ezra as the son of God. [74] But the children of Israel had +ceased to be a people; and the religions of the world were guilty, +at least in the eyes of the prophet, of giving sons, or daughters, or +companions, to the supreme God. In the rude idolatry of the Arabs, the +crime is manifest and audacious: the Sabians are poorly excused by the +preeminence of the first planet, or intelligence, in their celestial +hierarchy; and in the Magian system the conflict of the two principles +betrays the imperfection of the conqueror. The Christians of the seventh +century had insensibly relapsed into a semblance of Paganism: their +public and private vows were addressed to the relics and images that +disgraced the temples of the East: the throne of the Almighty was +darkened by a cloud of martyrs, and saints, and angels, the objects of +popular veneration; and the Collyridian heretics, who flourished in +the fruitful soil of Arabia, invested the Virgin Mary with the name and +honors of a goddess. [75] The mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation +appear to contradict the principle of the divine unity. In their obvious +sense, they introduce three equal deities, and transform the man Jesus +into the substance of the Son of God: [76] an orthodox commentary will +satisfy only a believing mind: intemperate curiosity and zeal had torn +the veil of the sanctuary; and each of the Oriental sects was eager to +confess that all, except themselves, deserved the reproach of idolatry +and polytheism. The creed of Mahomet is free from suspicion or +ambiguity; and the Koran is a glorious testimony to the unity of God. +The prophet of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and men, of stars and +planets, on the rational principle that whatever rises must set, that +whatever is born must die, that whatever is corruptible must decay and +perish. [77] In the Author of the universe, his rational enthusiasm +confessed and adored an infinite and eternal being, without form or +place, without issue or similitude, present to our most secret thoughts, +existing by the necessity of his own nature, and deriving from himself +all moral and intellectual perfection. These sublime truths, thus +announced in the language of the prophet, [78] are firmly held by his +disciples, and defined with metaphysical precision by the interpreters +of the Koran. A philosophic theist might subscribe the popular creed +of the Mahometans; [79] a creed too sublime, perhaps, for our present +faculties. What object remains for the fancy, or even the understanding, +when we have abstracted from the unknown substance all ideas of time +and space, of motion and matter, of sensation and reflection? The +first principle of reason and revolution was confirmed by the voice of +Mahomet: his proselytes, from India to Morocco, are distinguished by the +name of Unitarians; and the danger of idolatry has been prevented by +the interdiction of images. The doctrine of eternal decrees and +absolute predestination is strictly embraced by the Mahometans; and they +struggle, with the common difficulties, how to reconcile the prescience +of God with the freedom and responsibility of man; how to explain +the permission of evil under the reign of infinite power and infinite +goodness. + +[Footnote 74: Koran, c. 9, p. 153. Al Beidawi, and the other +commentators quoted by Sale, adhere to the charge; but I do not +understand that it is colored by the most obscure or absurd tradition of +the Talmud.] + +[Footnote 75: Hottinger, Hist. Orient. p. 225-228. The Collyridian +heresy was carried from Thrace to Arabia by some women, and the name was +borrowed from the cake, which they offered to the goddess. This example, +that of Beryllus bishop of Bostra, (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. vi. c. 33,) +and several others, may excuse the reproach, Arabia haerese haersewn +ferax.] + +[Footnote 76: The three gods in the Koran (c. 4, p. 81, c. 5, p. 92) +are obviously directed against our Catholic mystery: but the Arabic +commentators understand them of the Father, the Son, and the Virgin +Mary, an heretical Trinity, maintained, as it is said, by some +Barbarians at the Council of Nice, (Eutych. Annal. tom. i. p. 440.) +But the existence of the Marianites is denied by the candid Beausobre, +(Hist. de Manicheisme, tom. i. p. 532;) and he derives the mistake from +the word Roxah, the Holy Ghost, which in some Oriental tongues is of the +feminine gender, and is figuratively styled the mother of Christ in the +Gospel of the Nazarenes.] + +[Footnote 77: This train of thought is philosophically exemplified in +the character of Abraham, who opposed in Chaldaea the first introduction +of idolatry, (Koran, c. 6, p. 106. D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 13.)] + +[Footnote 78: See the Koran, particularly the second, (p. 30,) the +fifty-seventh, (p. 437,) the fifty-eighth (p. 441) chapters, which +proclaim the omnipotence of the Creator.] + +[Footnote 79: The most orthodox creeds are translated by Pocock, +(Specimen, p. 274, 284-292,) Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. +p. lxxxii.--xcv.,) Reland, (de Religion. Moham. l. i. p. 7-13,) and +Chardin, (Voyages en Perse, tom. iv. p. 4-28.) The great truth, that +God is without similitude, is foolishly criticized by Maracci, (Alcoran, +tom. i. part iii. p. 87-94,) because he made man after his own image.] + +The God of nature has written his existence on all his works, and his +law in the heart of man. To restore the knowledge of the one, and +the practice of the other, has been the real or pretended aim of +the prophets of every age: the liberality of Mahomet allowed to his +predecessors the same credit which he claimed for himself; and the chain +of inspiration was prolonged from the fall of Adam to the promulgation +of the Koran. [80] During that period, some rays of prophetic light +had been imparted to one hundred and twenty-four thousand of the elect, +discriminated by their respective measure of virtue and grace; three +hundred and thirteen apostles were sent with a special commission +to recall their country from idolatry and vice; one hundred and four +volumes have been dictated by the Holy Spirit; and six legislators of +transcendent brightness have announced to mankind the six successive +revelations of various rites, but of one immutable religion. The +authority and station of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ, and +Mahomet, rise in just gradation above each other; but whosoever hates +or rejects any one of the prophets is numbered with the infidels. The +writings of the patriarchs were extant only in the apocryphal copies of +the Greeks and Syrians: [81] the conduct of Adam had not entitled him +to the gratitude or respect of his children; the seven precepts of Noah +were observed by an inferior and imperfect class of the proselytes of +the synagogue; [82] and the memory of Abraham was obscurely revered by +the Sabians in his native land of Chaldaea: of the myriads of prophets, +Moses and Christ alone lived and reigned; and the remnant of the +inspired writings was comprised in the books of the Old and the New +Testament. The miraculous story of Moses is consecrated and embellished +in the Koran; [83] and the captive Jews enjoy the secret revenge of +imposing their own belief on the nations whose recent creeds they +deride. For the author of Christianity, the Mahometans are taught by +the prophet to entertain a high and mysterious reverence. [84] "Verily, +Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, is the apostle of God, and his word, +which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him; honorable +in this world, and in the world to come, and one of those who approach +near to the presence of God." [85] The wonders of the genuine and +apocryphal gospels [86] are profusely heaped on his head; and the +Latin church has not disdained to borrow from the Koran the immaculate +conception [87] of his virgin mother. Yet Jesus was a mere mortal; and, +at the day of judgment, his testimony will serve to condemn both the +Jews, who reject him as a prophet, and the Christians, who adore him as +the Son of God. The malice of his enemies aspersed his reputation, +and conspired against his life; but their intention only was guilty; +a phantom or a criminal was substituted on the cross; and the innocent +saint was translated to the seventh heaven. [88] During six hundred +years the gospel was the way of truth and salvation; but the Christians +insensibly forgot both the laws and example of their founder; and +Mahomet was instructed by the Gnostics to accuse the church, as well as +the synagogue, of corrupting the integrity of the sacred text. [89] +The piety of Moses and of Christ rejoiced in the assurance of a future +prophet, more illustrious than themselves: the evangelical promise +of the Paraclete, or Holy Ghost, was prefigured in the name, and +accomplished in the person, of Mahomet, [90] the greatest and the last +of the apostles of God. + +[Footnote 80: Reland, de Relig. Moham. l. i. p. 17-47. Sale's +Preliminary Discourse, p. 73-76. Voyage de Chardin, tom. iv. p. 28-37, +and 37-47, for the Persian addition, "Ali is the vicar of God!" Yet the +precise number of the prophets is not an article of faith.] + +[Footnote 81: For the apocryphal books of Adam, see Fabricius, Codex +Pseudepigraphus V. T. p. 27-29; of Seth, p. 154-157; of Enoch, p. +160-219. But the book of Enoch is consecrated, in some measure, by +the quotation of the apostle St. Jude; and a long legendary fragment is +alleged by Syncellus and Scaliger. * Note: The whole book has since been +recovered in the Ethiopic language,--and has been edited and translated +by Archbishop Lawrence, Oxford, 1881--M.] + +[Footnote 82: The seven precepts of Noah are explained by Marsham, +(Canon Chronicus, p. 154-180,) who adopts, on this occasion, the +learning and credulity of Selden.] + +[Footnote 83: The articles of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, &c., in the +Bibliotheque of D'Herbelot, are gayly bedecked with the fanciful legends +of the Mahometans, who have built on the groundwork of Scripture and the +Talmud.] + +[Footnote 84: Koran, c. 7, p. 128, &c., c. 10, p. 173, &c. D'Herbelot, +p. 647, &c.] + +[Footnote 85: Koran, c. 3, p. 40, c. 4. p. 80. D'Herbelot, p. 399, &c.] + +[Footnote 86: See the Gospel of St. Thomas, or of the Infancy, in +the Codex Apocryphus N. T. of Fabricius, who collects the various +testimonies concerning it, (p. 128-158.) It was published in Greek by +Cotelier, and in Arabic by Sike, who thinks our present copy more recent +than Mahomet. Yet his quotations agree with the original about the +speech of Christ in his cradle, his living birds of clay, &c. (Sike, c. +i. p. 168, 169, c. 36, p. 198, 199, c. 46, p. 206. Cotelier, c. 2, p. +160, 161.)] + +[Footnote 87: It is darkly hinted in the Koran, (c. 3, p. 39,) and more +clearly explained by the tradition of the Sonnites, (Sale's Note, +and Maracci, tom. ii. p. 112.) In the xiith century, the immaculate +conception was condemned by St. Bernard as a presumptuous novelty, (Fra +Paolo, Istoria del Concilio di Trento, l. ii.)] + +[Footnote 88: See the Koran, c. 3, v. 53, and c. 4, v. 156, of Maracci's +edition. Deus est praestantissimus dolose agentium (an odd praise)... +nec crucifixerunt eum, sed objecta est eis similitudo; an expression +that may suit with the system of the Docetes; but the commentators +believe (Maracci, tom. ii. p. 113-115, 173. Sale, p. 42, 43, 79) that +another man, a friend or an enemy, was crucified in the likeness of +Jesus; a fable which they had read in the Gospel of St. Barnabus, +and which had been started as early as the time of Irenaeus, by some +Ebionite heretics, (Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, tom. ii. p. 25, +Mosheim. de Reb. Christ. p. 353.)] + +[Footnote 89: This charge is obscurely urged in the Koran, (c. 3, p. +45;) but neither Mahomet, nor his followers, are sufficiently versed in +languages and criticism to give any weight or color to their suspicions. +Yet the Arians and Nestorians could relate some stories, and the +illiterate prophet might listen to the bold assertions of the +Manichaeans. See Beausobre, tom. i. p. 291-305.] + +[Footnote 90: Among the prophecies of the Old and New Testament, which +are perverted by the fraud or ignorance of the Mussulmans, they apply to +the prophet the promise of the Paraclete, or Comforter, which had been +already usurped by the Montanists and Manichaeans, (Beausobre, Hist. +Critique du Manicheisme, tom. i. p. 263, &c.;) and the easy change of +letters affords the etymology of the name of Mohammed, (Maracci, tom. i. +part i. p. 15-28.)] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part IV. + +The communication of ideas requires a similitude of thought and +language: the discourse of a philosopher would vibrate without effect +on the ear of a peasant; yet how minute is the distance of their +understandings, if it be compared with the contact of an infinite and a +finite mind, with the word of God expressed by the tongue or the pen of +a mortal! The inspiration of the Hebrew prophets, of the apostles and +evangelists of Christ, might not be incompatible with the exercise of +their reason and memory; and the diversity of their genius is strongly +marked in the style and composition of the books of the Old and New +Testament. But Mahomet was content with a character, more humble, yet +more sublime, of a simple editor; the substance of the Koran, [91] +according to himself or his disciples, is uncreated and eternal; +subsisting in the essence of the Deity, and inscribed with a pen of +light on the table of his everlasting decrees. A paper copy, in a volume +of silk and gems, was brought down to the lowest heaven by the angel +Gabriel, who, under the Jewish economy, had indeed been despatched +on the most important errands; and this trusty messenger successively +revealed the chapters and verses to the Arabian prophet. Instead of a +perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragments of the +Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each revelation +is suited to the emergencies of his policy or passion; and all +contradiction is removed by the saving maxim, that any text of Scripture +is abrogated or modified by any subsequent passage. The word of God, and +of the apostle, was diligently recorded by his disciples on palm-leaves +and the shoulder-bones of mutton; and the pages, without order or +connection, were cast into a domestic chest, in the custody of one of +his wives. Two years after the death of Mahomet, the sacred volume was +collected and published by his friend and successor Abubeker: the work +was revised by the caliph Othman, in the thirtieth year of the Hegira; +and the various editions of the Koran assert the same miraculous +privilege of a uniform and incorruptible text. In the spirit of +enthusiasm or vanity, the prophet rests the truth of his mission on the +merit of his book; audaciously challenges both men and angels to imitate +the beauties of a single page; and presumes to assert that God alone +could dictate this incomparable performance. [92] This argument is most +powerfully addressed to a devout Arabian, whose mind is attuned to faith +and rapture; whose ear is delighted by the music of sounds; and whose +ignorance is incapable of comparing the productions of human genius. +[93] The harmony and copiousness of style will not reach, in a version, +the European infidel: he will peruse with impatience the endless +incoherent rhapsody of fable, and precept, and declamation, which seldom +excites a sentiment or an idea, which sometimes crawls in the dust, and +is sometimes lost in the clouds. The divine attributes exalt the fancy +of the Arabian missionary; but his loftiest strains must yield to the +sublime simplicity of the book of Job, composed in a remote age, in the +same country, and in the same language. [94] If the composition of the +Koran exceed the faculties of a man to what superior intelligence should +we ascribe the Iliad of Homer, or the Philippics of Demosthenes? In all +religions, the life of the founder supplies the silence of his written +revelation: the sayings of Mahomet were so many lessons of truth; his +actions so many examples of virtue; and the public and private memorials +were preserved by his wives and companions. At the end of two hundred +years, the Sonna, or oral law, was fixed and consecrated by the +labors of Al Bochari, who discriminated seven thousand two hundred and +seventy-five genuine traditions, from a mass of three hundred thousand +reports, of a more doubtful or spurious character. Each day the pious +author prayed in the temple of Mecca, and performed his ablutions with +the water of Zemzem: the pages were successively deposited on the pulpit +and the sepulchre of the apostle; and the work has been approved by the +four orthodox sects of the Sonnites. [95] + +[Footnote 91: For the Koran, see D'Herbelot, p. 85-88. Maracci, tom. i. +in Vit. Mohammed. p. 32-45. Sale, Preliminary Discourse, p. 58-70.] + +[Footnote 92: Koran, c. 17, v. 89. In Sale, p. 235, 236. In Maracci, p. +410. * Note: Compare Von Hammer Geschichte der Assassinen p. 11.-M.] + +[Footnote 93: Yet a sect of Arabians was persuaded, that it might be +equalled or surpassed by a human pen, (Pocock, Specimen, p. 221, &c.;) +and Maracci (the polemic is too hard for the translator) derides the +rhyming affectation of the most applauded passage, (tom. i. part ii. p. +69-75.)] + +[Footnote 94: Colloquia (whether real or fabulous) in media Arabia +atque ab Arabibus habita, (Lowth, de Poesi Hebraeorum. Praelect. xxxii. +xxxiii. xxxiv, with his German editor, Michaelis, Epimetron iv.) +Yet Michaelis (p. 671-673) has detected many Egyptian images, the +elephantiasis, papyrus, Nile, crocodile, &c. The language is ambiguously +styled Arabico-Hebraea. The resemblance of the sister dialects was much +more visible in their childhood, than in their mature age, (Michaelis, +p. 682. Schultens, in Praefat. Job.) * Note: The age of the book of Job +is still and probably will still be disputed. Rosenmuller thus states +his own opinion: "Certe serioribus reipublicae temporibus assignandum +esse librum, suadere videtur ad Chaldaismum vergens sermo." Yet the +observations of Kosegarten, which Rosenmuller has given in a note, and +common reason, suggest that this Chaldaism may be the native form of +a much earlier dialect; or the Chaldaic may have adopted the poetical +archaisms of a dialect, differing from, but not less ancient than, the +Hebrew. See Rosenmuller, Proleg. on Job, p. 41. The poetry appears to me +to belong to a much earlier period.--M.] + +[Footnote 95: Ali Bochari died A. H. 224. See D'Herbelot, p. 208, 416, +827. Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. c. 19, p. 33.] + +The mission of the ancient prophets, of Moses and of Jesus had been +confirmed by many splendid prodigies; and Mahomet was repeatedly urged, +by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a similar evidence of +his divine legation; to call down from heaven the angel or the volume +of his revelation, to create a garden in the desert, or to kindle a +conflagration in the unbelieving city. As often as he is pressed by +the demands of the Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of +vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and +shields himself behind the providence of God, who refuses those signs +and wonders that would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate +the guilt of infidelity But the modest or angry tone of his apologies +betrays his weakness and vexation; and these passages of scandal +established, beyond suspicion, the integrity of the Koran. [96] The +votaries of Mahomet are more assured than himself of his miraculous +gifts; and their confidence and credulity increase as they are farther +removed from the time and place of his spiritual exploits. They believe +or affirm that trees went forth to meet him; that he was saluted by +stones; that water gushed from his fingers; that he fed the hungry, +cured the sick, and raised the dead; that a beam groaned to him; that a +camel complained to him; that a shoulder of mutton informed him of its +being poisoned; and that both animate and inanimate nature were equally +subject to the apostle of God. [97] His dream of a nocturnal journey is +seriously described as a real and corporeal transaction. A mysterious +animal, the Borak, conveyed him from the temple of Mecca to that of +Jerusalem: with his companion Gabriel he successively ascended the seven +heavens, and received and repaid the salutations of the patriarchs, +the prophets, and the angels, in their respective mansions. Beyond the +seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was permitted to proceed; he passed the +veil of unity, approached within two bow-shots of the throne, and felt a +cold that pierced him to the heart, when his shoulder was touched by +the hand of God. After this familiar, though important conversation, he +again descended to Jerusalem, remounted the Borak, returned to Mecca, +and performed in the tenth part of a night the journey of many thousand +years. [98] According to another legend, the apostle confounded in a +national assembly the malicious challenge of the Koreish. His resistless +word split asunder the orb of the moon: the obedient planet stooped from +her station in the sky, accomplished the seven revolutions round the +Caaba, saluted Mahomet in the Arabian tongue, and, suddenly contracting +her dimensions, entered at the collar, and issued forth through the +sleeve, of his shirt. [99] The vulgar are amused with these marvellous +tales; but the gravest of the Mussulman doctors imitate the modesty of +their master, and indulge a latitude of faith or interpretation. [100] +They might speciously allege, that in preaching the religion it was +needless to violate the harmony of nature; that a creed unclouded with +mystery may be excused from miracles; and that the sword of Mahomet was +not less potent than the rod of Moses. + +[Footnote 96: See, more remarkably, Koran, c. 2, 6, 12, 13, 17. Prideaux +(Life of Mahomet, p. 18, 19) has confounded the impostor. Maracci, with +a more learned apparatus, has shown that the passages which deny his +miracles are clear and positive, (Alcoran, tom. i. part ii. p. 7-12,) +and those which seem to assert them are ambiguous and insufficient, (p. +12-22.)] + +[Footnote 97: See the Specimen Hist. Arabum, the text of Abulpharagius, +p. 17, the notes of Pocock, p. 187-190. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque +Orientale, p. 76, 77. Voyages de Chardin, tom. iv. p. 200-203. Maracci +(Alcoran, tom. i. p. 22-64) has most laboriously collected and confuted +the miracles and prophecies of Mahomet, which, according to some +writers, amount to three thousand.] + +[Footnote 98: The nocturnal journey is circumstantially related by +Abulfeda (in Vit. Mohammed, c. 19, p. 33,) who wishes to think it a +vision; by Prideaux, (p. 31-40,) who aggravates the absurdities; and +by Gagnier (tom. i. p. 252-343,) who declares, from the zealous Al +Jannabi, that to deny this journey, is to disbelieve the Koran. Yet the +Koran without naming either heaven, or Jerusalem, or Mecca, has only +dropped a mysterious hint: Laus illi qui transtulit servum suum ab +oratorio Haram ad oratorium remotissimum, (Koran, c. 17, v. 1; in +Maracci, tom. ii. p. 407; for Sale's version is more licentious.) A +slender basis for the aerial structure of tradition.] + +[Footnote 99: In the prophetic style, which uses the present or past for +the future, Mahomet had said, Appropinquavit hora, et scissa est luna, +(Koran, c. 54, v. 1; in Maracci, tom. ii. p. 688.) This figure of +rhetoric has been converted into a fact, which is said to be attested +by the most respectable eye-witnesses, (Maracci, tom. ii. p. 690.) The +festival is still celebrated by the Persians, (Chardin, tom. iv. p. +201;) and the legend is tediously spun out by Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, +tom. i. p. 183-234,) on the faith, as it should seem, of the credulous +Al Jannabi. Yet a Mahometan doctor has arraigned the credit of +the principal witness, (apud Pocock, Specimen, p. 187;) the best +interpreters are content with the simple sense of the Koran. (Al +Beidawi, apud Hottinger, Hist. Orient. l. ii. p. 302;) and the silence +of Abulfeda is worthy of a prince and a philosopher. * Note: Compare +Hamaker Notes to Inc. Auct. Lib. de Exped. Memphides, p. 62--M.] + +[Footnote 100: Abulpharagius, in Specimen Hist. Arab. p. 17; and his +scepticism is justified in the notes of Pocock, p. 190-194, from the +purest authorities.] + +The polytheist is oppressed and distracted by the variety of +superstition: a thousand rites of Egyptian origin were interwoven +with the essence of the Mosaic law; and the spirit of the gospel had +evaporated in the pageantry of the church. The prophet of Mecca was +tempted by prejudice, or policy, or patriotism, to sanctify the rites +of the Arabians, and the custom of visiting the holy stone of the +Caaba. But the precepts of Mahomet himself inculcates a more simple and +rational piety: prayer, fasting, and alms, are the religious duties of a +Mussulman; and he is encouraged to hope, that prayer will carry him half +way to God, fasting will bring him to the door of his palace, and alms +will gain him admittance. [101] I. According to the tradition of the +nocturnal journey, the apostle, in his personal conference with the +Deity, was commanded to impose on his disciples the daily obligation of +fifty prayers. By the advice of Moses, he applied for an alleviation +of this intolerable burden; the number was gradually reduced to five; +without any dispensation of business or pleasure, or time or place: +the devotion of the faithful is repeated at daybreak, at noon, in the +afternoon, in the evening, and at the first watch of the night; and in +the present decay of religious fervor, our travellers are edified by the +profound humility and attention of the Turks and Persians. Cleanliness +is the key of prayer: the frequent lustration of the hands, the face, +and the body, which was practised of old by the Arabs, is solemnly +enjoined by the Koran; and a permission is formally granted to +supply with sand the scarcity of water. The words and attitudes of +supplication, as it is performed either sitting, or standing, or +prostrate on the ground, are prescribed by custom or authority; but the +prayer is poured forth in short and fervent ejaculations; the measure of +zeal is not exhausted by a tedious liturgy; and each Mussulman for +his own person is invested with the character of a priest. Among the +theists, who reject the use of images, it has been found necessary +to restrain the wanderings of the fancy, by directing the eye and the +thought towards a kebla, or visible point of the horizon. The prophet +was at first inclined to gratify the Jews by the choice of Jerusalem; +but he soon returned to a more natural partiality; and five times every +day the eyes of the nations at Astracan, at Fez, at Delhi, are devoutly +turned to the holy temple of Mecca. Yet every spot for the service of +God is equally pure: the Mahometans indifferently pray in their chamber +or in the street. As a distinction from the Jews and Christians, the +Friday in each week is set apart for the useful institution of public +worship: the people is assembled in the mosch; and the imam, some +respectable elder, ascends the pulpit, to begin the prayer and pronounce +the sermon. But the Mahometan religion is destitute of priesthood or +sacrifice; and the independent spirit of fanaticism looks down with +contempt on the ministers and the slaves of superstition. [1011] + +II. The voluntary [102] penance of the ascetics, the torment and glory +of their lives, was odious to a prophet who censured in his companions +a rash vow of abstaining from flesh, and women, and sleep; and firmly +declared, that he would suffer no monks in his religion. [103] Yet +he instituted, in each year, a fast of thirty days; and strenuously +recommended the observance as a discipline which purifies the soul and +subdues the body, as a salutary exercise of obedience to the will of +God and his apostle. During the month of Ramadan, from the rising to the +setting of the sun, the Mussulman abstains from eating, and drinking, +and women, and baths, and perfumes; from all nourishment that can +restore his strength, from all pleasure that can gratify his senses. In +the revolution of the lunar year, the Ramadan coincides, by turns, with +the winter cold and the summer heat; and the patient martyr, without +assuaging his thirst with a drop of water, must expect the close of +a tedious and sultry day. The interdiction of wine, peculiar to some +orders of priests or hermits, is converted by Mahomet alone into a +positive and general law; [104] and a considerable portion of the globe +has abjured, at his command, the use of that salutary, though dangerous, +liquor. These painful restraints are, doubtless, infringed by the +libertine, and eluded by the hypocrite; but the legislator, by whom they +are enacted, cannot surely be accused of alluring his proselytes by +the indulgence of their sensual appetites. III. The charity of the +Mahometans descends to the animal creation; and the Koran repeatedly +inculcates, not as a merit, but as a strict and indispensable duty, the +relief of the indigent and unfortunate. Mahomet, perhaps, is the only +lawgiver who has defined the precise measure of charity: the standard +may vary with the degree and nature of property, as it consists either +in money, in corn or cattle, in fruits or merchandise; but the Mussulman +does not accomplish the law, unless he bestows a tenth of his revenue; +and if his conscience accuses him of fraud or extortion, the tenth, +under the idea of restitution, is enlarged to a fifth. [105] Benevolence +is the foundation of justice, since we are forbid to injure those whom +we are bound to assist. A prophet may reveal the secrets of heaven and +of futurity; but in his moral precepts he can only repeat the lessons of +our own hearts. + +[Footnote 101: The most authentic account of these precepts, pilgrimage, +prayer, fasting, alms, and ablutions, is extracted from the Persian and +Arabian theologians by Maracci, (Prodrom. part iv. p. 9-24,) Reland, +(in his excellent treatise de Religione Mohammedica, Utrecht, 1717, p. +67-123,) and Chardin, (Voyages in Perse, tom. iv. p. 47-195.) Marace +is a partial accuser; but the jeweller, Chardin, had the eyes of a +philosopher; and Reland, a judicious student, had travelled over the +East in his closet at Utrecht. The xivth letter of Tournefort (Voyage du +Levont, tom. ii. p. 325-360, in octavo) describes what he had seen of +the religion of the Turks.] + +[Footnote 1011: Such is Mahometanism beyond the precincts of the Holy +City. But Mahomet retained, and the Koran sanctions, (Sale's Koran, c. +5, in inlt. c. 22, vol. ii. p. 171, 172,) the sacrifice of sheep and +camels (probably according to the old Arabian rites) at Mecca; and +the pilgrims complete their ceremonial with sacrifices, sometimes as +numerous and costly as those of King Solomon. Compare note, vol. iv. c. +xxiii. p. 96, and Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, vol. i. p. 420. This +author quotes the questionable authority of Benjamin of Tudela, for the +sacrifice of a camel by the caliph at Bosra; but sacrifice undoubtedly +forms no part of the ordinary Mahometan ritual; nor will the sanctity of +the caliph, as the earthly representative of the prophet, bear any close +analogy to the priesthood of the Mosaic or Gentila religions.--M.] + +[Footnote 102: Mahomet (Sale's Koran, c. 9, p. 153) reproaches the +Christians with taking their priests and monks for their lords, besides +God. Yet Maracci (Prodromus, part iii. p. 69, 70) excuses the worship, +especially of the pope, and quotes, from the Koran itself, the case of +Eblis, or Satan, who was cast from heaven for refusing to adore Adam.] + +[Footnote 103: Koran, c. 5, p. 94, and Sale's note, which refers to +the authority of Jallaloddin and Al Beidawi. D'Herbelot declares, +that Mahomet condemned la vie religieuse; and that the first swarms of +fakirs, dervises, &c., did not appear till after the year 300 of the +Hegira, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 292, 718.)] + +[Footnote 104: See the double prohibition, (Koran, c. 2, p. 25, c. 5, +p. 94;) the one in the style of a legislator, the other in that of a +fanatic. The public and private motives of Mahomet are investigated by +Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 62-64) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, +p. 124.)] + +[Footnote 105: The jealousy of Maracci (Prodromus, part iv. p. 33) +prompts him to enumerate the more liberal alms of the Catholics of Rome. +Fifteen great hospitals are open to many thousand patients and pilgrims; +fifteen hundred maidens are annually portioned; fifty-six charity +schools are founded for both sexes; one hundred and twenty +confraternities relieve the wants of their brethren, &c. The benevolence +of London is still more extensive; but I am afraid that much more is to +be ascribed to the humanity, than to the religion, of the people.] + +The two articles of belief, and the four practical duties, of Islam, are +guarded by rewards and punishments; and the faith of the Mussulman +is devoutly fixed on the event of the judgment and the last day. +The prophet has not presumed to determine the moment of that awful +catastrophe, though he darkly announces the signs, both in heaven and +earth, which will precede the universal dissolution, when life shall +be destroyed, and the order of creation shall be confounded in the +primitive chaos. At the blast of the trumpet, new worlds will start into +being: angels, genii, and men will arise from the dead, and the human +soul will again be united to the body. The doctrine of the resurrection +was first entertained by the Egyptians; [106] and their mummies were +embalmed, their pyramids were constructed, to preserve the ancient +mansion of the soul, during a period of three thousand years. But the +attempt is partial and unavailing; and it is with a more philosophic +spirit that Mahomet relies on the omnipotence of the Creator, whose word +can reanimate the breathless clay, and collect the innumerable atoms, +that no longer retain their form or substance. [107] The intermediate +state of the soul it is hard to decide; and those who most firmly +believe her immaterial nature, are at a loss to understand how she can +think or act without the agency of the organs of sense. + +[Footnote 106: See Herodotus (l. ii. c. 123) and our learned countryman +Sir John Marsham, (Canon. Chronicus, p. 46.) The same writer (p. +254-274) is an elaborate sketch of the infernal regions, as they were +painted by the fancy of the Egyptians and Greeks, of the poets and +philosophers of antiquity.] + +[Footnote 107: The Koran (c. 2, p. 259, &c.; of Sale, p. 32; of Maracci, +p. 97) relates an ingenious miracle, which satisfied the curiosity, and +confirmed the faith, of Abraham.] + +The reunion of the soul and body will be followed by the final judgment +of mankind; and in his copy of the Magian picture, the prophet has too +faithfully represented the forms of proceeding, and even the slow +and successive operations, of an earthly tribunal. By his intolerant +adversaries he is upbraided for extending, even to themselves, the hope +of salvation, for asserting the blackest heresy, that every man who +believes in God, and accomplishes good works, may expect in the last day +a favorable sentence. Such rational indifference is ill adapted to the +character of a fanatic; nor is it probable that a messenger from heaven +should depreciate the value and necessity of his own revelation. In the +idiom of the Koran, [108] the belief of God is inseparable from that +of Mahomet: the good works are those which he has enjoined, and the two +qualifications imply the profession of Islam, to which all nations and +all sects are equally invited. + +Their spiritual blindness, though excused by ignorance and crowned with +virtue, will be scourged with everlasting torments; and the tears which +Mahomet shed over the tomb of his mother for whom he was forbidden to +pray, display a striking contrast of humanity and enthusiasm. [109] +The doom of the infidels is common: the measure of their guilt and +punishment is determined by the degree of evidence which they have +rejected, by the magnitude of the errors which they have entertained: +the eternal mansions of the Christians, the Jews, the Sabians, the +Magians, and idolaters, are sunk below each other in the abyss; and the +lowest hell is reserved for the faithless hypocrites who have assumed +the mask of religion. After the greater part of mankind has been +condemned for their opinions, the true believers only will be judged by +their actions. The good and evil of each Mussulman will be accurately +weighed in a real or allegorical balance; and a singular mode of +compensation will be allowed for the payment of injuries: the aggressor +will refund an equivalent of his own good actions, for the benefit of +the person whom he has wronged; and if he should be destitute of any +moral property, the weight of his sins will be loaded with an adequate +share of the demerits of the sufferer. According as the shares of guilt +or virtue shall preponderate, the sentence will be pronounced, and all, +without distinction, will pass over the sharp and perilous bridge of +the abyss; but the innocent, treading in the footsteps of Mahomet, will +gloriously enter the gates of paradise, while the guilty will fall into +the first and mildest of the seven hells. The term of expiation will +vary from nine hundred to seven thousand years; but the prophet has +judiciously promised, that all his disciples, whatever may be their +sins, shall be saved, by their own faith and his intercession from +eternal damnation. It is not surprising that superstition should act +most powerfully on the fears of her votaries, since the human fancy can +paint with more energy the misery than the bliss of a future life. With +the two simple elements of darkness and fire, we create a sensation +of pain, which may be aggravated to an infinite degree by the idea of +endless duration. But the same idea operates with an opposite effect on +the continuity of pleasure; and too much of our present enjoyments is +obtained from the relief, or the comparison, of evil. It is natural +enough that an Arabian prophet should dwell with rapture on the groves, +the fountains, and the rivers of paradise; but instead of inspiring +the blessed inhabitants with a liberal taste for harmony and science, +conversation and friendship, he idly celebrates the pearls and diamonds, +the robes of silk, palaces of marble, dishes of gold, rich wines, +artificial dainties, numerous attendants, and the whole train of sensual +and costly luxury, which becomes insipid to the owner, even in the short +period of this mortal life. Seventy-two Houris, or black-eyed girls, +of resplendent beauty, blooming youth, virgin purity, and exquisite +sensibility, will be created for the use of the meanest believer; +a moment of pleasure will be prolonged to a thousand years; and his +faculties will be increased a hundred fold, to render him worthy of his +felicity. Notwithstanding a vulgar prejudice, the gates of heaven will +be open to both sexes; but Mahomet has not specified the male companions +of the female elect, lest he should either alarm the jealousy of their +former husbands, or disturb their felicity, by the suspicion of an +everlasting marriage. This image of a carnal paradise has provoked the +indignation, perhaps the envy, of the monks: they declaim against the +impure religion of Mahomet; and his modest apologists are driven to +the poor excuse of figures and allegories. But the sounder and more +consistent party adhere without shame, to the literal interpretation of +the Koran: useless would be the resurrection of the body, unless it were +restored to the possession and exercise of its worthiest faculties; and +the union of sensual and intellectual enjoyment is requisite to complete +the happiness of the double animal, the perfect man. Yet the joys of the +Mahometan paradise will not be confined to the indulgence of luxury +and appetite; and the prophet has expressly declared that all meaner +happiness will be forgotten and despised by the saints and martyrs, who +shall be admitted to the beatitude of the divine vision. [110] + +[Footnote 108: The candid Reland has demonstrated, that Mahomet damns +all unbelievers, (de Religion. Moham. p. 128-142;) that devils will not +be finally saved, (p. 196-199;) that paradise will not solely consist +of corporeal delights, (p. 199-205;) and that women's souls are +immortal. (p. 205-209.)] + +[Footnote 109: A Beidawi, apud Sale. Koran, c. 9, p. 164. The refusal to +pray for an unbelieving kindred is justified, according to Mahomet, by +the duty of a prophet, and the example of Abraham, who reprobated his +own father as an enemy of God. Yet Abraham (he adds, c. 9, v. 116. +Maracci, tom. ii. p. 317) fuit sane pius, mitis.] + +[Footnote 110: For the day of judgment, hell, paradise, &c., consult +the Koran, (c. 2, v. 25, c. 56, 78, &c.;) with Maracci's virulent, but +learned, refutation, (in his notes, and in the Prodromus, part iv. p. +78, 120, 122, &c.;) D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 368, 375;) +Reland, (p. 47-61;) and Sale, (p. 76-103.) The original ideas of the +Magi are darkly and doubtfully explored by their apologist, Dr. Hyde, +(Hist. Religionis Persarum, c. 33, p. 402-412, Oxon. 1760.) In the +article of Mahomet, Bayle has shown how indifferently wit and philosophy +supply the absence of genuine information.] + +The first and most arduous conquests of Mahomet [111] were those of his +wife, his servant, his pupil, and his friend; [112] since he presented +himself as a prophet to those who were most conversant with his +infirmities as a man. Yet Cadijah believed the words, and cherished the +glory, of her husband; the obsequious and affectionate Zeid was tempted +by the prospect of freedom; the illustrious Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, +embraced the sentiments of his cousin with the spirit of a youthful +hero; and the wealth, the moderation, the veracity of Abubeker confirmed +the religion of the prophet whom he was destined to succeed. By +his persuasion, ten of the most respectable citizens of Mecca were +introduced to the private lessons of Islam; they yielded to the voice +of reason and enthusiasm; they repeated the fundamental creed, "There is +but one God, and Mahomet is the apostle of God;" and their faith, even +in this life, was rewarded with riches and honors, with the command +of armies and the government of kingdoms. Three years were silently +employed in the conversion of fourteen proselytes, the first-fruits of +his mission; but in the fourth year he assumed the prophetic office, and +resolving to impart to his family the light of divine truth, he +prepared a banquet, a lamb, as it is said, and a bowl of milk, for +the entertainment of forty guests of the race of Hashem. "Friends and +kinsmen," said Mahomet to the assembly, "I offer you, and I alone can +offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasures of this world and of +the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to his service. Who +among you will support my burden? Who among you will be my companion +and my vizier?" [113] No answer was returned, till the silence of +astonishment, and doubt, and contempt, was at length broken by the +impatient courage of Ali, a youth in the fourteenth year of his age. "O +prophet, I am the man: whosoever rises against thee, I will dash out his +teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. O prophet, +I will be thy vizier over them." Mahomet accepted his offer with +transport, and Abu Taled was ironically exhorted to respect the superior +dignity of his son. In a more serious tone, the father of Ali advised +his nephew to relinquish his impracticable design. + +"Spare your remonstrances," replied the intrepid fanatic to his uncle +and benefactor; "if they should place the sun on my right hand, and +the moon on my left, they should not divert me from my course." He +persevered ten years in the exercise of his mission; and the religion +which has overspread the East and the West advanced with a slow and +painful progress within the walls of Mecca. Yet Mahomet enjoyed the +satisfaction of beholding the increase of his infant congregation of +Unitarians, who revered him as a prophet, and to whom he seasonably +dispensed the spiritual nourishment of the Koran. The number of +proselytes may be esteemed by the absence of eighty-three men and +eighteen women, who retired to Aethiopia in the seventh year of his +mission; and his party was fortified by the timely conversion of his +uncle Hamza, and of the fierce and inflexible Omar, who signalized +in the cause of Islam the same zeal, which he had exerted for its +destruction. Nor was the charity of Mahomet confined to the tribe of +Koreish, or the precincts of Mecca: on solemn festivals, in the days +of pilgrimage, he frequented the Caaba, accosted the strangers of every +tribe, and urged, both in private converse and public discourse, the +belief and worship of a sole Deity. Conscious of his reason and of his +weakness, he asserted the liberty of conscience, and disclaimed the use +of religious violence: [114] but he called the Arabs to repentance, and +conjured them to remember the ancient idolaters of Ad and Thamud, whom +the divine justice had swept away from the face of the earth. [115] + +[Footnote 111: Before I enter on the history of the prophet, it is +incumbent on me to produce my evidence. The Latin, French, and English +versions of the Koran are preceded by historical discourses, and the +three translators, Maracci, (tom. i. p. 10-32,) Savary, (tom. i. p. +1-248,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 33-56,) had accurately +studied the language and character of their author. Two professed Lives +of Mahomet have been composed by Dr. Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, seventh +edition, London, 1718, in octavo) and the count de Boulainvilliers, (Vie +de Mahomed, Londres, 1730, in octavo: ) but the adverse wish of finding +an impostor or a hero, has too often corrupted the learning of the +doctor and the ingenuity of the count. The article in D'Herbelot +(Bibliot. Orient. p. 598-603) is chiefly drawn from Novairi and +Mirkond; but the best and most authentic of our guides is M. Gagnier, a +Frenchman by birth, and professor at Oxford of the Oriental tongues. +In two elaborate works, (Ismael Abulfeda de Vita et Rebus gestis +Mohammedis, &c. Latine vertit, Praefatione et Notis illustravit Johannes +Gagnier, Oxon. 1723, in folio. La Vie de Mahomet traduite et compilee +de l'Alcoran, des Traditions Authentiques de la Sonna et des meilleurs +Auteurs Arabes; Amsterdam, 1748, 3 vols. in 12mo.,) he has interpreted, +illustrated, and supplied the Arabic text of Abulfeda and Al Jannabi; +the first, an enlightened prince who reigned at Hamah, in Syria, A.D. +1310-1332, (see Gagnier Praefat. ad Abulfed.;) the second, a credulous +doctor, who visited Mecca A.D. 1556. (D'Herbelot, p. 397. Gagnier, tom. +iii. p. 209, 210.) These are my general vouchers, and the inquisitive +reader may follow the order of time, and the division of chapters. Yet +I must observe that both Abulfeda and Al Jannabi are modern historians, +and that they cannot appeal to any writers of the first century of the +Hegira. * Note: A new Life, by Dr. Weil, (Stuttgart. 1843,) has added +some few traditions unknown in Europe. Of Dr. Weil's Arabic scholarship, +which professes to correct many errors in Gagnier, in Maracci, and in +M. von Hammer, I am no judge. But it is remarkable that he does not +seem acquainted with the passage of Tabari, translated by Colonel Vans +Kennedy, in the Bombay Transactions, (vol. iii.,) the earliest and +most important addition made to the traditionary Life of Mahomet. I am +inclined to think Colonel Vans Kennedy's appreciation of the prophet's +character, which may be overlooked in a criticism on Voltaire's Mahomet, +the most just which I have ever read. The work of Dr. Weil appears to me +most valuable in its dissection and chronological view of the Koran.--M. +1845] + +[Footnote 112: After the Greeks, Prideaux (p. 8) discloses the secret +doubts of the wife of Mahomet. As if he had been a privy counsellor +of the prophet, Boulainvilliers (p. 272, &c.) unfolds the sublime and +patriotic views of Cadijah and the first disciples.] + +[Footnote 113: Vezirus, portitor, bajulus, onus ferens; and this +plebeian name was transferred by an apt metaphor to the pillars of the +state, (Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. p. 19.) I endeavor to preserve the +Arabian idiom, as far as I can feel it myself in a Latin or French +translation.] + +[Footnote 114: The passages of the Koran in behalf of toleration are +strong and numerous: c. 2, v. 257, c. 16, 129, c. 17, 54, c. 45, 15, +c. 50, 39, c. 88, 21, &c., with the notes of Maracci and Sale. This +character alone may generally decide the doubts of the learned, whether +a chapter was revealed at Mecca or Medina.] + +[Footnote 115: See the Koran, (passim, and especially c. 7, p. 123, 124, +&c.,) and the tradition of the Arabs, (Pocock, Specimen, p. 35-37.) +The caverns of the tribe of Thamud, fit for men of the ordinary stature, +were shown in the midway between Medina and Damascus. (Abulfed Arabiae +Descript. p. 43, 44,) and may be probably ascribed to the Throglodytes +of the primitive world, (Michaelis, ad Lowth de Poesi Hebraeor. p. +131-134. Recherches sur les Egyptiens, tom. ii. p. 48, &c.)] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part V. + +The people of Mecca were hardened in their unbelief by superstition and +envy. The elders of the city, the uncles of the prophet, affected to +despise the presumption of an orphan, the reformer of his country: the +pious orations of Mahomet in the Caaba were answered by the clamors of +Abu Taleb. "Citizens and pilgrims, listen not to the tempter, hearken +not to his impious novelties. Stand fast in the worship of Al Lata and +Al Uzzah." Yet the son of Abdallah was ever dear to the aged chief: and +he protected the fame and person of his nephew against the assaults of +the Koreishites, who had long been jealous of the preeminence of +the family of Hashem. Their malice was colored with the pretence of +religion: in the age of Job, the crime of impiety was punished by +the Arabian magistrate; [116] and Mahomet was guilty of deserting and +denying the national deities. But so loose was the policy of Mecca, +that the leaders of the Koreish, instead of accusing a criminal, +were compelled to employ the measures of persuasion or violence. They +repeatedly addressed Abu Taleb in the style of reproach and menace. +"Thy nephew reviles our religion; he accuses our wise forefathers of +ignorance and folly; silence him quickly, lest he kindle tumult and +discord in the city. If he persevere, we shall draw our swords against +him and his adherents, and thou wilt be responsible for the blood of +thy fellow-citizens." The weight and moderation of Abu Taleb eluded +the violence of religious faction; the most helpless or timid of the +disciples retired to Aethiopia, and the prophet withdrew himself to +various places of strength in the town and country. As he was still +supported by his family, the rest of the tribe of Koreish engaged +themselves to renounce all intercourse with the children of Hashem, +neither to buy nor sell, neither to marry not to give in marriage, but +to pursue them with implacable enmity, till they should deliver the +person of Mahomet to the justice of the gods. The decree was suspended +in the Caaba before the eyes of the nation; the messengers of the +Koreish pursued the Mussulman exiles in the heart of Africa: they +besieged the prophet and his most faithful followers, intercepted +their water, and inflamed their mutual animosity by the retaliation +of injuries and insults. A doubtful truce restored the appearances of +concord till the death of Abu Taleb abandoned Mahomet to the power of +his enemies, at the moment when he was deprived of his domestic comforts +by the loss of his faithful and generous Cadijah. Abu Sophian, the chief +of the branch of Ommiyah, succeeded to the principality of the republic +of Mecca. A zealous votary of the idols, a mortal foe of the line of +Hashem, he convened an assembly of the Koreishites and their allies, +to decide the fate of the apostle. His imprisonment might provoke the +despair of his enthusiasm; and the exile of an eloquent and popular +fanatic would diffuse the mischief through the provinces of Arabia. His +death was resolved; and they agreed that a sword from each tribe should +be buried in his heart, to divide the guilt of his blood, and baffle +the vengeance of the Hashemites. An angel or a spy revealed their +conspiracy; and flight was the only resource of Mahomet. [117] At the +dead of night, accompanied by his friend Abubeker, he silently escaped +from his house: the assassins watched at the door; but they were +deceived by the figure of Ali, who reposed on the bed, and was covered +with the green vestment of the apostle. The Koreish respected the piety +of the heroic youth; but some verses of Ali, which are still extant, +exhibit an interesting picture of his anxiety, his tenderness, and +his religious confidence. Three days Mahomet and his companion were +concealed in the cave of Thor, at the distance of a league from Mecca; +and in the close of each evening, they received from the son and +daughter of Abubeker a secret supply of intelligence and food. The +diligence of the Koreish explored every haunt in the neighborhood of the +city: they arrived at the entrance of the cavern; but the providential +deceit of a spider's web and a pigeon's nest is supposed to convince +them that the place was solitary and inviolate. "We are only two," said +the trembling Abubeker. "There is a third," replied the prophet; "it is +God himself." No sooner was the pursuit abated than the two fugitives +issued from the rock, and mounted their camels: on the road to Medina, +they were overtaken by the emissaries of the Koreish; they redeemed +themselves with prayers and promises from their hands. In this eventful +moment, the lance of an Arab might have changed the history of the +world. The flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina has fixed +the memorable aera of the Hegira, [118] which, at the end of twelve +centuries, still discriminates the lunar years of the Mahometan nations. +[119] + +[Footnote 116: In the time of Job, the crime of impiety was punished +by the Arabian magistrate, (c. 21, v. 26, 27, 28.) I blush for a +respectable prelate (de Poesi Hebraeorum, p. 650, 651, edit. Michaelis; +and letter of a late professor in the university of Oxford, p. 15-53,) +who justifies and applauds this patriarchal inquisition.] + +[Footnote 117: D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 445. He quotes a +particular history of the flight of Mahomet.] + +[Footnote 118: The Hegira was instituted by Omar, the second caliph, in +imitation of the aera of the martyrs of the Christians, (D'Herbelot, +p. 444;) and properly commenced sixty-eight days before the flight of +Mahomet, with the first of Moharren, or first day of that Arabian year +which coincides with Friday, July 16th, A.D. 622, (Abulfeda, Vit Moham, +c. 22, 23, p. 45-50; and Greaves's edition of Ullug Beg's Epochae +Arabum, &c., c. 1, p. 8, 10, &c.) * Note: Chronologists dispute between +the 15th and 16th of July. St. Martin inclines to the 8th, ch. xi. p. +70.--M.] + +[Footnote 119: Mahomet's life, from his mission to the Hegira, may +be found in Abulfeda (p. 14-45) and Gagnier, (tom. i. p. 134-251, +342-383.) The legend from p. 187-234 is vouched by Al Jannabi, and +disdained by Abulfeda.] + +The religion of the Koran might have perished in its cradle, had not +Medina embraced with faith and reverence the holy outcasts of Mecca. +Medina, or the city, known under the name of Yathreb, before it was +sanctified by the throne of the prophet, was divided between the tribes +of the Charegites and the Awsites, whose hereditary feud was rekindled +by the slightest provocations: two colonies of Jews, who boasted a +sacerdotal race, were their humble allies, and without converting +the Arabs, they introduced the taste of science and religion, which +distinguished Medina as the city of the Book. Some of her noblest +citizens, in a pilgrimage to the Canaba, were converted by the preaching +of Mahomet; on their return, they diffused the belief of God and his +prophet, and the new alliance was ratified by their deputies in two +secret and nocturnal interviews on a hill in the suburbs of Mecca. In +the first, ten Charegites and two Awsites united in faith and love, +protested, in the name of their wives, their children, and their absent +brethren, that they would forever profess the creed, and observe the +precepts, of the Koran. The second was a political association, the +first vital spark of the empire of the Saracens. [120] Seventy-three +men and two women of Medina held a solemn conference with Mahomet, his +kinsman, and his disciples; and pledged themselves to each other by a +mutual oath of fidelity. They promised, in the name of the city, that if +he should be banished, they would receive him as a confederate, obey him +as a leader, and defend him to the last extremity, like their wives and +children. "But if you are recalled by your country," they asked with +a flattering anxiety, "will you not abandon your new allies?" "All +things," replied Mahomet with a smile, "are now common between us your +blood is as my blood, your ruin as my ruin. We are bound to each other +by the ties of honor and interest. I am your friend, and the enemy of +your foes." "But if we are killed in your service, what," exclaimed +the deputies of Medina, "will be our reward?" "Paradise," replied the +prophet. "Stretch forth thy hand." He stretched it forth, and they +reiterated the oath of allegiance and fidelity. Their treaty was +ratified by the people, who unanimously embraced the profession of +Islam; they rejoiced in the exile of the apostle, but they trembled for +his safety, and impatiently expected his arrival. After a perilous and +rapid journey along the sea-coast, he halted at Koba, two miles from +the city, and made his public entry into Medina, sixteen days after his +flight from Mecca. Five hundred of the citizens advanced to meet him; +he was hailed with acclamations of loyalty and devotion; Mahomet was +mounted on a she-camel, an umbrella shaded his head, and a turban was +unfurled before him to supply the deficiency of a standard. His bravest +disciples, who had been scattered by the storm, assembled round +his person; and the equal, though various, merit of the Moslems was +distinguished by the names of Mohagerians and Ansars, the fugitives +of Mecca, and the auxiliaries of Medina. To eradicate the seeds of +jealousy, Mahomet judiciously coupled his principal followers with the +rights and obligations of brethren; and when Ali found himself without a +peer, the prophet tenderly declared, that he would be the companion and +brother of the noble youth. The expedient was crowned with success; the +holy fraternity was respected in peace and war, and the two parties vied +with each other in a generous emulation of courage and fidelity. Once +only the concord was slightly ruffled by an accidental quarrel: a +patriot of Medina arraigned the insolence of the strangers, but the +hint of their expulsion was heard with abhorrence; and his own son most +eagerly offered to lay at the apostle's feet the head of his father. + +[Footnote 120: The triple inauguration of Mahomet is described by +Abulfeda (p. 30, 33, 40, 86) and Gagnier, (tom. i. p. 342, &c., 349, +&c., tom. ii. p. 223 &c.)] + +From his establishment at Medina, Mahomet assumed the exercise of the +regal and sacerdotal office; and it was impious to appeal from a judge +whose decrees were inspired by the divine wisdom. A small portion of +ground, the patrimony of two orphans, was acquired by gift or purchase; +[121] on that chosen spot he built a house and a mosch, more venerable +in their rude simplicity than the palaces and temples of the Assyrian +caliphs. His seal of gold, or silver, was inscribed with the apostolic +title; when he prayed and preached in the weekly assembly, he leaned +against the trunk of a palm-tree; and it was long before he indulged +himself in the use of a chair or pulpit of rough timber. [122] After a +reign of six years, fifteen hundred Moslems, in arms and in the field, +renewed their oath of allegiance; and their chief repeated the +assurance of protection till the death of the last member, or the final +dissolution of the party. It was in the same camp that the deputy of +Mecca was astonished by the attention of the faithful to the words and +looks of the prophet, by the eagerness with which they collected his +spittle, a hair that dropped on the ground, the refuse water of his +lustrations, as if they participated in some degree of the prophetic +virtue. "I have seen," said he, "the Chosroes of Persia and the Caesar +of Rome, but never did I behold a king among his subjects like Mahomet +among his companions." The devout fervor of enthusiasm acts with more +energy and truth than the cold and formal servility of courts. + +[Footnote 121: Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 44) reviles the wickedness +of the impostor, who despoiled two poor orphans, the sons of a +carpenter; a reproach which he drew from the Disputatio contra +Saracenos, composed in Arabic before the year 1130; but the honest +Gagnier (ad Abulfed. p. 53) has shown that they were deceived by the +word Al Nagjar, which signifies, in this place, not an obscure trade, +but a noble tribe of Arabs. The desolate state of the ground is +described by Abulfeda; and his worthy interpreter has proved, from Al +Bochari, the offer of a price; from Al Jannabi, the fair purchase; and +from Ahmeq Ben Joseph, the payment of the money by the generous Abubeker +On these grounds the prophet must be honorably acquitted.] + +[Footnote 122: Al Jannabi (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 246, 324) describes +the seal and pulpit, as two venerable relics of the apostle of God; and +the portrait of his court is taken from Abulfeda, (c. 44, p. 85.)] + +In the state of nature, every man has a right to defend, by force of +arms, his person and his possessions; to repel, or even to prevent, the +violence of his enemies, and to extend his hostilities to a reasonable +measure of satisfaction and retaliation. In the free society of the +Arabs, the duties of subject and citizen imposed a feeble restraint; and +Mahomet, in the exercise of a peaceful and benevolent mission, had been +despoiled and banished by the injustice of his countrymen. The choice of +an independent people had exalted the fugitive of Mecca to the rank of +a sovereign; and he was invested with the just prerogative of forming +alliances, and of waging offensive or defensive war. The imperfection +of human rights was supplied and armed by the plenitude of divine power: +the prophet of Medina assumed, in his new revelations, a fiercer and +more sanguinary tone, which proves that his former moderation was the +effect of weakness: [123] the means of persuasion had been tried, the +season of forbearance was elapsed, and he was now commanded to propagate +his religion by the sword, to destroy the monuments of idolatry, +and, without regarding the sanctity of days or months, to pursue +the unbelieving nations of the earth. The same bloody precepts, so +repeatedly inculcated in the Koran, are ascribed by the author to the +Pentateuch and the Gospel. But the mild tenor of the evangelic style may +explain an ambiguous text, that Jesus did not bring peace on the earth, +but a sword: his patient and humble virtues should not be confounded +with the intolerant zeal of princes and bishops, who have disgraced +the name of his disciples. In the prosecution of religious war, Mahomet +might appeal with more propriety to the example of Moses, of the Judges, +and the kings of Israel. The military laws of the Hebrews are still +more rigid than those of the Arabian legislator. [124] The Lord of hosts +marched in person before the Jews: if a city resisted their summons, the +males, without distinction, were put to the sword: the seven nations +of Canaan were devoted to destruction; and neither repentance nor +conversion, could shield them from the inevitable doom, that no creature +within their precincts should be left alive. [1241] The fair option of +friendship, or submission, or battle, was proposed to the enemies of +Mahomet. If they professed the creed of Islam, they were admitted to +all the temporal and spiritual benefits of his primitive disciples, +and marched under the same banner to extend the religion which they had +embraced. The clemency of the prophet was decided by his interest: yet +he seldom trampled on a prostrate enemy; and he seems to promise, +that on the payment of a tribute, the least guilty of his unbelieving +subjects might be indulged in their worship, or at least in their +imperfect faith. In the first months of his reign he practised the +lessons of holy warfare, and displayed his white banner before the +gates of Medina: the martial apostle fought in person at nine battles or +sieges; [125] and fifty enterprises of war were achieved in ten years by +himself or his lieutenants. The Arab continued to unite the professions +of a merchant and a robber; and his petty excursions for the defence or +the attack of a caravan insensibly prepared his troops for the conquest +of Arabia. The distribution of the spoil was regulated by a divine law: +[126] the whole was faithfully collected in one common mass: a fifth +of the gold and silver, the prisoners and cattle, the movables and +immovables, was reserved by the prophet for pious and charitable uses; +the remainder was shared in adequate portions by the soldiers who had +obtained the victory or guarded the camp: the rewards of the slain +devolved to their widows and orphans; and the increase of cavalry was +encouraged by the allotment of a double share to the horse and to the +man. From all sides the roving Arabs were allured to the standard of +religion and plunder: the apostle sanctified the license of embracing +the female captives as their wives or concubines, and the enjoyment of +wealth and beauty was a feeble type of the joys of paradise prepared for +the valiant martyrs of the faith. "The sword," says Mahomet, "is the key +of heaven and of hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night +spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer: +whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven: at the day of judgment +his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk; +and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and +cherubim." The intrepid souls of the Arabs were fired with enthusiasm: +the picture of the invisible world was strongly painted on their +imagination; and the death which they had always despised became an +object of hope and desire. The Koran inculcates, in the most absolute +sense, the tenets of fate and predestination, which would extinguish +both industry and virtue, if the actions of man were governed by his +speculative belief. Yet their influence in every age has exalted the +courage of the Saracens and Turks. The first companions of Mahomet +advanced to battle with a fearless confidence: there is no danger where +there is no chance: they were ordained to perish in their beds; or they +were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy. [127] + +[Footnote 123: The viiith and ixth chapters of the Koran are the loudest +and most vehement; and Maracci (Prodromus, part iv. p. 59-64) has +inveighed with more justice than discretion against the double dealing +of the impostor.] + +[Footnote 124: The xth and xxth chapters of Deuteronomy, with the +practical comments of Joshua, David, &c., are read with more awe +than satisfaction by the pious Christians of the present age. But +the bishops, as well as the rabbis of former times, have beat the +drum-ecclesiastic with pleasure and success. (Sale's Preliminary +Discourse, p. 142, 143.)] + +[Footnote 1241: The editor's opinions on this subject may be read in the +History of the Jews vol. i. p. 137.--M] + +[Footnote 125: Abulfeda, in Vit. Moham. p. 156. The private arsenal +of the apostle consisted of nine swords, three lances, seven pikes or +half-pikes, a quiver and three bows, seven cuirasses, three shields, +and two helmets, (Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 328-334,) with a large white +standard, a black banner, (p. 335,) twenty horses, (p. 322, &c.) Two of +his martial sayings are recorded by tradition, (Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 88, +334.)] + +[Footnote 126: The whole subject de jure belli Mohammedanorum +is exhausted in a separate dissertation by the learned Reland, +(Dissertationes Miscellaneae, tom. iii. Dissertat. x. p. 3-53.)] + +[Footnote 127: The doctrine of absolute predestination, on which few +religions can reproach each other, is sternly exposed in the Koran, (c. +3, p. 52, 53, c. 4, p. 70, &c., with the notes of Sale, and c. 17, p. +413, with those of Maracci.) Reland (de Relig. Moham. p. 61-64) and +Sale (Prelim. Discourse, p. 103) represent the opinions of the doctors, +and our modern travellers the confidence, the fading confidence, of the +Turks] + +Perhaps the Koreish would have been content with the dight of Mahomet, +had they not been provoked and alarmed by the vengeance of an enemy, who +could intercept their Syrian trade as it passed and repassed through +the territory of Medina. Abu Sophian himself, with only thirty or forty +followers, conducted a wealthy caravan of a thousand camels; the fortune +or dexterity of his march escaped the vigilance of Mahomet; but the +chief of the Koreish was informed that the holy robbers were placed in +ambush to await his return. He despatched a messenger to his brethren of +Mecca, and they were roused, by the fear of losing their merchandise and +their provisions, unless they hastened to his relief with the military +force of the city. The sacred band of Mahomet was formed of three +hundred and thirteen Moslems, of whom seventy-seven were fugitives, and +the rest auxiliaries; they mounted by turns a train of seventy camels, +(the camels of Yathreb were formidable in war;) but such was the poverty +of his first disciples, that only two could appear on horseback in +the field. [128] In the fertile and famous vale of Beder, [129] three +stations from Medina, he was informed by his scouts of the caravan that +approached on one side; of the Koreish, one hundred horse, eight hundred +and fifty foot, who advanced on the other. After a short debate, he +sacrificed the prospect of wealth to the pursuit of glory and revenge, +and a slight intrenchment was formed, to cover his troops, and a stream +of fresh water, that glided through the valley. "O God," he exclaimed, +as the numbers of the Koreish descended from the hills, "O God, if these +are destroyed, by whom wilt thou be worshipped on the earth?--Courage, +my children; close your ranks; discharge your arrows, and the day is +your own." At these words he placed himself, with Abubeker, on a throne +or pulpit, [130] and instantly demanded the succor of Gabriel and +three thousand angels. His eye was fixed on the field of battle: the +Mussulmans fainted and were pressed: in that decisive moment the prophet +started from his throne, mounted his horse, and cast a handful of sand +into the air: "Let their faces be covered with confusion." Both armies +heard the thunder of his voice: their fancy beheld the angelic warriors: +[131] the Koreish trembled and fled: seventy of the bravest were slain; +and seventy captives adorned the first victory of the faithful. The +dead bodies of the Koreish were despoiled and insulted: two of the most +obnoxious prisoners were punished with death; and the ransom of the +others, four thousand drams of silver, compensated in some degree the +escape of the caravan. But it was in vain that the camels of Abu Sophian +explored a new road through the desert and along the Euphrates: they +were overtaken by the diligence of the Mussulmans; and wealthy must +have been the prize, if twenty thousand drams could be set apart for +the fifth of the apostle. The resentment of the public and private loss +stimulated Abu Sophian to collect a body of three thousand men, seven +hundred of whom were armed with cuirasses, and two hundred were mounted +on horseback; three thousand camels attended his march; and his wife +Henda, with fifteen matrons of Mecca, incessantly sounded their timbrels +to animate the troops, and to magnify the greatness of Hobal, the most +popular deity of the Caaba. The standard of God and Mahomet was upheld +by nine hundred and fifty believers: the disproportion of numbers was +not more alarming than in the field of Beder; and their presumption of +victory prevailed against the divine and human sense of the apostle. +The second battle was fought on Mount Ohud, six miles to the north of +Medina; [132] the Koreish advanced in the form of a crescent; and the +right wing of cavalry was led by Caled, the fiercest and most successful +of the Arabian warriors. The troops of Mahomet were skilfully posted on +the declivity of the hill; and their rear was guarded by a detachment of +fifty archers. The weight of their charge impelled and broke the centre +of the idolaters: but in the pursuit they lost the advantage of their +ground: the archers deserted their station: the Mussulmans were tempted +by the spoil, disobeyed their general, and disordered their ranks. The +intrepid Caled, wheeling his cavalry on their flank and rear, exclaimed, +with a loud voice, that Mahomet was slain. He was indeed wounded in the +face with a javelin: two of his teeth were shattered with a stone; yet, +in the midst of tumult and dismay, he reproached the infidels with the +murder of a prophet; and blessed the friendly hand that stanched his +blood, and conveyed him to a place of safety Seventy martyrs died for +the sins of the people; they fell, said the apostle, in pairs, each +brother embracing his lifeless companion; [133] their bodies were +mangled by the inhuman females of Mecca; and the wife of Abu Sophian +tasted the entrails of Hamza, the uncle of Mahomet. They might applaud +their superstition, and satiate their fury; but the Mussulmans soon +rallied in the field, and the Koreish wanted strength or courage to +undertake the siege of Medina. It was attacked the ensuing year by an +army of ten thousand enemies; and this third expedition is variously +named from the nations, which marched under the banner of Abu Sophian, +from the ditch which was drawn before the city, and a camp of three +thousand Mussulmans. The prudence of Mahomet declined a general +engagement: the valor of Ali was signalized in single combat; and +the war was protracted twenty days, till the final separation of the +confederates. A tempest of wind, rain, and hail, overturned their tents: +their private quarrels were fomented by an insidious adversary; and +the Koreish, deserted by their allies, no longer hoped to subvert the +throne, or to check the conquests, of their invincible exile. [134] + +[Footnote 128: Al Jannabi (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 9) allows him +seventy or eighty horse; and on two other occasions, prior to the +battle of Ohud, he enlists a body of thirty (p. 10) and of 500 (p. 66) +troopers. Yet the Mussulmans, in the field of Ohud, had no more than two +horses, according to the better sense of Abulfeda, (in Vit. Moham. c. +xxxi. p. 65.) In the Stony province, the camels were numerous; but the +horse appears to have been less numerous than in the Happy or the Desert +Arabia.] + +[Footnote 129: Bedder Houneene, twenty miles from Medina, and forty from +Mecca, is on the high road of the caravan of Egypt; and the pilgrims +annually commemorate the prophet's victory by illuminations, rockets, +&c. Shaw's Travels, p. 477.] + +[Footnote 130: The place to which Mahomet retired during the action is +styled by Gagnier (in Abulfeda, c. 27, p. 58. Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. +p. 30, 33) Umbraculum, une loge de bois avec une porte. The same Arabic +word is rendered by Reiske (Annales Moslemici Abulfedae, p. 23) by +Solium, Suggestus editior; and the difference is of the utmost moment +for the honor both of the interpreter and of the hero. I am sorry +to observe the pride and acrimony with which Reiske chastises his +fellow-laborer. Saepi sic vertit, ut integrae paginae nequeant nisi una +litura corrigi Arabice non satis callebat, et carebat judicio critico. +J. J. Reiske, Prodidagmata ad Hagji Chalisae Tabulas, p. 228, ad calcero +Abulfedae Syriae Tabulae; Lipsiae, 1766, in 4to.] + +[Footnote 131: The loose expressions of the Koran (c. 3, p. 124, 125, +c. 8, p. 9) allow the commentators to fluctuate between the numbers of +1000, 3000, or 9000 angels; and the smallest of these might suffice for +the slaughter of seventy of the Koreish, (Maracci, Alcoran, tom. ii. +p. 131.) Yet the same scholiasts confess that this angelic band was not +visible to any mortal eye, (Maracci, p. 297.) They refine on the words +(c. 8, 16) "not thou, but God," &c. (D'Herbelot. Bibliot. Orientale p. +600, 601.)] + +[Footnote 132: Geograph. Nubiensis, p. 47.] + +[Footnote 133: In the iiid chapter of the Koran, (p. 50-53) with Sale's +notes, the prophet alleges some poor excuses for the defeat of Ohud. * +Note: Dr. Weil has added some curious circumstances, which he gives as +on good traditional authority, on the rescue of Mahomet. The prophet was +attacked by Ubeijj Ibn Challaf, whom he struck on the neck with a mortal +wound. This was the only time, it is added, that Mahomet personally +engaged in battle. (p. 128.)--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 134: For the detail of the three Koreish wars, of Beder, of +Ohud, and of the ditch, peruse Abulfeda, (p. 56-61, 64-69, 73-77,) +Gagnier (tom. i. p. 23-45, 70-96, 120-139,) with the proper articles +of D'Herbelot, and the abridgments of Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 6, 7) +and Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 102.)] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VI. + +The choice of Jerusalem for the first kebla of prayer discovers the +early propensity of Mahomet in favor of the Jews; and happy would it +have been for their temporal interest, had they recognized, in the +Arabian prophet, the hope of Israel and the promised Messiah. Their +obstinacy converted his friendship into implacable hatred, with which he +pursued that unfortunate people to the last moment of his life; and in +the double character of an apostle and a conqueror, his persecution was +extended to both worlds. [135] The Kainoka dwelt at Medina under the +protection of the city; he seized the occasion of an accidental tumult, +and summoned them to embrace his religion, or contend with him in +battle. "Alas!" replied the trembling Jews, "we are ignorant of the use +of arms, but we persevere in the faith and worship of our fathers; why +wilt thou reduce us to the necessity of a just defence?" The unequal +conflict was terminated in fifteen days; and it was with extreme +reluctance that Mahomet yielded to the importunity of his allies, and +consented to spare the lives of the captives. But their riches were +confiscated, their arms became more effectual in the hands of the +Mussulmans; and a wretched colony of seven hundred exiles was driven, +with their wives and children, to implore a refuge on the confines +of Syria. The Nadhirites were more guilty, since they conspired, in +a friendly interview, to assassinate the prophet. He besieged their +castle, three miles from Medina; but their resolute defence obtained an +honorable capitulation; and the garrison, sounding their trumpets and +beating their drums, was permitted to depart with the honors of war. The +Jews had excited and joined the war of the Koreish: no sooner had the +nations retired from the ditch, than Mahomet, without laying aside his +armor, marched on the same day to extirpate the hostile race of the +children of Koraidha. After a resistance of twenty-five days, they +surrendered at discretion. They trusted to the intercession of their old +allies of Medina; they could not be ignorant that fanaticism obliterates +the feelings of humanity. A venerable elder, to whose judgment they +appealed, pronounced the sentence of their death; seven hundred Jews +were dragged in chains to the market-place of the city; they descended +alive into the grave prepared for their execution and burial; and the +apostle beheld with an inflexible eye the slaughter of his helpless +enemies. Their sheep and camels were inherited by the Mussulmans: three +hundred cuirasses, five hundred piles, a thousand lances, composed the +most useful portion of the spoil. Six days' journey to the north-east +of Medina, the ancient and wealthy town of Chaibar was the seat of the +Jewish power in Arabia: the territory, a fertile spot in the desert, +was covered with plantations and cattle, and protected by eight castles, +some of which were esteemed of impregnable strength. The forces of +Mahomet consisted of two hundred horse and fourteen hundred foot: in +the succession of eight regular and painful sieges they were exposed to +danger, and fatigue, and hunger; and the most undaunted chiefs despaired +of the event. The apostle revived their faith and courage by the example +of Ali, on whom he bestowed the surname of the Lion of God: perhaps we +may believe that a Hebrew champion of gigantic stature was cloven to the +chest by his irresistible cimeter; but we cannot praise the modesty of +romance, which represents him as tearing from its hinges the gate of +a fortress and wielding the ponderous buckler in his left hand. [136] +After the reduction of the castles, the town of Chaibar submitted to the +yoke. The chief of the tribe was tortured, in the presence of Mahomet, +to force a confession of his hidden treasure: the industry of the +shepherds and husbandmen was rewarded with a precarious toleration: they +were permitted, so long as it should please the conqueror, to improve +their patrimony, in equal shares, for his emolument and their own. Under +the reign of Omar, the Jews of Chaibar were transported to Syria; and +the caliph alleged the injunction of his dying master; that one and the +true religion should be professed in his native land of Arabia. [137] + +[Footnote 135: The wars of Mahomet against the Jewish tribes of Kainoka, +the Nadhirites, Koraidha, and Chaibar, are related by Abulfeda (p. 61, +71, 77, 87, &c.) and Gagnier, (tom. ii. p. 61-65, 107-112, 139-148, +268-294.)] + +[Footnote 136: Abu Rafe, the servant of Mahomet, is said to affirm that +he himself, and seven other men, afterwards tried, without success, to +move the same gate from the ground, (Abulfeda, p. 90.) Abu Rafe was an +eye-witness, but who will be witness for Abu Rafe?] + +[Footnote 137: The banishment of the Jews is attested by Elmacin (Hist. +Saracen, p. 9) and the great Al Zabari, (Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 285.) +Yet Niebuhr (Description de l'Arabie, p. 324) believes that the Jewish +religion, and Karaite sect, are still professed by the tribe of Chaibar; +and that, in the plunder of the caravans, the disciples of Moses are the +confederates of those of Mahomet.] + +Five times each day the eyes of Mahomet were turned towards Mecca, [138] +and he was urged by the most sacred and powerful motives to revisit, as +a conqueror, the city and the temple from whence he had been driven as +an exile. The Caaba was present to his waking and sleeping fancy: an +idle dream was translated into vision and prophecy; he unfurled the holy +banner; and a rash promise of success too hastily dropped from the lips +of the apostle. His march from Medina to Mecca displayed the peaceful +and solemn pomp of a pilgrimage: seventy camels, chosen and bedecked for +sacrifice, preceded the van; the sacred territory was respected; and +the captives were dismissed without ransom to proclaim his clemency and +devotion. But no sooner did Mahomet descend into the plain, within +a day's journey of the city, than he exclaimed, "They have clothed +themselves with the skins of tigers:" the numbers and resolution of the +Koreish opposed his progress; and the roving Arabs of the desert might +desert or betray a leader whom they had followed for the hopes of spoil. +The intrepid fanatic sunk into a cool and cautious politician: he waived +in the treaty his title of apostle of God; concluded with the Koreish +and their allies a truce of ten years; engaged to restore the fugitives +of Mecca who should embrace his religion; and stipulated only, for the +ensuing year, the humble privilege of entering the city as a friend, +and of remaining three days to accomplish the rites of the pilgrimage. +A cloud of shame and sorrow hung on the retreat of the Mussulmans, and +their disappointment might justly accuse the failure of a prophet who +had so often appealed to the evidence of success. The faith and hope of +the pilgrims were rekindled by the prospect of Mecca: their swords +were sheathed; [1381] seven times in the footsteps of the apostle +they encompassed the Caaba: the Koreish had retired to the hills, and +Mahomet, after the customary sacrifice, evacuated the city on the fourth +day. The people was edified by his devotion; the hostile chiefs were +awed, or divided, or seduced; and both Kaled and Amrou, the future +conquerors of Syria and Egypt, most seasonably deserted the sinking +cause of idolatry. The power of Mahomet was increased by the submission +of the Arabian tribes; ten thousand soldiers were assembled for the +conquest of Mecca; and the idolaters, the weaker party, were easily +convicted of violating the truce. Enthusiasm and discipline impelled +the march, and preserved the secret till the blaze of ten thousand fires +proclaimed to the astonished Koreish the design, the approach, and the +irresistible force of the enemy. The haughty Abu Sophian presented the +keys of the city, admired the variety of arms and ensigns that passed +before him in review; observed that the son of Abdallah had acquired a +mighty kingdom, and confessed, under the cimeter of Omar, that he was +the apostle of the true God. The return of Marius and Scylla was stained +with the blood of the Romans: the revenge of Mahomet was stimulated by +religious zeal, and his injured followers were eager to execute or to +prevent the order of a massacre. Instead of indulging their passions and +his own, [139] the victorious exile forgave the guilt, and united the +factions, of Mecca. His troops, in three divisions, marched into the +city: eight-and-twenty of the inhabitants were slain by the sword of +Caled; eleven men and six women were proscribed by the sentence of +Mahomet; but he blamed the cruelty of his lieutenant; and several of the +most obnoxious victims were indebted for their lives to his clemency or +contempt. The chiefs of the Koreish were prostrate at his feet. "What +mercy can you expect from the man whom you have wronged?" "We confide +in the generosity of our kinsman." "And you shall not confide in vain: +begone! you are safe, you are free" The people of Mecca deserved their +pardon by the profession of Islam; and after an exile of seven years, +the fugitive missionary was enthroned as the prince and prophet of his +native country. [140] But the three hundred and sixty idols of the Caaba +were ignominiously broken: the house of God was purified and adorned: as +an example to future times, the apostle again fulfilled the duties of a +pilgrim; and a perpetual law was enacted that no unbeliever should dare +to set his foot on the territory of the holy city. [141] + +[Footnote 138: The successive steps of the reduction of Mecca are +related by Abulfeda (p. 84-87, 97-100, 102-111) and Gagnier, (tom. +ii. p. 202-245, 309-322, tom. iii. p. 1-58,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. +p. 8, 9, 10,) Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 103.)] + +[Footnote 1381: This peaceful entrance into Mecca took place, according +to the treaty the following year. Weil, p. 202--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 139: After the conquest of Mecca, the Mahomet of Voltaire +imagines and perpetuates the most horrid crimes. The poet confesses, +that he is not supported by the truth of history, and can only allege, +que celui qui fait la guerre a sa patrie au nom de Dieu, est capable +de tout, (Oeuvres de Voltaire, tom. xv. p. 282.) The maxim is neither +charitable nor philosophic; and some reverence is surely due to the +fame of heroes and the religion of nations. I am informed that a Turkish +ambassador at Paris was much scandalized at the representation of this +tragedy.] + +[Footnote 140: The Mahometan doctors still dispute, whether Mecca was +reduced by force or consent, (Abulfeda, p. 107, et Gagnier ad locum;) +and this verbal controversy is of as much moment as our own about +William the Conqueror.] + +[Footnote 141: In excluding the Christians from the peninsula of +Arabia, the province of Hejaz, or the navigation of the Red Sea, Chardin +(Voyages en Perse, tom. iv. p. 166) and Reland (Dissertat. Miscell. +tom. iii. p. 61) are more rigid than the Mussulmans themselves. The +Christians are received without scruple into the ports of Mocha, and +even of Gedda; and it is only the city and precincts of Mecca that are +inaccessible to the profane, (Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, p. 308, +309, Voyage en Arabie, tom. i. p. 205, 248, &c.)] + +The conquest of Mecca determined the faith and obedience of the Arabian +tribes; [142] who, according to the vicissitudes of fortune, had obeyed, +or disregarded, the eloquence or the arms of the prophet. Indifference +for rites and opinions still marks the character of the Bedoweens; and +they might accept, as loosely as they hold, the doctrine of the Koran. +Yet an obstinate remnant still adhered to the religion and liberty of +their ancestors, and the war of Honain derived a proper appellation from +the idols, whom Mahomet had vowed to destroy, and whom the confederates +of Tayef had sworn to defend. [143] Four thousand Pagans advanced with +secrecy and speed to surprise the conqueror: they pitied and despised +the supine negligence of the Koreish, but they depended on the wishes, +and perhaps the aid, of a people who had so lately renounced their gods, +and bowed beneath the yoke of their enemy. The banners of Medina and +Mecca were displayed by the prophet; a crowd of Bedoweens increased +the strength or numbers of the army, and twelve thousand Mussulmans +entertained a rash and sinful presumption of their invincible strength. +They descended without precaution into the valley of Honain: the heights +had been occupied by the archers and slingers of the confederates; their +numbers were oppressed, their discipline was confounded, their courage +was appalled, and the Koreish smiled at their impending destruction. The +prophet, on his white mule, was encompassed by the enemies: he attempted +to rush against their spears in search of a glorious death: ten of his +faithful companions interposed their weapons and their breasts; three of +these fell dead at his feet: "O my brethren," he repeatedly cried, with +sorrow and indignation, "I am the son of Abdallah, I am the apostle of +truth! O man, stand fast in the faith! O God, send down thy succor!" His +uncle Abbas, who, like the heroes of Homer, excelled in the loudness +of his voice, made the valley resound with the recital of the gifts and +promises of God: the flying Moslems returned from all sides to the holy +standard; and Mahomet observed with pleasure that the furnace was again +rekindled: his conduct and example restored the battle, and he animated +his victorious troops to inflict a merciless revenge on the authors of +their shame. From the field of Honain, he marched without delay to the +siege of Tayef, sixty miles to the south-east of Mecca, a fortress of +strength, whose fertile lands produce the fruits of Syria in the midst +of the Arabian desert. A friendly tribe, instructed (I know not how) +in the art of sieges, supplied him with a train of battering-rams and +military engines, with a body of five hundred artificers. But it was in +vain that he offered freedom to the slaves of Tayef; that he violated +his own laws by the extirpation of the fruit-trees; that the ground was +opened by the miners; that the breach was assaulted by the troops. After +a siege of twenty-days, the prophet sounded a retreat; but he retreated +with a song of devout triumph, and affected to pray for the repentance +and safety of the unbelieving city. The spoils of this fortunate +expedition amounted to six thousand captives, twenty-four thousand +camels, forty thousand sheep, and four thousand ounces of silver: a +tribe who had fought at Hoinan redeemed their prisoners by the sacrifice +of their idols; but Mahomet compensated the loss, by resigning to the +soldiers his fifth of the plunder, and wished, for their sake, that he +possessed as many head of cattle as there were trees in the province +of Tehama. Instead of chastising the disaffection of the Koreish, he +endeavored to cut out their tongues, (his own expression,) and to secure +their attachment by a superior measure of liberality: Abu Sophian alone +was presented with three hundred camels and twenty ounces of silver; and +Mecca was sincerely converted to the profitable religion of the Koran. + +[Footnote 142: Abulfeda, p. 112-115. Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 67-88. +D'Herbelot, Mohammed.] + +[Footnote 143: The siege of Tayef, division of the spoil, &c., are +related by Abulfeda (p. 117-123) and Gagnier, (tom. iii. p. 88-111.) +It is Al Jannabi who mentions the engines and engineers of the tribe of +Daws. The fertile spot of Tayef was supposed to be a piece of the land +of Syria detached and dropped in the general deluge] + +The fugitives and auxiliaries complained, that they who had borne the +burden were neglected in the season of victory "Alas!" replied their +artful leader, "suffer me to conciliate these recent enemies, these +doubtful proselytes, by the gift of some perishable goods. To your guard +I intrust my life and fortunes. You are the companions of my exile, of +my kingdom, of my paradise." He was followed by the deputies of Tayef, +who dreaded the repetition of a siege. "Grant us, O apostle of God! a +truce of three years, with the toleration of our ancient worship." +"Not a month, not an hour." "Excuse us at least from the obligation of +prayer." "Without prayer religion is of no avail." They submitted +in silence: their temples were demolished, and the same sentence of +destruction was executed on all the idols of Arabia. His lieutenants, +on the shores of the Red Sea, the Ocean, and the Gulf of Persia, were +saluted by the acclamations of a faithful people; and the ambassadors, +who knelt before the throne of Medina, were as numerous (says the +Arabian proverb) as the dates that fall from the maturity of a +palm-tree. The nation submitted to the God and the sceptre of Mahomet: +the opprobrious name of tribute was abolished: the spontaneous or +reluctant oblations of arms and tithes were applied to the service of +religion; and one hundred and fourteen thousand Moslems accompanied the +last pilgrimage of the apostle. [144] + +[Footnote 144: The last conquests and pilgrimage of Mahomet are +contained in Abulfeda, (p. 121, 133,) Gagnier, (tom. iii. p. 119-219,) +Elmacin, (p. 10, 11,) Abulpharagius, (p. 103.) The ixth of the Hegira +was styled the Year of Embassies, (Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. p. 121.)] + +When Heraclius returned in triumph from the Persian war, he entertained, +at Emesa, one of the ambassadors of Mahomet, who invited the princes and +nations of the earth to the profession of Islam. On this foundation the +zeal of the Arabians has supposed the secret conversion of the Christian +emperor: the vanity of the Greeks has feigned a personal visit of the +prince of Medina, who accepted from the royal bounty a rich domain, and +a secure retreat, in the province of Syria. [145] But the friendship +of Heraclius and Mahomet was of short continuance: the new religion had +inflamed rather than assuaged the rapacious spirit of the Saracens, and +the murder of an envoy afforded a decent pretence for invading, with +three thousand soldiers, the territory of Palestine, that extends to the +eastward of the Jordan. The holy banner was intrusted to Zeid; and such +was the discipline or enthusiasm of the rising sect, that the noblest +chiefs served without reluctance under the slave of the prophet. On the +event of his decease, Jaafar and Abdallah were successively substituted +to the command; and if the three should perish in the war, the troops +were authorized to elect their general. The three leaders were slain +in the battle of Muta, [146] the first military action, which tried the +valor of the Moslems against a foreign enemy. Zeid fell, like a soldier, +in the foremost ranks: the death of Jaafar was heroic and memorable: he +lost his right hand: he shifted the standard to his left: the left +was severed from his body: he embraced the standard with his bleeding +stumps, till he was transfixed to the ground with fifty honorable +wounds. [1461] "Advance," cried Abdallah, who stepped into the vacant +place, "advance with confidence: either victory or paradise is our own." +The lance of a Roman decided the alternative; but the falling standard +was rescued by Caled, the proselyte of Mecca: nine swords were broken in +his hand; and his valor withstood and repulsed the superior numbers of +the Christians. In the nocturnal council of the camp he was chosen to +command: his skilful evolutions of the ensuing day secured either the +victory or the retreat of the Saracens; and Caled is renowned among his +brethren and his enemies by the glorious appellation of the Sword of +God. In the pulpit, Mahomet described, with prophetic rapture, the +crowns of the blessed martyrs; but in private he betrayed the feelings +of human nature: he was surprised as he wept over the daughter of Zeid: +"What do I see?" said the astonished votary. "You see," replied the +apostle, "a friend who is deploring the loss of his most faithful +friend." After the conquest of Mecca, the sovereign of Arabia affected +to prevent the hostile preparations of Heraclius; and solemnly +proclaimed war against the Romans, without attempting to disguise +the hardships and dangers of the enterprise. [147] The Moslems were +discouraged: they alleged the want of money, or horses, or provisions; +the season of harvest, and the intolerable heat of the summer: "Hell is +much hotter," said the indignant prophet. He disdained to compel +their service: but on his return he admonished the most guilty, by an +excommunication of fifty days. Their desertion enhanced the merit of +Abubeker, Othman, and the faithful companions who devoted their lives +and fortunes; and Mahomet displayed his banner at the head of ten +thousand horse and twenty thousand foot. Painful indeed was the distress +of the march: lassitude and thirst were aggravated by the scorching and +pestilential winds of the desert: ten men rode by turns on one camel; +and they were reduced to the shameful necessity of drinking the water +from the belly of that useful animal. In the mid-way, ten days' journey +from Medina and Damascus, they reposed near the grove and fountain of +Tabuc. Beyond that place Mahomet declined the prosecution of the war: +he declared himself satisfied with the peaceful intentions, he was more +probably daunted by the martial array, of the emperor of the East. But +the active and intrepid Caled spread around the terror of his name; and +the prophet received the submission of the tribes and cities, from +the Euphrates to Ailah, at the head of the Red Sea. To his Christian +subjects, Mahomet readily granted the security of their persons, the +freedom of their trade, the property of their goods, and the toleration +of their worship. [148] The weakness of their Arabian brethren had +restrained them from opposing his ambition; the disciples of Jesus +were endeared to the enemy of the Jews; and it was the interest of a +conqueror to propose a fair capitulation to the most powerful religion +of the earth. + +[Footnote 145: Compare the bigoted Al Jannabi (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. +p. 232-255) with the no less bigoted Greeks, Theophanes, (p. 276-227,) +Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 86,) and Cedrenus, (p. 421.)] + +[Footnote 146: For the battle of Muta, and its consequences, see +Abulfeda (p 100-102) and Gagnier, (tom. ii. p. 327-343.).] + +[Footnote 1461: To console the afflicted relatives of his kinsman +Jauffer, he (Mahomet) represented that, in Paradise, in exchange for +the arms which he had lost, he had been furnished with a pair of wings, +resplendent with the blushing glories of the ruby, and with which he +was become the inseparable companion of the archangal Gabriel, in +his volitations through the regions of eternal bliss. Hence, in the +catalogue of the martyrs, he has been denominated Jauffer teyaur, the +winged Jauffer. Price, Chronological Retrospect of Mohammedan History, +vol. i. p. 5.-M.] + +[Footnote 147: The expedition of Tabuc is recorded by our ordinary +historians Abulfeda (Vit. Moham. p. 123-127) and Gagnier, (Vie de +Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 147-163: ) but we have the advantage of appealing +to the original evidence of the Koran, (c. 9, p. 154, 165,) with Sale's +learned and rational notes.] + +[Footnote 148: The Diploma securitatis Ailensibus is attested by Ahmed +Ben Joseph, and the author Libri Splendorum, (Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfe +dam, p. 125;) but Abulfeda himself, as well as Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. +p. 11,) though he owns Mahomet's regard for the Christians, (p 13,) only +mentions peace and tribute. In the year 1630, Sionita published at Paris +the text and version of Mahomet's patent in favor of the Christians; +which was admitted and reprobated by the opposite taste of Salmasius +and Grotius, (Bayle, Mahomet, Rem. Aa.) Hottinger doubts of its +authenticity, (Hist. Orient. p. 237;) Renaudot urges the consent of the +Mohametans, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 169;) but Mosheim (Hist. Eccles. +p. 244) shows the futility of their opinion and inclines to believe +it spurious. Yet Abulpharagius quotes the impostor's treaty with the +Nestorian patriarch, (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 418;) but +Abulpharagius was primate of the Jacobites.] + +Till the age of sixty-three years, the strength of Mahomet was equal to +the temporal and spiritual fatigues of his mission. His epileptic fits, +an absurd calumny of the Greeks, would be an object of pity rather than +abhorrence; [149] but he seriously believed that he was poisoned at +Chaibar by the revenge of a Jewish female. [150] During four years, +the health of the prophet declined; his infirmities increased; but +his mortal disease was a fever of fourteen days, which deprived him +by intervals of the use of reason. As soon as he was conscious of +his danger, he edified his brethren by the humility of his virtue or +penitence. "If there be any man," said the apostle from the pulpit, +"whom I have unjustly scourged, I submit my own back to the lash of +retaliation. Have I aspersed the reputation of a Mussulman? let him +proclaim my thoughts in the face of the congregation. Has any one been +despoiled of his goods? the little that I possess shall compensate the +principal and the interest of the debt." "Yes," replied a voice from +the crowd, "I am entitled to three drams of silver." Mahomet heard the +complaint, satisfied the demand, and thanked his creditor for accusing +him in this world rather than at the day of judgment. He beheld with +temperate firmness the approach of death; enfranchised his slaves +(seventeen men, as they are named, and eleven women;) minutely directed +the order of his funeral, and moderated the lamentations of his weeping +friends, on whom he bestowed the benediction of peace. Till the third +day before his death, he regularly performed the function of public +prayer: the choice of Abubeker to supply his place, appeared to mark +that ancient and faithful friend as his successor in the sacerdotal +and regal office; but he prudently declined the risk and envy of a +more explicit nomination. At a moment when his faculties were visibly +impaired, he called for pen and ink to write, or, more properly, +to dictate, a divine book, the sum and accomplishment of all his +revelations: a dispute arose in the chamber, whether he should be +allowed to supersede the authority of the Koran; and the prophet was +forced to reprove the indecent vehemence of his disciples. If the +slightest credit may be afforded to the traditions of his wives and +companions, he maintained, in the bosom of his family, and to the last +moments of his life, the dignity [1501] of an apostle, and the faith of +an enthusiast; described the visits of Gabriel, who bade an everlasting +farewell to the earth, and expressed his lively confidence, not only +of the mercy, but of the favor, of the Supreme Being. In a familiar +discourse he had mentioned his special prerogative, that the angel of +death was not allowed to take his soul till he had respectfully asked +the permission of the prophet. The request was granted; and Mahomet +immediately fell into the agony of his dissolution: his head was +reclined on the lap of Ayesha, the best beloved of all his wives; he +fainted with the violence of pain; recovering his spirits, he raised his +eyes towards the roof of the house, and, with a steady look, though a +faltering voice, uttered the last broken, though articulate, words: +"O God!..... pardon my sins....... Yes, ...... I come,...... among my +fellow-citizens on high;" and thus peaceably expired on a carpet spread +upon the floor. An expedition for the conquest of Syria was stopped by +this mournful event; the army halted at the gates of Medina; the chiefs +were assembled round their dying master. The city, more especially +the house, of the prophet, was a scene of clamorous sorrow of silent +despair: fanaticism alone could suggest a ray of hope and consolation. +"How can he be dead, our witness, our intercessor, our mediator, with +God? By God he is not dead: like Moses and Jesus, he is wrapped in a +holy trance, and speedily will he return to his faithful people." The +evidence of sense was disregarded; and Omar, unsheathing his cimeter, +threatened to strike off the heads of the infidels, who should dare +to affirm that the prophet was no more. The tumult was appeased by the +weight and moderation of Abubeker. "Is it Mahomet," said he to Omar and +the multitude, "or the God of Mahomet, whom you worship? The God of +Mahomet liveth forever; but the apostle was a mortal like ourselves, and +according to his own prediction, he has experienced the common fate of +mortality." He was piously interred by the hands of his nearest kinsman, +on the same spot on which he expired: [151] Medina has been sanctified +by the death and burial of Mahomet; and the innumerable pilgrims of +Mecca often turn aside from the way, to bow, in voluntary devotion, +[152] before the simple tomb of the prophet. [153] + +[Footnote 149: The epilepsy, or falling-sickness, of Mahomet is asserted +by Theophanes, Zonaras, and the rest of the Greeks; and is greedily +swallowed by the gross bigotry of Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p. 10, 11,) +Prideaux, (Life of Mahomet, p. 12,) and Maracci, (tom. ii. Alcoran, p. +762, 763.) The titles (the wrapped-up, the covered) of two chapters of +the Koran, (73, 74) can hardly be strained to such an interpretation: +the silence, the ignorance of the Mahometan commentators, is more +conclusive than the most peremptory denial; and the charitable side is +espoused by Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, tom. i. p. 301,) Gagnier, +(ad Abulfedam, p. 9. Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 118,) and Sale, (Koran, +p. 469-474.) * Note: Dr Weil believes in the epilepsy, and adduces +strong evidence for it; and surely it may be believed, in perfect +charity; and that the prophet's visions were connected, as they appear +to have been, with these fits. I have little doubt that he saw and +believed these visions, and visions they were. Weil, p. 43.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 150: This poison (more ignominious since it was offered as +a test of his prophetic knowledge) is frankly confessed by his zealous +votaries, Abulfeda (p. 92) and Al Jannabi, (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. +286-288.)] + +[Footnote 1501: Major Price, who writes with the authority of one widely +conversant with the original sources of Eastern knowledge, and in a very +candid tone, takes a very different view of the prophet's death. "In +tracing the circumstances of Mahommed's illness, we look in vain for +any proofs of that meek and heroic firmness which might be expected to +dignify and embellish the last moments of the apostle of God. On some +occasions he betrayed such want of fortitude, such marks of childish +impatience, as are in general to be found in men only of the most +ordinary stamp; and such as extorted from his wife Ayesha, in +particular, the sarcastic remark, that in herself, or any of her +family, a similar demeanor would long since have incurred his severe +displeasure. * * * He said that the acuteness and violence of his +sufferings were necessarily in the proportion of those honors with which +it had ever pleased the hand of Omnipotence to distinguish its peculiar +favorites." Price, vol. i. p. 13.--M] + +[Footnote 151: The Greeks and Latins have invented and propagated the +vulgar and ridiculous story, that Mahomet's iron tomb is suspended in +the air at Mecca, (Laonicus Chalcondyles, de Rebus Turcicis, l. iii. +p. 66,) by the action of equal and potent loadstones, (Dictionnaire de +Bayle, Mahomet, Rem. Ee. Ff.) Without any philosophical inquiries, it +may suffice, that, 1. The prophet was not buried at Mecca; and, 2. That +his tomb at Medina, which has been visited by millions, is placed on the +ground, (Reland, de Relig. Moham. l. ii. c. 19, p. 209-211. Gagnier, +Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 263-268.) * Note: According to the +testimony of all the Eastern authors, Mahomet died on Monday the 12th +Reby 1st, in the year 11 of the Hegira, which answers in reality to the +8th June, 632, of J. C. We find in Ockley (Hist. of Saracens) that it +was on Monday the 6th June, 632. This is a mistake; for the 6th June of +that year was a Saturday, not a Monday; the 8th June, therefore, was a +Monday. It is easy to discover that the lunar year, in this calculation +has been confounded with the solar. St. Martin vol. xi. p. 186.--M.] + +[Footnote 152: Al Jannabi enumerates (Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. +372-391) the multifarious duties of a pilgrim who visits the tombs of +the prophet and his companions; and the learned casuist decides, that +this act of devotion is nearest in obligation and merit to a divine +precept. The doctors are divided which, of Mecca or Medina, be the most +excellent, (p. 391-394.)] + +[Footnote 153: The last sickness, death, and burial of Mahomet, are +described by Abulfeda and Gagnier, (Vit. Moham. p. 133-142. --Vie +de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 220-271.) The most private and interesting +circumstances were originally received from Ayesha, Ali, the sons of +Abbas, &c.; and as they dwelt at Medina, and survived the prophet many +years, they might repeat the pious tale to a second or third generation +of pilgrims.] + +At the conclusion of the life of Mahomet, it may perhaps be expected, +that I should balance his faults and virtues, that I should decide +whether the title of enthusiast or impostor more properly belongs to +that extraordinary man. Had I been intimately conversant with the son of +Abdallah, the task would still be difficult, and the success uncertain: +at the distance of twelve centuries, I darkly contemplate his shade +through a cloud of religious incense; and could I truly delineate the +portrait of an hour, the fleeting resemblance would not equally apply +to the solitary of Mount Hera, to the preacher of Mecca, and to the +conqueror of Arabia. The author of a mighty revolution appears to have +been endowed with a pious and contemplative disposition: so soon as +marriage had raised him above the pressure of want, he avoided the +paths of ambition and avarice; and till the age of forty he lived with +innocence, and would have died without a name. The unity of God is an +idea most congenial to nature and reason; and a slight conversation +with the Jews and Christians would teach him to despise and detest the +idolatry of Mecca. It was the duty of a man and a citizen to impart the +doctrine of salvation, to rescue his country from the dominion of sin +and error. The energy of a mind incessantly bent on the same object, +would convert a general obligation into a particular call; the warm +suggestions of the understanding or the fancy would be felt as the +inspirations of Heaven; the labor of thought would expire in rapture +and vision; and the inward sensation, the invisible monitor, would be +described with the form and attributes of an angel of God. [154] From +enthusiasm to imposture, the step is perilous and slippery: the daemon +of Socrates [155] affords a memorable instance, how a wise man may +deceive himself, how a good man may deceive others, how the conscience +may slumber in a mixed and middle state between self-illusion and +voluntary fraud. Charity may believe that the original motives of +Mahomet were those of pure and genuine benevolence; but a human +missionary is incapable of cherishing the obstinate unbelievers who +reject his claims despise his arguments, and persecute his life; he +might forgive his personal adversaries, he may lawfully hate the enemies +of God; the stern passions of pride and revenge were kindled in the +bosom of Mahomet, and he sighed, like the prophet of Nineveh, for the +destruction of the rebels whom he had condemned. The injustice of Mecca +and the choice of Medina, transformed the citizen into a prince, the +humble preacher into the leader of armies; but his sword was consecrated +by the example of the saints; and the same God who afflicts a sinful +world with pestilence and earthquakes, might inspire for their +conversion or chastisement the valor of his servants. In the exercise +of political government, he was compelled to abate of the stern rigor of +fanaticism, to comply in some measure with the prejudices and passions +of his followers, and to employ even the vices of mankind as the +instruments of their salvation. The use of fraud and perfidy, of cruelty +and injustice, were often subservient to the propagation of the faith; +and Mahomet commanded or approved the assassination of the Jews and +idolaters who had escaped from the field of battle. By the repetition +of such acts, the character of Mahomet must have been gradually stained; +and the influence of such pernicious habits would be poorly compensated +by the practice of the personal and social virtues which are necessary +to maintain the reputation of a prophet among his sectaries and friends. +Of his last years, ambition was the ruling passion; and a politician +will suspect, that he secretly smiled (the victorious impostor!) at the +enthusiasm of his youth, and the credulity of his proselytes. [156] A +philosopher will observe, that their credulity and his success would +tend more strongly to fortify the assurance of his divine mission, +that his interest and religion were inseparably connected, and that +his conscience would be soothed by the persuasion, that he alone was +absolved by the Deity from the obligation of positive and moral laws. If +he retained any vestige of his native innocence, the sins of Mahomet may +be allowed as an evidence of his sincerity. In the support of truth, the +arts of fraud and fiction may be deemed less criminal; and he would have +started at the foulness of the means, had he not been satisfied of the +importance and justice of the end. Even in a conqueror or a priest, I +can surprise a word or action of unaffected humanity; and the decree +of Mahomet, that, in the sale of captives, the mothers should never be +separated from their children, may suspend, or moderate, the censure of +the historian. [157] + +[Footnote 154: The Christians, rashly enough, have assigned to Mahomet a +tame pigeon, that seemed to descend from heaven and whisper in his ear. +As this pretended miracle is urged by Grotius, (de Veritate Religionis +Christianae,) his Arabic translator, the learned Pocock, inquired of him +the names of his authors; and Grotius confessed, that it is unknown to +the Mahometans themselves. Lest it should provoke their indignation and +laughter, the pious lie is suppressed in the Arabic version; but it has +maintained an edifying place in the numerous editions of the Latin +text, (Pocock, Specimen, Hist. Arabum, p. 186, 187. Reland, de Religion. +Moham. l. ii. c. 39, p. 259-262.)] + +[Footnote 155: (Plato, in Apolog. Socrat. c. 19, p. 121, 122, edit. +Fischer.) The familiar examples, which Socrates urges in his Dialogue +with Theages, (Platon. Opera, tom. i. p. 128, 129, edit. Hen. Stephan.) +are beyond the reach of human foresight; and the divine inspiration of +the philosopher is clearly taught in the Memorabilia of Xenophon. The +ideas of the most rational Platonists are expressed by Cicero, (de +Divinat. i. 54,) and in the xivth and xvth Dissertations of Maximus of +Tyre, (p. 153-172, edit. Davis.)] + +[Footnote 156: In some passage of his voluminous writings, Voltaire +compares the prophet, in his old age, to a fakir, "qui detache la chaine +de son cou pour en donner sur les oreilles a ses confreres."] + +[Footnote 157: Gagnier relates, with the same impartial pen, this humane +law of the prophet, and the murders of Caab, and Sophian, which he +prompted and approved, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 69, 97, 208.)] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VII. + +The good sense of Mahomet [158] despised the pomp of royalty: the +apostle of God submitted to the menial offices of the family: he kindled +the fire, swept the floor, milked the ewes, and mended with his own +hands his shoes and his woollen garment. Disdaining the penance and +merit of a hermit, he observed, without effort or vanity, the abstemious +diet of an Arab and a soldier. On solemn occasions he feasted his +companions with rustic and hospitable plenty; but in his domestic life, +many weeks would elapse without a tire being kindled on the hearth of +the prophet. The interdiction of wine was confirmed by his example; +his hunger was appeased with a sparing allowance of barley-bread: +he delighted in the taste of milk and honey; but his ordinary food +consisted of dates and water. Perfumes and women were the two sensual +enjoyments which his nature required, and his religion did not forbid; +and Mahomet affirmed, that the fervor of his devotion was increased by +these innocent pleasures. The heat of the climate inflames the blood +of the Arabs; and their libidinous complexion has been noticed by the +writers of antiquity. [159] Their incontinence was regulated by the +civil and religious laws of the Koran: their incestuous alliances were +blamed; the boundless license of polygamy was reduced to four legitimate +wives or concubines; their rights both of bed and of dowry were +equitably determined; the freedom of divorce was discouraged, adultery +was condemned as a capital offence; and fornication, in either sex, was +punished with a hundred stripes. [160] Such were the calm and rational +precepts of the legislator: but in his private conduct, Mahomet indulged +the appetites of a man, and abused the claims of a prophet. A special +revelation dispensed him from the laws which he had imposed on his +nation: the female sex, without reserve, was abandoned to his desires; +and this singular prerogative excited the envy, rather than the scandal, +the veneration, rather than the envy, of the devout Mussulmans. If we +remember the seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines of the +wise Solomon, we shall applaud the modesty of the Arabian, who espoused +no more than seventeen or fifteen wives; eleven are enumerated who +occupied at Medina their separate apartments round the house of the +apostle, and enjoyed in their turns the favor of his conjugal society. +What is singular enough, they were all widows, excepting only Ayesha, +the daughter of Abubeker. She was doubtless a virgin, since Mahomet +consummated his nuptials (such is the premature ripeness of the climate) +when she was only nine years of age. The youth, the beauty, the spirit +of Ayesha, gave her a superior ascendant: she was beloved and trusted +by the prophet; and, after his death, the daughter of Abubeker was long +revered as the mother of the faithful. Her behavior had been ambiguous +and indiscreet: in a nocturnal march she was accidentally left behind; +and in the morning Ayesha returned to the camp with a man. The temper of +Mahomet was inclined to jealousy; but a divine revelation assured him +of her innocence: he chastised her accusers, and published a law of +domestic peace, that no woman should be condemned unless four male +witnesses had seen her in the act of adultery. [161] In his adventures +with Zeineb, the wife of Zeid, and with Mary, an Egyptian captive, the +amorous prophet forgot the interest of his reputation. At the house of +Zeid, his freedman and adopted son, he beheld, in a loose undress, the +beauty of Zeineb, and burst forth into an ejaculation of devotion and +desire. The servile, or grateful, freedman understood the hint, and +yielded without hesitation to the love of his benefactor. But as the +filial relation had excited some doubt and scandal, the angel Gabriel +descended from heaven to ratify the deed, to annul the adoption, and +gently to reprove the apostle for distrusting the indulgence of his God. +One of his wives, Hafna, the daughter of Omar, surprised him on her own +bed, in the embraces of his Egyptian captive: she promised secrecy and +forgiveness, he swore that he would renounce the possession of Mary. +Both parties forgot their engagements; and Gabriel again descended with +a chapter of the Koran, to absolve him from his oath, and to exhort him +freely to enjoy his captives and concubines, without listening to the +clamors of his wives. In a solitary retreat of thirty days, he labored, +alone with Mary, to fulfil the commands of the angel. When his love and +revenge were satiated, he summoned to his presence his eleven wives, +reproached their disobedience and indiscretion, and threatened them with +a sentence of divorce, both in this world and in the next; a dreadful +sentence, since those who had ascended the bed of the prophet were +forever excluded from the hope of a second marriage. Perhaps the +incontinence of Mahomet may be palliated by the tradition of his natural +or preternatural gifts; [162] he united the manly virtue of thirty of +the children of Adam: and the apostle might rival the thirteenth labor +[163] of the Grecian Hercules. [164] A more serious and decent excuse +may be drawn from his fidelity to Cadijah. During the twenty-four years +of their marriage, her youthful husband abstained from the right of +polygamy, and the pride or tenderness of the venerable matron was never +insulted by the society of a rival. After her death, he placed her in +the rank of the four perfect women, with the sister of Moses, the mother +of Jesus, and Fatima, the best beloved of his daughters. "Was she not +old?" said Ayesha, with the insolence of a blooming beauty; "has not God +given you a better in her place?" "No, by God," said Mahomet, with an +effusion of honest gratitude, "there never can be a better! She believed +in me when men despised me; she relieved my wants, when I was poor and +persecuted by the world." [165] + +[Footnote 158: For the domestic life of Mahomet, consult Gagnier, and +the corresponding chapters of Abulfeda; for his diet, (tom. iii. p. +285-288;) his children, (p. 189, 289;) his wives, (p. 290-303;) his +marriage with Zeineb, (tom. ii. p. 152-160;) his amour with Mary, +(p. 303-309;) the false accusation of Ayesha, (p. 186-199.) The most +original evidence of the three last transactions is contained in +the xxivth, xxxiiid, and lxvith chapters of the Koran, with Sale's +Commentary. Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 80-90) and Maracci (Prodrom. +Alcoran, part iv. p. 49-59) have maliciously exaggerated the frailties +of Mahomet.] + +[Footnote 159: Incredibile est quo ardore apud eos in Venerem uterque +solvitur sexus, (Ammian. Marcellin. l. xiv. c. 4.)] + +[Footnote 160: Sale (Preliminary Discourse, p. 133-137) has +recapitulated the laws of marriage, divorce, &c.; and the curious reader +of Selden's Uror Hebraica will recognize many Jewish ordinances.] + +[Footnote 161: In a memorable case, the Caliph Omar decided that all +presumptive evidence was of no avail; and that all the four witnesses +must have actually seen stylum in pyxide, (Abulfedae Annales Moslemici, +p. 71, vers. Reiske.)] + +[Footnote 162: Sibi robur ad generationem, quantum triginta viri habent, +inesse jacteret: ita ut unica hora posset undecim foeminis satisfacere, +ut ex Arabum libris refert Stus. Petrus Paschasius, c. 2., (Maracci, +Prodromus Alcoran, p. iv. p. 55. See likewise Observations de Belon, +l. iii. c. 10, fol. 179, recto.) Al Jannabi (Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 287) +records his own testimony, that he surpassed all men in conjugal vigor; +and Abulfeda mentions the exclamation of Ali, who washed the body after +his death, "O propheta, certe penis tuus coelum versus erectus est," in +Vit. Mohammed, p. 140.] + +[Footnote 163: I borrow the style of a father of the church, (Greg. +Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 108.)] + +[Footnote 164: The common and most glorious legend includes, in a single +night the fifty victories of Hercules over the virgin daughters of +Thestius, (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. iv. p. 274. Pausanias, l. ix. p. +763. Statius Sylv. l. i. eleg. iii. v. 42.) But Athenaeus allows seven +nights, (Deipnosophist, l. xiii. p. 556,) and Apollodorus fifty, for +this arduous achievement of Hercules, who was then no more than eighteen +years of age, (Bibliot. l. ii. c. 4, p. 111, cum notis Heyne, part i. p. +332.)] + +[Footnote 165: Abulfeda in Vit. Moham. p. 12, 13, 16, 17, cum Notis +Gagnier] + +In the largest indulgence of polygamy, the founder of a religion and +empire might aspire to multiply the chances of a numerous posterity and +a lineal succession. The hopes of Mahomet were fatally disappointed. The +virgin Ayesha, and his ten widows of mature age and approved fertility, +were barren in his potent embraces. The four sons of Cadijah died in +their infancy. Mary, his Egyptian concubine, was endeared to him by the +birth of Ibrahim. At the end of fifteen months the prophet wept over his +grave; but he sustained with firmness the raillery of his enemies, and +checked the adulation or credulity of the Moslems, by the assurance that +an eclipse of the sun was not occasioned by the death of the infant. +Cadijah had likewise given him four daughters, who were married to +the most faithful of his disciples: the three eldest died before their +father; but Fatima, who possessed his confidence and love, became the +wife of her cousin Ali, and the mother of an illustrious progeny. +The merit and misfortunes of Ali and his descendants will lead me to +anticipate, in this place, the series of the Saracen caliphs, a title +which describes the commanders of the faithful as the vicars and +successors of the apostle of God. [166] + +[Footnote 166: This outline of the Arabian history is drawn from the +Bibliotheque Orientale of D'Herbelot, (under the names of Aboubecre, +Omar Othman, Ali, &c.;) from the Annals of Abulfeda, Abulpharagius, and +Elmacin, (under the proper years of the Hegira,) and especially from +Ockley's History of the Saracens, (vol. i. p. 1-10, 115-122, 229, 249, +363-372, 378-391, and almost the whole of the second volume.) Yet we +should weigh with caution the traditions of the hostile sects; a stream +which becomes still more muddy as it flows farther from the source. +Sir John Chardin has too faithfully copied the fables and errors of the +modern Persians, (Voyages, tom. ii. p. 235-250, &c.)] + +The birth, the alliance, the character of Ali, which exalted him above +the rest of his countrymen, might justify his claim to the vacant throne +of Arabia. The son of Abu Taleb was, in his own right, the chief of the +family of Hashem, and the hereditary prince or guardian of the city and +temple of Mecca. The light of prophecy was extinct; but the husband +of Fatima might expect the inheritance and blessing of her father: +the Arabs had sometimes been patient of a female reign; and the two +grandsons of the prophet had often been fondled in his lap, and shown +in his pulpit as the hope of his age, and the chief of the youth of +paradise. The first of the true believers might aspire to march before +them in this world and in the next; and if some were of a graver and +more rigid cast, the zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by +any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, +and a saint: his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and +religious sayings; [167] and every antagonist, in the combats of the +tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his eloquence and valor. From the +first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the apostle +was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his +brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses. The +son of Abu Taleb was afterwards reproached for neglecting to secure his +interest by a solemn declaration of his right, which would have silenced +all competition, and sealed his succession by the decrees of Heaven. But +the unsuspecting hero confided in himself: the jealousy of empire, +and perhaps the fear of opposition, might suspend the resolutions of +Mahomet; and the bed of sickness was besieged by the artful Ayesha, the +daughter of Abubeker, and the enemy of Ali. [1671] + +[Footnote 167: Ockley (at the end of his second volume) has given +an English version of 169 sentences, which he ascribes, with some +hesitation, to Ali, the son of Abu Taleb. His preface is colored by +the enthusiasm of a translator; yet these sentences delineate a +characteristic, though dark, picture of human life.] + +[Footnote 1671: Gibbon wrote chiefly from the Arabic or Sunnite account +of these transactions, the only sources accessible at the time when he +composed his History. Major Price, writing from Persian authorities, +affords us the advantage of comparing throughout what may be fairly +considered the Shiite Version. The glory of Ali is the constant burden +of their strain. He was destined, and, according to some accounts, +designated, for the caliphate by the prophet; but while the others were +fiercely pushing their own interests, Ali was watching the remains of +Mahomet with pious fidelity. His disinterested magnanimity, on each +separate occasion, declined the sceptre, and gave the noble example of +obedience to the appointed caliph. He is described, in retirement, +on the throne, and in the field of battle, as transcendently pious, +magnanimous, valiant, and humane. He lost his empire through his excess +of virtue and love for the faithful his life through his confidence in +God, and submission to the decrees of fate. Compare the curious account +of this apathy in Price, chapter ii. It is to be regretted, I must add, +that Major Price has contented himself with quoting the names of the +Persian works which he follows, without any account of their character, +age, and authority.--M.] + +The silence and death of the prophet restored the liberty of the people; +and his companions convened an assembly to deliberate on the choice +of his successor. The hereditary claim and lofty spirit of Ali were +offensive to an aristocracy of elders, desirous of bestowing and +resuming the sceptre by a free and frequent election: the Koreish could +never be reconciled to the proud preeminence of the line of Hashem; the +ancient discord of the tribes was rekindled, the fugitives of Mecca and +the auxiliaries of Medina asserted their respective merits; and the rash +proposal of choosing two independent caliphs would have crushed in their +infancy the religion and empire of the Saracens. The tumult was appeased +by the disinterested resolution of Omar, who, suddenly renouncing his +own pretensions, stretched forth his hand, and declared himself the +first subject of the mild and venerable Abubeker. [1672] The urgency +of the moment, and the acquiescence of the people, might excuse this +illegal and precipitate measure; but Omar himself confessed from the +pulpit, that if any Mulsulman should hereafter presume to anticipate +the suffrage of his brethren, both the elector and the elected would be +worthy of death. [168] After the simple inauguration of Abubeker, he +was obeyed in Medina, Mecca, and the provinces of Arabia: the Hashemites +alone declined the oath of fidelity; and their chief, in his own house, +maintained, above six months, a sullen and independent reserve; without +listening to the threats of Omar, who attempted to consume with fire the +habitation of the daughter of the apostle. The death of Fatima, and +the decline of his party, subdued the indignant spirit of Ali: he +condescended to salute the commander of the faithful, accepted his +excuse of the necessity of preventing their common enemies, and wisely +rejected his courteous offer of abdicating the government of the +Arabians. After a reign of two years, the aged caliph was summoned by +the angel of death. In his testament, with the tacit approbation of his +companions, he bequeathed the sceptre to the firm and intrepid virtue of +Omar. "I have no occasion," said the modest candidate, "for the place." +"But the place has occasion for you," replied Abubeker; who expired with +a fervent prayer, that the God of Mahomet would ratify his choice, and +direct the Mussulmans in the way of concord and obedience. The prayer +was not ineffectual, since Ali himself, in a life of privacy and prayer, +professed to revere the superior worth and dignity of his rival; who +comforted him for the loss of empire, by the most flattering marks of +confidence and esteem. In the twelfth year of his reign, Omar received +a mortal wound from the hand of an assassin: he rejected with equal +impartiality the names of his son and of Ali, refused to load his +conscience with the sins of his successor, and devolved on six of the +most respectable companions the arduous task of electing a commander +of the faithful. On this occasion, Ali was again blamed by his friends +[169] for submitting his right to the judgment of men, for recognizing +their jurisdiction by accepting a place among the six electors. He might +have obtained their suffrage, had he deigned to promise a strict and +servile conformity, not only to the Koran and tradition, but likewise to +the determinations of two seniors. [170] With these limitations, Othman, +the secretary of Mahomet, accepted the government; nor was it till after +the third caliph, twenty-four years after the death of the prophet, that +Ali was invested, by the popular choice, with the regal and sacerdotal +office. The manners of the Arabians retained their primitive simplicity, +and the son of Abu Taleb despised the pomp and vanity of this world. +At the hour of prayer, he repaired to the mosch of Medina, clothed in a +thin cotton gown, a coarse turban on his head, his slippers in one hand, +and his bow in the other, instead of a walking-staff. The companions of +the prophet, and the chiefs of the tribes, saluted their new sovereign, +and gave him their right hands as a sign of fealty and allegiance. + +[Footnote 1672: Abubeker, the father of the virgin Ayesha. St. Martin, +vol. XL, p. 88--M.] + +[Footnote 168: Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 5, 6,) from +an Arabian Ms., represents Ayesha as adverse to the substitution of her +father in the place of the apostle. This fact, so improbable in itself, +is unnoticed by Abulfeda, Al Jannabi, and Al Bochari, the last of whom +quotes the tradition of Ayesha herself, (Vit. Mohammed, p. 136 Vie de +Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 236.)] + +[Footnote 169: Particularly by his friend and cousin Abdallah, the +son of Abbas, who died A.D. 687, with the title of grand doctor of the +Moslems. In Abulfeda he recapitulates the important occasions in which +Ali had neglected his salutary advice, (p. 76, vers. Reiske;) and +concludes, (p. 85,) O princeps fidelium, absque controversia tu quidem +vere fortis es, at inops boni consilii, et rerum gerendarum parum +callens.] + +[Footnote 170: I suspect that the two seniors (Abulpharagius, p. 115. +Ockley, tom. i. p. 371,) may signify not two actual counsellors, but his +two predecessors, Abubeker and Omar.] + +The mischiefs that flow from the contests of ambition are usually +confined to the times and countries in which they have been agitated. +But the religious discord of the friends and enemies of Ali has been +renewed in every age of the Hegira, and is still maintained in the +immortal hatred of the Persians and Turks. [171] The former, who are +branded with the appellation of Shiites or sectaries, have enriched +the Mahometan creed with a new article of faith; and if Mahomet be +the apostle, his companion Ali is the vicar, of God. In their private +converse, in their public worship, they bitterly execrate the three +usurpers who intercepted his indefeasible right to the dignity of Imam +and Caliph; and the name of Omar expresses in their tongue the perfect +accomplishment of wickedness and impiety. [172] The Sonnites, who +are supported by the general consent and orthodox tradition of the +Mussulmans, entertain a more impartial, or at least a more decent, +opinion. They respect the memory of Abubeker, Omar, Othman, and Ali, the +holy and legitimate successors of the prophet. But they assign the last +and most humble place to the husband of Fatima, in the persuasion that +the order of succession was determined by the decrees of sanctity. +[173] An historian who balances the four caliphs with a hand unshaken by +superstition, will calmly pronounce that their manners were alike pure +and exemplary; that their zeal was fervent, and probably sincere; and +that, in the midst of riches and power, their lives were devoted to +the practice of moral and religious duties. But the public virtues +of Abubeker and Omar, the prudence of the first, the severity of the +second, maintained the peace and prosperity of their reigns. The feeble +temper and declining age of Othman were incapable of sustaining the +weight of conquest and empire. He chose, and he was deceived; he +trusted, and he was betrayed: the most deserving of the faithful +became useless or hostile to his government, and his lavish bounty was +productive only of ingratitude and discontent. The spirit of discord +went forth in the provinces: their deputies assembled at Medina; and +the Charegites, the desperate fanatics who disclaimed the yoke of +subordination and reason, were confounded among the free-born Arabs, +who demanded the redress of their wrongs and the punishment of their +oppressors. From Cufa, from Bassora, from Egypt, from the tribes of +the desert, they rose in arms, encamped about a league from Medina, +and despatched a haughty mandate to their sovereign, requiring him to +execute justice, or to descend from the throne. His repentance began to +disarm and disperse the insurgents; but their fury was rekindled by +the arts of his enemies; and the forgery of a perfidious secretary was +contrived to blast his reputation and precipitate his fall. The caliph +had lost the only guard of his predecessors, the esteem and confidence +of the Moslems: during a siege of six weeks his water and provisions +were intercepted, and the feeble gates of the palace were protected only +by the scruples of the more timorous rebels. Forsaken by those who had +abused his simplicity, the hopeless and venerable caliph expected the +approach of death: the brother of Ayesha marched at the head of the +assassins; and Othman, with the Koran in his lap, was pierced with +a multitude of wounds. [1731] A tumultuous anarchy of five days was +appeased by the inauguration of Ali: his refusal would have provoked a +general massacre. In this painful situation he supported the becoming +pride of the chief of the Hashemites; declared that he had rather serve +than reign; rebuked the presumption of the strangers; and required the +formal, if not the voluntary, assent of the chiefs of the nation. He +has never been accused of prompting the assassin of Omar; though Persia +indiscreetly celebrates the festival of that holy martyr. The quarrel +between Othman and his subjects was assuaged by the early mediation of +Ali; and Hassan, the eldest of his sons, was insulted and wounded in the +defence of the caliph. Yet it is doubtful whether the father of Hassan +was strenuous and sincere in his opposition to the rebels; and it is +certain that he enjoyed the benefit of their crime. The temptation was +indeed of such magnitude as might stagger and corrupt the most obdurate +virtue. The ambitious candidate no longer aspired to the barren sceptre +of Arabia; the Saracens had been victorious in the East and West; and +the wealthy kingdoms of Persia, Syria, and Egypt were the patrimony of +the commander of the faithful. + +[Footnote 171: The schism of the Persians is explained by all our +travellers of the last century, especially in the iid and ivth volumes +of their master, Chardin. Niebuhr, though of inferior merit, has the +advantage of writing so late as the year 1764, (Voyages en Arabie, &c., +tom. ii. p. 208-233,) since the ineffectual attempt of Nadir Shah to +change the religion of the nation, (see his Persian History translated +into French by Sir William Jones, tom. ii. p. 5, 6, 47, 48, 144-155.)] + +[Footnote 172: Omar is the name of the devil; his murderer is a saint. +When the Persians shoot with the bow, they frequently cry, "May this +arrow go to the heart of Omar!" (Voyages de Chardin, tom. ii. p 239, +240, 259, &c.)] + +[Footnote 173: This gradation of merit is distinctly marked in a creed +illustrated by Reland, (de Relig. Mohamm. l. i. p. 37;) and a Sonnite +argument inserted by Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, tom. ii. p. 230.) +The practice of cursing the memory of Ali was abolished, after forty +years, by the Ommiades themselves, (D'Herbelot, p. 690;) and there are +few among the Turks who presume to revile him as an infidel, (Voyages de +Chardin, tom. iv. p. 46.)] + +[Footnote 1731: Compare Price, p. 180.--M.] + + + + +Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VIII. + +A life of prayer and contemplation had not chilled the martial activity +of Ali; but in a mature age, after a long experience of mankind, he +still betrayed in his conduct the rashness and indiscretion of youth. +[1732] In the first days of his reign, he neglected to secure, either +by gifts or fetters, the doubtful allegiance of Telha and Zobeir, two +of the most powerful of the Arabian chiefs. They escaped from Medina to +Mecca, and from thence to Bassora; erected the standard of revolt; +and usurped the government of Irak, or Assyria, which they had vainly +solicited as the reward of their services. The mask of patriotism is +allowed to cover the most glaring inconsistencies; and the enemies, +perhaps the assassins, of Othman now demanded vengeance for his blood. +They were accompanied in their flight by Ayesha, the widow of the +prophet, who cherished, to the last hour of her life, an implacable +hatred against the husband and the posterity of Fatima. The most +reasonable Moslems were scandalized, that the mother of the faithful +should expose in a camp her person and character; [1733] but the +superstitious crowd was confident that her presence would sanctify the +justice, and assure the success, of their cause. At the head of twenty +thousand of his loyal Arabs, and nine thousand valiant auxiliaries of +Cufa, the caliph encountered and defeated the superior numbers of the +rebels under the walls of Bassora. [1734] Their leaders, Telha and +Zobeir, [1735] were slain in the first battle that stained with civil +blood the arms of the Moslems. [1736] After passing through the ranks to +animate the troops, Ayesha had chosen her post amidst the dangers of the +field. In the heat of the action, seventy men, who held the bridle of +her camel, were successively killed or wounded; and the cage or litter, +in which she sat, was stuck with javelins and darts like the quills of a +porcupine. The venerable captive sustained with firmness the reproaches +of the conqueror, and was speedily dismissed to her proper station at +the tomb of Mahomet, with the respect and tenderness that was still due +to the widow of the apostle. [1737] After this victory, which was styled +the Day of the Camel, Ali marched against a more formidable adversary; +against Moawiyah, the son of Abu Sophian, who had assumed the title of +caliph, and whose claim was supported by the forces of Syria and the +interest of the house of Ommiyah. From the passage of Thapsacus, the +plain of Siffin [174] extends along the western bank of the Euphrates. +On this spacious and level theatre, the two competitors waged a +desultory war of one hundred and ten days. In the course of ninety +actions or skirmishes, the loss of Ali was estimated at twenty-five, +that of Moawiyah at forty-five, thousand soldiers; and the list of the +slain was dignified with the names of five-and-twenty veterans who +had fought at Beder under the standard of Mahomet. In this sanguinary +contest the lawful caliph displayed a superior character of valor and +humanity. [1741] His troops were strictly enjoined to await the first +onset of the enemy, to spare their flying brethren, and to respect +the bodies of the dead, and the chastity of the female captives. He +generously proposed to save the blood of the Moslems by a single +combat; but his trembling rival declined the challenge as a sentence of +inevitable death. The ranks of the Syrians were broken by the charge of +a hero who was mounted on a piebald horse, and wielded with irresistible +force his ponderous and two-edged sword. As often as he smote a rebel, +he shouted the Allah Acbar, "God is victorious!" and in the tumult of +a nocturnal battle, he was heard to repeat four hundred times that +tremendous exclamation. The prince of Damascus already meditated his +flight; but the certain victory was snatched from the grasp of Ali by +the disobedience and enthusiasm of his troops. Their conscience was awed +by the solemn appeal to the books of the Koran which Moawiyah exposed +on the foremost lances; and Ali was compelled to yield to a disgraceful +truce and an insidious compromise. He retreated with sorrow and +indignation to Cufa; his party was discouraged; the distant provinces +of Persia, of Yemen, and of Egypt, were subdued or seduced by his crafty +rival; and the stroke of fanaticism, which was aimed against the three +chiefs of the nation, was fatal only to the cousin of Mahomet. In the +temple of Mecca, three Charegites or enthusiasts discoursed of the +disorders of the church and state: they soon agreed, that the deaths of +Ali, of Moawiyah, and of his friend Amrou, the viceroy of Egypt, would +restore the peace and unity of religion. Each of the assassins chose his +victim, poisoned his dagger, devoted his life, and secretly repaired +to the scene of action. Their resolution was equally desperate: but the +first mistook the person of Amrou, and stabbed the deputy who occupied +his seat; the prince of Damascus was dangerously hurt by the second; the +lawful caliph, in the mosch of Cufa, received a mortal wound from the +hand of the third. He expired in the sixty-third year of his age, and +mercifully recommended to his children, that they would despatch the +murderer by a single stroke. [1742] The sepulchre of Ali [175] was +concealed from the tyrants of the house of Ommiyah; [176] but in the +fourth age of the Hegira, a tomb, a temple, a city, arose near the ruins +of Cufa. [177] Many thousands of the Shiites repose in holy ground at +the feet of the vicar of God; and the desert is vivified by the numerous +and annual visits of the Persians, who esteem their devotion not less +meritorious than the pilgrimage of Mecca. + +[Footnote 1732: Ali had determined to supersede all the lieutenants in +the different provinces. Price, p. 191. Compare, on the conduct of Telha +and Zobeir, p. 193--M.] + +[Footnote 1733: See the very curious circumstances which took place +before and during her flight. Price, p. 196.--M.] + +[Footnote 1734: The reluctance of Ali to shed the blood of true +believers is strikingly described by Major Price's Persian historians. +Price, p. 222.--M.] + +[Footnote 1735: See (in Price) the singular adventures of Zobeir. He was +murdered after having abandoned the army of the insurgents. Telha was +about to do the same, when his leg was pierced with an arrow by one of +his own party The wound was mortal. Price, p. 222.--M.] + +[Footnote 1736: According to Price, two hundred and eighty of the Benni +Beianziel alone lost a right hand in this service, (p. 225.)--M] + +[Footnote 1737: She was escorted by a guard of females disguised as +soldiers. When she discovered this, Ayesha was as much gratified by the +delicacy of the arrangement, as she had been offended by the familiar +approach of so many men. Price, p. 229.--M.] + +[Footnote 174: The plain of Siffin is determined by D'Anville +(l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 29) to be the Campus Barbaricus of +Procopius.] + +[Footnote 1741: The Shiite authors have preserved a noble instance of +Ali's magnanimity. The superior generalship of Moawiyah had cut off the +army of Ali from the Euphrates; his soldiers were perishing from want +of water. Ali sent a message to his rival to request free access to the +river, declaring that under the same circumstances he would not allow +any of the faithful, though his adversaries, to perish from thirst. +After some debate, Moawiyah determined to avail himself of the advantage +of his situation, and to reject the demand of Ali. The soldiers of Ali +became desperate; forced their way through that part of the hostile army +which commanded the river, and in their turn entirely cut off the +troops of Moawiyah from the water. Moawiyah was reduced to make the same +supplication to Ali. The generous caliph instantly complied; and both +armies, with their cattle enjoyed free and unmolested access to the +river. Price, vol. i. p. 268, 272--M.] + +[Footnote 1742: His son Hassan was recognized as caliph in Arabia and +Irak; but voluntarily abdicated the throne, after six or seven months, +in favor of Moawiyah St. Martin, vol. xi. p 375.--M.] + +[Footnote 175: Abulfeda, a moderate Sonnite, relates the different +opinions concerning the burial of Ali, but adopts the sepulchre of Cufa, +hodie fama numeroque religiose frequentantium celebratum. This number is +reckoned by Niebuhr to amount annually to 2000 of the dead, and 5000 of +the living, (tom. ii. p. 208, 209.)] + +[Footnote 176: All the tyrants of Persia, from Adhad el Dowlat (A.D. +977, D'Herbelot, p. 58, 59, 95) to Nadir Shah, (A.D. 1743, Hist. de +Nadir Shah, tom. ii. p. 155,) have enriched the tomb of Ali with the +spoils of the people. The dome is copper, with a bright and massy +gilding, which glitters to the sun at the distance of many a mile.] + +[Footnote 177: The city of Meshed Ali, five or six miles from the ruins +of Cufa, and one hundred and twenty to the south of Bagdad, is of the +size and form of the modern Jerusalem. Meshed Hosein, larger and more +populous, is at the distance of thirty miles.] + +The persecutors of Mahomet usurped the inheritance of his children; and +the champions of idolatry became the supreme heads of his religion and +empire. The opposition of Abu Sophian had been fierce and obstinate; +his conversion was tardy and reluctant; his new faith was fortified by +necessity and interest; he served, he fought, perhaps he believed; and +the sins of the time of ignorance were expiated by the recent merits +of the family of Ommiyah. Moawiyah, the son of Abu Sophian, and of the +cruel Henda, was dignified, in his early youth, with the office or title +of secretary of the prophet: the judgment of Omar intrusted him with the +government of Syria; and he administered that important province above +forty years, either in a subordinate or supreme rank. Without renouncing +the fame of valor and liberality, he affected the reputation of humanity +and moderation: a grateful people was attached to their benefactor; +and the victorious Moslems were enriched with the spoils of Cyprus and +Rhodes. The sacred duty of pursuing the assassins of Othman was the +engine and pretence of his ambition. The bloody shirt of the martyr +was exposed in the mosch of Damascus: the emir deplored the fate of his +injured kinsman; and sixty thousand Syrians were engaged in his service +by an oath of fidelity and revenge. Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt, +himself an army, was the first who saluted the new monarch, and +divulged the dangerous secret, that the Arabian caliphs might be created +elsewhere than in the city of the prophet. [178] The policy of +Moawiyah eluded the valor of his rival; and, after the death of Ali, he +negotiated the abdication of his son Hassan, whose mind was either above +or below the government of the world, and who retired without a +sigh from the palace of Cufa to an humble cell near the tomb of his +grandfather. The aspiring wishes of the caliph were finally crowned +by the important change of an elective to an hereditary kingdom. Some +murmurs of freedom or fanaticism attested the reluctance of the Arabs, +and four citizens of Medina refused the oath of fidelity; but the +designs of Moawiyah were conducted with vigor and address; and his son +Yezid, a feeble and dissolute youth, was proclaimed as the commander of +the faithful and the successor on the apostle of God. + +[Footnote 178: I borrow, on this occasion, the strong sense and +expression of Tacitus, (Hist. i. 4: ) Evulgato imperii arcano posse +imperatorem alni quam Romae fieri.] + +A familiar story is related of the benevolence of one of the sons of +Ali. In serving at table, a slave had inadvertently dropped a dish of +scalding broth on his master: the heedless wretch fell prostrate, to +deprecate his punishment, and repeated a verse of the Koran: "Paradise +is for those who command their anger: "--"I am not angry: "--"and for +those who pardon offences: "--"I pardon your offence: "--"and for those +who return good for evil: "--"I give you your liberty and four hundred +pieces of silver." With an equal measure of piety, Hosein, the younger +brother of Hassan, inherited a remnant of his father's spirit, and +served with honor against the Christians in the siege of Constantinople. +The primogeniture of the line of Hashem, and the holy character of +grandson of the apostle, had centred in his person, and he was at +liberty to prosecute his claim against Yezid, the tyrant of Damascus, +whose vices he despised, and whose title he had never deigned to +acknowledge. A list was secretly transmitted from Cufa to Medina, of one +hundred and forty thousand Moslems, who professed their attachment to +his cause, and who were eager to draw their swords so soon as he should +appear on the banks of the Euphrates. Against the advice of his wisest +friends, he resolved to trust his person and family in the hands of a +perfidious people. He traversed the desert of Arabia with a timorous +retinue of women and children; but as he approached the confines of +Irak he was alarmed by the solitary or hostile face of the country, +and suspected either the defection or ruin of his party. His fears +were just: Obeidollah, the governor of Cufa, had extinguished the first +sparks of an insurrection; and Hosein, in the plain of Kerbela, was +encompassed by a body of five thousand horse, who intercepted his +communication with the city and the river. He might still have escaped +to a fortress in the desert, that had defied the power of Caesar and +Chosroes, and confided in the fidelity of the tribe of Tai, which would +have armed ten thousand warriors in his defence. + +In a conference with the chief of the enemy, he proposed the option +of three honorable conditions: that he should be allowed to return to +Medina, or be stationed in a frontier garrison against the Turks, or +safely conducted to the presence of Yezid. But the commands of the +caliph, or his lieutenant, were stern and absolute; and Hosein was +informed that he must either submit as a captive and a criminal to the +commander of the faithful, or expect the consequences of his rebellion. +"Do you think," replied he, "to terrify me with death?" And, during +the short respite of a night, [1781] he prepared with calm and solemn +resignation to encounter his fate. He checked the lamentations of +his sister Fatima, who deplored the impending ruin of his house. "Our +trust," said Hosein, "is in God alone. All things, both in heaven and +earth, must perish and return to their Creator. My brother, my father, +my mother, were better than me, and every Mussulman has an example in +the prophet." He pressed his friends to consult their safety by a timely +flight: they unanimously refused to desert or survive their beloved +master: and their courage was fortified by a fervent prayer and the +assurance of paradise. On the morning of the fatal day, he mounted on +horseback, with his sword in one hand and the Koran in the other: his +generous band of martyrs consisted only of thirty-two horse and forty +foot; but their flanks and rear were secured by the tent-ropes, and by a +deep trench which they had filled with lighted fagots, according to the +practice of the Arabs. The enemy advanced with reluctance, and one of +their chiefs deserted, with thirty followers, to claim the partnership +of inevitable death. In every close onset, or single combat, the despair +of the Fatimites was invincible; but the surrounding multitudes galled +them from a distance with a cloud of arrows, and the horses and men were +successively slain; a truce was allowed on both sides for the hour +of prayer; and the battle at length expired by the death of the last +companions of Hosein. Alone, weary, and wounded, he seated himself at +the door of his tent. As he tasted a drop of water, he was pierced in +the mouth with a dart; and his son and nephew, two beautiful youths, +were killed in his arms. He lifted his hands to heaven; they were full +of blood; and he uttered a funeral prayer for the living and the dead. +In a transport of despair his sister issued from the tent, and adjured +the general of the Cufians, that he would not suffer Hosein to be +murdered before his eyes: a tear trickled down his venerable beard; and +the boldest of his soldiers fell back on every side as the dying hero +threw himself among them. The remorseless Shamer, a name detested by the +faithful, reproached their cowardice; and the grandson of Mahomet was +slain with three-and-thirty strokes of lances and swords. After they had +trampled on his body, they carried his head to the castle of Cufa, and +the inhuman Obeidollah struck him on the mouth with a cane: "Alas," +exclaimed an aged Mussulman, "on these lips have I seen the lips of the +apostle of God!" In a distant age and climate, the tragic scene of the +death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader. [179] +[1791] On the annual festival of his martyrdom, in the devout pilgrimage +to his sepulchre, his Persian votaries abandon their souls to the +religious frenzy of sorrow and indignation. [180] + +[Footnote 1781: According to Major Price's authorities a much longer +time elapsed (p. 198 &c.)--M.] + +[Footnote 179: I have abridged the interesting narrative of Ockley, +(tom. ii. p. 170-231.) It is long and minute: but the pathetic, almost +always, consists in the detail of little circumstances.] + +[Footnote 1791: The account of Hosein's death, in the Persian Tarikh +Tebry, is much longer; in some circumstances, more pathetic, than that +of Ockley, followed by Gibbon. His family, after his defenders were all +slain, perished in succession before his eyes. They had been cut off +from the water, and suffered all the agonies of thirst. His eldest son, +Ally Akbar, after ten different assaults on the enemy, in each of which +he slew two or three, complained bitterly of his sufferings from heat +and thirst. "His father arose, and introducing his own tongue within +the parched lips of his favorite child, thus endeavored to alleviate his +sufferings by the only means of which his enemies had not yet been able +to deprive him." Ally was slain and cut to pieces in his sight: this +wrung from him his first and only cry; then it was that his sister +Zeyneb rushed from the tent. The rest, including his nephew, fell in +succession. Hosein's horse was wounded--he fell to the ground. The hour +of prayer, between noon and sunset, had arrived; the Imaun began the +religious duties:--as Hosein prayed, he heard the cries of his infant +child Abdallah, only twelve months old. The child was, at his desire, +placed on his bosom: as he wept over it, it was transfixed by an arrow. +Hosein dragged himself to the Euphrates: as he slaked his burning +thirst, his mouth was pierced by an arrow: he drank his own blood. +Wounded in four-and-thirty places, he still gallantly resisted. A +soldier named Zeraiah gave the fatal wound: his head was cut off by +Ziliousheng. Price, p. 402, 410.--M.] + +[Footnote 180: Niebuhr the Dane (Voyages en Arabie, &c., tom. ii. p. +208, &c.) is, perhaps, the only European traveller who has dared to +visit Meshed Ali and Meshed Hosein. The two sepulchres are in the hands +of the Turks, who tolerate and tax the devotion of the Persian heretics. +The festival of the death of Hosein is amply described by Sir John +Chardin, a traveller whom I have often praised.] + +When the sisters and children of Ali were brought in chains to the +throne of Damascus, the caliph was advised to extirpate the enmity of +a popular and hostile race, whom he had injured beyond the hope of +reconciliation. But Yezid preferred the councils of mercy; and the +mourning family was honorably dismissed to mingle their tears with +their kindred at Medina. The glory of martyrdom superseded the right of +primogeniture; and the twelve imams, [181] or pontiffs, of the Persian +creed, are Ali, Hassan, Hosein, and the lineal descendants of Hosein +to the ninth generation. Without arms, or treasures, or subjects, they +successively enjoyed the veneration of the people, and provoked the +jealousy of the reigning caliphs: their tombs, at Mecca or Medina, on +the banks of the Euphrates, or in the province of Chorasan, are still +visited by the devotion of their sect. Their names were often the +pretence of sedition and civil war; but these royal saints despised the +pomp of the world: submitted to the will of God and the injustice of +man; and devoted their innocent lives to the study and practice of +religion. The twelfth and last of the Imams, conspicuous by the title +of Mahadi, or the Guide, surpassed the solitude and sanctity of his +predecessors. He concealed himself in a cavern near Bagdad: the time and +place of his death are unknown; and his votaries pretend that he still +lives, and will appear before the day of judgment to overthrow the +tyranny of Dejal, or the Antichrist. [182] In the lapse of two or three +centuries, the posterity of Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet, had multiplied +to the number of thirty-three thousand: [183] the race of Ali might +be equally prolific: the meanest individual was above the first and +greatest of princes; and the most eminent were supposed to excel the +perfection of angels. But their adverse fortune, and the wide extent of +the Mussulman empire, allowed an ample scope for every bold and artful +imposture, who claimed affinity with the holy seed: the sceptre of the +Almohades, in Spain and Africa; of the Fatimites, in Egypt and Syria; +[184] of the Sultans of Yemen; and of the Sophis of Persia; [185] has +been consecrated by this vague and ambiguous title. Under their reigns +it might be dangerous to dispute the legitimacy of their birth; and one +of the Fatimite caliphs silenced an indiscreet question by drawing +his cimeter: "This," said Moez, "is my pedigree; and these," casting +a handful of gold to his soldiers,--"and these are my kindred and my +children." In the various conditions of princes, or doctors, or +nobles, or merchants, or beggars, a swarm of the genuine or fictitious +descendants of Mahomet and Ali is honored with the appellation +of sheiks, or sherifs, or emirs. In the Ottoman empire they are +distinguished by a green turban; receive a stipend from the treasury; +are judged only by their chief; and, however debased by fortune or +character, still assert the proud preeminence of their birth. A family +of three hundred persons, the pure and orthodox branch of the caliph +Hassan, is preserved without taint or suspicion in the holy cities of +Mecca and Medina, and still retains, after the revolutions of twelve +centuries, the custody of the temple, and the sovereignty of their +native land. The fame and merit of Mahomet would ennoble a plebeian +race, and the ancient blood of the Koreish transcends the recent majesty +of the kings of the earth. [186] + +[Footnote 181: The general article of Imam, in D'Herbelot's +Bibliotheque, will indicate the succession; and the lives of the twelve +are given under their respective names.] + +[Footnote 182: The name of Antichrist may seem ridiculous, but the +Mahometans have liberally borrowed the fables of every religion, (Sale's +Preliminary Discourse, p. 80, 82.) In the royal stable of Ispahan, two +horses were always kept saddled, one for the Mahadi himself, the other +for his lieutenant, Jesus the son of Mary.] + +[Footnote 183: In the year of the Hegira 200, (A.D. 815.) See +D'Herbelot, p. 146] + +[Footnote 184: D'Herbelot, p. 342. The enemies of the Fatimites +disgraced them by a Jewish origin. Yet they accurately deduced their +genealogy from Jaafar, the sixth Imam; and the impartial Abulfeda +allows (Annal. Moslem. p. 230) that they were owned by many, qui absque +controversia genuini sunt Alidarum, homines propaginum suae gentis +exacte callentes. He quotes some lines from the celebrated Scherif or +Rahdi, Egone humilitatem induam in terris hostium? (I suspect him to +be an Edrissite of Sicily,) cum in Aegypto sit Chalifa de gente Alii, +quocum ego communem habeo patrem et vindicem.] + +[Footnote 185: The kings of Persia in the last century are descended +from Sheik Sefi, a saint of the xivth century, and through him, from +Moussa Cassem, the son of Hosein, the son of Ali, (Olearius, p. 957. +Chardin, tom. iii. p. 288.) But I cannot trace the intermediate degrees +in any genuine or fabulous pedigree. If they were truly Fatimites, they +might draw their origin from the princes of Mazanderan, who reigned in +the ixth century, (D'Herbelot, p. 96.)] + +[Footnote 186: The present state of the family of Mahomet and Ali is +most accurately described by Demetrius Cantemir (Hist. of the Othmae +Empire, p. 94) and Niebuhr, (Description de l'Arabie, p. 9-16, 317 +&c.) It is much to be lamented, that the Danish traveller was unable to +purchase the chronicles of Arabia.] + +The talents of Mahomet are entitled to our applause; but his success +has, perhaps, too strongly attracted our admiration. Are we surprised +that a multitude of proselytes should embrace the doctrine and the +passions of an eloquent fanatic? In the heresies of the church, the same +seduction has been tried and repeated from the time of the apostles to +that of the reformers. Does it seem incredible that a private citizen +should grasp the sword and the sceptre, subdue his native country, and +erect a monarchy by his victorious arms? In the moving picture of the +dynasties of the East, a hundred fortunate usurpers have arisen from a +baser origin, surmounted more formidable obstacles, and filled a larger +scope of empire and conquest. Mahomet was alike instructed to preach and +to fight; and the union of these opposite qualities, while it enhanced +his merit, contributed to his success: the operation of force and +persuasion, of enthusiasm and fear, continually acted on each other, +till every barrier yielded to their irresistible power. His voice +invited the Arabs to freedom and victory, to arms and rapine, to the +indulgence of their darling passions in this world and the other: the +restraints which he imposed were requisite to establish the credit of +the prophet, and to exercise the obedience of the people; and the +only objection to his success was his rational creed of the unity and +perfections of God. It is not the propagation, but the permanency, +of his religion, that deserves our wonder: the same pure and perfect +impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina, is preserved, after +the revolutions of twelve centuries, by the Indian, the African, and the +Turkish proselytes of the Koran. If the Christian apostles, St. Peter or +St. Paul, could return to the Vatican, they might possibly inquire the +name of the Deity who is worshipped with such mysterious rites in that +magnificent temple: at Oxford or Geneva, they would experience less +surprise; but it might still be incumbent on them to peruse the +catechism of the church, and to study the orthodox commentators on their +own writings and the words of their Master. But the Turkish dome of St. +Sophia, with an increase of splendor and size, represents the humble +tabernacle erected at Medina by the hands of Mahomet. The Mahometans +have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of their +faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. "I +believe in one God, and Mahomet the apostle of God," is the simple and +invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has +never been degraded by any visible idol; the honors of the prophet have +never transgressed the measure of human virtue; and his living precepts +have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of +reason and religion. The votaries of Ali have, indeed, consecrated +the memory of their hero, his wife, and his children; and some of the +Persian doctors pretend that the divine essence was incarnate in the +person of the Imams; but their superstition is universally condemned +by the Sonnites; and their impiety has afforded a seasonable warning +against the worship of saints and martyrs. The metaphysical questions on +the attributes of God, and the liberty of man, have been agitated in the +schools of the Mahometans, as well as in those of the Christians; but +among the former they have never engaged the passions of the people, +or disturbed the tranquillity of the state. The cause of this important +difference may be found in the separation or union of the regal +and sacerdotal characters. It was the interest of the caliphs, the +successors of the prophet and commanders of the faithful, to repress +and discourage all religious innovations: the order, the discipline, +the temporal and spiritual ambition of the clergy, are unknown to the +Moslems; and the sages of the law are the guides of their conscience and +the oracles of their faith. From the Atlantic to the Ganges, the Koran +is acknowledged as the fundamental code, not only of theology, but +of civil and criminal jurisprudence; and the laws which regulate the +actions and the property of mankind are guarded by the infallible and +immutable sanction of the will of God. This religious servitude is +attended with some practical disadvantage; the illiterate legislator had +been often misled by his own prejudices and those of his country; and +the institutions of the Arabian desert may be ill adapted to the wealth +and numbers of Ispahan and Constantinople. On these occasions, the +Cadhi respectfully places on his head the holy volume, and substitutes a +dexterous interpretation more apposite to the principles of equity, and +the manners and policy of the times. + +His beneficial or pernicious influence on the public happiness is the +last consideration in the character of Mahomet. The most bitter or +most bigoted of his Christian or Jewish foes will surely allow that +he assumed a false commission to inculcate a salutary doctrine, less +perfect only than their own. He piously supposed, as the basis of his +religion, the truth and sanctity of their prior revolutions, the virtues +and miracles of their founders. The idols of Arabia were broken before +the throne of God; the blood of human victims was expiated by prayer, +and fasting, and alms, the laudable or innocent arts of devotion; and +his rewards and punishments of a future life were painted by the images +most congenial to an ignorant and carnal generation. Mahomet was, +perhaps, incapable of dictating a moral and political system for the +use of his countrymen: but he breathed among the faithful a spirit of +charity and friendship; recommended the practice of the social virtues; +and checked, by his laws and precepts, the thirst of revenge, and the +oppression of widows and orphans. The hostile tribes were united in +faith and obedience, and the valor which had been idly spent in domestic +quarrels was vigorously directed against a foreign enemy. Had the +impulse been less powerful, Arabia, free at home and formidable abroad, +might have flourished under a succession of her native monarchs. +Her sovereignty was lost by the extent and rapidity of conquest. The +colonies of the nation were scattered over the East and West, and their +blood was mingled with the blood of their converts and captives. After +the reign of three caliphs, the throne was transported from Medina to +the valley of Damascus and the banks of the Tigris; the holy cities +were violated by impious war; Arabia was ruled by the rod of a subject, +perhaps of a stranger; and the Bedoweens of the desert, awakening from +their dream of dominion, resumed their old and solitary independence. +[187] + +[Footnote 187: The writers of the Modern Universal History (vols. i. +and ii.) have compiled, in 850 folio pages, the life of Mahomet and +the annals of the caliphs. They enjoyed the advantage of reading, +and sometimes correcting, the Arabic text; yet, notwithstanding their +high-sounding boasts, I cannot find, after the conclusion of my work, +that they have afforded me much (if any) additional information. The +dull mass is not quickened by a spark of philosophy or taste; and +the compilers indulge the criticism of acrimonious bigotry against +Boulainvilliers, Sale, Gagnier, and all who have treated Mahomet with +favor, or even justice.] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part I. + + The Conquest Of Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, And Spain, By + The Arabs Or Saracens.--Empire Of The Caliphs, Or Successors + Of Mahomet.--State Of The Christians, &c., Under Their + Government. + +The revolution of Arabia had not changed the character of the Arabs: the +death of Mahomet was the signal of independence; and the hasty structure +of his power and religion tottered to its foundations. A small and +faithful band of his primitive disciples had listened to his eloquence, +and shared his distress; had fled with the apostle from the persecution +of Mecca, or had received the fugitive in the walls of Medina. The +increasing myriads, who acknowledged Mahomet as their king and prophet, +had been compelled by his arms, or allured by his prosperity. The +polytheists were confounded by the simple idea of a solitary and +invisible God; the pride of the Christians and Jews disdained the +yoke of a mortal and contemporary legislator. The habits of faith and +obedience were not sufficiently confirmed; and many of the new converts +regretted the venerable antiquity of the law of Moses, or the rites +and mysteries of the Catholic church; or the idols, the sacrifices, the +joyous festivals, of their Pagan ancestors. The jarring interests and +hereditary feuds of the Arabian tribes had not yet coalesced in a system +of union and subordination; and the Barbarians were impatient of the +mildest and most salutary laws that curbed their passions, or violated +their customs. They submitted with reluctance to the religious precepts +of the Koran, the abstinence from wine, the fast of the Ramadan, and the +daily repetition of five prayers; and the alms and tithes, which were +collected for the treasury of Medina, could be distinguished only by +a name from the payment of a perpetual and ignominious tribute. The +example of Mahomet had excited a spirit of fanaticism or imposture, +and several of his rivals presumed to imitate the conduct, and defy +the authority, of the living prophet. At the head of the fugitives +and auxiliaries, the first caliph was reduced to the cities of Mecca, +Medina, and Tayef; and perhaps the Koreish would have restored the +idols of the Caaba, if their levity had not been checked by a seasonable +reproof. "Ye men of Mecca, will ye be the last to embrace, and the +first to abandon, the religion of Islam?" After exhorting the Moslems +to confide in the aid of God and his apostle, Abubeker resolved, by a +vigorous attack, to prevent the junction of the rebels. The women +and children were safely lodged in the cavities of the mountains: the +warriors, marching under eleven banners, diffused the terror of their +arms; and the appearance of a military force revived and confirmed the +loyalty of the faithful. The inconstant tribes accepted, with humble +repentance, the duties of prayer, and fasting, and alms; and, after +some examples of success and severity, the most daring apostates fell +prostrate before the sword of the Lord and of Caled. In the fertile +province of Yemanah, [1] between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, +in a city not inferior to Medina itself, a powerful chief (his name +was Moseilama) had assumed the character of a prophet, and the tribe of +Hanifa listened to his voice. A female prophetess [1111] was attracted +by his reputation; the decencies of words and actions were spurned by +these favorites of Heaven; [2] and they employed several days in mystic +and amorous converse. An obscure sentence of his Koran, or book, is yet +extant; [3] and in the pride of his mission, Moseilama condescended to +offer a partition of the earth. The proposal was answered by Mahomet +with contempt; but the rapid progress of the impostor awakened the +fears of his successor: forty thousand Moslems were assembled under the +standard of Caled; and the existence of their faith was resigned to +the event of a decisive battle. [3111] In the first action they +were repulsed by the loss of twelve hundred men; but the skill and +perseverance of their general prevailed; their defeat was avenged by the +slaughter of ten thousand infidels; and Moseilama himself was pierced by +an Aethiopian slave with the same javelin which had mortally wounded +the uncle of Mahomet. The various rebels of Arabia without a chief or +a cause, were speedily suppressed by the power and discipline of +the rising monarchy; and the whole nation again professed, and more +steadfastly held, the religion of the Koran. The ambition of the caliphs +provided an immediate exercise for the restless spirit of the Saracens: +their valor was united in the prosecution of a holy war; and their +enthusiasm was equally confirmed by opposition and victory. + +[Footnote 1: See the description of the city and country of Al Yamanah, +in Abulfeda, Descript. Arabiae, p. 60, 61. In the xiiith century, there +were some ruins, and a few palms; but in the present century, the same +ground is occupied by the visions and arms of a modern prophet, whose +tenets are imperfectly known, (Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, p. +296-302.)] + +[Footnote 1111: This extraordinary woman was a Christian; she was at +the head of a numerous and flourishing sect; Moseilama professed to +recognize her inspiration. In a personal interview he proposed their +marriage and the union of their sects. The handsome person, the +impassioned eloquence, and the arts of Moseilama, triumphed over the +virtue of the prophetesa who was rejected with scorn by her lover, and +by her notorious unchastity ost her influence with her own followers. +Gibbon, with that propensity too common, especially in his later +volumes, has selected only the grosser part of this singular +adventure.--M.] + +[Footnote 2: The first salutation may be transcribed, but cannot be +translated. It was thus that Moseilama said or sung:-- + + Surge tandem itaque strenue permolenda; nam stratus tibi thorus est. + Aut in propatulo tentorio si velis, aut in abditiore cubiculo si malis; + Aut supinam te humi exporrectam fustigabo, si velis, + Aut si malis manibus pedibusque nixam. + Aut si velis ejus (Priapi) gemino triente aut si malis totus veniam. + Imo, totus venito, O Apostole Dei, clamabat foemina. + Id ipsum, dicebat + Moseilama, mihi quoque suggessit Deus. + +The prophetess Segjah, after the fall of her lover, returned to +idolatry; but under the reign of Moawiyah, she became a Mussulman, and +died at Bassora, (Abulfeda, Annal. vers. Reiske, p. 63.)] + +[Footnote 3: See this text, which demonstrates a God from the work of +generation, in Abulpharagius (Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 13, and Dynast. +p. 103) and Abulfeda, (Annal. p. 63.)] + +[Footnote 3111: Compare a long account of this battle in Price, p. +42.--M.] + +From the rapid conquests of the Saracens a presumption will naturally +arise, that the caliphs [311] commanded in person the armies of the +faithful, and sought the crown of martyrdom in the foremost ranks of +the battle. The courage of Abubeker, [4] Omar, [5] and Othman, [6] had +indeed been tried in the persecution and wars of the prophet; and the +personal assurance of paradise must have taught them to despise the +pleasures and dangers of the present world. But they ascended the +throne in a venerable or mature age; and esteemed the domestic cares of +religion and justice the most important duties of a sovereign. +Except the presence of Omar at the siege of Jerusalem, their longest +expeditions were the frequent pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca; and they +calmly received the tidings of victory as they prayed or preached before +the sepulchre of the prophet. The austere and frugal measure of +their lives was the effect of virtue or habit, and the pride of their +simplicity insulted the vain magnificence of the kings of the earth. +When Abubeker assumed the office of caliph, he enjoined his daughter +Ayesha to take a strict account of his private patrimony, that it might +be evident whether he were enriched or impoverished by the service of +the state. He thought himself entitled to a stipend of three pieces +of gold, with the sufficient maintenance of a single camel and a black +slave; but on the Friday of each week he distributed the residue of his +own and the public money, first to the most worthy, and then to the most +indigent, of the Moslems. The remains of his wealth, a coarse garment, +and five pieces of gold, were delivered to his successor, who lamented +with a modest sigh his own inability to equal such an admirable model. +Yet the abstinence and humility of Omar were not inferior to the virtues +of Abubeker: his food consisted of barley bread or dates; his drink was +water; he preached in a gown that was torn or tattered in twelve places; +and the Persian satrap, who paid his homage to the conqueror, found him +asleep among the beggars on the steps of the mosch of Medina. Oeeconomy +is the source of liberality, and the increase of the revenue enabled +Omar to establish a just and perpetual reward for the past and present +services of the faithful. Careless of his own emolument, he assigned to +Abbas, the uncle of the prophet, the first and most ample allowance of +twenty-five thousand drachms or pieces of silver. Five thousand were +allotted to each of the aged warriors, the relics of the field of Beder; +and the last and meanest of the companions of Mahomet was distinguished +by the annual reward of three thousand pieces. One thousand was the +stipend of the veterans who had fought in the first battles against the +Greeks and Persians; and the decreasing pay, as low as fifty pieces +of silver, was adapted to the respective merit and seniority of the +soldiers of Omar. Under his reign, and that of his predecessor, the +conquerors of the East were the trusty servants of God and the people; +the mass of the public treasure was consecrated to the expenses of +peace and war; a prudent mixture of justice and bounty maintained the +discipline of the Saracens, and they united, by a rare felicity, the +despatch and execution of despotism with the equal and frugal maxims of +a republican government. The heroic courage of Ali, [7] the consummate +prudence of Moawiyah, [8] excited the emulation of their subjects; and +the talents which had been exercised in the school of civil discord +were more usefully applied to propagate the faith and dominion of +the prophet. In the sloth and vanity of the palace of Damascus, the +succeeding princes of the house of Ommiyah were alike destitute of the +qualifications of statesmen and of saints. [9] Yet the spoils of unknown +nations were continually laid at the foot of their throne, and the +uniform ascent of the Arabian greatness must be ascribed to the spirit +of the nation rather than the abilities of their chiefs. A large +deduction must be allowed for the weakness of their enemies. The birth +of Mahomet was fortunately placed in the most degenerate and disorderly +period of the Persians, the Romans, and the Barbarians of Europe: the +empires of Trajan, or even of Constantine or Charlemagne, would +have repelled the assault of the naked Saracens, and the torrent of +fanaticism might have been obscurely lost in the sands of Arabia. + +[Footnote 311: In Arabic, "successors." V. Hammer Geschichte der Assas. +p. 14--M.] + +[Footnote 4: His reign in Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 251. Elmacin, p. 18. +Abulpharagius, p. 108. Abulfeda, p. 60. D'Herbelot, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 5: His reign in Eutychius, p. 264. Elmacin, p. 24. +Abulpharagius, p. 110. Abulfeda, p. 66. D'Herbelot, p. 686.] + +[Footnote 6: His reign in Eutychius, p. 323. Elmacin, p. 36. +Abulpharagius, p. 115. Abulfeda, p. 75. D'Herbelot, p. 695.] + +[Footnote 7: His reign in Eutychius, p. 343. Elmacin, p. 51. +Abulpharagius, p. 117. Abulfeda, p. 83. D'Herbelot, p. 89.] + +[Footnote 8: His reign in Eutychius, p. 344. Elmacin, p. 54. +Abulpharagius, p. 123. Abulfeda, p. 101. D'Herbelot, p. 586.] + +[Footnote 9: Their reigns in Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 360-395. Elmacin, +p. 59-108. Abulpharagius, Dynast. ix. p. 124-139. Abulfeda, p. +111-141. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 691, and the particular +articles of the Ommiades.] + +In the victorious days of the Roman republic, it had been the aim of +the senate to confine their councils and legions to a single war, +and completely to suppress a first enemy before they provoked the +hostilities of a second. These timid maxims of policy were disdained +by the magnanimity or enthusiasm of the Arabian caliphs. With the same +vigor and success they invaded the successors of Augustus and those of +Artaxerxes; and the rival monarchies at the same instant became the prey +of an enemy whom they had been so long accustomed to despise. In the +ten years of the administration of Omar, the Saracens reduced to his +obedience thirty-six thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thousand +churches or temples of the unbelievers, and edified fourteen hundred +moschs for the exercise of the religion of Mahomet. One hundred years +after his flight from Mecca, the arms and the reign of his successors +extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean, over the various and distant +provinces, which may be comprised under the names of, I. Persia; +II. Syria; III. Egypt; IV. Africa; and, V. Spain. Under this general +division, I shall proceed to unfold these memorable transactions; +despatching with brevity the remote and less interesting conquests of +the East, and reserving a fuller narrative for those domestic countries +which had been included within the pale of the Roman empire. Yet I +must excuse my own defects by a just complaint of the blindness and +insufficiency of my guides. The Greeks, so loquacious in controversy, +have not been anxious to celebrate the triumphs of their enemies. [10] +After a century of ignorance, the first annals of the Mussulmans were +collected in a great measure from the voice of tradition. [11] Among +the numerous productions of Arabic and Persian literature, [12] our +interpreters have selected the imperfect sketches of a more recent +age. [13] The art and genius of history have ever been unknown to the +Asiatics; [14] they are ignorant of the laws of criticism; and our +monkish chronicle of the same period may be compared to their most +popular works, which are never vivified by the spirit of philosophy and +freedom. + +The Oriental library of a Frenchman [15] would instruct the most learned +mufti of the East; and perhaps the Arabs might not find in a single +historian so clear and comprehensive a narrative of their own exploits +as that which will be deduced in the ensuing sheets. + +[Footnote 10: For the viith and viiith century, we have scarcely any +original evidence of the Byzantine historians, except the chronicles of +Theophanes (Theophanis Confessoris Chronographia, Gr. et Lat. cum notis +Jacobi Goar. Paris, 1665, in folio) and the Abridgment of Nicephorus, +(Nicephori Patriarchae C. P. Breviarium Historicum, Gr. et Lat. Paris, +1648, in folio,) who both lived in the beginning of the ixth century, +(see Hanckius de Scriptor. Byzant. p. 200-246.) Their contemporary, +Photius, does not seem to be more opulent. After praising the style of +Nicephorus, he adds, and only complains of his extreme brevity, (Phot. +Bibliot. Cod. lxvi. p. 100.) Some additions may be gleaned from the more +recent histories of Cedrenus and Zonaras of the xiith century.] + +[Footnote 11: Tabari, or Al Tabari, a native of Taborestan, a famous +Imam of Bagdad, and the Livy of the Arabians, finished his general +history in the year of the Hegira 302, (A.D. 914.) At the request of his +friends, he reduced a work of 30,000 sheets to a more reasonable +size. But his Arabic original is known only by the Persian and Turkish +versions. The Saracenic history of Ebn Amid, or Elmacin, is said to be +an abridgment of the great Tabari, (Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. +ii. preface, p. xxxix. and list of authors, D'Herbelot, p. 866, 870, +1014.)] + +[Footnote 12: Besides the list of authors framed by Prideaux, (Life of +Mahomet, p. 179-189,) Ockley, (at the end of his second volume,) and +Petit de la Croix, (Hist. de Gengiscan, p. 525-550,) we find in the +Bibliotheque Orientale Tarikh, a catalogue of two or three hundred +histories or chronicles of the East, of which not more than three or +four are older than Tabari. A lively sketch of Oriental literature is +given by Reiske, (in his Prodidagmata ad Hagji Chalifae librum +memorialem ad calcem Abulfedae Tabulae Syriae, Lipsiae, 1776;) but his +project and the French version of Petit de la Croix (Hist. de Timur Bec, +tom. i. preface, p. xlv.) have fallen to the ground.] + +[Footnote 13: The particular historians and geographers will be +occasionally introduced. The four following titles represent the Annals +which have guided me in this general narrative. 1. Annales Eutychii, +Patriarchoe Alexandrini, ab Edwardo Pocockio, Oxon. 1656, 2 vols. in +4to. A pompous edition of an indifferent author, translated by Pocock +to gratify the Presbyterian prejudices of his friend Selden. 2. Historia +Saracenica Georgii Elmacini, opera et studio Thomae Erpenii, in 4to., +Lugd. Batavorum, 1625. He is said to have hastily translated a corrupt +Ms., and his version is often deficient in style and sense. 3. Historia +compendiosa Dynastiarum a Gregorio Abulpharagio, interprete Edwardo +Pocockio, in 4to., Oxon. 1663. More useful for the literary than the +civil history of the East. 4. Abulfedoe Annales Moslemici ad Ann. +Hegiroe ccccvi. a Jo. Jac. Reiske, in 4to., Lipsioe, 1754. The best of +our chronicles, both for the original and version, yet how far below the +name of Abulfeda! We know that he wrote at Hamah in the xivth century. +The three former were Christians of the xth, xiith, and xiiith +centuries; the two first, natives of Egypt; a Melchite patriarch, and a +Jacobite scribe.] + +[Footnote 14: M. D. Guignes (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. pref. p. xix. xx.) +has characterized, with truth and knowledge, the two sorts of Arabian +historians--the dry annalist, and the tumid and flowery orator.] + +[Footnote 15: Bibliotheque Orientale, par M. D'Herbelot, in folio, +Paris, 1697. For the character of the respectable author, consult his +friend Thevenot, (Voyages du Levant, part i. chap. 1.) His work is an +agreeable miscellany, which must gratify every taste; but I never can +digest the alphabetical order; and I find him more satisfactory in the +Persian than the Arabic history. The recent supplement from the papers +of Mm. Visdelou, and Galland, (in folio, La Haye, 1779,) is of a +different cast, a medley of tales, proverbs, and Chinese antiquities.] + +I. In the first year of the first caliph, his lieutenant Caled, the +Sword of God, and the scourge of the infidels, advanced to the banks of +the Euphrates, and reduced the cities of Anbar and Hira. Westward of the +ruins of Babylon, a tribe of sedentary Arabs had fixed themselves on the +verge of the desert; and Hira was the seat of a race of kings who had +embraced the Christian religion, and reigned above six hundred years +under the shadow of the throne of Persia. [16] The last of the Mondars +[1611] was defeated and slain by Caled; his son was sent a captive to +Medina; his nobles bowed before the successor of the prophet; the people +was tempted by the example and success of their countrymen; and the +caliph accepted as the first-fruits of foreign conquest an annual +tribute of seventy thousand pieces of gold. The conquerors, and even +their historians, were astonished by the dawn of their future greatness: +"In the same year," says Elmacin, "Caled fought many signal battles: an +immense multitude of the infidels was slaughtered; and spoils infinite +and innumerable were acquired by the victorious Moslems." [17] But the +invincible Caled was soon transferred to the Syrian war: the invasion +of the Persian frontier was conducted by less active or less prudent +commanders: the Saracens were repulsed with loss in the passage of +the Euphrates; and, though they chastised the insolent pursuit of the +Magians, their remaining forces still hovered in the desert of Babylon. +[1711] + +[Footnote 16: Pocock will explain the chronology, (Specimen Hist. +Arabum, p. 66-74,) and D'Anville the geography, (l'Euphrate, et le +Tigre, p. 125,) of the dynasty of the Almondars. The English scholar +understood more Arabic than the mufti of Aleppo, (Ockley, vol. ii. p. +34: ) the French geographer is equally at home in every age and every +climate of the world.] + +[Footnote 1611: Eichhorn and Silvestre de Sacy have written on the +obscure history of the Mondars.--M.] + +[Footnote 17: Fecit et Chaled plurima in hoc anno praelia, in quibus +vicerunt Muslimi, et infidelium immensa multitudine occisa spolia +infinita et innumera sunt nacti, (Hist. Saracenica, p. 20.) The +Christian annalist slides into the national and compendious term of +infidels, and I often adopt (I hope without scandal) this characteristic +mode of expression.] + +[Footnote 1711: Compare throughout Malcolm, vol. ii. p. 136.--M.] + +The indignation and fears of the Persians suspended for a moment their +intestine divisions. By the unanimous sentence of the priests and +nobles, their queen Arzema was deposed; the sixth of the transient +usurpers, who had arisen and vanished in three or four years since the +death of Chosroes, and the retreat of Heraclius. Her tiara was placed +on the head of Yezdegerd, the grandson of Chosroes; and the same aera, +which coincides with an astronomical period, [18] has recorded the fall +of the Sassanian dynasty and the religion of Zoroaster. [19] The youth +and inexperience of the prince (he was only fifteen years of age) +declined a perilous encounter: the royal standard was delivered into the +hands of his general Rustam; and a remnant of thirty thousand regular +troops was swelled in truth, or in opinion, to one hundred and twenty +thousand subjects, or allies, of the great king. The Moslems, whose +numbers were reenforced from twelve to thirty thousand, had pitched +their camp in the plains of Cadesia: [20] and their line, though it +consisted of fewer men, could produce more soldiers, than the unwieldy +host of the infidels. I shall here observe, what I must often repeat, +that the charge of the Arabs was not, like that of the Greeks and +Romans, the effort of a firm and compact infantry: their military force +was chiefly formed of cavalry and archers; and the engagement, which +was often interrupted and often renewed by single combats and flying +skirmishes, might be protracted without any decisive event to the +continuance of several days. The periods of the battle of Cadesia +were distinguished by their peculiar appellations. The first, from +the well-timed appearance of six thousand of the Syrian brethren, was +denominated the day of succor. The day of concussion might express +the disorder of one, or perhaps of both, of the contending armies. The +third, a nocturnal tumult, received the whimsical name of the night +of barking, from the discordant clamors, which were compared to +the inarticulate sounds of the fiercest animals. The morning of the +succeeding day [2011] determined the fate of Persia; and a seasonable +whirlwind drove a cloud of dust against the faces of the unbelievers. +The clangor of arms was reechoed to the tent of Rustam, who, far +unlike the ancient hero of his name, was gently reclining in a cool and +tranquil shade, amidst the baggage of his camp, and the train of mules +that were laden with gold and silver. On the sound of danger he started +from his couch; but his flight was overtaken by a valiant Arab, who +caught him by the foot, struck off his head, hoisted it on a lance, and +instantly returning to the field of battle, carried slaughter and dismay +among the thickest ranks of the Persians. The Saracens confess a loss +of seven thousand five hundred men; [2012] and the battle of Cadesia is +justly described by the epithets of obstinate and atrocious. [21] The +standard of the monarchy was overthrown and captured in the field--a +leathern apron of a blacksmith, who in ancient times had arisen the +deliverer of Persia; but this badge of heroic poverty was disguised, +and almost concealed, by a profusion of precious gems. [22] After this +victory, the wealthy province of Irak, or Assyria, submitted to +the caliph, and his conquests were firmly established by the speedy +foundation of Bassora, [23] a place which ever commands the trade and +navigation of the Persians. As the distance of fourscore miles from +the Gulf, the Euphrates and Tigris unite in a broad and direct current, +which is aptly styled the river of the Arabs. In the midway, between the +junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new settlement was +planted on the western bank: the first colony was composed of eight +hundred Moslems; but the influence of the situation soon reared a +flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is +pure and healthy: the meadows are filled with palm-trees and cattle; and +one of the adjacent valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises +or gardens of Asia. Under the first caliphs the jurisdiction of this +Arabian colony extended over the southern provinces of Persia: the city +has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and martyrs; and the +vessels of Europe still frequent the port of Bassora, as a convenient +station and passage of the Indian trade. + +[Footnote 18: A cycle of 120 years, the end of which an intercalary +month of 30 days supplied the use of our Bissextile, and restored the +integrity of the solar year. In a great revolution of 1440 years this +intercalation was successively removed from the first to the twelfth +month; but Hyde and Freret are involved in a profound controversy, +whether the twelve, or only eight of these changes were accomplished +before the aera of Yezdegerd, which is unanimously fixed to the 16th +of June, A.D. 632. How laboriously does the curious spirit of Europe +explore the darkest and most distant antiquities! (Hyde de Religione +Persarum, c. 14-18, p. 181-211. Freret in the Mem. de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. xvi. p. 233-267.)] + +[Footnote 19: Nine days after the death of Mahomet (7th June, A.D. 632) +we find the aera of Yezdegerd, (16th June, A.D. 632,) and his accession +cannot be postponed beyond the end of the first year. His predecessors +could not therefore resist the arms of the caliph Omar; and these +unquestionable dates overthrow the thoughtless chronology of +Abulpharagius. See Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 130. * +Note: The Rezont Uzzuffa (Price, p. 105) has a strange account of an +embassy to Yezdegerd. The Oriental historians take great delight in +these embassies, which give them an opportunity of displaying their +Asiatic eloquence--M.] + +[Footnote 20: Cadesia, says the Nubian geographer, (p. 121,) is in +margine solitudinis, 61 leagues from Bagdad, and two stations from Cufa. +Otter (Voyage, tom. i. p. 163) reckons 15 leagues, and observes, that +the place is supplied with dates and water.] + +[Footnote 2011: The day of cormorants, or according to another reading +the day of reinforcements. It was the night which was called the night +of snarling. Price, p. 114.--M.] + +[Footnote 2012: According to Malcolm's authorities, only three thousand; +but he adds "This is the report of Mahomedan historians, who have a +great disposition of the wonderful, in relating the first actions of the +faithful" Vol. i. p. 39.--M.] + +[Footnote 21: Atrox, contumax, plus semel renovatum, are the well-chosen +expressions of the translator of Abulfeda, (Reiske, p. 69.)] + +[Footnote 22: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 297, 348.] + +[Footnote 23: The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of Bassora +by consulting the following writers: Geograph, Nubiens. p. 121. +D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 192. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et +le Tigre, p. 130, 133, 145. Raynal, Hist. Philosophique des deux +Indes, tom. ii. p. 92-100. Voyages di Pietro della Valle, tom. iv. p. +370-391. De Tavernier, tom. i. p. 240-247. De Thevenot, tom. ii. +p. 545-584. D Otter, tom. ii. p. 45-78. De Niebuhr, tom. ii. p. +172-199.] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part II. + +After the defeat of Cadesia, a country intersected by rivers and canals +might have opposed an insuperable barrier to the victorious cavalry; and +the walls of Ctesiphon or Madayn, which had resisted the battering-rams +of the Romans, would not have yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But +the flying Persians were overcome by the belief, that the last day +of their religion and empire was at hand; the strongest posts were +abandoned by treachery or cowardice; and the king, with a part of his +family and treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills. + +In the third month after the battle, Said, the lieutenant of Omar, +passed the Tigris without opposition; the capital was taken by assault; +and the disorderly resistance of the people gave a keener edge to the +sabres of the Moslems, who shouted with religious transport, "This is +the white palace of Chosroes; this is the promise of the apostle of +God!" The naked robbers of the desert were suddenly enriched beyond the +measure of their hope or knowledge. Each chamber revealed a new treasure +secreted with art, or ostentatiously displayed; the gold and silver, the +various wardrobes and precious furniture, surpassed (says Abulfeda) the +estimate of fancy or numbers; and another historian defines the untold +and almost infinite mass, by the fabulous computation of three thousands +of thousands of thousands of pieces of gold. [24] Some minute though +curious facts represent the contrast of riches and ignorance. From the +remote islands of the Indian Ocean a large provision of camphire [25] +had been imported, which is employed with a mixture of wax to illuminate +the palaces of the East. Strangers to the name and properties of that +odoriferous gum, the Saracens, mistaking it for salt, mingled the +camphire in their bread, and were astonished at the bitterness of the +taste. One of the apartments of the palace was decorated with a carpet +of silk, sixty cubits in length, and as many in breadth: a paradise or +garden was depictured on the ground: the flowers, fruits, and shrubs, +were imitated by the figures of the gold embroidery, and the colors of +the precious stones; and the ample square was encircled by a variegated +and verdant border. [251] The Arabian general persuaded his soldiers +to relinquish their claim, in the reasonable hope that the eyes of the +caliph would be delighted with the splendid workmanship of nature and +industry. Regardless of the merit of art, and the pomp of royalty, the +rigid Omar divided the prize among his brethren of Medina: the picture +was destroyed; but such was the intrinsic value of the materials, that +the share of Ali alone was sold for twenty thousand drams. A mule that +carried away the tiara and cuirass, the belt and bracelets of Chosroes, +was overtaken by the pursuers; the gorgeous trophy was presented to +the commander of the faithful; and the gravest of the companions +condescended to smile when they beheld the white beard, the hairy arms, +and uncouth figure of the veteran, who was invested with the spoils of +the Great King. [26] The sack of Ctesiphon was followed by its desertion +and gradual decay. The Saracens disliked the air and situation of +the place, and Omar was advised by his general to remove the seat of +government to the western side of the Euphrates. In every age, the +foundation and ruin of the Assyrian cities has been easy and rapid: the +country is destitute of stone and timber; and the most solid structures +[27] are composed of bricks baked in the sun, and joined by a cement +of the native bitumen. The name of Cufa [28] describes a habitation of +reeds and earth; but the importance of the new capital was supported +by the numbers, wealth, and spirit, of a colony of veterans; and their +licentiousness was indulged by the wisest caliphs, who were apprehensive +of provoking the revolt of a hundred thousand swords: "Ye men of Cufa," +said Ali, who solicited their aid, "you have been always conspicuous by +your valor. You conquered the Persian king, and scattered his forces, +till you had taken possession of his inheritance." This mighty conquest +was achieved by the battles of Jalula and Nehavend. After the loss of +the former, Yezdegerd fled from Holwan, and concealed his shame and +despair in the mountains of Farsistan, from whence Cyrus had descended +with his equal and valiant companions. The courage of the nation +survived that of the monarch: among the hills to the south of Ecbatana +or Hamadan, one hundred and fifty thousand Persians made a third and +final stand for their religion and country; and the decisive battle of +Nehavend was styled by the Arabs the victory of victories. If it be true +that the flying general of the Persians was stopped and overtaken in a +crowd of mules and camels laden with honey, the incident, however slight +and singular, will denote the luxurious impediments of an Oriental army. +[29] + +[Footnote 24: Mente vix potest numerove comprehendi quanta spolia +nostris cesserint. Abulfeda, p. 69. Yet I still suspect, that the +extravagant numbers of Elmacin may be the error, not of the text, but of +the version. The best translators from the Greek, for instance, I find +to be very poor arithmeticians. * Note: Ockley (Hist. of Saracens, +vol. i. p. 230) translates in the same manner three thousand million of +ducats. See Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 462; who +makes this innocent doubt of Gibbon, in which, is to the amount of +the plunder, I venture to concur, a grave charge of inaccuracy and +disrespect to the memory of Erpenius. The Persian authorities of +Price (p. 122) make the booty worth three hundred and thirty millions +sterling!--M] + +[Footnote 25: The camphire-tree grows in China and Japan; but many +hundred weight of those meaner sorts are exchanged for a single pound of +the more precious gum of Borneo and Sumatra, (Raynal, Hist. Philosoph. +tom. i. p. 362-365. Dictionnaire d'Hist. Naturelle par Bomare Miller's +Gardener's Dictionary.) These may be the islands of the first climate +from whence the Arabians imported their camphire (Geograph. Nub. p. 34, +35. D'Herbelot, p. 232.)] + +[Footnote 251: Compare Price, p. 122.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: See Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 376, 377. I may +credit the fact, without believing the prophecy.] + +[Footnote 27: The most considerable ruins of Assyria are the tower of +Belus, at Babylon, and the hall of Chosroes, at Ctesiphon: they have +been visited by that vain and curious traveller Pietro della Valle, +(tom. i. p. 713-718, 731-735.) * Note: The best modern account is that +of Claudius Rich Esq. Two Memoirs of Babylon. London, 1818.--M.] + +[Footnote 28: Consult the article of Coufah in the Bibliotheque of +D'Herbelot ( p. 277, 278,) and the second volume of Ockley's History, +particularly p. 40 and 153.] + +[Footnote 29: See the article of Nehavend, in D'Herbelot, p. 667, 668; +and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, par Otter, tom. i. 191. * Note: +Malcolm vol. i. p. 141.--M.] + +The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Greeks and Latins; +but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be more ancient than +the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of Hamadan and Ispahan, of +Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually approached the shores of the +Caspian Sea: and the orators of Mecca might applaud the success and +spirit of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the northern +bear, and had almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. [30] +Again, turning towards the West and the Roman empire, they repassed +the Tigris over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces +of Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of the +Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their Eastern progress was not +less rapid or extensive. They advanced along the Tigris and the Gulf; +penetrated through the passes of the mountains into the valley of +Estachar or Persepolis, and profaned the last sanctuary of the Magian +empire. The grandson of Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling +columns and mutilated figures; a sad emblem of the past and present +fortune of Persia: [31] he fled with accelerated haste over the desert +of Kirman, implored the aid of the warlike Segestans, and sought an +humble refuge on the verge of the Turkish and Chinese power. But a +victorious army is insensible of fatigue: the Arabs divided their forces +in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph Othman promised the +government of Chorasan to the first general who should enter that +large and populous country, the kingdom of the ancient Bactrians. The +condition was accepted; the prize was deserved; the standard of Mahomet +was planted on the walls of Herat, Merou, and Balch; and the successful +leader neither halted nor reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted +the waters of the Oxus. In the public anarchy, the independent governors +of the cities and castles obtained their separate capitulations: the +terms were granted or imposed by the esteem, the prudence, or the +compassion, of the victors; and a simple profession of faith established +the distinction between a brother and a slave. After a noble defence, +Harmozan, the prince or satrap of Ahwaz and Susa, was compelled to +surrender his person and his state to the discretion of the caliph; +and their interview exhibits a portrait of the Arabian manners. In the +presence, and by the command, of Omar, the gay Barbarian was despoiled +of his silken robes embroidered with gold, and of his tiara bedecked +with rubies and emeralds: "Are you now sensible," said the conqueror to +his naked captive--"are you now sensible of the judgment of God, and +of the different rewards of infidelity and obedience?" "Alas!" replied +Harmozan, "I feel them too deeply. In the days of our common ignorance, +we fought with the weapons of the flesh, and my nation was superior. God +was then neuter: since he has espoused your quarrel, you have subverted +our kingdom and religion." Oppressed by this painful dialogue, +the Persian complained of intolerable thirst, but discovered some +apprehension lest he should be killed whilst he was drinking a cup of +water. "Be of good courage," said the caliph; "your life is safe till +you have drunk this water:" the crafty satrap accepted the assurance, +and instantly dashed the vase against the ground. Omar would have +avenged the deceit, but his companions represented the sanctity of an +oath; and the speedy conversion of Harmozan entitled him not only to a +free pardon, but even to a stipend of two thousand pieces of gold. +The administration of Persia was regulated by an actual survey of the +people, the cattle, and the fruits of the earth; [32] and this monument, +which attests the vigilance of the caliphs, might have instructed the +philosophers of every age. [33] + +[Footnote 30: It is in such a style of ignorance and wonder that the +Athenian orator describes the Arctic conquests of Alexander, who +never advanced beyond the shores of the Caspian. Aeschines contra +Ctesiphontem, tom. iii. p. 554, edit. Graec. Orator. Reiske. This +memorable cause was pleaded at Athens, Olymp. cxii. 3, (before Christ +330,) in the autumn, (Taylor, praefat. p. 370, &c.,) about a year after +the battle of Arbela; and Alexander, in the pursuit of Darius, was +marching towards Hyrcania and Bactriana.] + +[Footnote 31: We are indebted for this curious particular to the +Dynasties of Abulpharagius, p. 116; but it is needless to prove the +identity of Estachar and Persepolis, (D'Herbelot, p. 327;) and still +more needless to copy the drawings and descriptions of Sir John Chardin, +or Corneillo le Bruyn.] + +[Footnote 32: After the conquest of Persia, Theophanes adds, +(Chronograph p. 283.)] + +[Footnote 33: Amidst our meagre relations, I must regret that D'Herbelot +has not found and used a Persian translation of Tabari, enriched, as he +says, with many extracts from the native historians of the Ghebers or +Magi, (Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 1014.)] + +The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond the Oxus, and as far +as the Jaxartes, two rivers [34] of ancient and modern renown, which +descend from the mountains of India towards the Caspian Sea. He was +hospitably entertained by Takhan, prince of Fargana, [35] a fertile +province on the Jaxartes: the king of Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes +of Sogdiana and Scythia, were moved by the lamentations and promises of +the fallen monarch; and he solicited, by a suppliant embassy, the more +solid and powerful friendship of the emperor of China. [36] The virtuous +Taitsong, [37] the first of the dynasty of the Tang may be justly +compared with the Antonines of Rome: his people enjoyed the blessings +of prosperity and peace; and his dominion was acknowledged by forty-four +hordes of the Barbarians of Tartary. His last garrisons of Cashgar and +Khoten maintained a frequent intercourse with their neighbors of the +Jaxartes and Oxus; a recent colony of Persians had introduced into China +the astronomy of the Magi; and Taitsong might be alarmed by the rapid +progress and dangerous vicinity of the Arabs. The influence, and perhaps +the supplies, of China revived the hopes of Yezdegerd and the zeal +of the worshippers of fire; and he returned with an army of Turks to +conquer the inheritance of his fathers. The fortunate Moslems, without +unsheathing their swords, were the spectators of his ruin and death. +The grandson of Chosroes was betrayed by his servant, insulted by the +seditious inhabitants of Merou, and oppressed, defeated, and pursued by +his Barbarian allies. He reached the banks of a river, and offered his +rings and bracelets for an instant passage in a miller's boat. Ignorant +or insensible of royal distress, the rustic replied, that four drams of +silver were the daily profit of his mill, and that he would not suspend +his work unless the loss were repaid. In this moment of hesitation and +delay, the last of the Sassanian kings was overtaken and slaughtered by +the Turkish cavalry, in the nineteenth year of his unhappy reign. [38] +[3811] His son Firuz, an humble client of the Chinese emperor, accepted +the station of captain of his guards; and the Magian worship was long +preserved by a colony of loyal exiles in the province of Bucharia. +[3812] His grandson inherited the regal name; but after a faint and +fruitless enterprise, he returned to China, and ended his days in the +palace of Sigan. The male line of the Sassanides was extinct; but the +female captives, the daughters of Persia, were given to the conquerors +in servitude, or marriage; and the race of the caliphs and imams was +ennobled by the blood of their royal mothers. [39] + +[Footnote 34: The most authentic accounts of the two rivers, the Sihon +(Jaxartes) and the Gihon, (Oxus,) may be found in Sherif al Edrisi +(Geograph. Nubiens. p. 138,) Abulfeda, (Descript. Chorasan. in Hudson, +tom. iii. p. 23,) Abulghazi Khan, who reigned on their banks, (Hist. +Genealogique des Tatars, p. 32, 57, 766,) and the Turkish Geographer, +a MS. in the king of France's library, (Examen Critique des Historiens +d'Alexandre, p. 194-360.)] + +[Footnote 35: The territory of Fergana is described by Abulfeda, p. 76, +77.] + +[Footnote 36: Eo redegit angustiarum eundem regem exsulem, ut Turcici +regis, et Sogdiani, et Sinensis, auxilia missis literis imploraret, +(Abulfed. Annal. p. 74) The connection of the Persian and Chinese +history is illustrated by Freret (Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xvi. p. +245-255) and De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 54-59,) and for +the geography of the borders, tom. ii. p. 1-43.] + +[Footnote 37: Hist. Sinica, p. 41-46, in the iiid part of the Relations +Curieuses of Thevenot.] + +[Footnote 38: I have endeavored to harmonize the various narratives +of Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 37,) Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 116,) +Abulfeda, (Annal. p. 74, 79,) and D'Herbelot, (p. 485.) The end of +Yezdegerd, was not only unfortunate but obscure.] + +[Footnote 3811: The account of Yezdegerd's death in the Habeib 'usseyr +and Rouzut uzzuffa (Price, p. 162) is much more probable. On the demand +of the few dhirems, he offered to the miller his sword, and royal +girdle, of inesturable value. This awoke the cupidity of the miller, who +murdered him, and threw the body into the stream.--M.] + +[Footnote 3812: Firouz died leaving a son called Ni-ni-cha by the +Chinese, probably Narses. Yezdegerd had two sons, Firouz and Bahram St. +Martin, vol. xi. p. 318.--M.] + +[Footnote 39: The two daughters of Yezdegerd married Hassan, the son of +Ali, and Mohammed, the son of Abubeker; and the first of these was the +father of a numerous progeny. The daughter of Phirouz became the wife +of the caliph Walid, and their son Yezid derived his genuine or fabulous +descent from the Chosroes of Persia, the Caesars of Rome, and the +Chagans of the Turks or Avars, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orientale, p. 96, +487.)] + +After the fall of the Persian kingdom, the River Oxus divided the +territories of the Saracens and of the Turks. This narrow boundary was +soon overleaped by the spirit of the Arabs; the governors of Chorasan +extended their successive inroads; and one of their triumphs was adorned +with the buskin of a Turkish queen, which she dropped in her precipitate +flight beyond the hills of Bochara. [40] But the final conquest of +Transoxiana, [41] as well as of Spain, was reserved for the glorious +reign of the inactive Walid; and the name of Catibah, the camel driver, +declares the origin and merit of his successful lieutenant. While one of +his colleagues displayed the first Mahometan banner on the banks of +the Indus, the spacious regions between the Oxus, the Jaxartes, and the +Caspian Sea, were reduced by the arms of Catibah to the obedience of the +prophet and of the caliph. [42] A tribute of two millions of pieces of +gold was imposed on the infidels; their idols were burnt or broken; the +Mussulman chief pronounced a sermon in the new mosch of Carizme; after +several battles, the Turkish hordes were driven back to the desert; and +the emperors of China solicited the friendship of the victorious Arabs. +To their industry, the prosperity of the province, the Sogdiana of the +ancients, may in a great measure be ascribed; but the advantages of the +soil and climate had been understood and cultivated since the reign +of the Macedonian kings. Before the invasion of the Saracens, Carizme, +Bochara, and Samarcand were rich and populous under the yoke of the +shepherds of the north. [4211] These cities were surrounded with a +double wall; and the exterior fortification, of a larger circumference, +enclosed the fields and gardens of the adjacent district. The mutual +wants of India and Europe were supplied by the diligence of the Sogdian +merchants; and the inestimable art of transforming linen into paper has +been diffused from the manufacture of Samarcand over the western world. +[43] + +[Footnote 40: It was valued at 2000 pieces of gold, and was the prize of +Obeidollah, the son of Ziyad, a name afterwards infamous by the murder +of Hosein, (Ockley's History of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 142, 143,) His +brother Salem was accompanied by his wife, the first Arabian woman (A.D. +680) who passed the Oxus: she borrowed, or rather stole, the crown and +jewels of the princess of the Sogdians, (p. 231, 232.)] + +[Footnote 41: A part of Abulfeda's geography is translated by Greaves, +inserted in Hudson's collection of the minor geographers, (tom. iii.,) +and entitled Descriptio Chorasmiae et Mawaralnahroe, id est, regionum +extra fluvium, Oxum, p. 80. The name of Transoxiana, softer in sound, +equivalent in sense, is aptly used by Petit de la Croix, (Hist. de +Gengiscan, &c.,) and some modern Orientalists, but they are mistaken in +ascribing it to the writers of antiquity.] + +[Footnote 42: The conquests of Catibah are faintly marked by Elmacin, +(Hist. Saracen. p. 84,) D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. Catbah, Samarcand +Valid.,) and De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 58, 59.)] + +[Footnote 4211: The manuscripts Arabian and Persian writers in the royal +library contain very circumstantial details on the contest between the +Persians and Arabians. M. St. Martin declined this addition to the work +of Le Beau, as extending to too great a length. St. Martin vol. xi. p. +320.--M.] + +[Footnote 43: A curious description of Samarcand is inserted in the +Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, tom. i. p. 208, &c. The librarian Casiri +(tom. ii. 9) relates, from credible testimony, that paper was first +imported from China to Samarcand, A. H. 30, and invented, or rather +introduced, at Mecca, A. H. 88. The Escurial library contains paper Mss. +as old as the ivth or vth century of the Hegira.] + +II. No sooner had Abubeker restored the unity of faith and government, +than he despatched a circular letter to the Arabian tribes. "In the name +of the most merciful God, to the rest of the true believers. Health and +happiness, and the mercy and blessing of God, be upon you. I praise the +most high God, and I pray for his prophet Mahomet. This is to acquaint +you, that I intend to send the true believers into Syria [44] to take +it out of the hands of the infidels. And I would have you know, that +the fighting for religion is an act of obedience to God." His messengers +returned with the tidings of pious and martial ardor which they had +kindled in every province; and the camp of Medina was successively +filled with the intrepid bands of the Saracens, who panted for action, +complained of the heat of the season and the scarcity of provisions, +and accused with impatient murmurs the delays of the caliph. As soon as +their numbers were complete, Abubeker ascended the hill, reviewed the +men, the horses, and the arms, and poured forth a fervent prayer for the +success of their undertaking. In person, and on foot, he accompanied the +first day's march; and when the blushing leaders attempted to dismount, +the caliph removed their scruples by a declaration, that those who +rode, and those who walked, in the service of religion, were equally +meritorious. His instructions [45] to the chiefs of the Syrian army were +inspired by the warlike fanaticism which advances to seize, and affects +to despise, the objects of earthly ambition. "Remember," said the +successor of the prophet, "that you are always in the presence of God, +on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of +paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your brethren, +and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When +you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without +turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained with the blood +of women or children. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of +corn. Cut down no fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such +as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, +and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious +persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to +serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy +their monasteries: [46] And you will find another sort of people, that +belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns; [47] be sure +you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn +Mahometans or pay tribute." All profane or frivolous conversation, +all dangerous recollection of ancient quarrels, was severely prohibited +among the Arabs: in the tumult of a camp, the exercises of religion +were assiduously practised; and the intervals of action were employed in +prayer, meditation, and the study of the Koran. The abuse, or even the +use, of wine was chastised by fourscore strokes on the soles of the +feet, and in the fervor of their primitive zeal, many secret sinners +revealed their fault, and solicited their punishment. After some +hesitation, the command of the Syrian army was delegated to Abu Obeidah, +one of the fugitives of Mecca, and companions of Mahomet; whose zeal and +devotion was assuaged, without being abated, by the singular mildness +and benevolence of his temper. But in all the emergencies of war, the +soldiers demanded the superior genius of Caled; and whoever might be +the choice of the prince, the Sword of God was both in fact and fame the +foremost leader of the Saracens. He obeyed without reluctance; [4711] he +was consulted without jealousy; and such was the spirit of the man, or +rather of the times, that Caled professed his readiness to serve under +the banner of the faith, though it were in the hands of a child or an +enemy. Glory, and riches, and dominion, were indeed promised to the +victorious Mussulman; but he was carefully instructed, that if the goods +of this life were his only incitement, they likewise would be his only +reward. + +[Footnote 44: A separate history of the conquest of Syria has been +composed by Al Wakidi, cadi of Bagdad, who was born A.D. 748, and died +A.D. 822; he likewise wrote the conquest of Egypt, of Diarbekir, &c. +Above the meagre and recent chronicles of the Arabians, Al Wakidi has +the double merit of antiquity and copiousness. His tales and traditions +afford an artless picture of the men and the times. Yet his narrative +is too often defective, trifling, and improbable. Till something better +shall be found, his learned and spiritual interpreter (Ockley, in +his History of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 21-342) will not deserve +the petulant animadversion of Reiske, (Prodidagmata ad Magji Chalifae +Tabulas, p. 236.) I am sorry to think that the labors of Ockley were +consummated in a jail, (see his two prefaces to the 1st A.D. 1708, to +the 2d, 1718, with the list of authors at the end.) * Note: M. Hamaker +has clearly shown that neither of these works can be inscribed to Al +Wakidi: they are not older than the end of the xith century or +later than the middle of the xivth. Praefat. in Inc. Auct. LIb. de +Expugnatione Memphidis, c. ix. x.--M.] + +[Footnote 45: The instructions, &c., of the Syrian war are described +by Al Wakidi and Ockley, tom. i. p. 22-27, &c. In the sequel it is +necessary to contract, and needless to quote, their circumstantial +narrative. My obligations to others shall be noticed.] + +[Footnote 46: Notwithstanding this precept, M. Pauw (Recherches sur les +Egyptiens, tom. ii. p. 192, edit. Lausanne) represents the Bedoweens +as the implacable enemies of the Christian monks. For my own part, I +am more inclined to suspect the avarice of the Arabian robbers, and the +prejudices of the German philosopher. * Note: Several modern travellers +(Mr. Fazakerley, in Walpole's Travels in the East, vol. xi. 371) give +very amusing accounts of the terms on which the monks of Mount Sinai +live with the neighboring Bedoweens. Such, probably, was their +relative state in older times, wherever the Arab retained his Bedoween +habits.--M.] + +[Footnote 47: Even in the seventh century, the monks were generally +laymen: 'hey wore their hair long and dishevelled, and shaved their +heads when they were ordained priests. The circular tonsure was sacred +and mysterious; it was the crown of thorns; but it was likewise a royal +diadem, and every priest was a king, &c., (Thomassin, Discipline de +l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 721-758, especially p. 737, 738.)] + +[Footnote 4711: Compare Price, p. 90.--M.] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part III. + + +One of the fifteen provinces of Syria, the cultivated lands to the +eastward of the Jordan, had been decorated by Roman vanity with the name +of _Arabia_; and the first arms of the Saracens were justified by the +semblance of a national right. The country was enriched by the various +benefits of trade; by the vigilance of the emperors it was covered with +a line of forts; and the populous cities of Gerasa, Philadelphia, and +Bosra, were secure, at least from a surprise, by the solid structure of +their walls. The last of these cities was the eighteenth station from +Medina: the road was familiar to the caravans of Hejaz and Irak, who +annually visited this plenteous market of the province and the desert: +the perpetual jealousy of the Arabs had trained the inhabitants to +arms; and twelve thousand horse could sally from the gates of Bosra, an +appellation which signifies, in the Syriac language, a strong tower of +defence. Encouraged by their first success against the open towns and +flying parties of the borders, a detachment of four thousand Moslems +presumed to summon and attack the fortress of Bosra. They were oppressed +by the numbers of the Syrians; they were saved by the presence of Caled, +with fifteen hundred horse: he blamed the enterprise, restored the +battle, and rescued his friend, the venerable Serjabil, who had vainly +invoked the unity of God and the promises of the apostle. After a short +repose, the Moslems performed their ablutions with sand instead of +water; and the morning prayer was recited by Caled before they mounted +on horseback. Confident in their strength, the people of Bosra threw +open their gates, drew their forces into the plain, and swore to die in +the defence of their religion. But a religion of peace was incapable of +withstanding the fanatic cry of "Fight, fight! Paradise, paradise!" that +reechoed in the ranks of the Saracens; and the uproar of the town, +the ringing of bells, and the exclamations of the priests and monks +increased the dismay and disorder of the Christians. With the loss of +two hundred and thirty men, the Arabs remained masters of the field; +and the ramparts of Bosra, in expectation of human or divine aid, were +crowded with holy crosses and consecrated banners. The governor Romanus +had recommended an early submission: despised by the people, and +degraded from his office, he still retained the desire and opportunity +of revenge. In a nocturnal interview, he informed the enemy of a +subterraneous passage from his house under the wall of the city; the son +of the caliph, with a hundred volunteers, were committed to the faith of +this new ally, and their successful intrepidity gave an easy entrance +to their companions. After Caled had imposed the terms of servitude and +tribute, the apostate or convert avowed in the assembly of the people +his meritorious treason: "I renounce your society," said Romanus, "both +in this world and the world to come. And I deny him that was crucified, +and whosoever worships him. And I choose God for my Lord, Islam for my +faith, Mecca for my temple, the Moslems for my brethren, and Mahomet for +my prophet; who was sent to lead us into the right way, and to exalt the +true religion in spite of those who join partners with God." + +The conquest of Bosra, four days' journey from Damascus, encouraged the +Arabs to besiege the ancient capital of Syria. At some distance from the +walls, they encamped among the groves and fountains of that delicious +territory, and the usual option of the Mahometan faith, of tribute or +of war, was proposed to the resolute citizens, who had been lately +strengthened by a reenforcement of five thousand Greeks. In the +decline, as in the infancy, of the military art, a hostile defiance was +frequently offered and accepted by the generals themselves: many a lance +was shivered in the plain of Damascus, and the personal prowess of Caled +was signalized in the first sally of the besieged. After an obstinate +combat, he had overthrown and made prisoner one of the Christian +leaders, a stout and worthy antagonist. He instantly mounted a fresh +horse, the gift of the governor of Palmyra, and pushed forwards to the +front of the battle. "Repose yourself for a moment," said his friend +Derar, "and permit me to supply your place: you are fatigued with +fighting with this dog." "O Dear!" replied the indefatigable Saracen, +"we shall rest in the world to come. He that labors to-day shall rest +to-morrow." With the same unabated ardor, Caled answered, encountered, +and vanquished a second champion; and the heads of his two captives who +refused to abandon their religion were indignantly hurled into the midst +of the city. The event of some general and partial actions reduced the +Damascenes to a closer defence: but a messenger, whom they dropped from +the walls, returned with the promise of speedy and powerful succor, and +their tumultuous joy conveyed the intelligence to the camp of the Arabs. +After some debate, it was resolved by the generals to raise, or rather +to suspend, the siege of Damascus, till they had given battle to the +forces of the emperor. In the retreat, Caled would have chosen the more +perilous station of the rear-guard; he modestly yielded to the wishes +of Abu Obeidah. But in the hour of danger he flew to the rescue of his +companion, who was rudely pressed by a sally of six thousand horse and +ten thousand foot, and few among the Christians could relate at Damascus +the circumstances of their defeat. The importance of the contest +required the junction of the Saracens, who were dispersed on the +frontiers of Syria and Palestine; and I shall transcribe one of the +circular mandates which was addressed to Amrou, the future conqueror +of Egypt. "In the name of the most merciful God: from Caled to Amrou, +health and happiness. Know that thy brethren the Moslems design to march +to Aiznadin, where there is an army of seventy thousand Greeks, who +purpose to come against us, _that they may extinguish the light of +God with their mouths; but God preserveth his light in spite of the +infidels_. As soon therefore as this letter of mine shall be delivered +to thy hands, come with those that are with thee to Aiznadin, where +thou shalt find us if it please the most high God." The summons was +cheerfully obeyed, and the forty-five thousand Moslems, who met on the +same day, on the same spot ascribed to the blessing of Providence the +effects of their activity and zeal. + +About four years after the triumph of the Persian war, the repose of +Heraclius and the empire was again disturbed by a new enemy, the +power of whose religion was more strongly felt, than it was +clearly understood, by the Christians of the East. In his palace of +Constantinople or Antioch, he was awakened by the invasion of Syria, the +loss of Bosra, and the danger of Damascus. An army of seventy thousand +veterans, or new levies, was assembled at Hems or Emesa, under the +command of his general Werdan: and these troops consisting chiefly of +cavalry, might be indifferently styled either Syrians, or Greeks, or +Romans: _Syrians_, from the place of their birth or warfare; _Greeks_ +from the religion and language of their sovereign; and _Romans_, from +the proud appellation which was still profaned by the successors of +Constantine. On the plain of Aiznadin, as Werdan rode on a white mule +decorated with gold chains, and surrounded with ensigns and standards, +he was surprised by the near approach of a fierce and naked warrior, who +had undertaken to view the state of the enemy. The adventurous valor of +Derar was inspired, and has perhaps been adorned, by the enthusiasm of +his age and country. The hatred of the Christians, the love of spoil, +and the contempt of danger, were the ruling passions of the audacious +Saracen; and the prospect of instant death could never shake his +religious confidence, or ruffle the calmness of his resolution, or +even suspend the frank and martial pleasantry of his humor. In the most +hopeless enterprises, he was bold, and prudent, and fortunate: after +innumerable hazards, after being thrice a prisoner in the hands of the +infidels, he still survived to relate the achievements, and to enjoy +the rewards, of the Syrian conquest. On this occasion, his single lance +maintained a flying fight against thirty Romans, who were detached by +Werdan; and, after killing or unhorsing seventeen of their number, Derar +returned in safety to his applauding brethren. When his rashness was +mildly censured by the general, he excused himself with the simplicity +of a soldier. "Nay," said Derar, "I did not begin first: but they came +out to take me, and I was afraid that God should see me turn my back: +and indeed I fought in good earnest, and without doubt God assisted me +against them; and had I not been apprehensive of disobeying your orders, +I should not have come away as I did; and I perceive already that they +will fall into our hands." In the presence of both armies, a venerable +Greek advanced from the ranks with a liberal offer of peace; and the +departure of the Saracens would have been purchased by a gift to each +soldier, of a turban, a robe, and a piece of gold; ten robes and a +hundred pieces to their leader; one hundred robes and a thousand pieces +to the caliph. A smile of indignation expressed the refusal of Caled. +"Ye Christian dogs, you know your option; the Koran, the tribute, or the +sword. We are a people whose delight is in war, rather than in peace: +and we despise your pitiful alms, since we shall be speedily masters +of your wealth, your families, and your persons." Notwithstanding this +apparent disdain, he was deeply conscious of the public danger: those +who had been in Persia, and had seen the armies of Chosroes confessed +that they never beheld a more formidable array. From the superiority of +the enemy, the artful Saracen derived a fresh incentive of courage: "You +see before you," said he, "the united force of the Romans; you cannot +hope to escape, but you may conquer Syria in a single day. The event +depends on your discipline and patience. Reserve yourselves till the +evening. It was in the evening that the Prophet was accustomed to +vanquish." During two successive engagements, his temperate firmness +sustained the darts of the enemy, and the murmurs of his troops. At +length, when the spirits and quivers of the adverse line were almost +exhausted, Caled gave the signal of onset and victory. The remains of +the Imperial army fled to Antioch, or Cæsarea, or Damascus; and the +death of four hundred and seventy Moslems was compensated by the opinion +that they had sent to hell above fifty thousand of the infidels. The +spoil was inestimable; many banners and crosses of gold and silver, +precious stones, silver and gold chains, and innumerable suits of the +richest armor and apparel. The general distribution was postponed till +Damascus should be taken; but the seasonable supply of arms became the +instrument of new victories. The glorious intelligence was transmitted +to the throne of the caliph; and the Arabian tribes, the coldest or most +hostile to the prophet's mission, were eager and importunate to share +the harvest of Syria. + +The sad tidings were carried to Damascus by the speed of grief and +terror; and the inhabitants beheld from their walls the return of the +heroes of Aiznadin. Amrou led the van at the head of nine thousand +horse: the bands of the Saracens succeeded each other in formidable +review; and the rear was closed by Caled in person, with the standard of +the black eagle. To the activity of Derar he intrusted the commission +of patrolling round the city with two thousand horse, of scouring the +plain, and of intercepting all succor or intelligence. The rest of the +Arabian chiefs were fixed in their respective stations before the +seven gates of Damascus; and the siege was renewed with fresh vigor and +confidence. The art, the labor, the military engines, of the Greeks +and Romans are seldom to be found in the simple, though successful, +operations of the Saracens: it was sufficient for them to invest a +city with arms, rather than with trenches; to repel the allies of +the besieged; to attempt a stratagem or an assault; or to expect the +progress of famine and discontent. Damascus would have acquiesced in +the trial of Aiznadin, as a final and peremptory sentence between the +emperor and the caliph; her courage was rekindled by the example and +authority of Thomas, a noble Greek, illustrious in a private condition +by the alliance of Heraclius. The tumult and illumination of the night +proclaimed the design of the morning sally; and the Christian hero, who +affected to despise the enthusiasm of the Arabs, employed the resource +of a similar superstition. At the principal gate, in the sight of both +armies, a lofty crucifix was erected; the bishop, with his clergy, +accompanied the march, and laid the volume of the New Testament before +the image of Jesus; and the contending parties were scandalized or +edified by a prayer that the Son of God would defend his servants and +vindicate his truth. The battle raged with incessant fury; and the +dexterity of Thomas, an incomparable archer, was fatal to the boldest +Saracens, till their death was revenged by a female heroine. The wife +of Aban, who had followed him to the holy war, embraced her expiring +husband. "Happy," said she, "happy art thou, my dear: thou art gone to +they Lord, who first joined us together, and then parted us asunder. I +will revenge thy death, and endeavor to the utmost of my power to come +to the place where thou art, because I love thee. Henceforth shall no +man ever touch me more, for I have dedicated myself to the service of +God." Without a groan, without a tear, she washed the corpse of her +husband, and buried him with the usual rites. Then grasping the manly +weapons, which in her native land she was accustomed to wield, the +intrepid widow of Aban sought the place where his murderer fought in +the thickest of the battle. Her first arrow pierced the hand of his +standard-bearer; her second wounded Thomas in the eye; and the fainting +Christians no longer beheld their ensign or their leader. Yet the +generous champion of Damascus refused to withdraw to his palace: his +wound was dressed on the rampart; the fight was continued till the +evening; and the Syrians rested on their arms. In the silence of the +night, the signal was given by a stroke on the great bell; the gates +were thrown open, and each gate discharged an impetuous column on the +sleeping camp of the Saracens. Caled was the first in arms: at the +head of four hundred horse he flew to the post of danger, and the tears +trickled down his iron cheeks, as he uttered a fervent ejaculation; "O +God, who never sleepest, look upon they servants, and do not deliver +them into the hands of their enemies." The valor and victory of Thomas +were arrested by the presence of the _Sword of God_; with the knowledge +of the peril, the Moslems recovered their ranks, and charged the +assailants in the flank and rear. After the loss of thousands, the +Christian general retreated with a sigh of despair, and the pursuit of +the Saracens was checked by the military engines of the rampart. + +After a siege of seventy days, the patience, and perhaps the provisions, +of the Damascenes were exhausted; and the bravest of their chiefs +submitted to the hard dictates of necessity. In the occurrences of peace +and war, they had been taught to dread the fierceness of Caled, and to +revere the mild virtues of Abu Obeidah. At the hour of midnight, one +hundred chosen deputies of the clergy and people were introduced to the +tent of that venerable commander. He received and dismissed them with +courtesy. They returned with a written agreement, on the faith of +a companion of Mahomet, that all hostilities should cease; that the +voluntary emigrants might depart in safety, with as much as they could +carry away of their effects; and that the tributary subjects of the +caliph should enjoy their lands and houses, with the use and possession +of seven churches. On these terms, the most respectable hostages, +and the gate nearest to his camp, were delivered into his hands: his +soldiers imitated the moderation of their chief; and he enjoyed the +submissive gratitude of a people whom he had rescued from destruction. +But the success of the treaty had relaxed their vigilance, and in the +same moment the opposite quarter of the city was betrayed and taken by +assault. A party of a hundred Arabs had opened the eastern gate to a +more inexorable foe. "No quarter," cried the rapacious and sanguinary +Caled, "no quarter to the enemies of the Lord:" his trumpets sounded, +and a torrent of Christian blood was poured down the streets of +Damascus. When he reached the church of St. Mary, he was astonished and +provoked by the peaceful aspect of his companions; their swords were +in the scabbard, and they were surrounded by a multitude of priests and +monks. Abu Obeidah saluted the general: "God," said he, "has delivered +the city into my hands by way of surrender, and has saved the believers +the trouble of fighting." "And am I not," replied the indignant Caled, +"am I not the lieutenant of the commander of the faithful? Have I not +taken the city by storm? The unbelievers shall perish by the sword. Fall +on." The hungry and cruel Arabs would have obeyed the welcome command; +and Damascus was lost, if the benevolence of Abu Obeidah had not been +supported by a decent and dignified firmness. Throwing himself between +the trembling citizens and the most eager of the Barbarians, he adjured +them, by the holy name of God, to respect his promise, to suspend their +fury, and to wait the determination of their chiefs. The chiefs +retired into the church of St. Mary; and after a vehement debate, Caled +submitted in some measure to the reason and authority of his colleague; +who urged the sanctity of a covenant, the advantage as well as the honor +which the Moslems would derive from the punctual performance of their +word, and the obstinate resistance which they must encounter from the +distrust and despair of the rest of the Syrian cities. It was agreed +that the sword should be sheathed, that the part of Damascus which +had surrendered to Abu Obeidah, should be immediately entitled to the +benefit of his capitulation, and that the final decision should be +referred to the justice and wisdom of the caliph. A large majority of +the people accepted the terms of toleration and tribute; and Damascus is +still peopled by twenty thousand Christians. But the valiant Thomas, +and the free-born patriots who had fought under his banner, embraced +the alternative of poverty and exile. In the adjacent meadow, a numerous +encampment was formed of priests and laymen, of soldiers and citizens, +of women and children: they collected, with haste and terror, their +most precious movables; and abandoned, with loud lamentations, or silent +anguish, their native homes, and the pleasant banks of the Pharpar. +The inflexible soul of Caled was not touched by the spectacle of their +distress: he disputed with the Damascenes the property of a magazine of +corn; endeavored to exclude the garrison from the benefit of the treaty; +consented, with reluctance, that each of the fugitives should arm +himself with a sword, or a lance, or a bow; and sternly declared, that, +after a respite of three days, they might be pursued and treated as the +enemies of the Moslems. + +The passion of a Syrian youth completed the ruin of the exiles of +Damascus. A nobleman of the city, of the name of Jonas, was betrothed +to a wealthy maiden; but her parents delayed the consummation of his +nuptials, and their daughter was persuaded to escape with the man whom +she had chosen. They corrupted the nightly watchmen of the gate Keisan; +the lover, who led the way, was encompassed by a squadron of Arabs; but +his exclamation in the Greek tongue, "The bird is taken," admonished his +mistress to hasten her return. In the presence of Caled, and of death, +the unfortunate Jonas professed his belief in one God and his apostle +Mahomet; and continued, till the season of his martyrdom, to discharge +the duties of a brave and sincere Mussulman. When the city was taken, he +flew to the monastery, where Eudocia had taken refuge; but the lover was +forgotten; the apostate was scorned; she preferred her religion to her +country; and the justice of Caled, though deaf to mercy, refused to +detain by force a male or female inhabitant of Damascus. Four days was +the general confined to the city by the obligation of the treaty, and +the urgent cares of his new conquest. His appetite for blood and rapine +would have been extinguished by the hopeless computation of time and +distance; but he listened to the importunities of Jonas, who assured +him that the weary fugitives might yet be overtaken. At the head of four +thousand horse, in the disguise of Christian Arabs, Caled undertook the +pursuit. They halted only for the moments of prayer; and their guide had +a perfect knowledge of the country. For a long way the footsteps of the +Damascenes were plain and conspicuous: they vanished on a sudden; but +the Saracens were comforted by the assurance that the caravan had turned +aside into the mountains, and must speedily fall into their hands. +In traversing the ridges of the Libanus, they endured intolerable +hardships, and the sinking spirits of the veteran fanatics were +supported and cheered by the unconquerable ardor of a lover. From a +peasant of the country, they were informed that the emperor had sent +orders to the colony of exiles to pursue without delay the road of +the sea-coast, and of Constantinople, apprehensive, perhaps, that the +soldiers and people of Antioch might be discouraged by the sight and +the story of their sufferings. The Saracens were conducted through the +territories of Gabala and Laodicea, at a cautious distance from the +walls of the cities; the rain was incessant, the night was dark, a +single mountain separated them from the Roman army; and Caled, ever +anxious for the safety of his brethren, whispered an ominous dream +in the ear of his companion. With the dawn of day, the prospect again +cleared, and they saw before them, in a pleasant valley, the tents of +Damascus. After a short interval of repose and prayer, Caled divided his +cavalry into four squadrons, committing the first to his faithful Derar, +and reserving the last for himself. They successively rushed on the +promiscuous multitude, insufficiently provided with arms, and already +vanquished by sorrow and fatigue. Except a captive, who was pardoned and +dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a +Christian of either sex escaped the edge of their cimeters. The gold and +silver of Damascus was scattered over the camp, and a royal wardrobe of +three hundred load of silk might clothe an army of naked Barbarians. +In the tumult of the battle, Jonas sought and found the object of his +pursuit: but her resentment was inflamed by the last act of his perfidy; +and as Eudocia struggled in his hateful embraces, she struck a dagger to +her heart. Another female, the widow of Thomas, and the real or supposed +daughter of Heraclius, was spared and released without a ransom; but +the generosity of Caled was the effect of his contempt; and the haughty +Saracen insulted, by a message of defiance, the throne of the Cæsars. +Caled had penetrated above a hundred and fifty miles into the heart of +the Roman province: he returned to Damascus with the same secrecy and +speed On the accession of Omar, the _Sword of God_ was removed from +the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to +applaud the vigor and conduct, of the enterprise. + +Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus will equally display +their avidity and their contempt for the riches of the present world. +They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the country were +annually collected in the fair of Abyla, [64] about thirty miles from +the city; that the cell of a devout hermit was visited at the same +time by a multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and +superstition would be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the +governor of Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy +martyr, undertook, with a banner of five hundred horse, the pious and +profitable commission of despoiling the infidels. As he approached the +fair of Abyla, he was astonished by the report of this mighty concourse +of Jews and Christians, Greeks, and Armenians, of natives of Syria and +of strangers of Egypt, to the number of ten thousand, besides a guard of +five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens +paused: "For my own part," said Abdallah, "I dare not go back: our foes +are many, our danger is great, but our reward is splendid and secure, +either in this life or in the life to come. Let every man, according +to his inclination, advance or retire." Not a Mussulman deserted his +standard. "Lead the way," said Abdallah to his Christian guide, "and you +shall see what the companions of the prophet can perform." They charged +in five squadrons; but after the first advantage of the surprise, +they were encompassed and almost overwhelmed by the multitude of their +enemies; and their valiant band is fancifully compared to a white spot +in the skin of a black camel. [65] About the hour of sunset, when their +weapons dropped from their hands, when they panted on the verge of +eternity, they discovered an approaching cloud of dust; they heard the +welcome sound of the tecbir, [66] and they soon perceived the standard +of Caled, who flew to their relief with the utmost speed of his cavalry. +The Christians were broken by his attack, and slaughtered in their +flight, as far as the river of Tripoli. They left behind them the +various riches of the fair; the merchandises that were exposed for sale, +the money that was brought for purchase, the gay decorations of +the nuptials, and the governor's daughter, with forty of her female +attendants. + +The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the money, plate, and jewels, +were diligently laden on the backs of horses, asses, and mules; and the +holy robbers returned in triumph to Damascus. The hermit, after a short +and angry controversy with Caled, declined the crown of martyrdom, and +was left alive in the solitary scene of blood and devastation. + +[Footnote 64: Dair Abil Kodos. After retrenching the last word, the +epithet, holy, I discover the Abila of Lysanias between Damascus and +Heliopolis: the name (Abil signifies a vineyard) concurs with the +situation to justify my conjecture, (Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p 317, +tom. ii. p. 526, 527.)] + +[Footnote 65: I am bolder than Mr. Ockley, (vol. i. p. 164,) who dares +not insert this figurative expression in the text, though he observes in +a marginal note, that the Arabians often borrow their similes from that +useful and familiar animal. The reindeer may be equally famous in the +songs of the Laplanders.] + +[Footnote 66: We hear the tecbir; so the Arabs call Their shout of +onset, when with loud appeal They challenge heaven, as if demanding +conquest. This word, so formidable in their holy wars, is a verb active, +(says Ockley in his index,) of the second conjugation, from Kabbara, +which signifies saying Alla Acbar, God is most mighty!] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part IV. + +Syria, [67] one of the countries that have been improved by the most +early cultivation, is not unworthy of the preference. [68] The heat of +the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the sea and mountains, by the +plenty of wood and water; and the produce of a fertile soil affords the +subsistence, and encourages the propagation, of men and animals. From +the age of David to that of Heraclius, the country was overspread +with ancient and flourishing cities: the inhabitants were numerous and +wealthy; and, after the slow ravage of despotism and superstition, after +the recent calamities of the Persian war, Syria could still attract +and reward the rapacious tribes of the desert. A plain, of ten days' +journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is watered, on the western +side, by the winding course of the Orontes. The hills of Libanus and +Anti-Libanus are planted from north to south, between the Orontes and +the Mediterranean; and the epithet of hollow (Coelesyria) was applied to +a long and fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction, +by the two ridges of snowy mountains. [69] Among the cities, which are +enumerated by Greek and Oriental names in the geography and conquest +of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis or Baalbec, the +former as the metropolis of the plain, the latter as the capital of the +valley. Under the last of the Caesars, they were strong and populous; +the turrets glittered from afar: an ample space was covered with public +and private buildings; and the citizens were illustrious by their +spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by +their luxury. In the days of Paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were +addicted to the worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of their +superstition and splendor has been marked by a singular variety of +fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which was +equalled in poetic style to the summits of Mount Libanus, [70] while +the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the +curiosity and wonder of the European traveller. [71] The measure of the +temple is two hundred feet in length, and one hundred in breadth: the +front is adorned with a double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be +counted on either side; and each column, forty-five feet in height, is +composed of three massy blocks of stone or marble. The proportions +and ornaments of the Corinthian order express the architecture of the +Greeks: but as Baalbec has never been the seat of a monarch, we are at +a loss to conceive how the expense of these magnificent structures could +be supplied by private or municipal liberality. [72] From the conquest +of Damascus the Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emesa: but I +shall decline the repetition of the sallies and combats which have been +already shown on a larger scale. In the prosecution of the war, their +policy was not less effectual than their sword. By short and separate +truces they dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed the Syrians +to compare their friendship with their enmity; familiarized the idea +of their language, religion, and manners; and exhausted, by clandestine +purchase, the magazines and arsenals of the cities which they returned +to besiege. They aggravated the ransom of the more wealthy, or the more +obstinate; and Chalcis alone was taxed at five thousand ounces of gold, +five thousand ounces of silver, two thousand robes of silk, and as many +figs and olives as would load five thousand asses. But the terms of +truce or capitulation were faithfully observed; and the lieutenant +of the caliph, who had promised not to enter the walls of the captive +Baalbec, remained tranquil and immovable in his tent till the jarring +factions solicited the interposition of a foreign master. The conquest +of the plain and valley of Syria was achieved in less than two years. +Yet the commander of the faithful reproved the slowness of their +progress; and the Saracens, bewailing their fault with tears of rage and +repentance, called aloud on their chiefs to lead them forth to fight the +battles of the Lord. In a recent action, under the walls of Emesa, +an Arabian youth, the cousin of Caled, was heard aloud to exclaim, +"Methinks I see the black-eyed girls looking upon me; one of whom, +should she appear in this world, all mankind would die for love of her. +And I see in the hand of one of them a handkerchief of green silk, and +a cap of precious stones, and she beckons me, and calls out, Come hither +quickly, for I love thee." With these words, charging the Christians, he +made havoc wherever he went, till, observed at length by the governor of +Hems, he was struck through with a javelin. + +[Footnote 67: In the Geography of Abulfeda, the description of Syria, +his native country, is the most interesting and authentic portion. It +was published in Arabic and Latin, Lipsiae, 1766, in quarto, with the +learned notes of Kochler and Reiske, and some extracts of geography and +natural history from Ibn Ol Wardii. Among the modern travels, Pocock's +Description of the East (of Syria and Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 88-209) +is a work of superior learning and dignity; but the author too often +confounds what he had seen and what he had read.] + +[Footnote 68: The praises of Dionysius are just and lively. Syria, (in +Periegesi, v. 902, in tom. iv. Geograph. Minor. Hudson.) In another +place he styles the country differently, (v. 898.) This poetical +geographer lived in the age of Augustus, and his description of the +world is illustrated by the Greek commentary of Eustathius, who paid the +same compliment to Homer and Dionysius, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. l. iv. +c. 2, tom. iii. p. 21, &c.)] + +[Footnote 69: The topography of the Libanus and Anti-Libanus is +excellently described by the learning and sense of Reland, (Palestin. +tom. i. p. 311-326)] + +[Footnote 70: + + --Emesae fastigia celsa renident. + Nam diffusa solo latus explicat; ac subit auras + Turribus in coelum nitentibus: incola claris + Cor studiis acuit... + Denique flammicomo devoti pectora soli + Vitam agitant. Libanus frondosa cacumina turget. + Et tamen his certant celsi fastigia templi. + +These verses of the Latin version of Rufus Avienus are wanting in the +Greek original of Dionysius; and since they are likewise unnoticed by +Eustathius, I must, with Fabricius, (Bibliot. Latin. tom. iii. p. 153, +edit. Ernesti,) and against Salmasius, (ad Vopiscum, p. 366, 367, in +Hist. August.,) ascribed them to the fancy, rather than the Mss., of +Avienus.] + +[Footnote 71: I am much better satisfied with Maundrell's slight octavo, +(Journey, p. 134-139), than with the pompous folio of Dr. Pocock, +(Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 106-113;) but every preceding +account is eclipsed by the magnificent description and drawings of Mm. +Dawkins and Wood, who have transported into England the ruins of Pamyra +and Baalbec.] + +[Footnote 72: The Orientals explain the prodigy by a never-failing +expedient. The edifices of Baalbec were constructed by the fairies or +the genii, (Hist. de Timour Bec, tom. iii. l. v. c. 23, p. 311, 312. +Voyage d'Otter, tom. i. p. 83.) With less absurdity, but with equal +ignorance, Abulfeda and Ibn Chaukel ascribe them to the Sabaeans or +Aadites Non sunt in omni Syria aedificia magnificentiora his, (Tabula +Syria p. 108.)] + +It was incumbent on the Saracens to exert the full powers of their valor +and enthusiasm against the forces of the emperor, who was taught, by +repeated losses, that the rovers of the desert had undertaken, and would +speedily achieve, a regular and permanent conquest. From the provinces +of Europe and Asia, fourscore thousand soldiers were transported by sea +and land to Antioch and Caesarea: the light troops of the army consisted +of sixty thousand Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. Under the +banner of Jabalah, the last of their princes, they marched in the +van; and it was a maxim of the Greeks, that for the purpose of cutting +diamond, a diamond was the most effectual. Heraclius withheld his person +from the dangers of the field; but his presumption, or perhaps his +despondency, suggested a peremptory order, that the fate of the province +and the war should be decided by a single battle. The Syrians were +attached to the standard of Rome and of the cross: but the noble, the +citizen, the peasant, were exasperated by the injustice and cruelty of +a licentious host, who oppressed them as subjects, and despised them +as strangers and aliens. [73] A report of these mighty preparations was +conveyed to the Saracens in their camp of Emesa, and the chiefs, though +resolved to fight, assembled a council: the faith of Abu Obeidah would +have expected on the same spot the glory of martyrdom; the wisdom +of Caled advised an honorable retreat to the skirts of Palestine and +Arabia, where they might await the succors of their friends, and the +attack of the unbelievers. A speedy messenger soon returned from the +throne of Medina, with the blessings of Omar and Ali, the prayers of the +widows of the prophet, and a reenforcement of eight thousand Moslems. In +their way they overturned a detachment of Greeks, and when they +joined at Yermuk the camp of their brethren, they found the pleasing +intelligence, that Caled had already defeated and scattered the +Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. In the neighborhood of Bosra, +the springs of Mount Hermon descend in a torrent to the plain of +Decapolis, or ten cities; and the Hieromax, a name which has been +corrupted to Yermuk, is lost, after a short course, in the Lake of +Tiberias. [74] The banks of this obscure stream were illustrated by a +long and bloody encounter. [7411] On this momentous occasion, the public +voice, and the modesty of Abu Obeidah, restored the command to the most +deserving of the Moslems. Caled assumed his station in the front, his +colleague was posted in the rear, that the disorder of the fugitive +might be checked by his venerable aspect, and the sight of the yellow +banner which Mahomet had displayed before the walls of Chaibar. The last +line was occupied by the sister of Derar, with the Arabian women who had +enlisted in this holy war, who were accustomed to wield the bow and +the lance, and who in a moment of captivity had defended, against +the uncircumcised ravishers, their chastity and religion. [75] The +exhortation of the generals was brief and forcible: "Paradise is before +you, the devil and hell-fire in your rear." Yet such was the weight +of the Roman cavalry, that the right wing of the Arabs was broken and +separated from the main body. Thrice did they retreat in disorder, and +thrice were they driven back to the charge by the reproaches and blows +of the women. In the intervals of action, Abu Obeidah visited the tents +of his brethren, prolonged their repose by repeating at once the prayers +of two different hours, bound up their wounds with his own hands, and +administered the comfortable reflection, that the infidels partook of +their sufferings without partaking of their reward. Four thousand and +thirty of the Moslems were buried in the field of battle; and the skill +of the Armenian archers enabled seven hundred to boast that they had +lost an eye in that meritorious service. The veterans of the Syrian war +acknowledged that it was the hardest and most doubtful of the days which +they had seen. But it was likewise the most decisive: many thousands +of the Greeks and Syrians fell by the swords of the Arabs; many were +slaughtered, after the defeat, in the woods and mountains; many, by +mistaking the ford, were drowned in the waters of the Yermuk; and +however the loss may be magnified, [76] the Christian writers confess +and bewail the bloody punishment of their sins. [77] Manuel, the Roman +general, was either killed at Damascus, or took refuge in the monastery +of Mount Sinai. An exile in the Byzantine court, Jabalah lamented the +manners of Arabia, and his unlucky preference of the Christian cause. +[78] He had once inclined to the profession of Islam; but in the +pilgrimage of Mecca, Jabalah was provoked to strike one of his brethren, +and fled with amazement from the stern and equal justice of the caliph +These victorious Saracens enjoyed at Damascus a month of pleasure and +repose: the spoil was divided by the discretion of Abu Obeidah: an equal +share was allotted to a soldier and to his horse, and a double portion +was reserved for the noble coursers of the Arabian breed. + +[Footnote 73: I have read somewhere in Tacitus, or Grotius, Subjectos +habent tanquam suos, viles tanquam alienos. Some Greek officers ravished +the wife, and murdered the child, of their Syrian landlord; and Manuel +smiled at his undutiful complaint.] + +[Footnote 74: See Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 272, 283, tom. ii. p. +773, 775. This learned professor was equal to the task of describing +the Holy Land, since he was alike conversant with Greek and Latin, with +Hebrew and Arabian literature. The Yermuk, or Hieromax, is noticed by +Cellarius (Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 392) and D'Anville, (Geographie +Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 185.) The Arabs, and even Abulfeda himself, do not +seem to recognize the scene of their victory.] + +[Footnote 7411: Compare Price, p. 79. The army of the Romans is swoller +to 400,000 men of which 70,000 perished.--M.] + +[Footnote 75: These women were of the tribe of the Hamyarites, who +derived their origin from the ancient Amalekites. Their females were +accustomed to ride on horseback, and to fight like the Amazons of old, +(Ockley, vol. i. p. 67.)] + +[Footnote 76: We killed of them, says Abu Obeidah to the caliph, one +hundred and fifty thousand, and made prisoners forty thousand, (Ockley +vol. i. p. 241.) As I cannot doubt his veracity, nor believe his +computation, I must suspect that the Arabic historians indulge +themselves in the practice of comparing speeches and letters for their +heroes.] + +[Footnote 77: After deploring the sins of the Christians, Theophanes, +adds, (Chronograph. p. 276,) does he mean Aiznadin? His account is brief +and obscure, but he accuses the numbers of the enemy, the adverse wind, +and the cloud of dust. (Chronograph. p. 280.)] + +[Footnote 78: See Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 70, 71,) who transcribes +the poetical complaint of Jabalah himself, and some panegyrical strains +of an Arabian poet, to whom the chief of Gassan sent from Constantinople +a gift of five hundred pieces of gold by the hands of the ambassador of +Omar.] + +After the battle of Yermuk, the Roman army no longer appeared in the +field; and the Saracens might securely choose, among the fortified towns +of Syria, the first object of their attack. They consulted the caliph +whether they should march to Caesarea or Jerusalem; and the advice of +Ali determined the immediate siege of the latter. To a profane eye, +Jerusalem was the first or second capital of Palestine; but after Mecca +and Medina, it was revered and visited by the devout Moslems, as the +temple of the Holy Land which had been sanctified by the revelation of +Moses, of Jesus, and of Mahomet himself. The son of Abu Sophian was +sent with five thousand Arabs to try the first experiment of surprise +or treaty; but on the eleventh day, the town was invested by the whole +force of Abu Obeidah. He addressed the customary summons to the chief +commanders and people of Aelia. [79] + +[Footnote 79: In the name of the city, the profane prevailed over the +sacred Jerusalem was known to the devout Christians, (Euseb. de Martyr +Palest. c xi.;) but the legal and popular appellation of Aelia (the +colony of Aelius Hadrianus) has passed from the Romans to the Arabs. +(Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 207, tom. ii. p. 835. D'Herbelot, +Bibliotheque Orientale, Cods, p. 269, Ilia, p. 420.) The epithet of Al +Cods, the Holy, is used as the proper name of Jerusalem.] + +"Health and happiness to every one that follows the right way! We +require of you to testify that there is but one God, and that Mahomet is +his apostle. If you refuse this, consent to pay tribute, and be under us +forthwith. Otherwise I shall bring men against you who love death better +than you do the drinking of wine or eating hog's flesh. Nor will I ever +stir from you, if it please God, till I have destroyed those that fight +for you, and made slaves of your children." But the city was defended +on every side by deep valleys and steep ascents; since the invasion of +Syria, the walls and towers had been anxiously restored; the bravest of +the fugitives of Yermuk had stopped in the nearest place of refuge; and +in the defence of the sepulchre of Christ, the natives and strangers +might feel some sparks of the enthusiasm, which so fiercely glowed in +the bosoms of the Saracens. The siege of Jerusalem lasted four months; +not a day was lost without some action of sally or assault; the military +engines incessantly played from the ramparts; and the inclemency of +the winter was still more painful and destructive to the Arabs. The +Christians yielded at length to the perseverance of the besiegers. +The patriarch Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of +an interpreter demanded a conference. [7911] After a vain attempt to +dissuade the lieutenant of the caliph from his impious enterprise, he +proposed, in the name of the people, a fair capitulation, with this +extraordinary clause, that the articles of security should be ratified +by the authority and presence of Omar himself. The question was debated +in the council of Medina; the sanctity of the place, and the advice +of Ali, persuaded the caliph to gratify the wishes of his soldiers and +enemies; and the simplicity of his journey is more illustrious than the +royal pageants of vanity and oppression. The conqueror of Persia and +Syria was mounted on a red camel, which carried, besides his person, +a bag of corn, a bag of dates, a wooden dish, and a leathern bottle of +water. Wherever he halted, the company, without distinction, was invited +to partake of his homely fare, and the repast was consecrated by the +prayer and exhortation of the commander of the faithful. [80] But +in this expedition or pilgrimage, his power was exercised in the +administration of justice: he reformed the licentious polygamy of +the Arabs, relieved the tributaries from extortion and cruelty, and +chastised the luxury of the Saracens, by despoiling them of their rich +silks, and dragging them on their faces in the dirt. When he came +within sight of Jerusalem, the caliph cried with a loud voice, "God is +victorious. O Lord, give us an easy conquest!" and, pitching his tent +of coarse hair, calmly seated himself on the ground. After signing +the capitulation, he entered the city without fear or precaution; and +courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its religious +antiquities. [81] Sophronius bowed before his new master, and secretly +muttered, in the words of Daniel, "The abomination of desolation is in +the holy place." [82] At the hour of prayer they stood together in +the church of the resurrection; but the caliph refused to perform his +devotions, and contented himself with praying on the steps of the church +of Constantine. To the patriarch he disclosed his prudent and honorable +motive. "Had I yielded," said Omar, "to your request, the Moslems of a +future age would have infringed the treaty under color of imitating +my example." By his command the ground of the temple of Solomon was +prepared for the foundation of a mosch; [83] and, during a residence +of ten days, he regulated the present and future state of his Syrian +conquests. Medina might be jealous, lest the caliph should be +detained by the sanctity of Jerusalem or the beauty of Damascus; her +apprehensions were dispelled by his prompt and voluntary return to the +tomb of the apostle. [84] + +[Footnote 7911: See the explanation of this in Price, with the prophecy +which was hereby fulfilled, p 85.--M] + +[Footnote 80: The singular journey and equipage of Omar are described +(besides Ockley, vol. i. p. 250) by Murtadi, (Merveilles de l'Egypte, p. +200-202.)] + +[Footnote 81: The Arabs boast of an old prophecy preserved at Jerusalem, +and describing the name, the religion, and the person of Omar, the +future conqueror. By such arts the Jews are said to have soothed the +pride of their foreign masters, Cyrus and Alexander, (Joseph. Ant. Jud. +l. xi c. 1, 8, p. 447, 579-582.)] + +[Footnote 82: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 281. This prediction, which had +already served for Antiochus and the Romans, was again refitted for +the present occasion, by the economy of Sophronius, one of the deepest +theologians of the Monothelite controversy.] + +[Footnote 83: According to the accurate survey of D'Anville, +(Dissertation sun l'ancienne Jerusalem, p. 42-54,) the mosch of Omar, +enlarged and embellished by succeeding caliphs, covered the ground of +the ancient temple, (says Phocas,) a length of 215, a breadth of 172, +toises. The Nubian geographer declares, that this magnificent structure +was second only in size and beauty to the great mosch of Cordova, (p. +113,) whose present state Mr. Swinburne has so elegantly represented, +(Travels into Spain, p. 296-302.)] + +[Footnote 84: Of the many Arabic tarikhs or chronicles of Jerusalem, +(D'Herbelot, p. 867,) Ockley found one among the Pocock Mss. of Oxford, +(vol. i. p. 257,) which he has used to supply the defective narrative of +Al Wakidi.] + +To achieve what yet remained of the Syrian war the caliph had formed two +separate armies; a chosen detachment, under Amrou and Yezid, was left in +the camp of Palestine; while the larger division, under the standard +of Abu Obeidah and Caled, marched away to the north against Antioch +and Aleppo. The latter of these, the Beraea of the Greeks, was not +yet illustrious as the capital of a province or a kingdom; and the +inhabitants, by anticipating their submission and pleading their +poverty, obtained a moderate composition for their lives and religion. +But the castle of Aleppo, [85] distinct from the city, stood erect on +a lofty artificial mound the sides were sharpened to a precipice, and +faced with free-stone; and the breadth of the ditch might be filled with +water from the neighboring springs. After the loss of three thousand +men, the garrison was still equal to the defence; and Youkinna, their +valiant and hereditary chief, had murdered his brother, a holy monk, +for daring to pronounce the name of peace. In a siege of four or five +months, the hardest of the Syrian war, great numbers of the Saracens +were killed and wounded: their removal to the distance of a mile could +not seduce the vigilance of Youkinna; nor could the Christians be +terrified by the execution of three hundred captives, whom they beheaded +before the castle wall. The silence, and at length the complaints, +of Abu Obeidah informed the caliph that their hope and patience were +consumed at the foot of this impregnable fortress. "I am variously +affected," replied Omar, "by the difference of your success; but I +charge you by no means to raise the siege of the castle. Your retreat +would diminish the reputation of our arms, and encourage the infidels +to fall upon you on all sides. Remain before Aleppo till God shall +determine the event, and forage with your horse round the adjacent +country." The exhortation of the commander of the faithful was fortified +by a supply of volunteers from all the tribes of Arabia, who arrived in +the camp on horses or camels. Among these was Dames, of a servile birth, +but of gigantic size and intrepid resolution. The forty-seventh day of +his service he proposed, with only thirty men, to make an attempt on the +castle. The experience and testimony of Caled recommended his offer; and +Abu Obeidah admonished his brethren not to despise the baser origin +of Dames, since he himself, could he relinquish the public care, would +cheerfully serve under the banner of the slave. His design was covered +by the appearance of a retreat; and the camp of the Saracens was pitched +about a league from Aleppo. The thirty adventurers lay in ambush at the +foot of the hill; and Dames at length succeeded in his inquiries, though +he was provoked by the ignorance of his Greek captives. "God curse these +dogs," said the illiterate Arab; "what a strange barbarous language they +speak!" At the darkest hour of the night, he scaled the most accessible +height, which he had diligently surveyed, a place where the stones +were less entire, or the slope less perpendicular, or the guard less +vigilant. Seven of the stoutest Saracens mounted on each other's +shoulders, and the weight of the column was sustained on the broad and +sinewy back of the gigantic slave. The foremost in this painful ascent +could grasp and climb the lowest part of the battlements; they silently +stabbed and cast down the sentinels; and the thirty brethren, repeating +a pious ejaculation, "O apostle of God, help and deliver us!" were +successively drawn up by the long folds of their turbans. With bold +and cautious footsteps, Dames explored the palace of the governor, who +celebrated, in riotous merriment, the festival of his deliverance. From +thence, returning to his companions, he assaulted on the inside the +entrance of the castle. They overpowered the guard, unbolted the gate, +let down the drawbridge, and defended the narrow pass, till the arrival +of Caled, with the dawn of day, relieved their danger and assured +their conquest. Youkinna, a formidable foe, became an active and useful +proselyte; and the general of the Saracens expressed his regard for the +most humble merit, by detaining the army at Aleppo till Dames was cured +of his honorable wounds. The capital of Syria was still covered by the +castle of Aazaz and the iron bridge of the Orontes. After the loss of +those important posts, and the defeat of the last of the Roman armies, +the luxury of Antioch [86] trembled and obeyed. Her safety was ransomed +with three hundred thousand pieces of gold; but the throne of the +successors of Alexander, the seat of the Roman government of the East, +which had been decorated by Caesar with the titles of free, and +holy, and inviolate was degraded under the yoke of the caliphs to the +secondary rank of a provincial town. [87] + +[Footnote 85: The Persian historian of Timur (tom. iii. l. v. c. 21, +p. 300) describes the castle of Aleppo as founded on a rock one hundred +cubits in height; a proof, says the French translator, that he had never +visited the place. It is now in the midst of the city, of no strength +with a single gate; the circuit is about 500 or 600 paces, and the +ditch half full of stagnant water, (Voyages de Tavernier, tom. i. p. +149 Pocock, vol. ii. part i. p. 150.) The fortresses of the East are +contemptible to a European eye.] + +[Footnote 86: The date of the conquest of Antioch by the Arabs is of +some importance. By comparing the years of the world in the chronography +of Theophanes with the years of the Hegira in the history of Elmacin, we +shall determine, that it was taken between January 23d and September 1st +of the year of Christ 638, (Pagi, Critica, in Baron. Annal. tom. ii. +p. 812, 813.) Al Wakidi (Ockley, vol. i. p. 314) assigns that event to +Tuesday, August 21st, an inconsistent date; since Easter fell that +year on April 5th, the 21st of August must have been a Friday, (see the +Tables of the Art de Verifier les Dates.)] + +[Footnote 87: His bounteous edict, which tempted the grateful city to +assume the victory of Pharsalia for a perpetual aera, is given. John +Malala, in Chron. p. 91, edit. Venet. We may distinguish his authentic +information of domestic facts from his gross ignorance of general +history.] + +In the life of Heraclius, the glories of the Persian war are clouded on +either hand by the disgrace and weakness of his more early and his later +days. When the successors of Mahomet unsheathed the sword of war and +religion, he was astonished at the boundless prospect of toil and +danger; his nature was indolent, nor could the infirm and frigid age of +the emperor be kindled to a second effort. The sense of shame, and the +importunities of the Syrians, prevented the hasty departure from the +scene of action; but the hero was no more; and the loss of Damascus and +Jerusalem, the bloody fields of Aiznadin and Yermuk, may be imputed in +some degree to the absence or misconduct of the sovereign. Instead of +defending the sepulchre of Christ, he involved the church and state in a +metaphysical controversy for the unity of his will; and while Heraclius +crowned the offspring of his second nuptials, he was tamely stripped +of the most valuable part of their inheritance. In the cathedral of +Antioch, in the presence of the bishops, at the foot of the crucifix, +he bewailed the sins of the prince and people; but his confession +instructed the world, that it was vain, and perhaps impious, to resist +the judgment of God. The Saracens were invincible in fact, since they +were invincible in opinion; and the desertion of Youkinna, his false +repentance and repeated perfidy, might justify the suspicion of +the emperor, that he was encompassed by traitors and apostates, who +conspired to betray his person and their country to the enemies of +Christ. In the hour of adversity, his superstition was agitated by +the omens and dreams of a falling crown; and after bidding an eternal +farewell to Syria, he secretly embarked with a few attendants, and +absolved the faith of his subjects. [88] Constantine, his eldest son, +had been stationed with forty thousand men at Caesarea, the civil +metropolis of the three provinces of Palestine. But his private interest +recalled him to the Byzantine court; and, after the flight of his +father, he felt himself an unequal champion to the united force of the +caliph. His vanguard was boldly attacked by three hundred Arabs and +a thousand black slaves, who, in the depth of winter, had climbed +the snowy mountains of Libanus, and who were speedily followed by the +victorious squadrons of Caled himself. From the north and south the +troops of Antioch and Jerusalem advanced along the sea-shore till their +banners were joined under the walls of the Phoenician cities: Tripoli +and Tyre were betrayed; and a fleet of fifty transports, which entered +without distrust the captive harbors, brought a seasonable supply of +arms and provisions to the camp of the Saracens. Their labors were +terminated by the unexpected surrender of Caesarea: the Roman prince had +embarked in the night; [89] and the defenceless citizens solicited their +pardon with an offering of two hundred thousand pieces of gold. +The remainder of the province, Ramlah, Ptolemais or Acre, Sichem or +Neapolis, Gaza, Ascalon, Berytus, Sidon, Gabala, Laodicea, Apamea, +Hierapolis, no longer presumed to dispute the will of the conqueror; and +Syria bowed under the sceptre of the caliphs seven hundred years after +Pompey had despoiled the last of the Macedonian kings. [90] + +[Footnote 88: See Ockley, (vol. i. p. 308, 312,) who laughs at the +credulity of his author. When Heraclius bade farewell to Syria, Vale +Syria et ultimum vale, he prophesied that the Romans should never +reenter the province till the birth of an inauspicious child, the future +scourge of the empire. Abulfeda, p. 68. I am perfectly ignorant of the +mystic sense, or nonsense, of this prediction.] + +[Footnote 89: In the loose and obscure chronology of the times, I am +guided by an authentic record, (in the book of ceremonies of Constantine +Porphyrogenitus,) which certifies that, June 4, A.D. 638, the emperor +crowned his younger son Heraclius, in the presence of his eldest, +Constantine, and in the palace of Constantinople; that January 1, A.D. +639, the royal procession visited the great church, and on the 4th of +the same month, the hippodrome.] + +[Footnote 90: Sixty-five years before Christ, Syria Pontusque monumenta +sunt Cn. Pompeii virtutis, (Vell. Patercul. ii. 38,) rather of his +fortune and power: he adjudged Syria to be a Roman province, and the +last of the Seleucides were incapable of drawing a sword in the defence +of their patrimony (see the original texts collected by Usher, Annal. p. +420)] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part V. + +The sieges and battles of six campaigns had consumed many thousands +of the Moslems. They died with the reputation and the cheerfulness of +martyrs; and the simplicity of their faith may be expressed in the words +of an Arabian youth, when he embraced, for the last time, his sister and +mother: "It is not," said he, "the delicacies of Syria, or the fading +delights of this world, that have prompted me to devote my life in the +cause of religion. But I seek the favor of God and his apostle; and I +have heard, from one of the companions of the prophet, that the spirits +of the martyrs will be lodged in the crops of green birds, who shall +taste the fruits, and drink of the rivers, of paradise. Farewell, we +shall meet again among the groves and fountains which God has provided +for his elect." The faithful captives might exercise a passive and more +arduous resolution; and a cousin of Mahomet is celebrated for refusing, +after an abstinence of three days, the wine and pork, the only +nourishment that was allowed by the malice of the infidels. The frailty +of some weaker brethren exasperated the implacable spirit of fanaticism; +and the father of Amer deplored, in pathetic strains, the apostasy +and damnation of a son, who had renounced the promises of God, and the +intercession of the prophet, to occupy, with the priests and deacons, +the lowest mansions of hell. The more fortunate Arabs, who survived the +war and persevered in the faith, were restrained by their abstemious +leader from the abuse of prosperity. After a refreshment of three days, +Abu Obeidah withdrew his troops from the pernicious contagion of the +luxury of Antioch, and assured the caliph that their religion and virtue +could only be preserved by the hard discipline of poverty and labor. But +the virtue of Omar, however rigorous to himself, was kind and liberal +to his brethren. After a just tribute of praise and thanksgiving, he +dropped a tear of compassion; and sitting down on the ground, wrote +an answer, in which he mildly censured the severity of his lieutenant: +"God," said the successor of the prophet, "has not forbidden the use of +the good things of this worl to faithful men, and such as have performed +good works. Therefore you ought to have given them leave to rest +themselves, and partake freely of those good things which the country +affordeth. If any of the Saracens have no family in Arabia, they may +marry in Syria; and whosoever of them wants any female slaves, he may +purchase as many as he hath occasion for." The conquerors prepared +to use, or to abuse, this gracious permission; but the year of their +triumph was marked by a mortality of men and cattle; and twenty-five +thousand Saracens were snatched away from the possession of Syria. +The death of Abu Obeidah might be lamented by the Christians; but his +brethren recollected that he was one of the ten elect whom the prophet +had named as the heirs of paradise. [91] Caled survived his brethren +about three years: and the tomb of the Sword of God is shown in the +neighborhood of Emesa. His valor, which founded in Arabia and Syria +the empire of the caliphs, was fortified by the opinion of a special +providence; and as long as he wore a cap, which had been blessed +by Mahomet, he deemed himself invulnerable amidst the darts of the +infidels. [9111] + +[Footnote 91: Abulfeda, Annal. Moslem. p. 73. Mahomet could artfully +vary the praises of his disciples. Of Omar he was accustomed to say, +that if a prophet could arise after himself, it would be Omar; and that +in a general calamity, Omar would be accepted by the divine justice, +(Ockley, vol. i. p. 221.)] + +[Footnote 9111: Khaled, according to the Rouzont Uzzuffa, (Price, p. +90,) after having been deprived of his ample share of the plunder of +Syria by the jealousy of Omar, died, possessed only of his horse, his +arms, and a single slave. Yet Omar was obliged to acknowledge to his +lamenting parent. that never mother had produced a son like Khaled.--M.] + +The place of the first conquerors was supplied by a new generation of +their children and countrymen: Syria became the seat and support of +the house of Ommiyah; and the revenue, the soldiers, the ships of that +powerful kingdom were consecrated to enlarge on every side the empire of +the caliphs. But the Saracens despise a superfluity of fame; and their +historians scarcely condescend to mention the subordinate conquests +which are lost in the splendor and rapidity of their victorious career. + +To the north of Syria, they passed Mount Taurus, and reduced to their +obedience the province of Cilicia, with its capital Tarsus, the ancient +monument of the Assyrian kings. Beyond a second ridge of the same +mountains, they spread the flame of war, rather than the light of +religion, as far as the shores of the Euxine, and the neighborhood of +Constantinople. To the east they advanced to the banks and sources of +the Euphrates and Tigris: [92] the long disputed barrier of Rome and +Persia was forever confounded the walls of Edessa and Amida, of Dara and +Nisibis, which had resisted the arms and engines of Sapor or Nushirvan, +were levelled in the dust; and the holy city of Abgarus might vainly +produce the epistle or the image of Christ to an unbelieving conqueror. +To the west the Syrian kingdom is bounded by the sea: and the ruin of +Aradus, a small island or peninsula on the coast, was postponed during +ten years. But the hills of Libanus abounded in timber; the trade of +Phoenicia was populous in mariners; and a fleet of seventeen hundred +barks was equipped and manned by the natives of the desert. The Imperial +navy of the Romans fled before them from the Pamphylian rocks to the +Hellespont; but the spirit of the emperor, a grandson of Heraclius, had +been subdued before the combat by a dream and a pun. [93] The Saracens +rode masters of the sea; and the islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, and the +Cyclades, were successively exposed to their rapacious visits. Three +hundred years before the Christian aera, the memorable though fruitless +siege of Rhodes [94] by Demetrius had furnished that maritime republic +with the materials and the subject of a trophy. A gigantic statue +of Apollo, or the sun, seventy cubits in height, was erected at the +entrance of the harbor, a monument of the freedom and the arts of +Greece. After standing fifty-six years, the colossus of Rhodes was +overthrown by an earthquake; but the massy trunk, and huge fragments, +lay scattered eight centuries on the ground, and are often described +as one of the wonders of the ancient world. They were collected by the +diligence of the Saracens, and sold to a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who +is said to have laden nine hundred camels with the weight of the brass +metal; an enormous weight, though we should include the hundred +colossal figures, [95] and the three thousand statues, which adorned the +prosperity of the city of the sun. + +[Footnote 92: Al Wakidi had likewise written a history of the conquest +of Diarbekir, or Mesopotamia, (Ockley, at the end of the iid vol.,) +which our interpreters do not appear to have seen. The Chronicle of +Dionysius of Telmar, the Jacobite patriarch, records the taking of +Edessa A.D. 637, and of Dara A.D. 641, (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. +ii. p. 103;) and the attentive may glean some doubtful information from +the Chronography of Theophanes, (p. 285-287.) Most of the towns of +Mesopotamia yielded by surrender, (Abulpharag. p. 112.) * Note: It has +been published in Arabic by M. Ewald St. Martin, vol. xi p 248; but its +authenticity is doubted.--M.] + +[Footnote 93: He dreamt that he was at Thessalonica, a harmless and +unmeaning vision; but his soothsayer, or his cowardice, understood +the sure omen of a defeat concealed in that inauspicious word, Give to +another the victory, (Theoph. p. 286. Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 88.)] + +[Footnote 94: Every passage and every fact that relates to the isle, the +city, and the colossus of Rhodes, are compiled in the laborious treatise +of Meursius, who has bestowed the same diligence on the two larger +islands of the Crete and Cyprus. See, in the iiid vol. of his works, the +Rhodus of Meursius, (l. i. c. 15, p. 715-719.) The Byzantine writers, +Theophanes and Constantine, have ignorantly prolonged the term to 1360 +years, and ridiculously divide the weight among 30,000 camels.] + +[Footnote 95: Centum colossi alium nobilitaturi locum, says Pliny, with +his usual spirit. Hist. Natur. xxxiv. 18.] + +II. The conquest of Egypt may be explained by the character of the +victorious Saracen, one of the first of his nation, in an age when the +meanest of the brethren was exalted above his nature by the spirit of +enthusiasm. The birth of Amrou was at once base and illustrious; his +mother, a notorious prostitute, was unable to decide among five of the +Koreish; but the proof of resemblance adjudged the child to Aasi, +the oldest of her lovers. [96] The youth of Amrou was impelled by the +passions and prejudices of his kindred: his poetic genius was exercised +in satirical verses against the person and doctrine of Mahomet; his +dexterity was employed by the reigning faction to pursue the religious +exiles who had taken refuge in the court of the Aethiopian king. [97] +Yet he returned from this embassy a secret proselyte; his reason or his +interest determined him to renounce the worship of idols; he escaped +from Mecca with his friend Caled; and the prophet of Medina enjoyed at +the same moment the satisfaction of embracing the two firmest champions +of his cause. The impatience of Amrou to lead the armies of the faithful +was checked by the reproof of Omar, who advised him not to seek +power and dominion, since he who is a subject to-day, may be a prince +to-morrow. Yet his merit was not overlooked by the two first successors +of Mahomet; they were indebted to his arms for the conquest of +Palestine; and in all the battles and sieges of Syria, he united with +the temper of a chief the valor of an adventurous soldier. In a visit +to Medina, the caliph expressed a wish to survey the sword which had cut +down so many Christian warriors; the son of Aasi unsheathed a short and +ordinary cimeter; and as he perceived the surprise of Omar, "Alas," said +the modest Saracen, "the sword itself, without the arm of its master, is +neither sharper nor more weighty than the sword of Pharezdak the poet." +[98] After the conquest of Egypt, he was recalled by the jealousy of +the caliph Othman; but in the subsequent troubles, the ambition of a +soldier, a statesman, and an orator, emerged from a private station. +His powerful support, both in council and in the field, established the +throne of the Ommiades; the administration and revenue of Egypt were +restored by the gratitude of Moawiyah to a faithful friend who had +raised himself above the rank of a subject; and Amrou ended his days in +the palace and city which he had founded on the banks of the Nile. His +dying speech to his children is celebrated by the Arabians as a model +of eloquence and wisdom: he deplored the errors of his youth but if the +penitent was still infected by the vanity of a poet, he might exaggerate +the venom and mischief of his impious compositions. [99] + +[Footnote 96: We learn this anecdote from a spirited old woman, who +reviled to their faces, the caliph and his friend. She was encouraged +by the silence of Amrou and the liberality of Moawiyah, (Abulfeda, Annal +Moslem. p. 111.)] + +[Footnote 97: Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 46, &c., who quotes +the Abyssinian history, or romance of Abdel Balcides. Yet the fact of +the embassy and ambassador may be allowed.] + +[Footnote 98: This saying is preserved by Pocock, (Not. ad Carmen +Tograi, p 184,) and justly applauded by Mr. Harris, (Philosophical +Arrangements, p. 850.)] + +[Footnote 99: For the life and character of Amrou, see Ockley (Hist. of +the Saracens, vol. i. p. 28, 63, 94, 328, 342, 344, and to the end of +the volume; vol. ii. p. 51, 55, 57, 74, 110-112, 162) and Otter, (Mem. +de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 131, 132.) The readers +of Tacitus may aptly compare Vespasian and Mucianus with Moawiyah and +Amrou. Yet the resemblance is still more in the situation, than in the +characters, of the men.] + +From his camp in Palestine, Amrou had surprised or anticipated the +caliph's leave for the invasion of Egypt. [100] The magnanimous Omar +trusted in his God and his sword, which had shaken the thrones of +Chosroes and Caesar: but when he compared the slender force of the +Moslems with the greatness of the enterprise, he condemned his own +rashness, and listened to his timid companions. The pride and the +greatness of Pharaoh were familiar to the readers of the Koran; and a +tenfold repetition of prodigies had been scarcely sufficient to effect, +not the victory, but the flight, of six hundred thousand of the +children of Israel: the cities of Egypt were many and populous; their +architecture was strong and solid; the Nile, with its numerous branches, +was alone an insuperable barrier; and the granary of the Imperial city +would be obstinately defended by the Roman powers. In this perplexity, +the commander of the faithful resigned himself to the decision of +chance, or, in his opinion, of Providence. At the head of only four +thousand Arabs, the intrepid Amrou had marched away from his station of +Gaza when he was overtaken by the messenger of Omar. "If you are still +in Syria," said the ambiguous mandate, "retreat without delay; but if, +at the receipt of this epistle, you have already reached the frontiers +of Egypt, advance with confidence, and depend on the succor of God and +of your brethren." The experience, perhaps the secret intelligence, +of Amrou had taught him to suspect the mutability of courts; and he +continued his march till his tents were unquestionably pitched on +Egyptian ground. He there assembled his officers, broke the seal, +perused the epistle, gravely inquired the name and situation of the +place, and declared his ready obedience to the commands of the caliph. +After a siege of thirty days, he took possession of Farmah or Pelusium; +and that key of Egypt, as it has been justly named, unlocked the +entrance of the country as far as the ruins of Heliopolis and the +neighborhood of the modern Cairo. + +[Footnote 100: Al Wakidi had likewise composed a separate history of +the conquest of Egypt, which Mr. Ockley could never procure; and his own +inquiries (vol. i. 344-362) have added very little to the original text +of Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 296-323, vers. Pocock,) the Melchite +patriarch of Alexandria, who lived three hundred years after the +revolution.] + +On the Western side of the Nile, at a small distance to the east of the +Pyramids, at a small distance to the south of the Delta, Memphis, one +hundred and fifty furlongs in circumference, displayed the magnificence +of ancient kings. Under the reign of the Ptolemies and Caesars, the +seat of government was removed to the sea-coast; the ancient capital +was eclipsed by the arts and opulence of Alexandria; the palaces, and +at length the temples, were reduced to a desolate and ruinous condition: +yet, in the age of Augustus, and even in that of Constantine, Memphis +was still numbered among the greatest and most populous of the +provincial cities. [101] The banks of the Nile, in this place of the +breadth of three thousand feet, were united by two bridges of sixty and +of thirty boats, connected in the middle stream by the small island of +Rouda, which was covered with gardens and habitations. [102] The eastern +extremity of the bridge was terminated by the town of Babylon and the +camp of a Roman legion, which protected the passage of the river and the +second capital of Egypt. This important fortress, which might fairly be +described as a part of Memphis or Misrah, was invested by the arms of +the lieutenant of Omar: a reenforcement of four thousand Saracens soon +arrived in his camp; and the military engines, which battered the walls, +may be imputed to the art and labor of his Syrian allies. Yet the siege +was protracted to seven months; and the rash invaders were encompassed +and threatened by the inundation of the Nile. [103] Their last assault +was bold and successful: they passed the ditch, which had been fortified +with iron spikes, applied their scaling ladders, entered the fortress +with the shout of "God is victorious!" and drove the remnant of the +Greeks to their boats and the Isle of Rouda. The spot was afterwards +recommended to the conqueror by the easy communication with the gulf and +the peninsula of Arabia; the remains of Memphis were deserted; the tents +of the Arabs were converted into permanent habitations; and the first +mosch was blessed by the presence of fourscore companions of Mahomet. +[104] A new city arose in their camp, on the eastward bank of the Nile; +and the contiguous quarters of Babylon and Fostat are confounded in +their present decay by the appellation of old Misrah, or Cairo, of +which they form an extensive suburb. But the name of Cairo, the town of +victory, more strictly belongs to the modern capital, which was founded +in the tenth century by the Fatimite caliphs. [105] It has gradually +receded from the river; but the continuity of buildings may be traced +by an attentive eye from the monuments of Sesostris to those of Saladin. +[106] + +[Footnote 101: Strabo, an accurate and attentive spectator, observes +of Heliopolis, (Geograph. l. xvii. p. 1158;) but of Memphis he notices, +however, the mixture of inhabitants, and the ruin of the palaces. In the +proper Egypt, Ammianus enumerates Memphis among the four cities, maximis +urbibus quibus provincia nitet, (xxii. 16;) and the name of Memphis +appears with distinction in the Roman Itinerary and episcopal lists.] + +[Footnote 102: These rare and curious facts, the breadth (2946 feet) +and the bridge of the Nile, are only to be found in the Danish traveller +and the Nubian geographer, (p. 98.)] + +[Footnote 103: From the month of April, the Nile begins imperceptibly to +rise; the swell becomes strong and visible in the moon after the summer +solstice, (Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 10,) and is usually proclaimed at Cairo +on St. Peter's day, (June 29.) A register of thirty successive years +marks the greatest height of the waters between July 25 and August +18, (Maillet, Description de l'Egypte, lettre xi. p. 67, &c. Pocock's +Description of the East, vol. i. p. 200. Shaw's Travels, p. 383.)] + +[Footnote 104: Murtadi, Merveilles de l'Egypte, 243, 259. He expatiates +on the subject with the zeal and minuteness of a citizen and a bigot, +and his local traditions have a strong air of truth and accuracy.] + +[Footnote 105: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 233.] + +[Footnote 106: The position of New and of Old Cairo is well known, and +has been often described. Two writers, who were intimately acquainted +with ancient and modern Egypt, have fixed, after a learned inquiry, +the city of Memphis at Gizeh, directly opposite the Old Cairo, (Sicard, +Nouveaux Memoires des Missions du Levant, tom. vi. p. 5, 6. Shaw's +Observations and Travels, p. 296-304.) Yet we may not disregard the +authority or the arguments of Pocock, (vol. i. p. 25-41,) Niebuhr, +(Voyage, tom. i. p. 77-106,) and above all, of D'Anville, (Description +de l'Egypte, p. 111, 112, 130-149,) who have removed Memphis towards the +village of Mohannah, some miles farther to the south. In their heat, the +disputants have forgot that the ample space of a metropolis covers and +annihilates the far greater part of the controversy.] + +Yet the Arabs, after a glorious and profitable enterprise, must have +retreated to the desert, had they not found a powerful alliance in the +heart of the country. The rapid conquest of Alexander was assisted by +the superstition and revolt of the natives: they abhorred their Persian +oppressors, the disciples of the Magi, who had burnt the temples of +Egypt, and feasted with sacrilegious appetite on the flesh of the god +Apis. [107] After a period of ten centuries, the same revolution was +renewed by a similar cause; and in the support of an incomprehensible +creed, the zeal of the Coptic Christians was equally ardent. I +have already explained the origin and progress of the Monophysite +controversy, and the persecution of the emperors, which converted a sect +into a nation, and alienated Egypt from their religion and government. +The Saracens were received as the deliverers of the Jacobite church; +and a secret and effectual treaty was opened during the siege of Memphis +between a victorious army and a people of slaves. A rich and noble +Egyptian, of the name of Mokawkas, had dissembled his faith to obtain +the administration of his province: in the disorders of the Persian +war he aspired to independence: the embassy of Mahomet ranked him among +princes; but he declined, with rich gifts and ambiguous compliments, the +proposal of a new religion. [108] The abuse of his trust exposed him to +the resentment of Heraclius: his submission was delayed by arrogance and +fear; and his conscience was prompted by interest to throw himself on +the favor of the nation and the support of the Saracens. In his first +conference with Amrou, he heard without indignation the usual option of +the Koran, the tribute, or the sword. "The Greeks," replied Mokawkas, +"are determined to abide the determination of the sword; but with the +Greeks I desire no communion, either in this world or in the next, and +I abjure forever the Byzantine tyrant, his synod of Chalcedon, and his +Melchite slaves. For myself and my brethren, we are resolved to live +and die in the profession of the gospel and unity of Christ. It is +impossible for us to embrace the revelations of your prophet; but we are +desirous of peace, and cheerfully submit to pay tribute and obedience to +his temporal successors." The tribute was ascertained at two pieces of +gold for the head of every Christian; but old men, monks, women, and +children, of both sexes, under sixteen years of age, were exempted +from this personal assessment: the Copts above and below Memphis swore +allegiance to the caliph, and promised a hospitable entertainment of +three days to every Mussulman who should travel through their country. +By this charter of security, the ecclesiastical and civil tyranny of the +Melchites was destroyed: [109] the anathemas of St. Cyril were thundered +from every pulpit; and the sacred edifices, with the patrimony of the +church, were restored to the national communion of the Jacobites, who +enjoyed without moderation the moment of triumph and revenge. At the +pressing summons of Amrou, their patriarch Benjamin emerged from his +desert; and after the first interview, the courteous Arab affected to +declare that he had never conversed with a Christian priest of more +innocent manners and a more venerable aspect. [110] In the march from +Memphis to Alexandria, the lieutenant of Omar intrusted his safety to +the zeal and gratitude of the Egyptians: the roads and bridges were +diligently repaired; and in every step of his progress, he could depend +on a constant supply of provisions and intelligence. The Greeks of +Egypt, whose numbers could scarcely equal a tenth of the natives, were +overwhelmed by the universal defection: they had ever been hated, they +were no longer feared: the magistrate fled from his tribunal, the bishop +from his altar; and the distant garrisons were surprised or starved by +the surrounding multitudes. Had not the Nile afforded a safe and ready +conveyance to the sea, not an individual could have escaped, who by +birth, or language, or office, or religion, was connected with their +odious name. + +[Footnote 107: See Herodotus, l. iii. c. 27, 28, 29. Aelian, Hist. Var. +l. iv. c. 8. Suidas in, tom. ii. p. 774. Diodor. Sicul. tom. ii. l. +xvii. p. 197, edit. Wesseling. Says the last of these historians.] + +[Footnote 108: Mokawkas sent the prophet two Coptic damsels, with two +maids and one eunuch, an alabaster vase, an ingot of pure gold, oil, +honey, and the finest white linen of Egypt, with a horse, a mule, and +an ass, distinguished by their respective qualifications. The embassy +of Mahomet was despatched from Medina in the seventh year of the Hegira, +(A.D. 628.) See Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 255, 256, 303,) +from Al Jannabi.] + +[Footnote 109: The praefecture of Egypt, and the conduct of the war, +had been trusted by Heraclius to the patriarch Cyrus, (Theophan. p. 280, +281.) "In Spain," said James II., "do you not consult your priests?" +"We do," replied the Catholic ambassador, "and our affairs succeed +accordingly." I know not how to relate the plans of Cyrus, of paying +tribute without impairing the revenue, and of converting Omar by his +marriage with the Emperor's daughter, (Nicephor. Breviar. p. 17, 18.)] + +[Footnote 110: See the life of Benjamin, in Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarch. +Alexandrin. p. 156-172,) who has enriched the conquest of Egypt with +some facts from the Arabic text of Severus the Jacobite historian] + +By the retreat of the Greeks from the provinces of Upper Egypt, a +considerable force was collected in the Island of Delta; the natural +and artificial channels of the Nile afforded a succession of strong and +defensible posts; and the road to Alexandria was laboriously cleared by +the victory of the Saracens in two-and-twenty days of general or partial +combat. In their annals of conquest, the siege of Alexandria [111] is +perhaps the most arduous and important enterprise. The first trading +city in the world was abundantly replenished with the means of +subsistence and defence. Her numerous inhabitants fought for the dearest +of human rights, religion and property; and the enmity of the natives +seemed to exclude them from the common benefit of peace and toleration. +The sea was continually open; and if Heraclius had been awake to the +public distress, fresh armies of Romans and Barbarians might have been +poured into the harbor to save the second capital of the empire. A +circumference of ten miles would have scattered the forces of the +Greeks, and favored the stratagems of an active enemy; but the two sides +of an oblong square were covered by the sea and the Lake Maraeotis, and +each of the narrow ends exposed a front of no more than ten furlongs. +The efforts of the Arabs were not inadequate to the difficulty of the +attempt and the value of the prize. From the throne of Medina, the eyes +of Omar were fixed on the camp and city: his voice excited to arms the +Arabian tribes and the veterans of Syria; and the merit of a holy war +was recommended by the peculiar fame and fertility of Egypt. Anxious +for the ruin or expulsion of their tyrants, the faithful natives devoted +their labors to the service of Amrou: some sparks of martial spirit were +perhaps rekindled by the example of their allies; and the sanguine +hopes of Mokawkas had fixed his sepulchre in the church of St. John of +Alexandria. Eutychius the patriarch observes, that the Saracens fought +with the courage of lions: they repulsed the frequent and almost daily +sallies of the besieged, and soon assaulted in their turn the walls and +towers of the city. In every attack, the sword, the banner of Amrou, +glittered in the van of the Moslems. On a memorable day, he was betrayed +by his imprudent valor: his followers who had entered the citadel +were driven back; and the general, with a friend and slave, remained a +prisoner in the hands of the Christians. When Amrou was conducted before +the praefect, he remembered his dignity, and forgot his situation: a +lofty demeanor, and resolute language, revealed the lieutenant of the +caliph, and the battle-axe of a soldier was already raised to strike off +the head of the audacious captive. His life was saved by the readiness +of his slave, who instantly gave his master a blow on the face, and +commanded him, with an angry tone, to be silent in the presence of his +superiors. The credulous Greek was deceived: he listened to the offer +of a treaty, and his prisoners were dismissed in the hope of a more +respectable embassy, till the joyful acclamations of the camp announced +the return of their general, and insulted the folly of the infidels. +At length, after a siege of fourteen months, [112] and the loss of +three-and-twenty thousand men, the Saracens prevailed: the Greeks +embarked their dispirited and diminished numbers, and the standard +of Mahomet was planted on the walls of the capital of Egypt. "I have +taken," said Amrou to the caliph, "the great city of the West. It is +impossible for me to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty; and +I shall content myself with observing, that it contains four thousand +palaces, four thousand baths, four hundred theatres or places of +amusement, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vegetable food, and +forty thousand tributary Jews. The town has been subdued by force of +arms, without treaty or capitulation, and the Moslems are impatient to +seize the fruits of their victory." [113] The commander of the faithful +rejected with firmness the idea of pillage, and directed his lieutenant +to reserve the wealth and revenue of Alexandria for the public service +and the propagation of the faith: the inhabitants were numbered; a +tribute was imposed, the zeal and resentment of the Jacobites were +curbed, and the Melchites who submitted to the Arabian yoke were +indulged in the obscure but tranquil exercise of their worship. The +intelligence of this disgraceful and calamitous event afflicted the +declining health of the emperor; and Heraclius died of a dropsy about +seven weeks after the loss of Alexandria. [114] Under the minority +of his grandson, the clamors of a people, deprived of their daily +sustenance, compelled the Byzantine court to undertake the recovery +of the capital of Egypt. In the space of four years, the harbor and +fortifications of Alexandria were twice occupied by a fleet and army of +Romans. They were twice expelled by the valor of Amrou, who was recalled +by the domestic peril from the distant wars of Tripoli and Nubia. But +the facility of the attempt, the repetition of the insult, and the +obstinacy of the resistance, provoked him to swear, that if a third +time he drove the infidels into the sea, he would render Alexandria as +accessible on all sides as the house of a prostitute. Faithful to his +promise, he dismantled several parts of the walls and towers; but the +people was spared in the chastisement of the city, and the mosch of +Mercy was erected on the spot where the victorious general had stopped +the fury of his troops. + +[Footnote 111: The local description of Alexandria is perfectly +ascertained by the master hand of the first of geographers, (D'Anville, +Memoire sur l'Egypte, p. 52-63;) but we may borrow the eyes of the +modern travellers, more especially of Thevenot, (Voyage au Levant, part +i. p. 381-395,) Pocock, (vol. i. p. 2-13,) and Niebuhr, (Voyage en +Arabie, tom. i. p. 34-43.) Of the two modern rivals, Savary and Volmey, +the one may amuse, the other will instruct.] + +[Footnote 112: Both Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 319) and Elmacin +(Hist. Saracen. p. 28) concur in fixing the taking of Alexandria to +Friday of the new moon of Moharram of the twentieth year of the Hegira, +(December 22, A.D. 640.) In reckoning backwards fourteen months spent +before Alexandria, seven months before Babylon, &c., Amrou might have +invaded Egypt about the end of the year 638; but we are assured that he +entered the country the 12th of Bayni, 6th of June, (Murtadi, Merveilles +de l'Egypte, p. 164. Severus, apud Renaudot, p. 162.) The Saracen, and +afterwards Lewis IX. of France, halted at Pelusium, or Damietta, during +the season of the inundation of the Nile.] + +[Footnote 113: Eutych. Annal. tom. ii. p. 316, 319.] + +[Footnote 114: Notwithstanding some inconsistencies of Theophanes and +Cedrenus, the accuracy of Pagi (Critica, tom. ii. p. 824) has extracted +from Nicephorus and the Chronicon Orientale the true date of the death +of Heraclius, February 11th, A.D. 641, fifty days after the loss +of Alexandria. A fourth of that time was sufficient to convey the +intelligence.] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VI. + +I should deceive the expectation of the reader, if I passed in silence +the fate of the Alexandrian library, as it is described by the learned +Abulpharagius. The spirit of Amrou was more curious and liberal than +that of his brethren, and in his leisure hours, the Arabian chief was +pleased with the conversation of John, the last disciple of Ammonius, +and who derived the surname of Philoponus from his laborious studies of +grammar and philosophy. [115] Emboldened by this familiar intercourse, +Philoponus presumed to solicit a gift, inestimable in his opinion, +contemptible in that of the Barbarians--the royal library, which alone, +among the spoils of Alexandria, had not been appropriated by the visit +and the seal of the conqueror. + +Amrou was inclined to gratify the wish of the grammarian, but his rigid +integrity refused to alienate the minutest object without the consent +of the caliph; and the well-known answer of Omar was inspired by the +ignorance of a fanatic. "If these writings of the Greeks agree with +the book of God, they are useless, and need not be preserved: if they +disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed." The sentence +was executed with blind obedience: the volumes of paper or parchment +were distributed to the four thousand baths of the city; and such was +their incredible multitude, that six months were barely sufficient +for the consumption of this precious fuel. Since the Dynasties of +Abulpharagius [116] have been given to the world in a Latin version, +the tale has been repeatedly transcribed; and every scholar, with pious +indignation, has deplored the irreparable shipwreck of the learning, +the arts, and the genius, of antiquity. For my own part, I am strongly +tempted to deny both the fact and the consequences. [1161] The fact is +indeed marvellous. "Read and wonder!" says the historian himself: and +the solitary report of a stranger who wrote at the end of six hundred +years on the confines of Media, is overbalanced by the silence of two +annalist of a more early date, both Christians, both natives of Egypt, +and the most ancient of whom, the patriarch Eutychius, has amply +described the conquest of Alexandria. [117] The rigid sentence of Omar +is repugnant to the sound and orthodox precept of the Mahometan casuists +they expressly declare, that the religious books of the Jews and +Christians, which are acquired by the right of war, should never +be committed to the flames; and that the works of profane science, +historians or poets, physicians or philosophers, may be lawfully applied +to the use of the faithful. [118] A more destructive zeal may perhaps be +attributed to the first successors of Mahomet; yet in this instance, +the conflagration would have speedily expired in the deficiency of +materials. I should not recapitulate the disasters of the Alexandrian +library, the involuntary flame that was kindled by Caesar in his own +defence, [119] or the mischievous bigotry of the Christians, who studied +to destroy the monuments of idolatry. [120] But if we gradually descend +from the age of the Antonines to that of Theodosius, we shall learn from +a chain of contemporary witnesses, that the royal palace and the temple +of Serapis no longer contained the four, or the seven, hundred thousand +volumes, which had been assembled by the curiosity and magnificence of +the Ptolemies. [121] Perhaps the church and seat of the patriarchs might +be enriched with a repository of books; but if the ponderous mass of +Arian and Monophysite controversy were indeed consumed in the public +baths, [122] a philosopher may allow, with a smile, that it was +ultimately devoted to the benefit of mankind. I sincerely regret the +more valuable libraries which have been involved in the ruin of the +Roman empire; but when I seriously compute the lapse of ages, the waste +of ignorance, and the calamities of war, our treasures, rather than our +losses, are the objects of my surprise. Many curious and interesting +facts are buried in oblivion: the three great historians of Rome have +been transmitted to our hands in a mutilated state, and we are deprived +of many pleasing compositions of the lyric, iambic, and dramatic poetry +of the Greeks. Yet we should gratefully remember, that the mischances of +time and accident have spared the classic works to which the suffrage +of antiquity [123] had adjudged the first place of genius and glory: +the teachers of ancient knowledge, who are still extant, had perused and +compared the writings of their predecessors; [124] nor can it fairly +be presumed that any important truth, any useful discovery in art or +nature, has been snatched away from the curiosity of modern ages. + +[Footnote 115: Many treatises of this lover of labor are still extant, +but for readers of the present age, the printed and unpublished are +nearly in the same predicament. Moses and Aristotle are the chief +objects of his verbose commentaries, one of which is dated as early as +May 10th, A.D. 617, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. ix. p. 458-468.) A +modern, (John Le Clerc,) who sometimes assumed the same name was equal +to old Philoponus in diligence, and far superior in good sense and real +knowledge.] + +[Footnote 116: Abulpharag. Dynast. p. 114, vers. Pocock. Audi quid +factum sit et mirare. It would be endless to enumerate the moderns +who have wondered and believed, but I may distinguish with honor the +rational scepticism of Renaudot, (Hist. Alex. Patriarch, p. 170: ) +historia... habet aliquid ut Arabibus familiare est.] + +[Footnote 1161: Since this period several new Mahometan authorities +have been adduced to support the authority of Abulpharagius. That of, +I. Abdollatiph by Professor White: II. Of Makrizi; I have seen a Ms. +extract from this writer: III. Of Ibn Chaledun: and after them Hadschi +Chalfa. See Von Hammer, Geschichte der Assassinen, p. 17. Reinhard, in a +German Dissertation, printed at Gottingen, 1792, and St. Croix, (Magasin +Encyclop. tom. iv. p. 433,) have examined the question. Among Oriental +scholars, Professor White, M. St. Martin, Von Hammer. and Silv. de Sacy, +consider the fact of the burning the library, by the command of Omar, +beyond question. Compare St. Martin's note. vol. xi. p. 296. A Mahometan +writer brings a similar charge against the Crusaders. The library +of Tripoli is said to have contained the incredible number of three +millions of volumes. On the capture of the city, Count Bertram of St. +Giles, entering the first room, which contained nothing but the Koran, +ordered the whole to be burnt, as the works of the false prophet of +Arabia. See Wilken. Gesch der Kreux zuge, vol. ii. p. 211.--M.] + +[Footnote 117: This curious anecdote will be vainly sought in the annals +of Eutychius, and the Saracenic history of Elmacin. The silence of +Abulfeda, Murtadi, and a crowd of Moslems, is less conclusive from their +ignorance of Christian literature.] + +[Footnote 118: See Reland, de Jure Militari Mohammedanorum, in his iiid +volume of Dissertations, p. 37. The reason for not burning the religious +books of the Jews or Christians, is derived from the respect that is due +to the name of God.] + +[Footnote 119: Consult the collections of Frensheim (Supplement. Livian, +c. 12, 43) and Usher, (Anal. p. 469.) Livy himself had styled the +Alexandrian library, elegantiae regum curaeque egregium opus; a liberal +encomium, for which he is pertly criticized by the narrow stoicism of +Seneca, (De Tranquillitate Animi, c. 9,) whose wisdom, on this occasion, +deviates into nonsense.] + +[Footnote 120: See this History, vol. iii. p. 146.] + +[Footnote 121: Aulus Gellius, (Noctes Atticae, vi. 17,) Ammianus +Marcellinua, (xxii. 16,) and Orosius, (l. vi. c. 15.) They all speak in +the past tense, and the words of Ammianus are remarkably strong: fuerunt +Bibliothecae innumerabiles; et loquitum monumentorum veterum concinens +fides, &c.] + +[Footnote 122: Renaudot answers for versions of the Bible, Hexapla, +Catenoe Patrum, Commentaries, &c., (p. 170.) Our Alexandrian Ms., if it +came from Egypt, and not from Constantinople or Mount Athos, (Wetstein, +Prolegom. ad N. T. p. 8, &c.,) might possibly be among them.] + +[Footnote 123: I have often perused with pleasure a chapter of +Quintilian, (Institut. Orator. x. i.,) in which that judicious critic +enumerates and appreciates the series of Greek and Latin classics.] + +[Footnote 124: Such as Galen, Pliny, Aristotle, &c. On this subject +Wotton (Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learning, p. 85-95) argues, +with solid sense, against the lively exotic fancies of Sir William +Temple. The contempt of the Greeks for Barbaric science would scarcely +admit the Indian or Aethiopic books into the library of Alexandria; +nor is it proved that philosophy has sustained any real loss from their +exclusion.] + +In the administration of Egypt, [125] Amrou balanced the demands of +justice and policy; the interest of the people of the law, who were +defended by God; and of the people of the alliance, who were protected +by man. In the recent tumult of conquest and deliverance, the tongue +of the Copts and the sword of the Arabs were most adverse to the +tranquillity of the province. To the former, Amrou declared, that +faction and falsehood would be doubly chastised; by the punishment of +the accusers, whom he should detest as his personal enemies, and by the +promotion of their innocent brethren, whom their envy had labored to +injure and supplant. He excited the latter by the motives of religion +and honor to sustain the dignity of their character, to endear +themselves by a modest and temperate conduct to God and the caliph, +to spare and protect a people who had trusted to their faith, and to +content themselves with the legitimate and splendid rewards of their +victory. In the management of the revenue, he disapproved the simple but +oppressive mode of a capitation, and preferred with reason a proportion +of taxes deducted on every branch from the clear profits of agriculture +and commerce. A third part of the tribute was appropriated to the annual +repairs of the dikes and canals, so essential to the public welfare. +Under his administration, the fertility of Egypt supplied the dearth of +Arabia; and a string of camels, laden with corn and provisions, covered +almost without an interval the long road from Memphis to Medina. [126] +But the genius of Amrou soon renewed the maritime communication which +had been attempted or achieved by the Pharaohs the Ptolemies, or the +Caesars; and a canal, at least eighty miles in length, was opened from +the Nile to the Red Sea. [1261] This inland navigation, which would have +joined the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, was soon discontinued as +useless and dangerous: the throne was removed from Medina to Damascus, +and the Grecian fleets might have explored a passage to the holy cities +of Arabia. [127] + +[Footnote 125: This curious and authentic intelligence of Murtadi +(p. 284-289) has not been discovered either by Mr. Ockley, or by the +self-sufficient compilers of the Modern Universal History.] + +[Footnote 126: Eutychius, Annal. tom. ii. p. 320. Elmacin, Hist. +Saracen. p. 35.] + +[Footnote 1261: Many learned men have doubted the existence of a +communication by water between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean by +the Nile. Yet the fact is positively asserted by the ancients. Diodorus +Siculus (l. i. p. 33) speaks of it in the most distinct manner as +existing in his time. So, also, Strabo, (l. xvii. p. 805.) Pliny (vol. +vi. p. 29) says that the canal which united the two seas was navigable, +(alveus navigabilis.) The indications furnished by Ptolemy and by the +Arabic historian, Makrisi, show that works were executed under the +reign of Hadrian to repair the canal and extend the navigation; it then +received the name of the River of Trajan Lucian, (in his Pseudomantis, +p. 44,) says that he went by water from Alexandria to Clysma, on the +Red Sea. Testimonies of the 6th and of the 8th century show that +the communication was not interrupted at that time. See the French +translation of Strabo, vol. v. p. 382. St. Martin vol. xi. p. 299.--M.] + +[Footnote 127: On these obscure canals, the reader may try to satisfy +himself from D'Anville, (Mem. sur l'Egypte, p. 108-110, 124, 132,) and +a learned thesis, maintained and printed at Strasburg in the year 1770, +(Jungendorum marium fluviorumque molimina, p. 39-47, 68-70.) Even +the supine Turks have agitated the old project of joining the two seas. +(Memoires du Baron de Tott, tom. iv.)] + +Of his new conquest, the caliph Omar had an imperfect knowledge from +the voice of fame and the legends of the Koran. He requested that his +lieutenant would place before his eyes the realm of Pharaoh and the +Amalekites; and the answer of Amrou exhibits a lively and not unfaithful +picture of that singular country. [128] "O commander of the faithful, +Egypt is a compound of black earth and green plants, between a +pulverized mountain and a red sand. The distance from Syene to the sea +is a month's journey for a horseman. Along the valley descends a river, +on which the blessing of the Most High reposes both in the evening and +morning, and which rises and falls with the revolutions of the sun and +moon. When the annual dispensation of Providence unlocks the springs +and fountains that nourish the earth, the Nile rolls his swelling and +sounding waters through the realm of Egypt: the fields are overspread +by the salutary flood; and the villages communicate with each other +in their painted barks. The retreat of the inundation deposits a +fertilizing mud for the reception of the various seeds: the crowds +of husbandmen who blacken the land may be compared to a swarm of +industrious ants; and their native indolence is quickened by the lash +of the task-master, and the promise of the flowers and fruits of a +plentiful increase. Their hope is seldom deceived; but the riches which +they extract from the wheat, the barley, and the rice, the legumes, +the fruit-trees, and the cattle, are unequally shared between those +who labor and those who possess. According to the vicissitudes of +the seasons, the face of the country is adorned with a silver wave, a +verdant emerald, and the deep yellow of a golden harvest." [129] Yet +this beneficial order is sometimes interrupted; and the long delay and +sudden swell of the river in the first year of the conquest might afford +some color to an edifying fable. It is said, that the annual sacrifice +of a virgin [130] had been interdicted by the piety of Omar; and that +the Nile lay sullen and inactive in his shallow bed, till the mandate +of the caliph was cast into the obedient stream, which rose in a single +night to the height of sixteen cubits. The admiration of the Arabs for +their new conquest encouraged the license of their romantic spirit. We +may read, in the gravest authors, that Egypt was crowded with twenty +thousand cities or villages: [131] that, exclusive of the Greeks and +Arabs, the Copts alone were found, on the assessment, six millions of +tributary subjects, [132] or twenty millions of either sex, and of every +age: that three hundred millions of gold or silver were annually paid to +the treasury of the caliphs. [133] Our reason must be startled by these +extravagant assertions; and they will become more palpable, if we assume +the compass and measure the extent of habitable ground: a valley from +the tropic to Memphis seldom broader than twelve miles, and the triangle +of the Delta, a flat surface of two thousand one hundred square leagues, +compose a twelfth part of the magnitude of France. [134] A more accurate +research will justify a more reasonable estimate. The three hundred +millions, created by the error of a scribe, are reduced to the decent +revenue of four millions three hundred thousand pieces of gold, of which +nine hundred thousand were consumed by the pay of the soldiers. [135] +Two authentic lists, of the present and of the twelfth century, are +circumscribed within the respectable number of two thousand seven +hundred villages and towns. [136] After a long residence at Cairo, a +French consul has ventured to assign about four millions of Mahometans, +Christians, and Jews, for the ample, though not incredible, scope of the +population of Egypt. [137] + +[Footnote 128: A small volume, des Merveilles, &c., de l'Egypte, +composed in the xiiith century by Murtadi of Cairo, and translated +from an Arabic Ms. of Cardinal Mazarin, was published by Pierre Vatier, +Paris, 1666. The antiquities of Egypt are wild and legendary; but the +writer deserves credit and esteem for his account of the conquest and +geography of his native country, (see the correspondence of Amrou and +Omar, p. 279-289.)] + +[Footnote 129: In a twenty years' residence at Cairo, the consul Maillet +had contemplated that varying scene, the Nile, (lettre ii. particularly +p. 70, 75;) the fertility of the land, (lettre ix.) From a college +at Cambridge, the poetic eye of Gray had seen the same objects with a +keener glance:-- + + What wonder in the sultry climes that spread, + + Where Nile, redundant o'er his summer bed, + + From his broad bosom life and verdure flings, + + And broods o'er Egypt with his watery wings: + + If with adventurous oar, and ready sail, + + The dusky people drive before the gale: + + Or on frail floats to neighboring cities ride. + + That rise and glitter o'er the ambient tide. + + (Mason's Works and Memoirs of Gray, p. 199, 200.)] + +[Footnote 130: Murtadi, p. 164-167. The reader will not easily credit +a human sacrifice under the Christian emperors, or a miracle of the +successors of Mahomet.] + +[Footnote 131: Maillet, Description de l'Egypte, p. 22. He mentions this +number as the common opinion; and adds, that the generality of these +villages contain two or three thousand persons, and that many of them +are more populous than our large cities.] + +[Footnote 132: Eutych. Annal. tom. ii. p. 308, 311. The twenty millions +are computed from the following data: one twelfth of mankind above +sixty, one third below sixteen, the proportion of men to women as +seventeen or sixteen, (Recherches sur la Population de la France, p. 71, +72.) The president Goguet (Origine des Arts, &c., tom. iii. p. 26, &c.) +Bestows twenty-seven millions on ancient Egypt, because the seventeen +hundred companions of Sesostris were born on the same day.] + +[Footnote 133: Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 218; and this gross lump is +swallowed without scruple by D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 1031,) Ar. +buthnot, (Tables of Ancient Coins, p. 262,) and De Guignes, (Hist. des +Huns, tom. iii. p. 135.) They might allege the not less extravagant +liberality of Appian in favor of the Ptolemies (in praefat.) of seventy +four myriads, 740,000 talents, an annual income of 185, or near 300 +millions of pounds sterling, according as we reckon by the Egyptian or +the Alexandrian talent, (Bernard, de Ponderibus Antiq. p. 186.)] + +[Footnote 134: See the measurement of D'Anville, (Mem. sur l'Egypte, +p. 23, &c.) After some peevish cavils, M. Pauw (Recherches sur les +Egyptiens, tom. i. p. 118-121) can only enlarge his reckoning to 2250 +square leagues.] + +[Footnote 135: Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alexand. p. 334, who calls +the common reading or version of Elmacin, error librarii. His own +emendation, of 4,300,000 pieces, in the ixth century, maintains a +probable medium between the 3,000,000 which the Arabs acquired by the +conquest of Egypt, (idem, p. 168.) and the 2,400,000 which the sultan of +Constantinople levied in the last century, (Pietro della Valle, tom. +i. p. 352 Thevenot, part i. p. 824.) Pauw (Recherches, tom. ii. p. +365-373) gradually raises the revenue of the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, +and the Caesars, from six to fifteen millions of German crowns.] + +[Footnote 136: The list of Schultens (Index Geograph. ad calcem Vit. +Saladin. p. 5) contains 2396 places; that of D'Anville, (Mem. sur +l'Egypte, p. 29,) from the divan of Cairo, enumerates 2696.] + +[Footnote 137: See Maillet, (Description de l'Egypte, p. 28,) who seems +to argue with candor and judgment. I am much better satisfied with the +observations than with the reading of the French consul. He was ignorant +of Greek and Latin literature, and his fancy is too much delighted +with the fictions of the Arabs. Their best knowledge is collected by +Abulfeda, (Descript. Aegypt. Arab. et Lat. a Joh. David Michaelis, +Gottingae, in 4to., 1776;) and in two recent voyages into Egypt, we +are amused by Savary, and instructed by Volney. I wish the latter could +travel over the globe.] + +IV. The conquest of Africa, from the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean, [138] +was first attempted by the arms of the caliph Othman. + +The pious design was approved by the companions of Mahomet and the +chiefs of the tribes; and twenty thousand Arabs marched from Medina, +with the gifts and the blessing of the commander of the faithful. +They were joined in the camp of Memphis by twenty thousand of their +countrymen; and the conduct of the war was intrusted to Abdallah, [139] +the son of Said and the foster-brother of the caliph, who had lately +supplanted the conqueror and lieutenant of Egypt. Yet the favor of the +prince, and the merit of his favorite, could not obliterate the guilt of +his apostasy. The early conversion of Abdallah, and his skilful pen, had +recommended him to the important office of transcribing the sheets of +the Koran: he betrayed his trust, corrupted the text, derided the errors +which he had made, and fled to Mecca to escape the justice, and expose +the ignorance, of the apostle. After the conquest of Mecca, he fell +prostrate at the feet of Mahomet; his tears, and the entreaties of +Othman, extorted a reluctant pardon; out the prophet declared that he +had so long hesitated, to allow time for some zealous disciple to avenge +his injury in the blood of the apostate. With apparent fidelity and +effective merit, he served the religion which it was no longer his +interest to desert: his birth and talents gave him an honorable rank +among the Koreish; and, in a nation of cavalry, Abdallah was renowned as +the boldest and most dexterous horseman of Arabia. At the head of forty +thousand Moslems, he advanced from Egypt into the unknown countries of +the West. The sands of Barca might be impervious to a Roman legion but +the Arabs were attended by their faithful camels; and the natives of +the desert beheld without terror the familiar aspect of the soil and +climate. After a painful march, they pitched their tents before the +walls of Tripoli, [140] a maritime city in which the name, the wealth, +and the inhabitants of the province had gradually centred, and which now +maintains the third rank among the states of Barbary. A reenforcement +of Greeks was surprised and cut in pieces on the sea-shore; but the +fortifications of Tripoli resisted the first assaults; and the Saracens +were tempted by the approach of the praefect Gregory [141] to relinquish +the labors of the siege for the perils and the hopes of a decisive +action. If his standard was followed by one hundred and twenty thousand +men, the regular bands of the empire must have been lost in the naked +and disorderly crowd of Africans and Moors, who formed the strength, or +rather the numbers, of his host. He rejected with indignation the option +of the Koran or the tribute; and during several days the two armies were +fiercely engaged from the dawn of light to the hour of noon, when +their fatigue and the excessive heat compelled them to seek shelter and +refreshment in their respective camps. The daughter of Gregory, a maid +of incomparable beauty and spirit, is said to have fought by his side: +from her earliest youth she was trained to mount on horseback, to draw +the bow, and to wield the cimeter; and the richness of her arms and +apparel were conspicuous in the foremost ranks of the battle. Her hand, +with a hundred thousand pieces of gold, was offered for the head of the +Arabian general, and the youths of Africa were excited by the prospect +of the glorious prize. At the pressing solicitation of his brethren, +Abdallah withdrew his person from the field; but the Saracens were +discouraged by the retreat of their leader, and the repetition of these +equal or unsuccessful conflicts. + +[Footnote 138: My conquest of Africa is drawn from two French +interpreters of Arabic literature, Cardonne (Hist. de l'Afrique et de +l'Espagne sous la Domination des Arabes, tom. i. p. 8-55) and Otter, +(Hist. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 111-125, and 136.) +They derive their principal information from Novairi, who composed, +A.D. 1331 an Encyclopaedia in more than twenty volumes. The five general +parts successively treat of, 1. Physics; 2. Man; 3. Animals; 4. Plants; +and, 5. History; and the African affairs are discussed in the vith +chapter of the vth section of this last part, (Reiske, Prodidagmata ad +Hagji Chalifae Tabulas, p. 232-234.) Among the older historians who are +quoted by Navairi we may distinguish the original narrative of a soldier +who led the van of the Moslems.] + +[Footnote 139: See the history of Abdallah, in Abulfeda (Vit. Mohammed. +p. 108) and Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. 45-48.)] + +[Footnote 140: The province and city of Tripoli are described by Leo +Africanus (in Navigatione et Viaggi di Ramusio, tom. i. Venetia, 1550, +fol. 76, verso) and Marmol, (Description de l'Afrique, tom. ii. p. 562.) +The first of these writers was a Moor, a scholar, and a traveller, who +composed or translated his African geography in a state of captivity +at Rome, where he had assumed the name and religion of Pope Leo X. In +a similar captivity among the Moors, the Spaniard Marmol, a soldier +of Charles V., compiled his Description of Africa, translated by +D'Ablancourt into French, (Paris, 1667, 3 vols. in 4to.) Marmol had read +and seen, but he is destitute of the curious and extensive observation +which abounds in the original work of Leo the African.] + +[Footnote 141: Theophanes, who mentions the defeat, rather than the +death, of Gregory. He brands the praefect with the name: he had probably +assumed the purple, (Chronograph. p. 285.)] + +A noble Arabian, who afterwards became the adversary of Ali, and the +father of a caliph, had signalized his valor in Egypt, and Zobeir +[142] was the first who planted the scaling-ladder against the walls +of Babylon. In the African war he was detached from the standard of +Abdallah. On the news of the battle, Zobeir, with twelve companions, cut +his way through the camp of the Greeks, and pressed forwards, without +tasting either food or repose, to partake of the dangers of his +brethren. He cast his eyes round the field: "Where," said he, "is our +general?" "In his tent." "Is the tent a station for the general of the +Moslems?" Abdallah represented with a blush the importance of his own +life, and the temptation that was held forth by the Roman praefect. +"Retort," said Zobeir, "on the infidels their ungenerous attempt. +Proclaim through the ranks that the head of Gregory shall be repaid with +his captive daughter, and the equal sum of one hundred thousand pieces +of gold." To the courage and discretion of Zobeir the lieutenant of the +caliph intrusted the execution of his own stratagem, which inclined the +long-disputed balance in favor of the Saracens. Supplying by activity +and artifice the deficiency of numbers, a part of their forces lay +concealed in their tents, while the remainder prolonged an irregular +skirmish with the enemy till the sun was high in the heavens. On both +sides they retired with fainting steps: their horses were unbridled, +their armor was laid aside, and the hostile nations prepared, or seemed +to prepare, for the refreshment of the evening, and the encounter of the +ensuing day. On a sudden the charge was sounded; the Arabian camp poured +forth a swarm of fresh and intrepid warriors; and the long line of +the Greeks and Africans was surprised, assaulted, overturned, by new +squadrons of the faithful, who, to the eye of fanaticism, might appear +as a band of angels descending from the sky. The praefect himself was +slain by the hand of Zobeir: his daughter, who sought revenge and death, +was surrounded and made prisoner; and the fugitives involved in their +disaster the town of Sufetula, to which they escaped from the sabres and +lances of the Arabs. Sufetula was built one hundred and fifty miles +to the south of Carthage: a gentle declivity is watered by a running +stream, and shaded by a grove of juniper-trees; and, in the ruins of +a triumpha arch, a portico, and three temples of the Corinthian order, +curiosity may yet admire the magnificence of the Romans. [143] After the +fall of this opulent city, the provincials and Barbarians implored on +all sides the mercy of the conqueror. His vanity or his zeal might be +flattered by offers of tribute or professions of faith: but his losses, +his fatigues, and the progress of an epidemical disease, prevented +a solid establishment; and the Saracens, after a campaign of fifteen +months, retreated to the confines of Egypt, with the captives and the +wealth of their African expedition. The caliph's fifth was granted to +a favorite, on the nominal payment of five hundred thousand pieces +of gold; [144] but the state was doubly injured by this fallacious +transaction, if each foot-soldier had shared one thousand, and each +horseman three thousand, pieces, in the real division of the plunder. +The author of the death of Gregory was expected to have claimed the most +precious reward of the victory: from his silence it might be presumed +that he had fallen in the battle, till the tears and exclamations of +the praefect's daughter at the sight of Zobeir revealed the valor and +modesty of that gallant soldier. The unfortunate virgin was offered, +and almost rejected as a slave, by her father's murderer, who coolly +declared that his sword was consecrated to the service of religion; and +that he labored for a recompense far above the charms of mortal beauty, +or the riches of this transitory life. A reward congenial to his temper +was the honorable commission of announcing to the caliph Othman the +success of his arms. The companions the chiefs, and the people, were +assembled in the mosch of Medina, to hear the interesting narrative of +Zobeir; and as the orator forgot nothing except the merit of his own +counsels and actions, the name of Abdallah was joined by the Arabians +with the heroic names of Caled and Amrou. [145] + +[Footnote 142: See in Ockley (Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 45) the +death of Zobeir, which was honored with the tears of Ali, against whom +he had rebelled. His valor at the siege of Babylon, if indeed it be the +same person, is mentioned by Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 308)] + +[Footnote 143: Shaw's Travels, p. 118, 119.] + +[Footnote 144: Mimica emptio, says Abulfeda, erat haec, et mira donatio; +quandoquidem Othman, ejus nomine nummos ex aerario prius ablatos aerario +praestabat, (Annal. Moslem. p. 78.) Elmacin (in his cloudy version, p. +39) seems to report the same job. When the Arabs be sieged the palace of +Othman, it stood high in their catalogue of grievances.`] + +[Footnote 145: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 235 edit. Paris. His chronology +is loose and inaccurate.] + +[A. D. 665-689.] The western conquests of the Saracens were suspended +near twenty years, till their dissensions were composed by the +establishment of the house of Ommiyah; and the caliph Moawiyah was +invited by the cries of the Africans themselves. The successors of +Heraclius had been informed of the tribute which they had been compelled +to stipulate with the Arabs; but instead of being moved to pity and +relieve their distress, they imposed, as an equivalent or a fine, a +second tribute of a similar amount. The ears of the zantine ministers +were shut against the complaints of their poverty and ruin their +despair was reduced to prefer the dominion of a single master; and the +extortions of the patriarch of Carthage, who was invested with civil and +military power, provoked the sectaries, and even the Catholics, of the +Roman province to abjure the religion as well as the authority of +their tyrants. The first lieutenant of Moawiyah acquired a just renown, +subdued an important city, defeated an army of thirty thousand Greeks, +swept away fourscore thousand captives, and enriched with their spoils +the bold adventurers of Syria and Egypt.[146] But the title of conqueror +of Africa is more justly due to his successor Akbah. He marched from +Damascus at the head of ten thousand of the bravest Arabs; and the +genuine force of the Moslems was enlarged by the doubtful aid and +conversion of many thousand Barbarians. It would be difficult, nor is +it necessary, to trace the accurate line of the progress of Akbah. The +interior regions have been peopled by the Orientals with fictitious +armies and imaginary citadels. In the warlike province of Zab or +Numidia, fourscore thousand of the natives might assemble in arms; but +the number of three hundred and sixty towns is incompatible with the +ignorance or decay of husbandry;[147] and a circumference of three +leagues will not be justified by the ruins of Erbe or Lambesa, the +ancient metropolis of that inland country. As we approach the seacoast, +the well-known titles of Bugia,[148] and Tangier[149] define the more +certain limits of the Saracen victories. A remnant of trade still +adheres to the commodious harbour of Bugia, which, in a more prosperous +age, is said to have contained about twenty thousand houses; and the +plenty of iron which is dug from the adjacent mountains might have +supplied a braver people with the instruments of defence. The remote +position and venerable antiquity of Tingi, or Tangier, have been +decorated by the Greek and Arabian fables; but the figurative +expressions of the latter, that the walls were constructed of brass, and +that the roofs were covered with gold and silver, may be interpreted as +the emblems of strength and opulence. + +[Footnote 146: Theophanes (in Chronograph. p. 293.) inserts the vague +rumours that might reach Constantinople, of the western conquests of the +Arabs; and I learn from Paul Warnefrid, deacon of Aquileia (de Gestis +Langobard. 1. v. c. 13), that at this time they sent a fleet from +Alexandria into the Sicilian and African seas.] + +[Footnote 147: See Novairi (apud Otter, p. 118), Leo Africanus (fol. +81, verso), who reckoned only cinque citta e infinite casal, Marmol +(Description de l'Afrique, tom. iii. p. 33,) and Shaw (Travels, p. 57, +65-68)] + +[Footnote 148: Leo African. fol. 58, verso, 59, recto. Marmol, tom. ii. +p. 415. Shaw, p. 43] + +[Footnote 149: Leo African. fol. 52. Marmol, tom. ii. p. 228.] + +The province of Mauritania Tingitana,[150] which assumed the name of the +capital had been imperfectly discovered and settled by the Romans; the +five colonies were confined to a narrow pale, and the more southern +parts were seldom explored except by the agents of luxury, who searched +the forests for ivory and the citron wood,[151] and the shores of the +ocean for the purple shellfish. The fearless Akbah plunged into the +heart of the country, traversed the wilderness in which his successors +erected the splendid capitals of Fez and Morocco,[152] and at length +penetrated to the verge of the Atlantic and the great desert. The river +Suz descends from the western sides of mount Atlas, fertilizes, like the +Nile, the adjacent soil, and falls into the sea at a moderate distance +from the Canary, or adjacent islands. Its banks were inhabited by the +last of the Moors, a race of savages, without laws, or discipline, or +religion: they were astonished by the strange and irresistible terrors +of the Oriental arms; and as they possessed neither gold nor silver, the +richest spoil was the beauty of the female captives, some of whom were +afterward sold for a thousand pieces of gold. The career, though not +the zeal, of Akbah was checked by the prospect of a boundless ocean. +He spurred his horse into the waves, and raising his eyes to heaven, +exclaimed with the tone of a fanatic: "Great God! if my course were not +stopped by this sea, I would still go on, to the unknown kingdoms of the +West, preaching the unity of thy holy name, and putting to the sword the +rebellious nations who worship another gods than thee." [153] Yet this +Mahometan Alexander, who sighed for new worlds, was unable to preserve +his recent conquests. By the universal defection of the Greeks and +Africans he was recalled from the shores of the Atlantic, and the +surrounding multitudes left him only the resource of an honourable +death. The last scene was dignified by an example of national virtue. An +ambitious chief, who had disputed the command and failed in the attempt, +was led about as a prisoner in the camp of the Arabian general. The +insurgents had trusted to his discontent and revenge; he disdained their +offers and revealed their designs. In the hour of danger, the grateful +Akbah unlocked his fetters, and advised him to retire; he chose to die +under the banner of his rival. Embracing as friends and martyrs, they +unsheathed their scimeters, broke their scabbards, and maintained an +obstinate combat, till they fell by each other's side on the last of +their slaughtered countrymen. The third general or governor of Africa, +Zuheir, avenged and encountered the fate of his predecessor. He +vanquished the natives in many battles; he was overthrown by a powerful +army, which Constantinople had sent to the relief of Carthage. + +[Footnote 150: Regio ignobilis, et vix quicquam illustre sortita, parvis +oppidis habitatur, parva flumina emittit, solo quam viris meleor et +segnitie gentis obscura. Pomponius Mela, i. 5, iii. 10. Mela deserves +the more credit, since his own Phoenician ancestors had migrated from +Tingitana to Spain (see, in ii. 6, a passage of that geographer so +cruelly tortured by Salmasius, Isaac Vossius, and the most virulent of +critics, James Gronovius). He lived at the time of the final reduction +of that country by the emperor Claudius: yet almost thirty years +afterward, Pliny (Hist. Nat. v. i.) complains of his authors, to lazy +to inquire, too proud to confess their ignorance of that wild and remote +province.] + +[Footnote 151: The foolish fashion of this citron wood prevailed at Rome +among the men, as much as the taste for pearls among the women. A round +board or table, four or five feet in diameter, sold for the price of +an estate (latefundii taxatione), eight, ten, or twelve thousand pounds +sterling (Plin. Hist. Natur. xiii. 29). I conceive that I must not +confound the tree citrus, with that of the fruit citrum. But I am not +botanist enough to define the former (it is like the wild cypress) by +the vulgar or Linnaean name; nor will I decide whether the citrum be the +orange or the lemon. Salmasius appears to exhaust the subject, but +he too often involves himself in the web of his disorderly erudition. +(Flinian. Exercitat. tom. ii. p 666, &c.)] + +[Footnote 152: Leo African. fol. 16, verso. Marmol, tom. ii. p. 28. This +province, the first scene of the exploits and greatness of the cherifs +is often mentioned in the curious history of that dynasty at the end of +the third volume of Marmol, Description de l'Afrique. The third vol. of +The Recherches Historiques sur les Maures (lately published at Paris) +illustrates the history and geography of the kingdoms of Fez and +Morocco.] + +[Footnote 153: Otter (p. 119,) has given the strong tone of fanaticism +to this exclamation, which Cardonne (p. 37,) has softened to a pious +wish of preaching the Koran. Yet they had both the same text of Novairi +before their eyes.] + +[A. D. 670-675.] It had been the frequent practice of the Moorish tribes +to join the invaders, to share the plunder, to profess the faith, and to +revolt in their savage state of independence and idolatry, on the first +retreat or misfortune of the Moslems. The prudence of Akbah had proposed +to found an Arabian colony in the heart of Africa; a citadel that might +curb the levity of the Barbarians, a place of refuge to secure, against +the accidents of war, the wealth and the families of the Saracens. With +this view, and under the modest title of the station of a caravan, he +planted this colony in the fiftieth year of the Hegira. In its present +decay, Cairoan[154] still holds the second rank in the kingdom of Tunis, +from which it is distant about fifty miles to the south;[155] its inland +situation, twelve miles westward of the sea, has protected the city from +the Greek and Sicilian fleets. When the wild beasts and serpents were +extirpated, when the forest, or rather wilderness, was cleared, the +vestiges of a Roman town were discovered in a sandy plain: the vegetable +food of Cairoan is brought from afar; and the scarcity of springs +constrains the inhabitants to collect in cisterns and reservoirs a +precarious supply of rain water. These obstacles were subdued by the +industry of Akbah; he traced a circumference of three thousand and six +hundred paces, which he encompassed with a brick wall; in the space +of five years, the governor's palace was surrounded with a sufficient +number of private habitations; a spacious mosque was supported by five +hundred columns of granite, porphyry, and Numidian marble; and Cairoan +became the seat of learning as well as of empire. But these were the +glories of a later age; the new colony was shaken by the successive +defeats of Akbah and Zuheir, and the western expeditions were again +interrupted by the civil discord of the Arabian monarchy. The son of the +valiant Zobeir maintained a war of twelve years, a siege of seven months +against the house of Ommiyah. Abdallah was said to unite the fierceness +of the lion with the subtlety of the fox; but if he inherited the +courage, he was devoid of the generosity, of his father.[156] + +[A. D. 692-698.] The return of domestic peace allowed the caliph +Abdalmalek to resume the conquest of Africa; the standard was delivered +to Hassan governor of Egypt, and the revenue of that kingdom, with an +army of forty thousand men, was consecrated to the important service. In +the vicissitudes of war, the interior provinces had been alternately won +and lost by the Saracens. But the seacoast still remained in the hands +of the Greeks; the predecessors of Hassan had respected the name +and fortifications of Carthage; and the number of its defenders was +recruited by the fugitives of Cabes and Tripoli. The arms of Hassan were +bolder and more fortunate: he reduced and pillaged the metropolis of +Africa; and the mention of scaling-ladders may justify the suspicion, +that he anticipated, by a sudden assault, the more tedious operations of +a regular siege. But the joy of the conquerors was soon disturbed by the +appearance of the Christian succours. The praefect and patrician John, a +general of experience and renown, embarked at Constantinople the forces +of the Eastern empire;[157] they were joined by the ships and soldiers +of Sicily, and a powerful reinforcement of Goths[158] was obtained from +the fears and religion of the Spanish monarch. + +[Footnote 154: The foundation of Cairoan is mentioned by Ockley (Hist. +of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 129, 130); and the situation, mosque, &c. +of the city are described by Leo Africanus (fol. 75), Marmol (tom. ii. +p. 532), and Shaw (p. 115).] + +[Footnote 155: A portentous, though frequent mistake, has been the +confounding, from a slight similitude of name, the Cyrene of the Greeks, +and the Cairoan of the Arabs, two cities which are separated by an +interval of a thousand miles along the seacoast. The great Thuanus has +not escaped this fault, the less excusable as it is connected with a +formal and elaborate description of Africa (Historiar. l. vii. c. 2, in +tom. i. p. 240, edit. Buckley).] + +[Footnote 156: Besides the Arabic Chronicles of Abulfeda, Elmacin, and +Abulpharagius, under the lxxiiid year of the Hegira, we may consult +nd'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orient. p. 7,) and Ockley (Hist. of the Saracens, +vol. ii. p. 339-349). The latter has given the last and pathetic +dialogue between Abdallah and his mother; but he has forgot a physical +effect of her grief for his death, the return, at the age of ninety, and +fatal consequences of her menses.] + +[Footnote 157: The patriarch of Constantinople, with Theophanes +(Chronograph. p. 309,) have slightly mentioned this last attempt for +the relief or Africa. Pagi (Critica, tom. iii. p. 129. 141,) has nicely +ascertained the chronology by a strict comparison of the Arabic and +Byzantine historians, who often disagree both in time and fact. See +likewise a note of Otter (p. 121).] + +[Footnote 158: Dove s'erano ridotti i nobili Romani e i Gotti; and +afterward, i Romani suggirono e i Gotti lasciarono Carthagine. (Leo +African. for. 72, recto) I know not from what Arabic writer the African +derived his Goths; but the fact, though new, is so interesting and so +probable, that I will accept it on the slightest authority.] + +The weight of the confederate navy broke the chain that guarded the +entrance of the harbour; the Arabs retired to Cairoan, or Tripoli; the +Christians landed; the citizens hailed the ensign of the cross, and +the winter was idly wasted in the dream of victory or deliverance. But +Africa was irrecoverably lost: the zeal and resentment of the commander +of the faithful[159] prepared in the ensuing spring a more numerous +armament by sea and land; and the patrician in his turn was compelled +to evacuate the post and fortifications of Carthage. A second battle +was fought in the neighbourhood of Utica; and the Greeks and Goths were +again defeated; and their timely embarkation saved them from the sword +of Hassan, who had invested the slight and insufficient rampart of their +camp. Whatever yet remained of Carthage was delivered to the flames, and +the colony of Dido[160] and Cesar lay desolate above two hundred years, +till a part, perhaps a twentieth, of the old circumference was repeopled +by the first of the Fatimite caliphs. In the beginning of the sixteenth +century, the second capital of the West was represented by a mosque, a +college without students, twenty-five or thirty shops, and the huts +of five hundred peasants, who, in their abject poverty, displayed the +arrogance of the Punic senators. Even that paltry village was swept away +by the Spaniards whom Charles the Fifth had stationed in the fortress of +the Goletta. The ruins of Carthage have perished; and the place might be +unknown if some broken arches of an aqueduct did not guide the footsteps +of the inquisitive traveller.[161] + +[A. D. 698-709.] The Greeks were expelled, but the Arabians were not +yet masters of the country. In the interior provinces the Moors or +Berbers,[162] so feeble under the first Cesars, so formidable to the +Byzantine princes, maintained a disorderly resistance to the religion +and power of the successors of Mahomet. Under the standard of their +queen Cahina, the independent tribes acquired some degree of union and +discipline; and as the Moors respected in their females the character of +a prophetess, they attacked the invaders with an enthusiasm similar to +their own. The veteran bands of Hassan were inadequate to the defence +of Africa: the conquests of an age were lost in a single day; and the +Arabian chief, overwhelmed by the torrent, retired to the confines of +Egypt, and expected, five years, the promised succours of the caliph. +After the retreat of the Saracens, the victorious prophetess assembled +the Moorish chiefs, and recommended a measure of strange and savage +policy. "Our cities," said she, "and the gold and silver which they +contain, perpetually attract the arms of the Arabs. These vile metals +are not the objects of OUR ambition; we content ourselves with the +simple productions of the earth. Let us destroy these cities; let us +bury in their ruins those pernicious treasures; and when the avarice of +our foes shall be destitute of temptation, perhaps they will cease to +disturb the tranquillity of a warlike people." The proposal was accepted +with unanimous applause. From Tangier to Tripoli the buildings, or at +least the fortifications, were demolished, the fruit-trees were cut +down, the means of subsistence were extirpated, a fertile and populous +garden was changed into a desert, and the historians of a more +recent period could discern the frequent traces of the prosperity and +devastation of their ancestors. + +[Footnote 159: This commander is styled by Nicephorus, -------- a vague +though not improper definition of the caliph. Theophanes introduces the +strange appellation of ----------, which his interpreter Goar explains +by Vizir Azem. They may approach the truth, in assigning the active +part to the minister, rather than the prince; but they forget that the +Ommiades had only a kaleb, or secretary, and that the office of +Vizir was not revived or instituted till the 132d year of the Hegira +(d'Herbelot, 912).] + +[Footnote 160: According to Solinus (1.27, p. 36, edit. Salmas), the +Carthage of Dido stood either 677 or 737 years; a various reading, +which proceeds from the difference of MSS. or editions (Salmas, Plinian. +Exercit tom i. p. 228) The former of these accounts, which gives 823 +years before Christ, is more consistent with the well-weighed testimony +of Velleius Paterculus: but the latter is preferred by our chronologists +(Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 398,) as more agreeable to the Hebrew and +Syrian annals.] + +[Footnote 161: Leo African. fo1. 71, verso; 72, recto. Marmol, tom. ii. +p.445-447. Shaw, p.80.] + +[Footnote 162: The history of the word Barbar may be classed under four +periods, 1. In the time of Homer, when the Greeks and Asiatics might +probably use a common idiom, the imitative sound of Barbar was applied +to the ruder tribes, whose pronunciation was most harsh, whose grammar +was most defective. 2. From the time, at least, of Herodotus, it was +extended to all the nations who were strangers to the language and +manners of the Greeks. 3. In the age, of Plautus, the Romans submitted +to the insult (Pompeius Festus, l. ii. p. 48, edit. Dacier), and freely +gave themselves the name of Barbarians. They insensibly claimed an +exemption for Italy, and her subject provinces; and at length removed +the disgraceful appellation to the savage or hostile nations beyond +the pale of the empire. 4. In every sense, it was due to the Moors; the +familiar word was borrowed from the Latin Provincials by the Arabian +conquerors, and has justly settled as a local denomination (Barbary) +along the northern coast of Africa.] + +Such is the tale of the modern Arabians. Yet I strongly suspect that +their ignorance of antiquity, the love of the marvellous, and the +fashion of extolling the philosophy of Barbarians, has induced them to +describe, as one voluntary act, the calamities of three hundred years +since the first fury of the Donatists and Vandals. In the progress +of the revolt, Cahina had most probably contributed her share of +destruction; and the alarm of universal ruin might terrify and alienate +the cities that had reluctantly yielded to her unworthy yoke. They +no longer hoped, perhaps they no longer wished, the return of their +Byzantine sovereigns: their present servitude was not alleviated by the +benefits of order and justice; and the most zealous Catholic must prefer +the imperfect truths of the Koran to the blind and rude idolatry of the +Moors. The general of the Saracens was again received as the saviour of +the province; the friends of civil society conspired against the savages +of the land; and the royal prophetess was slain in the first battle +which overturned the baseless fabric of her superstition and empire. +The same spirit revived under the successor of Hassan; it was finally +quelled by the activity of Musa and his two sons; but the number of the +rebels may be presumed from that of three hundred thousand captives; +sixty thousand of whom, the caliph's fifth, were sold for the profit +of thee public treasury. Thirty thousand of the Barbarian youth were +enlisted in the troops; and the pious labours of Musa to inculcate the +knowledge and practice of the Koran, accustomed the Africans to obey the +apostle of God and the commander of the faithful. In their climate and +government, their diet and habitation, the wandering Moors resembled the +Bedoweens of the desert. With the religion, they were proud to adopt +the language, name, and origin of Arabs: the blood of the strangers and +natives was insensibly mingled; and from the Euphrates to the Atlantic +the same nation might seem to be diffused over the sandy plains of +Asia and Africa. Yet I will not deny that fifty thousand tents of pure +Arabians might be transported over the Nile, and scattered through the +Lybian desert: and I am not ignorant that five of the Moorish tribes +still retain their barbarous idiom, with the appellation and character +of white Africans.[163] + +[A. D. 709.] V. In the progress of conquest from the north and south, +the Goths and the Saracens encountered each other on the confines of +Europe and Africa. In the opinion of the latter, the difference of +religion is a reasonable ground of enmity and warfare.[164] As early as +the time of Othman[165] their piratical squadrons had ravaged the coast +of Andalusia;[166] nor had they forgotten the relief of Carthage by the +Gothic succours. In that age, as well as in the present, the kings of +Spain were possessed of the fortress of Ceuta; one of the columns of +Hercules, which is divided by a narrow strait from the opposite pillar +or point of Europe. A small portion of Mauritania was still wanting to +the African conquest; but Musa, in the pride of victory, was repulsed +from the walls of Ceuta, by the vigilance and courage of count Julian, +the general of the Goths. From his disappointment and perplexity, +Musa was relieved by an unexpected message of the Christian chief, +who offered his place, his person, and his sword, to the successors of +Mahomet, and solicited the disgraceful honour of introducing their arms +into the heart of Spain.[167] + +[Footnote 163: The first book of Leo Africanus, and the observations +of Dr. Shaw (p. 220. 223. 227. 247, &c.) will throw some light on the +roving tribes of Barbary, of Arabian or Moorish descent. But Shaw +had seen these savages with distant terror; and Leo, a captive in the +Vatican, appears to have lost more of his Arabic, than he could acquire +of Greek or Roman, learning. Many of his gross mistakes might be +detected in the first period of the Mahometan history.] + +[Footnote 164: In a conference with a prince of the Greeks, Amrou +observed that their religion was different; upon which score it was +lawful for brothers to quarrel. Ockley's History of the Saracens, vol. +i. p. 328.] + +[Footnote 165: Abulfeda, Annal. Moslem. p 78, vers. Reiske.] + +[Footnote 166: The name of Andalusia is applied by the Arabs not only to +the modern province, but to the whole peninsula of Spain (Geograph. Nub. +p. 151, d'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 114, 115). The etymology has +been most improbably deduced from Vandalusia, country of the Vandals. +(d'Anville Etats de l'Europe, p. 146, 147, &c.) But the Handalusia of +Casiri, which signifies, in Arabic, the region of the evening, of the +West, in a word, the Hesperia of the Greeks, is perfectly apposite. +(Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 327, &c.)] + +[Footnote 167: The fall and resurrection of the Gothic monarchy are +related by Mariana (tom. l. p. 238-260, l. vi. c. 19-26, l. vii. c. 1, +2). That historian has infused into his noble work (Historic de Rebus +Hispaniae, libri xxx. Hagae Comitum 1733, in four volumes, folio, with +the continuation of Miniana), the style and spirit of a Roman classic; +and after the twelfth century, his knowledge and judgment may be safely +trusted. But the Jesuit is not exempt from the prejudices of his order; +he adopts and adorns, like his rival Buchanan, the most absurd of the +national legends; he is too careless of criticism and chronology, and +supplies, from a lively fancy, the chasms of historical evidence. These +chasms are large and frequent; Roderic archbishop of Toledo, the father +of the Spanish history, lived five hundred years after the conquest +of the Arabs; and the more early accounts are comprised in some meagre +lines of the blind chronicles of Isidore of Badajoz (Pacensis,) and +of Alphonso III. king of Leon, which I have seen only in the Annals of +Pagi.] + +If we inquire into the cause of this treachery, the Spaniards will +repeat the popular story of his daughter Cava;[168] of a virgin who was +seduced, or ravished, by her sovereign; of a father who sacrificed his +religion and country to the thirst of revenge. The passions of princes +have often been licentious and destructive; but this well-known tale, +romantic in itself, is indifferently supported by external evidence; and +the history of Spain will suggest some motives of interest and policy +more congenial to the breast of a veteran statesman.[169] After the +decease or deposition of Witiza, his two sons were supplanted by the +ambition of Roderic, a noble Goth, whose father, the duke or governor of +a province, had fallen a victim to the preceding tyranny. The monarchy +was still elective; but the sons of Witiza, educated on the steps of the +throne, were impatient of a private station. Their resentment was the +more dangerous, as it was varnished with the dissimulation of courts: +their followers were excited by the remembrance of favours and the +promise of a revolution: and their uncle Oppas, archbishop of Toledo +and Seville, was the first person in the church, and the second in the +state. It is probable that Julian was involved in the disgrace of the +unsuccessful faction, that he had little to hope and much to fear from +the new reign; and that the imprudent king could not forget or forgive +the injuries which Roderic and his family had sustained. The merit and +influence of the count rendered him a useful or formidable subject: +his estates were ample, his followers bold and numerous, and it was too +fatally shown that, by his Andalusian and Mauritanian commands, he held +in his hands the keys of the Spanish monarchy. Too feeble, however, to +meet his sovereign in arms, he sought the aid of a foreign power; and +his rash invitation of the Moors and Arabs produced the calamities of +eight hundred years. In his epistles, or in a personal interview, he +revealed the wealth and nakedness of his country; the weakness of an +unpopular prince; the degeneracy of an effeminate people. The Goths were +no longer the victorious Barbarians, who had humbled the pride of Rome, +despoiled the queen of nations, and penetrated from the Danube to the +Atlantic ocean. Secluded from the world by the Pyrenean mountains, the +successors of Alaric had slumbered in a long peace: the walls of the +city were mouldered into dust: the youth had abandoned the exercise of +arms; and the presumption of their ancient renown would expose them in +a field of battle to the first assault of the invaders. The ambitious +Saracen was fired by the ease and importance of the attempt; but +the execution was delayed till he had consulted the commander of the +faithful; and his messenger returned with the permission of Walid to +annex the unknown kingdoms of the West to the religion and throne of the +caliphs. In his residence of Tangier, Musa, with secrecy and caution, +continued his correspondence and hastened his preparations. But the +remorse of the conspirators was soothed by the fallacious assurance that +he should content himself with the glory and spoil, without aspiring +to establish the Moslems beyond the sea that separates Africa from +Europe.[170] + +[Footnote 168: Le viol (says Voltaire) est aussi difficile a faire +qu'a prouver. Des Eveques se seroient ils lignes pour une fille? (Hist. +Generale, c. xxvi.) His argument is not logically conclusive.] + +[Footnote 169: In the story of Cava, Mariana (I. vi. c. 21, p. 241, +242,) seems to vie with the Lucretia of Livy. Like the ancients, he +seldom quotes; and the oldest testimony of Baronius (Annal. Eccles. +A.D. 713, No. 19), that of Lucus Tudensis, a Gallician deacon of the +thirteenth century, only says, Cava quam pro concubina utebatur.] + +[Footnote 170: The Orientals, Elmacin, Abulpharagins, Abolfeda, pass +over the conquest of Spain in silence, or with a single word. The text +of Novairi, and the other Arabian writers, is represented, though +with some foreign alloy, by M. de Cardonne (Hist. de l'Afrique et de +l'Espagne sous la Domination des Arabes, Paris, 1765, 3 vols. 12mo. tom. +i. p. 55-114), and more concisely by M. de Guignes (Hist. des Hune. +tom. i. p. 347-350). The librarian of the Escurial has not satisfied +my hopes: yet he appears to have searched with diligence his broken +materials; and the history of the conquest is illustrated by some +valuable fragments of the genuine Razis (who wrote at. Corduba, A. H. +300), of Ben Hazil, &c. See Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 32. +105, 106. 182. 252. 315-332. On this occasion, the industry of Pagi has +been aided by the Arabic learning of his friend the Abbe de Longuerue, +and to their joint labours I am deeply indebted.] + +[A. D. 710.] Before Musa would trust an army of the faithful to the +traitors and infidels of a foreign land, he made a less dangerous trial +of their strength and veracity. One hundred Arabs and four hundred +Africans, passed over, in four vessels, from Tangier or Ceuta; the place +of their descent on the opposite shore of the strait, is marked by the +name of Tarif their chief; and the date of this memorable event[171] is +fixed to the month of Ramandan, of the ninety-first year of the Hegira, +to the month of July, seven hundred and forty-eight years from the +Spanish era of Cesar,[172] seven hundred and ten after the birth of +Christ. From their first station, they marched eighteen miles through +a hilly country to the castle and town of Julian;[173] on which (it is +still called Algezire) they bestowed the name of the Green Island, +from a verdant cape that advances into the sea. Their hospitable +entertainment, the Christians who joined their standard, their inroad +into a fertile and unguarded province, the richness of their spoil +and the safety of their return, announced to their brethren the most +favourable omens of victory. In the ensuing spring, five thousand +veterans and volunteers were embarked under the command of Tarik, a +dauntless and skilful soldier, who surpassed the expectation of his +chief; and the necessary transports were provided by the industry of +their too faithful ally. The Saracens landed[174] at the pillar or point +of Europe; the corrupt and familiar appellation of Gibraltar (Gebel el +Tarik) describes the mountain of Tarik; and the intrenchments of his +camp were the first outline of those fortifications, which, in the +hands of our countrymen, have resisted the art and power of the house +of Bourbon. The adjacent governors informed the court of Toledo of the +descent and progress of the Arabs; and the defeat of his lieutenant +Edeco, who had been commanded to seize and bind the presumptuous +strangers, admonished Roderic of the magnitude of the danger. At the +royal summons, the dukes and counts, the bishops and nobles of the +Gothic monarchy assembled at the head of their followers; and the title +of king of the Romans, which is employed by an Arabic historian, may +be excused by the close affinity of language, religion, and manners, +between the nations of Spain. His army consisted of ninety or a hundred +thousand men: a formidable power, if their fidelity and discipline had +been adequate to their numbers. The troops of Tarik had been augmented +to twelve thousand Saracens; but the Christian malecontents were +attracted by the influence of Julian, and a crowd of Africans +most greedily tasted the temporal blessings of the Koran. In the +neighbourhood of Cadiz, the town of Xeres[175] has been illustrated by +the encounter which determined the fate of the kingdom; the stream of +the Guadalete, which falls into the bay, divided the two camps, and +marked the advancing and retreating skirmishes of three successive and +bloody days. + +[Footnote 171: A mistake of Roderic of Toledo, in comparing the lunar +years of the Hegira with the Julian years of the Era, has determined +Baronius, Mariana, and the crowd of Spanish historians, to place the +first invasion in the year 713, and the battle of Xeres in November, +714. This anachronism of three years has been detected by the more +correct industry of modern chronologists, above all, of Pagi (Critics, +tom. iii. p. 164. 171-174), who have restored the genuine state of the +revolution. At the present time, an Arabian scholar, like Cardonne, who +adopts the ancient error (tom. i. p. 75), is inexcusably ignorant or +careless.] + +[Footnote 172: The Era of Cesar, which in Spain was in legal and popular +use till the xivth century, begins thirty-eight years before the birth +of Christ. I would refer the origin to the general peace by sea and +land, which confirmed the power and partition of the triumvirs. (Dion. +Cassius, l. xlviii. p. 547. 553. Appian de Bell. Civil. l. v. p. 1034, +edit. fol.) Spain was a province of Cesar Octavian; and Tarragona, which +raised the first temple to Augustus (Tacit Annal. i. 78), might borrow +from the orientals this mode of flattery.] + +[Footnote 173: The road, the country, the old castle of count Julian, +and the superstitious belief of the Spaniards of hidden treasures, &c. +are described by Pere Labat (Voyages en Espagne et en Italie, tom i. p. +207-217), with his usual pleasantry.] + +[Footnote 174: The Nubian geographer (p. 154,) explains the topography +of the war; but it is highly incredible that the lieutenant of Musa +should execute the desperate and useless measure of burning his ships.] + +[Footnote 175: Xeres (the Roman colony of Asta Regia) is only two +leagues from Cadiz. In the xvith century It was a granary of corn; +and the wine of Xeres is familiar to the nations of Europe (Lud. Nonii +Hispania, c. 13, p. 54-56, a work of correct and concise knowledge; +d'Anville, Etats de l'Europe &c p 154).] + +On the fourth day, the two armies joined a more serious and decisive +issue; but Alaric would have blushed at the sight of his unworthy +successor, sustaining on his head a diadem of pearls, encumbered with a +flowing robe of gold and silken embroidery, and reclining on a litter, +or car of ivory, drawn by two white mules. Notwithstanding the valour of +the Saracens, they fainted under the weight of multitudes, and the plain +of Xeres was overspread with sixteen thousand of their dead bodies. "My +brethren," said Tarik to his surviving companions, "the enemy is before +you, the sea is behind; whither would ye fly? Follow your general I am +resolved either to lose my life, or to trample on the prostrate king of +the Romans." Besides the resource of despair, he confided in the secret +correspondence and nocturnal interviews of count Julian, with the sons +and the brother of Witiza. The two princes and the archbishop of Toledo +occupied the most important post; their well-timed defection broke the +ranks of the Christians; each warrior was prompted by fear or suspicion +to consult his personal safety; and the remains of the Gothic army were +scattered or destroyed to the flight and pursuit of the three following +days. Amidst the general disorder, Roderic started from his car, and +mounted Orelia, the fleetest of his Horses; but he escaped from a +soldier's death to perish more ignobly in the waters of the Boetis or +Guadalquiver. His diadem, his robes, and his courser, were found on the +bank; but as the body of the Gothic prince was lost in the waves, the +pride and ignorance of the caliph must have been gratified with some +meaner head, which was exposed in triumph before the palace of Damascus. +"And such," continues a valiant historian of the Arabs, "is the fate of +those kings who withdraw themselves from a field of battle." [176] + +[A. D. 711.] Count Julian had plunged so deep into guilt and infamy, +that his only hope was in the ruin of his country. After the battle +of Xeres he recommended the most effectual measures to the victorious +Saracens. "The king of the Goths is slain; their princes are fled +before you, the army is routed, the nation is astonished. Secure with +sufficient detachments the cities of Boetica; but in person and without +delay, march to the royal city of Toledo, and allow not the distracted +Christians either time or tranquillity for the election of a new +monarch." Tarik listened to his advice. A Roman captive and proselyte, +who had been enfranchised by the caliph himself, assaulted Cordova with +seven hundred horse: he swam the river, surprised the town, and drove +the Christians into the great church, where they defended themselves +above three months. Another detachment reduced the seacoast of Boetica, +which in the last period of the Moorish power has comprised in a narrow +space the populous kingdom of Grenada. The march of Tarik from the +Boetis to the Tagus,[177] was directed through the Sierra Morena, that +separates Andalusia and Castille, till he appeared in arms under the +walls of Toledo.[178] The most zealous of the Catholics had escaped with +the relics of their saints; and if the gates were shut, it was only +till the victor had subscribed a fair and reasonable capitulation. +The voluntary exiles were allowed to depart with their effects; seven +churches were appropriated to the Christian worship; the archbishop and +his clergy were at liberty to exercise their functions, the monks to +practise or neglect their penance; and the Goths and Romans were left in +all civil or criminal cases to the subordinate jurisdiction of their +own laws and magistrates. But if the justice of Tarik protected the +Christians, his gratitude and policy rewarded the Jews, to whose +secret or open aid he was indebted for his most important acquisitions. +Persecuted by the kings and synods of Spain, who had often pressed the +alternative of banishment or baptism, that outcast nation embraced the +moment of revenge: the comparison of their past and present state was +the pledge of their fidelity; and the alliance between the disciples of +Moses and those of Mahomet, was maintained till the final era of their +common expulsion. + +[Footnote 176: Id sane infortunii regibus pedem ex acie referentibus +saepe contingit. Den Hazil of Grenada, in Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana. +tom. ii. p. 337. Some credulous Spaniards believe that king Roderic, or +Rodrigo, escaped to a hermit's cell; and others, that he was cast alive +into a tub full of serpents, from whence he exclaimed with a lamentable +voice, "they devour the part with which I have so grievously sinned." +(Don Quixote, part ii. l. iii. c. 1.)] + +[Footnote 177: The direct road from Corduba to Toledo was measured by +Mr. Swinburne's mules in 72 1/2 hours: but a larger computation must be +adopted for the slow and devious marches of an army. The Arabs traversed +the province of La Mancha, which the pen of Cervantes has transformed +into classic ground to the reader of every nation.] + +[Footnote 178: The antiquities of Toledo, Urbs Parva in the Punic +wars, Urbs Regia in the sixth century, are briefly described by Nonius +(Hispania, c. 59, p. 181-136). He borrows from Roderic the fatale +palatium of Moorish portraits; but modestly insinuates, that it was no +more than a Roman amphitheatre.] + +From the royal seat of Toledo, the Arabian leader spread his conquests +to the north, over the modern realms of Castille and Leon; but it is +heedless to enumerate the cities that yielded on his approach, or again +to describe the table of emerald,[179] transported from the East by the +Romans, acquired by the Goths among the spoils of Rome, and presented by +the Arabs to the throne of Damascus. Beyond the Asturian mountains, the +maritime town of Gijon was the term[180] of the lieutenant of Musa, who +had performed with the speed of a traveller, his victorious march of +seven hundred miles, from the rock of Gibraltar to the bay of Biscay. +The failure of land compelled him to retreat: and he was recalled to +Toledo, to excuse his presumption of subduing a kingdom in the absence +of his general. Spain, which in a more savage and disorderly state, had +resisted, two hundred years, the arms of the Romans, was overrun in +a few months by those of the Saracens; and such was the eagerness of +submission and treaty, that the governor of Cordova is recorded as the +only chief who fell, without conditions, a prisoner into their hands. +The cause of the Goths had been irrevocably judged in the field of +Xeres; and in the national dismay, each part of the monarchy declined +a contest with the antagonist who had vanquished the united strength of +the whole.[181] That strength had been wasted by two successive seasons +of famine and pestilence; and the governors, who were impatient to +surrender, might exaggerate the difficulty of collecting the provisions +of a siege. To disarm the Christians, superstition likewise contributed +her terrors: and the subtle Arab encouraged the report of dreams, omens, +and prophecies, and of the portraits of the destined conquerors of +Spain, that were discovered on the breaking open an apartment of the +royal palace. Yet a spark of the vital flame was still alive; some +invincible fugitives preferred a life of poverty and freedom in the +Asturian valleys; the hardy mountaineers repulsed the slaves of the +caliph; and the sword of Pelagius has been transformed into the sceptre +of the Catholic kings.[182] + +[Footnote 179: In the Historia Arabum (c. 9, p. 17, ad calcem Elmacin), +Roderic of Toledo describes the emerald tables, and inserts the name of +Medinat Ahneyda in Arabic words and letters. He appears to be conversant +with the Mahometan writers; but I cannot agree with M. de Guignes (Hist. +des Huns, tom. i. p. 350) that he had read and transcribed Novairi; +because he was dead a hundred years before Novairi composed his +history. This mistake is founded on a still grosser error. M. de Guignes +confounds the governed historian Roderic Ximines, archbishop of Toledo, +in the xiiith century, with cardinal Ximines, who governed Spain in +the beginning of the xvith, and was the subject, not the author, of +historical compositions.] + +[Footnote 180: Tarik might have inscribed on the last rock, the boast +of Regnard and his companions in their Lapland journey, "Hic tandem +stetimus, nobis ubi defuit orbis."] + +[Footnote 181: Such was the argument of the traitor Oppas, and every +chief to whom it was addressed did not answer with the spirit of +Pelagius; Omnis Hispania dudum sub uno regimine Gothorum, omnis +exercitus Hispaniae in uno congregatus Ismaelitarum non valuit sustinere +impetum. Chron. Alphonsi Regis, apud Pagi, tom. iii. p. 177.] + +[Footnote 182: The revival of tire Gothic kingdom in the Asturias is +distinctly though concisely noticed by d'Anville (Etats de l'Europe, p. +159)] + + + + +Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VII. + +On the intelligence of this rapid success, the applause of Musa +degenerated into envy; and he began, not to complain, but to fear, that +Tarik would leave him nothing to subdue. At the head of ten thousand +Arabs and eight thousand Africans, he passed over in person from +Mauritania to Spain: the first of his companions were the noblest of +the Koreish; his eldest son was left in the command of Africa; the +three younger brethren were of an age and spirit to second the boldest +enterprises of their father. At his landing in Algezire, he was +respectfully entertained by Count Julian, who stifled his inward +remorse, and testified, both in words and actions, that the victory of +the Arabs had not impaired his attachment to their cause. Some enemies +yet remained for the sword of Musa. The tardy repentance of the Goths +had compared their own numbers and those of the invaders; the cities +from which the march of Tarik had declined considered themselves as +impregnable; and the bravest patriots defended the fortifications of +Seville and Merida. They were successively besieged and reduced by the +labor of Musa, who transported his camp from the Boetis to the Anas, +from the Guadalquivir to the Guadiana. When he beheld the works of Roman +magnificence, the bridge, the aqueducts, the triumphal arches, and the +theatre, of the ancient metropolis of Lusitania, "I should imagine," +said he to his four companions, "that the human race must have united +their art and power in the foundation of this city: happy is the man +who shall become its master!" He aspired to that happiness, but the +Emeritans sustained on this occasion the honor of their descent from +the veteran legionaries of Augustus [183] Disdaining the confinement +of their walls, they gave battle to the Arabs on the plain; but an +ambuscade rising from the shelter of a quarry, or a ruin, chastised +their indiscretion, and intercepted their return. + +The wooden turrets of assault were rolled forwards to the foot of the +rampart; but the defence of Merida was obstinate and long; and the +castle of the martyrs was a perpetual testimony of the losses of the +Moslems. The constancy of the besieged was at length subdued by famine +and despair; and the prudent victor disguised his impatience under the +names of clemency and esteem. The alternative of exile or tribute was +allowed; the churches were divided between the two religions; and the +wealth of those who had fallen in the siege, or retired to Gallicia, was +confiscated as the reward of the faithful. In the midway between Merida +and Toledo, the lieutenant of Musa saluted the vicegerent of the +caliph, and conducted him to the palace of the Gothic kings. Their +first interview was cold and formal: a rigid account was exacted of the +treasures of Spain: the character of Tarik was exposed to suspicion +and obloquy; and the hero was imprisoned, reviled, and ignominiously +scourged by the hand, or the command, of Musa. Yet so strict was the +discipline, so pure the zeal, or so tame the spirit, of the primitive +Moslems, that, after this public indignity, Tarik could serve and +be trusted in the reduction of the Tarragonest province. A mosch was +erected at Saragossa, by the liberality of the Koreish: the port of +Barcelona was opened to the vessels of Syria; and the Goths were pursued +beyond the Pyrenaean mountains into their Gallic province of Septimania +or Languedoc. [184] In the church of St. Mary at Carcassone, Musa found, +but it is improbable that he left, seven equestrian statues of massy +silver; and from his term or column of Narbonne, he returned on his +footsteps to the Gallician and Lusitanian shores of the ocean. During +the absence of the father, his son Abdelaziz chastised the insurgents +of Seville, and reduced, from Malaga to Valentia, the sea-coast of +the Mediterranean: his original treaty with the discreet and valiant +Theodemir [185] will represent the manners and policy of the times. "The +conditions of peace agreed and sworn between Abdelaziz, the son of Musa, +the son of Nassir, and Theodemir prince of the Goths. In the name of +the most merciful God, Abdelaziz makes peace on these conditions: that +Theodemir shall not be disturbed in his principality; nor any injury be +offered to the life or property, the wives and children, the religion +and temples, of the Christians: that Theodemir shall freely deliver +his seven [1851] cities, Orihuela, Valentola, Alicanti Mola, Vacasora, +Bigerra, (now Bejar,) Ora, (or Opta,) and Lorca: that he shall not +assist or entertain the enemies of the caliph, but shall faithfully +communicate his knowledge of their hostile designs: that himself, and +each of the Gothic nobles, shall annually pay one piece of gold, four +measures of wheat, as many of barley, with a certain proportion of +honey, oil, and vinegar; and that each of their vassals shall be taxed +at one moiety of the said imposition. Given the fourth of Regeb, in the +year of the Hegira ninety-four, and subscribed with the names of four +Mussulman witnesses." [186] Theodemir and his subjects were treated with +uncommon lenity; but the rate of tribute appears to have fluctuated +from a tenth to a fifth, according to the submission or obstinacy of +the Christians. [187] In this revolution, many partial calamities were +inflicted by the carnal or religious passions of the enthusiasts: some +churches were profaned by the new worship: some relics or images were +confounded with idols: the rebels were put to the sword; and one +town (an obscure place between Cordova and Seville) was razed to its +foundations. Yet if we compare the invasion of Spain by the Goths, or +its recovery by the kings of Castile and Arragon, we must applaud the +moderation and discipline of the Arabian conquerors. + +[Footnote 183: The honorable relics of the Cantabrian war (Dion Cassius, +l. liii p. 720) were planted in this metropolis of Lusitania, perhaps of +Spain, (submittit cui tota suos Hispania fasces.) Nonius (Hispania, c. +31, p. 106-110) enumerates the ancient structures, but concludes with +a sigh: Urbs haec olim nobilissima ad magnam incolarum infrequentiam +delapsa est, et praeter priscae claritatis ruinas nihil ostendit.] + +[Footnote 184: Both the interpreters of Novairi, De Guignes (Hist. des +Huns, tom. i. p. 349) and Cardonne, (Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, +tom. i. p. 93, 94, 104, 135,) lead Musa into the Narbonnese Gaul. But I +find no mention of this enterprise, either in Roderic of Toledo, or the +Mss. of the Escurial, and the invasion of the Saracens is postponed by +a French chronicle till the ixth year after the conquest of Spain, A.D. +721, (Pagi, Critica, tom. iii. p. 177, 195. Historians of France, tom. +iii.) I much question whether Musa ever passed the Pyrenees.] + +[Footnote 185: Four hundred years after Theodemir, his territories of +Murcia and Carthagena retain in the Nubian geographer Edrisi (p, 154, +161) the name of Tadmir, (D'Anville, Etats de l'Europe, p. 156. Pagi, +tom. iii. p. 174.) In the present decay of Spanish agriculture, Mr. +Swinburne (Travels into Spain, p. 119) surveyed with pleasure the +delicious valley from Murcia to Orihuela, four leagues and a half of the +finest corn pulse, lucerne, oranges, &c.] + +[Footnote 1851: Gibbon has made eight cities: in Conde's translation +Bigera does not appear.--M.] + +[Footnote 186: See the treaty in Arabic and Latin, in the Bibliotheca +Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 105, 106. It is signed the 4th of the month +of Regeb, A. H. 94, the 5th of April, A.D. 713; a date which seems to +prolong the resistance of Theodemir, and the government of Musa.] + +[Footnote 187: From the history of Sandoval, p. 87. Fleury (Hist. +Eccles. tom. ix. p. 261) has given the substance of another treaty +concluded A Ae. C. 782, A.D. 734, between an Arabian chief and the Goths +and Romans, of the territory of Conimbra in Portugal. The tax of the +churches is fixed at twenty-five pounds of gold; of the monasteries, +fifty; of the cathedrals, one hundred; the Christians are judged by +their count, but in capital cases he must consult the alcaide. The +church doors must be shut, and they must respect the name of Mahomet. +I have not the original before me; it would confirm or destroy a dark +suspicion, that the piece has been forged to introduce the immunity of a +neighboring convent.] + +The exploits of Musa were performed in the evening of life, though he +affected to disguise his age by coloring with a red powder the whiteness +of his beard. But in the love of action and glory, his breast was +still fired with the ardor of youth; and the possession of Spain was +considered only as the first step to the monarchy of Europe. With +a powerful armament by sea and land, he was preparing to repass the +Pyrenees, to extinguish in Gaul and Italy the declining kingdoms of the +Franks and Lombards, and to preach the unity of God on the altar of the +Vatican. From thence, subduing the Barbarians of Germany, he proposed +to follow the course of the Danube from its source to the Euxine Sea, +to overthrow the Greek or Roman empire of Constantinople, and returning +from Europe to Asia, to unite his new acquisitions with Antioch and +the provinces of Syria. [188] But his vast enterprise, perhaps of +easy execution, must have seemed extravagant to vulgar minds; and the +visionary conqueror was soon reminded of his dependence and servitude. +The friends of Tarik had effectually stated his services and wrongs: +at the court of Damascus, the proceedings of Musa were blamed, his +intentions were suspected, and his delay in complying with the first +invitation was chastised by a harsher and more peremptory summons. An +intrepid messenger of the caliph entered his camp at Lugo in Gallicia, +and in the presence of the Saracens and Christians arrested the bridle +of his horse. His own loyalty, or that of his troops, inculcated the +duty of obedience: and his disgrace was alleviated by the recall of his +rival, and the permission of investing with his two governments his two +sons, Abdallah and Abdelaziz. His long triumph from Ceuta to Damascus +displayed the spoils of Africa and the treasures of Spain: four hundred +Gothic nobles, with gold coronets and girdles, were distinguished in his +train; and the number of male and female captives, selected for their +birth or beauty, was computed at eighteen, or even at thirty, thousand +persons. As soon as he reached Tiberias in Palestine, he was apprised +of the sickness and danger of the caliph, by a private message from +Soliman, his brother and presumptive heir; who wished to reserve for his +own reign the spectacle of victory. + +Had Walid recovered, the delay of Musa would have been criminal: he +pursued his march, and found an enemy on the throne. In his trial before +a partial judge against a popular antagonist, he was convicted of vanity +and falsehood; and a fine of two hundred thousand pieces of gold +either exhausted his poverty or proved his rapaciousness. The unworthy +treatment of Tarik was revenged by a similar indignity; and the veteran +commander, after a public whipping, stood a whole day in the sun before +the palace gate, till he obtained a decent exile, under the pious name +of a pilgrimage to Mecca. The resentment of the caliph might have been +satiated with the ruin of Musa; but his fears demanded the extirpation +of a potent and injured family. A sentence of death was intimated with +secrecy and speed to the trusty servants of the throne both in Africa +and Spain; and the forms, if not the substance, of justice were +superseded in this bloody execution. In the mosch or palace of Cordova, +Abdelaziz was slain by the swords of the conspirators; they accused +their governor of claiming the honors of royalty; and his scandalous +marriage with Egilona, the widow of Roderic, offended the prejudices +both of the Christians and Moslems. By a refinement of cruelty, the +head of the son was presented to the father, with an insulting +question, whether he acknowledged the features of the rebel? "I know his +features," he exclaimed with indignation: "I assert his innocence; and +I imprecate the same, a juster fate, against the authors of his death." +The age and despair of Musa raised him above the power of kings; and he +expired at Mecca of the anguish of a broken heart. His rival was more +favorably treated: his services were forgiven; and Tarik was permitted +to mingle with the crowd of slaves. [189] I am ignorant whether Count +Julian was rewarded with the death which he deserved indeed, though not +from the hands of the Saracens; but the tale of their ingratitude to the +sons of Witiza is disproved by the most unquestionable evidence. The two +royal youths were reinstated in the private patrimony of their father; +but on the decease of Eba, the elder, his daughter was unjustly +despoiled of her portion by the violence of her uncle Sigebut. The +Gothic maid pleaded her cause before the caliph Hashem, and obtained the +restitution of her inheritance; but she was given in marriage to a noble +Arabian, and their two sons, Isaac and Ibrahim, were received in Spain +with the consideration that was due to their origin and riches. + +[Footnote 188: This design, which is attested by several Arabian +historians, (Cardonne, tom. i. p. 95, 96,) may be compared with that of +Mithridates, to march from the Crimaea to Rome; or with that of Caesar, +to conquer the East, and return home by the North; and all three are +perhaps surpassed by the real and successful enterprise of Hannibal.] + +[Footnote 189: I much regret our loss, or my ignorance, of two Arabic +works of the viiith century, a Life of Musa, and a poem on the exploits +of Tarik. Of these authentic pieces, the former was composed by a +grandson of Musa, who had escaped from the massacre of his kindred; the +latter, by the vizier of the first Abdalrahman, caliph of Spain, +who might have conversed with some of the veterans of the conqueror, +(Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 36, 139.)] + +A province is assimilated to the victorious state by the introduction of +strangers and the imitative spirit of the natives; and Spain, which had +been successively tinctured with Punic, and Roman, and Gothic blood, +imbibed, in a few generations, the name and manners of the Arabs. The +first conquerors, and the twenty successive lieutenants of the caliphs, +were attended by a numerous train of civil and military followers, who +preferred a distant fortune to a narrow home: the private and public +interest was promoted by the establishment of faithful colonies; and the +cities of Spain were proud to commemorate the tribe or country of their +Eastern progenitors. The victorious though motley bands of Tarik +and Musa asserted, by the name of Spaniards, their original claim +of conquest; yet they allowed their brethren of Egypt to share their +establishments of Murcia and Lisbon. The royal legion of Damascus was +planted at Cordova; that of Emesa at Seville; that of Kinnisrin or +Chalcis at Jaen; that of Palestine at Algezire and Medina Sidonia. The +natives of Yemen and Persia were scattered round Toledo and the inland +country, and the fertile seats of Grenada were bestowed on ten thousand +horsemen of Syria and Irak, the children of the purest and most noble of +the Arabian tribes. [190] A spirit of emulation, sometimes beneficial, +more frequently dangerous, was nourished by these hereditary factions. +Ten years after the conquest, a map of the province was presented to +the caliph: the seas, the rivers, and the harbors, the inhabitants and +cities, the climate, the soil, and the mineral productions of the earth. +[191] In the space of two centuries, the gifts of nature were improved +by the agriculture, [192] the manufactures, and the commerce, of +an industrious people; and the effects of their diligence have been +magnified by the idleness of their fancy. The first of the Ommiades who +reigned in Spain solicited the support of the Christians; and in +his edict of peace and protection, he contents himself with a modest +imposition of ten thousand ounces of gold, ten thousand pounds of +silver, ten thousand horses, as many mules, one thousand cuirasses, with +an equal number of helmets and lances. [193] The most powerful of his +successors derived from the same kingdom the annual tribute of twelve +millions and forty-five thousand dinars or pieces of gold, about six +millions of sterling money; [194] a sum which, in the tenth century, +most probably surpassed the united revenues of the Christians monarchs. +His royal seat of Cordova contained six hundred moschs, nine hundred +baths, and two hundred thousand houses; he gave laws to eighty cities +of the first, to three hundred of the second and third order; and the +fertile banks of the Guadalquivir were adorned with twelve thousand +villages and hamlets. The Arabs might exaggerate the truth, but they +created and they describe the most prosperous aera of the riches, the +cultivation, and the populousness of Spain. [195] + +[Footnote 190: Bibliot. Arab. Hispana, tom. ii. p. 32, 252. The former +of these quotations is taken from a Biographia Hispanica, by an Arabian +of Valentia, (see the copious Extracts of Casiri, tom. ii. p. 30-121;) +and the latter from a general Chronology of the Caliphs, and of the +African and Spanish Dynasties, with a particular History of the +kingdom of Grenada, of which Casiri has given almost an entire version, +(Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 177-319.) The author, Ebn +Khateb, a native of Grenada, and a contemporary of Novairi and Abulfeda, +(born A.D. 1313, died A.D. 1374,) was an historian, geographer, +physician, poet, &c., (tom. ii. p. 71, 72.)] + +[Footnote 191: Cardonne, Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, tom. i. p. +116, 117.] + +[Footnote 192: A copious treatise of husbandry, by an Arabian of +Seville, in the xiith century, is in the Escurial library, and Casiri +had some thoughts of translating it. He gives a list of the authors +quoted, Arabs as well as Greeks, Latins, &c.; but it is much if the +Andalusian saw these strangers through the medium of his countryman +Columella, (Casiri, Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. i. p. 323-338.)] + +[Footnote 193: Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 104. Casiri +translates the original testimony of the historian Rasis, as it is +alleged in the Arabic Biographia Hispanica, pars ix. But I am +most exceedingly surprised at the address, Principibus caeterisque +Christianis, Hispanis suis Castellae. The name of Castellae was unknown +in the viiith century; the kingdom was not erected till the year 1022, +a hundred years after the time of Rasis, (Bibliot. tom. ii. p. 330,) and +the appellation was always expressive, not of a tributary province, but +of a line of castles independent of the Moorish yoke, (D'Anville, Etats +de l'Europe, p. 166-170.) Had Casiri been a critic, he would have +cleared a difficulty, perhaps of his own making.] + +[Footnote 194: Cardonne, tom. i. p. 337, 338. He computes the revenue at +130,000,000 of French livres. The entire picture of peace and prosperity +relieves the bloody uniformity of the Moorish annals.] + +[Footnote 195: I am happy enough to possess a splendid and interesting +work which has only been distributed in presents by the court of Madrid +Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana Escurialensis, opera et studio Michaelis +Casiri, Syro Maronitoe. Matriti, in folio, tomus prior, 1760, tomus +posterior, 1770. The execution of this work does honor to the Spanish +press; the Mss., to the number of MDCCCLI., are judiciously classed by +the editor, and his copious extracts throw some light on the Mahometan +literature and history of Spain. These relics are now secure, but the +task has been supinely delayed, till, in the year 1671, a fire consumed +the greatest part of the Escurial library, rich in the spoils of Grenada +and Morocco. * Note: Compare the valuable work of Conde, Historia de la +Dominacion de las Arabes en Espana. Madrid, 1820.--M.] + +The wars of the Moslems were sanctified by the prophet; but among the +various precepts and examples of his life, the caliphs selected the +lessons of toleration that might tend to disarm the resistance of the +unbelievers. Arabia was the temple and patrimony of the God of Mahomet; +but he beheld with less jealousy and affection the nations of the earth. +The polytheists and idolaters, who were ignorant of his name, might be +lawfully extirpated by his votaries; [196] but a wise policy supplied +the obligation of justice; and after some acts of intolerant zeal, the +Mahometan conquerors of Hindostan have spared the pagods of that devout +and populous country. The disciples of Abraham, of Moses, and of Jesus, +were solemnly invited to accept the more perfect revelation of Mahomet; +but if they preferred the payment of a moderate tribute, they were +entitled to the freedom of conscience and religious worship. [197] In a +field of battle the forfeit lives of the prisoners were redeemed by the +profession of Islam; the females were bound to embrace the religion of +their masters, and a race of sincere proselytes was gradually multiplied +by the education of the infant captives. But the millions of African +and Asiatic converts, who swelled the native band of the faithful Arabs, +must have been allured, rather than constrained, to declare their belief +in one God and the apostle of God. By the repetition of a sentence and +the loss of a foreskin, the subject or the slave, the captive or +the criminal, arose in a moment the free and equal companion of the +victorious Moslems. Every sin was expiated, every engagement was +dissolved: the vow of celibacy was superseded by the indulgence of +nature; the active spirits who slept in the cloister were awakened by +the trumpet of the Saracens; and in the convulsion of the world, every +member of a new society ascended to the natural level of his capacity +and courage. The minds of the multitude were tempted by the invisible as +well as temporal blessings of the Arabian prophet; and charity will +hope that many of his proselytes entertained a serious conviction of +the truth and sanctity of his revelation. In the eyes of an inquisitive +polytheist, it must appear worthy of the human and the divine nature. +More pure than the system of Zoroaster, more liberal than the law of +Moses, the religion of Mahomet might seem less inconsistent with reason +than the creed of mystery and superstition, which, in the seventh +century, disgraced the simplicity of the gospel. + +[Footnote 196: The Harbii, as they are styled, qui tolerari nequeunt, +are, 1. Those who, besides God, worship the sun, moon, or idols. 2. +Atheists, Utrique, quamdiu princeps aliquis inter Mohammedanos superest, +oppugnari debent donec religionem amplectantur, nec requies iis +concedenda est, nec pretium acceptandum pro obtinenda conscientiae +libertate, (Reland, Dissertat. x. de Jure Militari Mohammedan. tom. iii. +p. 14;) a rigid theory!] + +[Footnote 197: The distinction between a proscribed and a tolerated +sect, between the Harbii and the people of the Book, the believers in +some divine revelation, is correctly defined in the conversation of the +caliph Al Mamum with the idolaters or Sabaeans of Charrae, (Hottinger, +Hist. Orient. p. 107, 108.)] + +In the extensive provinces of Persia and Africa, the national religion +has been eradicated by the Mahometan faith. The ambiguous theology +of the Magi stood alone among the sects of the East; but the profane +writings of Zoroaster [198] might, under the reverend name of Abraham, +be dexterously connected with the chain of divine revelation. Their evil +principle, the daemon Ahriman, might be represented as the rival, or as +the creature, of the God of light. The temples of Persia were devoid of +images; but the worship of the sun and of fire might be stigmatized as a +gross and criminal idolatry. [199] The milder sentiment was consecrated +by the practice of Mahomet [200] and the prudence of the caliphs; the +Magians or Ghebers were ranked with the Jews and Christians among the +people of the written law; [201] and as late as the third century of the +Hegira, the city of Herat will afford a lively contrast of private zeal +and public toleration. [202] Under the payment of an annual tribute, the +Mahometan law secured to the Ghebers of Herat their civil and religious +liberties: but the recent and humble mosch was overshadowed by the +antique splendor of the adjoining temple of fire. A fanatic Iman +deplored, in his sermons, the scandalous neighborhood, and accused the +weakness or indifference of the faithful. Excited by his voice, the +people assembled in tumult; the two houses of prayer were consumed +by the flames, but the vacant ground was immediately occupied by the +foundations of a new mosch. The injured Magi appealed to the sovereign +of Chorasan; he promised justice and relief; when, behold! four thousand +citizens of Herat, of a grave character and mature age, unanimously +swore that the idolatrous fane had never existed; the inquisition was +silenced and their conscience was satisfied (says the historian Mirchond +[203] with this holy and meritorious perjury. [204] But the greatest +part of the temples of Persia were ruined by the insensible and general +desertion of their votaries. + +It was insensible, since it is not accompanied with any memorial of time +or place, of persecution or resistance. It was general, since the whole +realm, from Shiraz to Samarcand, imbibed the faith of the Koran; and the +preservation of the native tongue reveals the descent of the Mahometans +of Persia. [205] In the mountains and deserts, an obstinate race of +unbelievers adhered to the superstition of their fathers; and a faint +tradition of the Magian theology is kept alive in the province of +Kirman, along the banks of the Indus, among the exiles of Surat, and in +the colony which, in the last century, was planted by Shaw Abbas at +the gates of Ispahan. The chief pontiff has retired to Mount Elbourz, +eighteen leagues from the city of Yezd: the perpetual fire (if it +continues to burn) is inaccessible to the profane; but his residence is +the school, the oracle, and the pilgrimage of the Ghebers, whose hard +and uniform features attest the unmingled purity of their blood. Under +the jurisdiction of their elders, eighty thousand families maintain an +innocent and industrious life: their subsistence is derived from some +curious manufactures and mechanic trades; and they cultivate the earth +with the fervor of a religious duty. Their ignorance withstood the +despotism of Shaw Abbas, who demanded with threats and tortures the +prophetic books of Zoroaster; and this obscure remnant of the Magians is +spared by the moderation or contempt of their present sovereigns. [206] + +[Footnote 198: The Zend or Pazend, the bible of the Ghebers, is reckoned +by themselves, or at least by the Mahometans, among the ten books which +Abraham received from heaven; and their religion is honorably styled +the religion of Abraham, (D'Herblot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 701; Hyde, de +Religione veterum Persarum, c, iii. p. 27, 28, &c.) I much fear that we +do not possess any pure and free description of the system of Zoroaster. +[1981] Dr. Prideaux (Connection, vol. i. p. 300, octavo) adopts the +opinion, that he had been the slave and scholar of some Jewish prophet +in the captivity of Babylon. Perhaps the Persians, who have been the +masters of the Jews, would assert the honor, a poor honor, of being +their masters.] + +[Footnote 1981: Whatever the real age of the Zendavesta, published by +Anquetil du Perron, whether of the time of Ardeschir Babeghan, according +to Mr. Erskine, or of much higher antiquity, it may be considered, I +conceive, both a "pure and a free," though imperfect, description of +Zoroastrianism; particularly with the illustrations of the original +translator, and of the German Kleuker--M.] + +[Footnote 199: The Arabian Nights, a faithful and amusing picture of the +Oriental world, represent in the most odious colors of the Magians, or +worshippers of fire, to whom they attribute the annual sacrifice of a +Mussulman. The religion of Zoroaster has not the least affinity with +that of the Hindoos, yet they are often confounded by the Mahometans; +and the sword of Timour was sharpened by this mistake, (Hist. de Timour +Bec, par Cherefeddin Ali Yezdi, l. v.)] + +[Footnote 200: Vie de Mahomet, par Gagnier, (tom. iii. p. 114, 115.)] + +[Footnote 201: Hae tres sectae, Judaei, Christiani, et qui inter +Persas Magorum institutis addicti sunt, populi libri dicuntur, (Reland, +Dissertat. tom. iii. p. 15.) The caliph Al Mamun confirms this honorable +distinction in favor of the three sects, with the vague and equivocal +religion of the Sabaeans, under which the ancient polytheists of Charrae +were allowed to shelter their idolatrous worship, (Hottinger, Hist. +Orient p. 167, 168.)] + +[Footnote 202: This singular story is related by D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. +Orient. p 448, 449,) on the faith of Khondemir, and by Mirchond himself, +(Hist priorum Regum Persarum, &c., p. 9, 10, not. p. 88, 89.)] + +[Footnote 203: Mirchond, (Mohammed Emir Khoondah Shah,) a native of +Herat, composed in the Persian language a general history of the East, +from the creation to the year of the Hegira 875, (A.D. 1471.) In the +year 904 (A.D. 1498) the historian obtained the command of a princely +library, and his applauded work, in seven or twelve parts, was +abbreviated in three volumes by his son Khondemir, A. H. 927, A.D. 1520. +The two writers, most accurately distinguished by Petit de la Croix, +(Hist. de Genghizcan, p.537, 538, 544, 545,) are loosely confounded by +D'Herbelot, (p. 358, 410, 994, 995: ) but his numerous extracts, under +the improper name of Khondemir, belong to the father rather than the +son. The historian of Genghizcan refers to a Ms. of Mirchond, which +he received from the hands of his friend D'Herbelot himself. A curious +fragment (the Taherian and Soffarian Dynasties) has been lately +published in Persic and Latin, (Viennae, 1782, in 4to., cum notis +Bernard de Jenisch;) and the editor allows us to hope for a continuation +of Mirchond.] + +[Footnote 204: Quo testimonio boni se quidpiam praestitisse opinabantur. +Yet Mirchond must have condemned their zeal, since he approved the legal +toleration of the Magi, cui (the fire temple) peracto singulis annis +censu uti sacra Mohammedis lege cautum, ab omnibus molestiis ac oneribus +libero esse licuit.] + +[Footnote 205: The last Magian of name and power appears to be Mardavige +the Dilemite, who, in the beginning of the 10th century, reigned in +the northern provinces of Persia, near the Caspian Sea, (D'Herbelot, +Bibliot. Orient. p. 355.) But his soldiers and successors, the Bowides +either professed or embraced the Mahometan faith; and under their +dynasty (A.D. 933-1020) I should say the fall of the religion of +Zoroaster.] + +[Footnote 206: The present state of the Ghebers in Persia is taken from +Sir John Chardin, not indeed the most learned, but the most judicious +and inquisitive of our modern travellers, (Voyages en Perse, tom. ii. +p. 109, 179-187, in 4to.) His brethren, Pietro della Valle, Olearius, +Thevenot, Tavernier, &c., whom I have fruitlessly searched, had neither +eyes nor attention for this interesting people.] + +The Northern coast of Africa is the only land in which the light of +the gospel, after a long and perfect establishment, has been totally +extinguished. The arts, which had been taught by Carthage and Rome, were +involved in a cloud of ignorance; the doctrine of Cyprian and Augustin +was no longer studied. Five hundred episcopal churches were overturned +by the hostile fury of the Donatists, the Vandals, and the Moors. +The zeal and numbers of the clergy declined; and the people, without +discipline, or knowledge, or hope, submissively sunk under the yoke +of the Arabian prophet Within fifty years after the expulsion of the +Greeks, a lieutenant of Africa informed the caliph that the tribute of +the infidels was abolished by their conversion; [207] and, though he +sought to disguise his fraud and rebellion, his specious pretence was +drawn from the rapid and extensive progress of the Mahometan faith. In +the next age, an extraordinary mission of five bishops was detached from +Alexandria to Cairoan. They were ordained by the Jacobite patriarch +to cherish and revive the dying embers of Christianity: [208] but the +interposition of a foreign prelate, a stranger to the Latins, an enemy +to the Catholics, supposes the decay and dissolution of the African +hierarchy. It was no longer the time when the successor of St. Cyprian, +at the head of a numerous synod, could maintain an equal contest +with the ambition of the Roman pontiff. In the eleventh century, the +unfortunate priest who was seated on the ruins of Carthage implored the +arms and the protection of the Vatican; and he bitterly complains that +his naked body had been scourged by the Saracens, and that his authority +was disputed by the four suffragans, the tottering pillars of his +throne. Two epistles of Gregory the Seventh [209] are destined to soothe +the distress of the Catholics and the pride of a Moorish prince. The +pope assures the sultan that they both worship the same God, and may +hope to meet in the bosom of Abraham; but the complaint that three +bishops could no longer be found to consecrate a brother, announces the +speedy and inevitable ruin of the episcopal order. The Christians +of Africa and Spain had long since submitted to the practice of +circumcision and the legal abstinence from wine and pork; and the +name of Mozarabes [210] (adoptive Arabs) was applied to their civil or +religious conformity. [211] About the middle of the twelfth century, the +worship of Christ and the succession of pastors were abolished along +the coast of Barbary, and in the kingdoms of Cordova and Seville, of +Valencia and Grenada. [212] The throne of the Almohades, or Unitarians, +was founded on the blindest fanaticism, and their extraordinary rigor +might be provoked or justified by the recent victories and intolerant +zeal of the princes of Sicily and Castille, of Arragon and Portugal. +The faith of the Mozarabes was occasionally revived by the papal +missionaries; and, on the landing of Charles the Fifth, some families +of Latin Christians were encouraged to rear their heads at Tunis and +Algiers. But the seed of the gospel was quickly eradicated, and the +long province from Tripoli to the Atlantic has lost all memory of the +language and religion of Rome. [213] + +[Footnote 207: The letter of Abdoulrahman, governor or tyrant of Africa, +to the caliph Aboul Abbas, the first of the Abbassides, is dated A. H. +132 Cardonne, (Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, tom. i. p. 168.)] + +[Footnote 208: Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 66. Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. +Alex. p. 287, 288.] + +[Footnote 209: Among the Epistles of the Popes, see Leo IX. epist. 3; +Gregor. VII. l. i. epist. 22, 23, l. iii. epist. 19, 20, 21; and the +criticisms of Pagi, (tom. iv. A.D. 1053, No. 14, A.D. 1073, No. 13,) who +investigates the name and family of the Moorish prince, with whom the +proudest of the Roman pontiffs so politely corresponds.] + +[Footnote 210: Mozarabes, or Mostarabes, adscititii, as it is +interpreted in Latin, (Pocock, Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 39, 40. +Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. ii. p. 18.) The Mozarabic liturgy, the +ancient ritual of the church of Toledo, has been attacked by the popes, +and exposed to the doubtful trials of the sword and of fire, (Marian. +Hist. Hispan. tom. i. l. ix. c. 18, p. 378.) It was, or rather it is, in +the Latin tongue; yet in the xith century it was found necessary (A. Ae. +C. 1687, A.D. 1039) to transcribe an Arabic version of the canons of the +councils of Spain, (Bibliot. Arab. Hisp. tom. i. p. 547,) for the use of +the bishops and clergy in the Moorish kingdoms.] + +[Footnote 211: About the middle of the xth century, the clergy of +Cordova was reproached with this criminal compliance, by the intrepid +envoy of the Emperor Otho I., (Vit. Johan. Gorz, in Secul. Benedict. V. +No. 115, apud Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. xii. p. 91.)] + +[Footnote 212: Pagi, Critica, tom. iv. A.D. 1149, No. 8, 9. He justly +observes, that when Seville, &c., were retaken by Ferdinand of Castille, +no Christians, except captives, were found in the place; and that the +Mozarabic churches of Africa and Spain, described by James a Vitriaco, +A.D. 1218, (Hist. Hierosol. c. 80, p. 1095, in Gest. Dei per Francos,) +are copied from some older book. I shall add, that the date of the +Hegira 677 (A.D. 1278) must apply to the copy, not the composition, of +a treatise of a jurisprudence, which states the civil rights of the +Christians of Cordova, (Bibliot. Arab. Hisp. tom. i. p. 471;) and that +the Jews were the only dissenters whom Abul Waled, king of Grenada, +(A.D. 1313,) could either discountenance or tolerate, (tom. ii. p. +288.)] + +[Footnote 213: Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 288. Leo Africanus +would have flattered his Roman masters, could he have discovered any +latent relics of the Christianity of Africa.] + +After the revolution of eleven centuries, the Jews and Christians of the +Turkish empire enjoy the liberty of conscience which was granted by the +Arabian caliphs. During the first age of the conquest, they suspected +the loyalty of the Catholics, whose name of Melchites betrayed their +secret attachment to the Greek emperor, while the Nestorians and +Jacobites, his inveterate enemies, approved themselves the sincere and +voluntary friends of the Mahometan government. [214] Yet this partial +jealousy was healed by time and submission; the churches of Egypt +were shared with the Catholics; [215] and all the Oriental sects were +included in the common benefits of toleration. The rank, the immunities, +the domestic jurisdiction of the patriarchs, the bishops, and the +clergy, were protected by the civil magistrate: the learning of +individuals recommended them to the employments of secretaries and +physicians: they were enriched by the lucrative collection of the +revenue; and their merit was sometimes raised to the command of cities +and provinces. A caliph of the house of Abbas was heard to declare +that the Christians were most worthy of trust in the administration of +Persia. "The Moslems," said he, "will abuse their present fortune; the +Magians regret their fallen greatness; and the Jews are impatient for +their approaching deliverance." [216] But the slaves of despotism are +exposed to the alternatives of favor and disgrace. The captive churches +of the East have been afflicted in every age by the avarice or bigotry +of their rulers; and the ordinary and legal restraints must be offensive +to the pride, or the zeal, of the Christians. [217] About two hundred +years after Mahomet, they were separated from their fellow-subjects by a +turban or girdle of a less honorable color; instead of horses or mules. +they were condemned to ride on asses, in the attitude of women. Their +public and private building were measured by a diminutive standard; in +the streets or the baths it is their duty to give way or bow down before +the meanest of the people; and their testimony is rejected, if it may +tend to the prejudice of a true believer. The pomp of processions, the +sound of bells or of psalmody, is interdicted in their worship; a +decent reverence for the national faith is imposed on their sermons +and conversations; and the sacrilegious attempt to enter a mosch, or to +seduce a Mussulman, will not be suffered to escape with impunity. In a +time, however, of tranquillity and justice, the Christians have never +been compelled to renounce the Gospel, or to embrace the Koran; but the +punishment of death is inflicted upon the apostates who have professed +and deserted the law of Mahomet. The martyrs of Cordova provoked the +sentence of the cadhi, by the public confession of their inconstancy, +or their passionate invectives against the person and religion of the +prophet. [218] + +[Footnote 214: Absit (said the Catholic to the vizier of Bagdad) ut pari +loco habeas Nestorianos, quorum praeter Arabas nullus alius rex est, et +Graecos quorum reges amovendo Arabibus bello non desistunt, &c. See in +the Collections of Assemannus (Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. 94-101) the +state of the Nestorians under the caliphs. That of the Jacobites is more +concisely exposed in the Preliminary Dissertation of the second volume +of Assemannus.] + +[Footnote 215: Eutych. Annal. tom. ii. p. 384, 387, 388. Renaudot, +Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 205, 206, 257, 332. A taint of the Monothelite +heresy might render the first of these Greek patriarchs less loyal to +the emperors and less obnoxious to the Arabs.] + +[Footnote 216: Motadhed, who reigned from A.D. 892 to 902. The Magians +still held their name and rank among the religions of the empire, +(Assemanni, Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. 97.)] + +[Footnote 217: Reland explains the general restraints of the Mahometan +policy and jurisprudence, (Dissertat. tom. iii. p. 16-20.) The +oppressive edicts of the caliph Motawakkel, (A.D. 847-861,) which are +still in force, are noticed by Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 448,) and +D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 640.) A persecution of the caliph Omar +II. is related, and most probably magnified, by the Greek Theophanes +(Chron p. 334.)] + +[Footnote 218: The martyrs of Cordova (A.D. 850, &c.) are commemorated +and justified by St. Eulogius, who at length fell a victim himself. A +synod, convened by the caliph, ambiguously censured their rashness. The +moderate Fleury cannot reconcile their conduct with the discipline of +antiquity, toutefois l'autorite de l'eglise, &c. (Fleury, Hist. Eccles. +tom. x. p. 415-522, particularly p. 451, 508, 509.) Their authentic +acts throw a strong, though transient, light on the Spanish church in +the ixth century.] + +At the end of the first century of the Hegira, the caliphs were the most +potent and absolute monarchs of the globe. Their prerogative was not +circumscribed, either in right or in fact, by the power of the nobles, +the freedom of the commons, the privileges of the church, the votes of +a senate, or the memory of a free constitution. The authority of the +companions of Mahomet expired with their lives; and the chiefs or emirs +of the Arabian tribes left behind, in the desert, the spirit of equality +and independence. The regal and sacerdotal characters were united in the +successors of Mahomet; and if the Koran was the rule of their actions, +they were the supreme judges and interpreters of that divine book. They +reigned by the right of conquest over the nations of the East, to whom +the name of liberty was unknown, and who were accustomed to applaud in +their tyrants the acts of violence and severity that were exercised at +their own expense. Under the last of the Ommiades, the Arabian empire +extended two hundred days' journey from east to west, from the confines +of Tartary and India to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. And if we +retrench the sleeve of the robe, as it is styled by their writers, the +long and narrow province of Africa, the solid and compact dominion from +Fargana to Aden, from Tarsus to Surat, will spread on every side to +the measure of four or five months of the march of a caravan. [219] +We should vainly seek the indissoluble union and easy obedience that +pervaded the government of Augustus and the Antonines; but the progress +of the Mahometan religion diffused over this ample space a general +resemblance of manners and opinions. The language and laws of the Koran +were studied with equal devotion at Samarcand and Seville: the Moor +and the Indian embraced as countrymen and brothers in the pilgrimage of +Mecca; and the Arabian language was adopted as the popular idiom in all +the provinces to the westward of the Tigris. [220] + +[Footnote 219: See the article Eslamiah, (as we say Christendom,) in the +Bibliotheque Orientale, (p. 325.) This chart of the Mahometan world is +suited by the author, Ebn Alwardi, to the year of the Hegira 385 (A.D. +995.) Since that time, the losses in Spain have been overbalanced by the +conquests in India, Tartary, and the European Turkey.] + +[Footnote 220: The Arabic of the Koran is taught as a dead language in +the college of Mecca. By the Danish traveller, this ancient idiom is +compared to the Latin; the vulgar tongue of Hejaz and Yemen to the +Italian; and the Arabian dialects of Syria, Egypt, Africa, &c., to the +Provencal, Spanish, and Portuguese, (Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, +p. 74, &c.)] + + + + +Chapter LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part I. + + The Two Sieges Of Constantinople By The Arabs.--Their + Invasion Of France, And Defeat By Charles Martel.--Civil War + Of The Ommiades And Abbassides.--Learning Of The Arabs.-- + Luxury Of The Caliphs.--Naval Enterprises On Crete, Sicily, + And Rome.--Decay And Division Of The Empire Of The Caliphs. + --Defeats And Victories Of The Greek Emperors. + +When the Arabs first issued from the desert, they must have been +surprised at the ease and rapidity of their own success. But when they +advanced in the career of victory to the banks of the Indus and the +summit of the Pyrenees; when they had repeatedly tried the edge of their +cimeters and the energy of their faith, they might be equally astonished +that any nation could resist their invincible arms; that any boundary +should confine the dominion of the successor of the prophet. The +confidence of soldiers and fanatics may indeed be excused, since the +calm historian of the present hour, who strives to follow the rapid +course of the Saracens, must study to explain by what means the church +and state were saved from this impending, and, as it should seem, from +this inevitable, danger. The deserts of Scythia and Sarmatia might be +guarded by their extent, their climate, their poverty, and the courage +of the northern shepherds; China was remote and inaccessible; but +the greatest part of the temperate zone was subject to the Mahometan +conquerors, the Greeks were exhausted by the calamities of war and the +loss of their fairest provinces, and the Barbarians of Europe might +justly tremble at the precipitate fall of the Gothic monarchy. In this +inquiry I shall unfold the events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, +and our neighbors of Gaul, from the civil and religious yoke of the +Koran; that protected the majesty of Rome, and delayed the servitude +of Constantinople; that invigorated the defence of the Christians, and +scattered among their enemies the seeds of division and decay. + +Forty-six years after the flight of Mahomet from Mecca, his disciples +appeared in arms under the walls of Constantinople. [1] They were +animated by a genuine or fictitious saying of the prophet, that, to +the first army which besieged the city of the Caesars, their sins were +forgiven: the long series of Roman triumphs would be meritoriously +transferred to the conquerors of New Rome; and the wealth of nations was +deposited in this well-chosen seat of royalty and commerce. No sooner +had the caliph Moawiyah suppressed his rivals and established his +throne, than he aspired to expiate the guilt of civil blood, by the +success and glory of this holy expedition; [2] his preparations by sea +and land were adequate to the importance of the object; his standard was +intrusted to Sophian, a veteran warrior, but the troops were encouraged +by the example and presence of Yezid, the son and presumptive heir of +the commander of the faithful. The Greeks had little to hope, nor had +their enemies any reason of fear, from the courage and vigilance of the +reigning emperor, who disgraced the name of Constantine, and imitated +only the inglorious years of his grandfather Heraclius. Without delay +or opposition, the naval forces of the Saracens passed through the +unguarded channel of the Hellespont, which even now, under the feeble +and disorderly government of the Turks, is maintained as the natural +bulwark of the capital. [3] The Arabian fleet cast anchor, and the +troops were disembarked near the palace of Hebdomon, seven miles from +the city. During many days, from the dawn of light to the evening, +the line of assault was extended from the golden gate to the eastern +promontory and the foremost warriors were impelled by the weight and +effort of the succeeding columns. But the besiegers had formed an +insufficient estimate of the strength and resources of Constantinople. +The solid and lofty walls were guarded by numbers and discipline: the +spirit of the Romans was rekindled by the last danger of their religion +and empire: the fugitives from the conquered provinces more successfully +renewed the defence of Damascus and Alexandria; and the Saracens were +dismayed by the strange and prodigious effects of artificial fire. +This firm and effectual resistance diverted their arms to the more easy +attempt of plundering the European and Asiatic coasts of the Propontis; +and, after keeping the sea from the month of April to that of September, +on the approach of winter they retreated fourscore miles from the +capital, to the Isle of Cyzicus, in which they had established their +magazine of spoil and provisions. So patient was their perseverance, +or so languid were their operations, that they repeated in the six +following summers the same attack and retreat, with a gradual abatement +of hope and vigor, till the mischances of shipwreck and disease, of +the sword and of fire, compelled them to relinquish the fruitless +enterprise. They might bewail the loss, or commemorate the martyrdom, +of thirty thousand Moslems, who fell in the siege of Constantinople; +and the solemn funeral of Abu Ayub, or Job, excited the curiosity of the +Christians themselves. + +That venerable Arab, one of the last of the companions of Mahomet, was +numbered among the ansars, or auxiliaries, of Medina, who sheltered the +head of the flying prophet. In his youth he fought, at Beder and +Ohud, under the holy standard: in his mature age he was the friend +and follower of Ali; and the last remnant of his strength and life +was consumed in a distant and dangerous war against the enemies of the +Koran. His memory was revered; but the place of his burial was neglected +and unknown, during a period of seven hundred and eighty years, till the +conquest of Constantinople by Mahomet the Second. A seasonable vision +(for such are the manufacture of every religion) revealed the holy spot +at the foot of the walls and the bottom of the harbor; and the mosch of +Ayub has been deservedly chosen for the simple and martial inauguration +of the Turkish sultans. [4] + +[Footnote 1: Theophanes places the seven years of the siege of +Constantinople in the year of our Christian aera, 673 (of the +Alexandrian 665, Sept. 1,) and the peace of the Saracens, four years +afterwards; a glaring inconsistency! which Petavius, Goar, and Pagi, +(Critica, tom. iv. p. 63, 64,) have struggled to remove. Of the +Arabians, the Hegira 52 (A.D. 672, January 8) is assigned by Elmacin, +the year 48 (A.D. 688, Feb. 20) by Abulfeda, whose testimony I esteem +the most convenient and credible.] + +[Footnote 2: For this first siege of Constantinople, see Nicephorus, +(Breviar. p. 21, 22;) Theophanes, (Chronograph. p. 294;) Cedrenus, +(Compend. p. 437;) Zonaras, (Hist. tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 89;) Elmacin, +(Hist. Saracen. p. 56, 57;) Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 107, 108, vers. +Reiske;) D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. Constantinah;) Ockley's History +of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 127, 128.] + +[Footnote 3: The state and defence of the Dardanelles is exposed in the +Memoirs of the Baron de Tott, (tom. iii. p. 39-97,) who was sent to +fortify them against the Russians. From a principal actor, I should have +expected more accurate details; but he seems to write for the amusement, +rather than the instruction, of his reader. Perhaps, on the approach +of the enemy, the minister of Constantine was occupied, like that of +Mustapha, in finding two Canary birds who should sing precisely the same +note.] + +[Footnote 4: Demetrius Cantemir's Hist. of the Othman Empire, p. +105, 106. Rycaut's State of the Ottoman Empire, p. 10, 11. Voyages of +Thevenot, part i. p. 189. The Christians, who suppose that the martyr +Abu Ayub is vulgarly confounded with the patriarch Job, betray their own +ignorance rather than that of the Turks.] + +The event of the siege revived, both in the East and West, the +reputation of the Roman arms, and cast a momentary shade over the +glories of the Saracens. The Greek ambassador was favorably received at +Damascus, a general council of the emirs or Koreish: a peace, or +truce, of thirty years was ratified between the two empires; and the +stipulation of an annual tribute, fifty horses of a noble breed, fifty +slaves, and three thousand pieces of gold, degraded the majesty of +the commander of the faithful. [5] The aged caliph was desirous of +possessing his dominions, and ending his days in tranquillity and +repose: while the Moors and Indians trembled at his name, his palace and +city of Damascus was insulted by the Mardaites, or Maronites, of Mount +Libanus, the firmest barrier of the empire, till they were disarmed +and transplanted by the suspicious policy of the Greeks. [6] After the +revolt of Arabia and Persia, the house of Ommiyah was reduced to the +kingdoms of Syria and Egypt: their distress and fear enforced their +compliance with the pressing demands of the Christians; and the tribute +was increased to a slave, a horse, and a thousand pieces of gold, for +each of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the solar year. But +as soon as the empire was again united by the arms and policy of +Abdalmalek, he disclaimed a badge of servitude not less injurious to +his conscience than to his pride; he discontinued the payment of the +tribute; and the resentment of the Greeks was disabled from action +by the mad tyranny of the second Justinian, the just rebellion of his +subjects, and the frequent change of his antagonists and successors. +Till the reign of Abdalmalek, the Saracens had been content with the +free possession of the Persian and Roman treasures, in the coins of +Chosroes and Caesar. By the command of that caliph, a national mint was +established, both for silver and gold, and the inscription of the Dinar, +though it might be censured by some timorous casuists, proclaimed the +unity of the God of Mahomet. [8] Under the reign of the caliph Walid, +the Greek language and characters were excluded from the accounts of the +public revenue. [9] If this change was productive of the invention or +familiar use of our present numerals, the Arabic or Indian ciphers, as +they are commonly styled, a regulation of office has promoted the most +important discoveries of arithmetic, algebra, and the mathematical +sciences. [10] + +[Footnote 5: Theophanes, though a Greek, deserves credit for these +tributes, (Chronograph. p. 295, 296, 300, 301,) which are confirmed, +with some variation, by the Arabic History of Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. +128, vers. Pocock.)] + +[Footnote 6: The censure of Theophanes is just and pointed, +(Chronograph. p. 302, 303.) The series of these events may be traced +in the Annals of Theophanes, and in the Abridgment of the patriarch +Nicephorus, p. 22, 24.] + +[Footnote 7: These domestic revolutions are related in a clear and +natural style, in the second volume of Ockley's History of the Saracens, +p. 253-370. Besides our printed authors, he draws his materials from +the Arabic Mss. of Oxford, which he would have more deeply searched had +he been confined to the Bodleian library instead of the city jail a fate +how unworthy of the man and of his country!] + +[Footnote 8: Elmacin, who dates the first coinage A. H. 76, A.D. 695, +five or six years later than the Greek historians, has compared the +weight of the best or common gold dinar to the drachm or dirhem of +Egypt, (p. 77,) which may be equal to two pennies (48 grains) of our +Troy weight, (Hooper's Inquiry into Ancient Measures, p. 24-36,) and +equivalent to eight shillings of our sterling money. From the same +Elmacin and the Arabian physicians, some dinars as high as two dirhems, +as low as half a dirhem, may be deduced. The piece of silver was the +dirhem, both in value and weight; but an old, though fair coin, struck +at Waset, A. H. 88, and preserved in the Bodleian library, wants four +grains of the Cairo standard, (see the Modern Universal History, tom. i. +p. 548 of the French translation.) * Note: Up to this time the Arabs had +used the Roman or the Persian coins or had minted others which resembled +them. Nevertheless, it has been admitted of late years, that the +Arabians, before this epoch, had caused coin to be minted, on which, +preserving the Roman or the Persian dies, they added Arabian names or +inscriptions. Some of these exist in different collections. We learn +from Makrizi, an Arabian author of great learning and judgment, that in +the year 18 of the Hegira, under the caliphate of Omar, the Arabs had +coined money of this description. The same author informs us that the +caliph Abdalmalek caused coins to be struck representing himself with a +sword by his side. These types, so contrary to the notions of the Arabs, +were disapproved by the most influential persons of the time, and the +caliph substituted for them, after the year 76 of the Hegira, the +Mahometan coins with which we are acquainted. Consult, on the question +of Arabic numismatics, the works of Adler, of Fraehn, of Castiglione, +and of Marsden, who have treated at length this interesting point of +historic antiquities. See, also, in the Journal Asiatique, tom. ii. p. +257, et seq., a paper of M. Silvestre de Sacy, entitled Des Monnaies des +Khalifes avant l'An 75 de l'Hegire. See, also the translation of a +German paper on the Arabic medals of the Chosroes, by M. Fraehn. in the +same Journal Asiatique tom. iv. p. 331-347. St. Martin, vol. xii. p. 19, +--M.] + +[Footnote 9: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 314. This defect, if it really +existed, must have stimulated the ingenuity of the Arabs to invent or +borrow.] + +[Footnote 10: According to a new, though probable, notion, maintained by +M de Villoison, (Anecdota Graeca, tom. ii. p. 152-157,) our ciphers are +not of Indian or Arabic invention. They were used by the Greek and Latin +arithmeticians long before the age of Boethius. After the extinction of +science in the West, they were adopted by the Arabic versions from the +original Mss., and restored to the Latins about the xith century. * +Note: Compare, on the Introduction of the Arabic numerals, Hallam's +Introduction to the Literature of Europe, p. 150, note, and the authors +quoted therein.--M.] + +Whilst the caliph Walid sat idle on the throne of Damascus, whilst his +lieutenants achieved the conquest of Transoxiana and Spain, a third army +of Saracens overspread the provinces of Asia Minor, and approached the +borders of the Byzantine capital. But the attempt and disgrace of +the second siege was reserved for his brother Soliman, whose ambition +appears to have been quickened by a more active and martial spirit. In +the revolutions of the Greek empire, after the tyrant Justinian had been +punished and avenged, an humble secretary, Anastasius or Artemius, was +promoted by chance or merit to the vacant purple. He was alarmed by +the sound of war; and his ambassador returned from Damascus with the +tremendous news, that the Saracens were preparing an armament by sea and +land, such as would transcend the experience of the past, or the belief +of the present age. The precautions of Anastasius were not unworthy of +his station, or of the impending danger. He issued a peremptory mandate, +that all persons who were not provided with the means of subsistence for +a three years' siege should evacuate the city: the public granaries +and arsenals were abundantly replenished; the walls were restored and +strengthened; and the engines for casting stones, or darts, or fire, +were stationed along the ramparts, or in the brigantines of war, of +which an additional number was hastily constructed. To prevent is safer, +as well as more honorable, than to repel, an attack; and a design was +meditated, above the usual spirit of the Greeks, of burning the naval +stores of the enemy, the cypress timber that had been hewn in Mount +Libanus, and was piled along the sea-shore of Phoenicia, for the service +of the Egyptian fleet. This generous enterprise was defeated by the +cowardice or treachery of the troops, who, in the new language of the +empire, were styled of the Obsequian Theme. [11] They murdered their +chief, deserted their standard in the Isle of Rhodes, dispersed +themselves over the adjacent continent, and deserved pardon or reward by +investing with the purple a simple officer of the revenue. The name of +Theodosius might recommend him to the senate and people; but, after some +months, he sunk into a cloister, and resigned, to the firmer hand of +Leo the Isaurian, the urgent defence of the capital and empire. The most +formidable of the Saracens, Moslemah, the brother of the caliph, was +advancing at the head of one hundred and twenty thousand Arabs and +Persians, the greater part mounted on horses or camels; and the +successful sieges of Tyana, Amorium, and Pergamus, were of sufficient +duration to exercise their skill and to elevate their hopes. At the +well-known passage of Abydus, on the Hellespont, the Mahometan arms +were transported, for the first time, [1111] from Asia to Europe. From +thence, wheeling round the Thracian cities of the Propontis, Moslemah +invested Constantinople on the land side, surrounded his camp with a +ditch and rampart, prepared and planted his engines of assault, and +declared, by words and actions, a patient resolution of expecting the +return of seed-time and harvest, should the obstinacy of the besieged +prove equal to his own. [1112] The Greeks would gladly have ransomed +their religion and empire, by a fine or assessment of a piece of gold +on the head of each inhabitant of the city; but the liberal offer was +rejected with disdain, and the presumption of Moslemah was exalted by +the speedy approach and invincible force of the natives of Egypt and +Syria. They are said to have amounted to eighteen hundred ships: the +number betrays their inconsiderable size; and of the twenty stout and +capacious vessels, whose magnitude impeded their progress, each was +manned with no more than one hundred heavy-armed soldiers. This huge +armada proceeded on a smooth sea, and with a gentle gale, towards the +mouth of the Bosphorus; the surface of the strait was overshadowed, in +the language of the Greeks, with a moving forest, and the same fatal +night had been fixed by the Saracen chief for a general assault by sea +and land. To allure the confidence of the enemy, the emperor had thrown +aside the chain that usually guarded the entrance of the harbor; but +while they hesitated whether they should seize the opportunity, or +apprehend the snare, the ministers of destruction were at hand. The +fire-ships of the Greeks were launched against them; the Arabs, their +arms, and vessels, were involved in the same flames; the disorderly +fugitives were dashed against each other or overwhelmed in the waves; +and I no longer find a vestige of the fleet, that had threatened to +extirpate the Roman name. A still more fatal and irreparable loss was +that of the caliph Soliman, who died of an indigestion, [12] in his camp +near Kinnisrin or Chalcis in Syria, as he was preparing to lead against +Constantinople the remaining forces of the East. The brother of Moslemah +was succeeded by a kinsman and an enemy; and the throne of an active +and able prince was degraded by the useless and pernicious virtues of +a bigot. [1211] While he started and satisfied the scruples of a blind +conscience, the siege was continued through the winter by the neglect, +rather than by the resolution of the caliph Omar. [13] The winter proved +uncommonly rigorous: above a hundred days the ground was covered with +deep snow, and the natives of the sultry climes of Egypt and Arabia lay +torpid and almost lifeless in their frozen camp. They revived on the +return of spring; a second effort had been made in their favor; and +their distress was relieved by the arrival of two numerous fleets, laden +with corn, and arms, and soldiers; the first from Alexandria, of four +hundred transports and galleys; the second of three hundred and sixty +vessels from the ports of Africa. But the Greek fires were again +kindled; and if the destruction was less complete, it was owing to the +experience which had taught the Moslems to remain at a safe distance, or +to the perfidy of the Egyptian mariners, who deserted with their ships +to the emperor of the Christians. The trade and navigation of the +capital were restored; and the produce of the fisheries supplied the +wants, and even the luxury, of the inhabitants. But the calamities of +famine and disease were soon felt by the troops of Moslemah, and as the +former was miserably assuaged, so the latter was dreadfully propagated, +by the pernicious nutriment which hunger compelled them to extract from +the most unclean or unnatural food. The spirit of conquest, and even of +enthusiasm, was extinct: the Saracens could no longer struggle, beyond +their lines, either single or in small parties, without exposing +themselves to the merciless retaliation of the Thracian peasants. + +An army of Bulgarians was attracted from the Danube by the gifts and +promises of Leo; and these savage auxiliaries made some atonement for +the evils which they had inflicted on the empire, by the defeat and +slaughter of twenty-two thousand Asiatics. A report was dexterously +scattered, that the Franks, the unknown nations of the Latin world, were +arming by sea and land in the defence of the Christian cause, and their +formidable aid was expected with far different sensations in the camp +and city. At length, after a siege of thirteen months, [14] the hopeless +Moslemah received from the caliph the welcome permission of retreat. +[1411] The march of the Arabian cavalry over the Hellespont and through +the provinces of Asia, was executed without delay or molestation; but an +army of their brethren had been cut in pieces on the side of Bithynia, +and the remains of the fleet were so repeatedly damaged by tempest and +fire, that only five galleys entered the port of Alexandria to relate +the tale of their various and almost incredible disasters. [15] + +[Footnote 11: In the division of the Themes, or provinces described +by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, (de Thematibus, l. i. p. 9, 10,) the +Obsequium, a Latin appellation of the army and palace, was the fourth in +the public order. Nice was the metropolis, and its jurisdiction extended +from the Hellespont over the adjacent parts of Bithynia and Phrygia, +(see the two maps prefixed by Delisle to the Imperium Orientale of +Banduri.)] + +[Footnote 1111: Compare page 274. It is singular that Gibbon should +thus contradict himself in a few pages. By his own account this was the +second time.--M.] + +[Footnote 1112: The account of this siege in the Tarikh Tebry is a very +unfavorable specimen of Asiatic history, full of absurd fables, and +written with total ignorance of the circumstances of time and place. +Price, vol. i. p. 498--M.] + +[Footnote 12: The caliph had emptied two baskets of eggs and of figs, +which he swallowed alternately, and the repast was concluded with marrow +and sugar. In one of his pilgrimages to Mecca, Soliman ate, at a single +meal, seventy pomegranates, a kid, six fowls, and a huge quantity of +the grapes of Tayef. If the bill of fare be correct, we must admire the +appetite, rather than the luxury, of the sovereign of Asia, (Abulfeda, +Annal. Moslem. p. 126.) * Note: The Tarikh Tebry ascribes the death +of Soliman to a pleurisy. The same gross gluttony in which Soliman +indulged, though not fatal to the life, interfered with the military +duties, of his brother Moslemah. Price, vol. i. p. 511.--M.] + +[Footnote 1211: Major Price's estimate of Omar's character is much more +favorable. Among a race of sanguinary tyrants, Omar was just and humane. +His virtues as well as his bigotry were active.--M.] + +[Footnote 13: See the article of Omar Ben Abdalaziz, in the Bibliotheque +Orientale, (p. 689, 690,) praeferens, says Elmacin, (p. 91,) religionem +suam rebus suis mundanis. He was so desirous of being with God, that +he would not have anointed his ear (his own saying) to obtain a perfect +cure of his last malady. The caliph had only one shirt, and in an age of +luxury, his annual expense was no more than two drachms, (Abulpharagius, +p. 131.) Haud diu gavisus eo principe fuit urbis Muslemus, (Abulfeda, p. +127.)] + +[Footnote 14: Both Nicephorus and Theophanes agree that the siege of +Constantinople was raised the 15th of August, (A.D. 718;) but as the +former, our best witness, affirms that it continued thirteen months, the +latter must be mistaken in supposing that it began on the same day +of the preceding year. I do not find that Pagi has remarked this +inconsistency.] + +[Footnote 1411: The Tarikh Tebry embellishes the retreat of Moslemah +with some extraordinary and incredible circumstances. Price, p. +514.--M.] + +[Footnote 15: In the second siege of Constantinople, I have followed +Nicephorus, (Brev. p. 33-36,) Theophanes, (Chronograph, p. 324-334,) +Cedrenus, (Compend. p. 449-452,) Zonaras, (tom. ii. p. 98-102,) +Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen, p. 88,) Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 126,) and +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 130,) the most satisfactory of the Arabs.] + +In the two sieges, the deliverance of Constantinople may be chiefly +ascribed to the novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the +Greek fire. [16] The important secret of compounding and directing this +artificial flame was imparted by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis +in Syria, who deserted from the service of the caliph to that of the +emperor. [17] The skill of a chemist and engineer was equivalent to the +succor of fleets and armies; and this discovery or improvement of the +military art was fortunately reserved for the distressful period, when +the degenerate Romans of the East were incapable of contending with the +warlike enthusiasm and youthful vigor of the Saracens. The historian who +presumes to analyze this extraordinary composition should suspect +his own ignorance and that of his Byzantine guides, so prone to the +marvellous, so careless, and, in this instance, so jealous of the truth. +From their obscure, and perhaps fallacious, hints it should seem that +the principal ingredient of the Greek fire was the naphtha, [18] or +liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil, [19] which +springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as it comes in contact +with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by what methods or in +what proportions, with sulphur and with the pitch that is extracted from +evergreen firs. [20] From this mixture, which produced a thick smoke and +a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame, which not only +rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burnt with equal vehemence +in descent or lateral progress; instead of being extinguished, it was +nourished and quickened by the element of water; and sand, urine, +or vinegar, were the only remedies that could damp the fury of this +powerful agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks the liquid, +or the maritime, fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was employed +with equal effect, by sea and land, in battles or in sieges. It was +either poured from the rampart in large boilers, or launched in red-hot +balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted +round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil; +sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims and instruments of +a more ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through long tubes of +copper which were planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped +into the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream +of liquid and consuming fire. This important art was preserved at +Constantinople, as the palladium of the state: the galleys and artillery +might occasionally be lent to the allies of Rome; but the composition +of the Greek fire was concealed with the most jealous scruple, and the +terror of the enemies was increased and prolonged by their ignorance and +surprise. In the treaties of the administration of the empire, the royal +author [21] suggests the answers and excuses that might best elude the +indiscreet curiosity and importunate demands of the Barbarians. They +should be told that the mystery of the Greek fire had been revealed by +an angel to the first and greatest of the Constantines, with a sacred +injunction, that this gift of Heaven, this peculiar blessing of the +Romans, should never be communicated to any foreign nation; that the +prince and the subject were alike bound to religious silence under the +temporal and spiritual penalties of treason and sacrilege; and that the +impious attempt would provoke the sudden and supernatural vengeance +of the God of the Christians. By these precautions, the secret was +confined, above four hundred years, to the Romans of the East; and at +the end of the eleventh century, the Pisans, to whom every sea and +every art were familiar, suffered the effects, without understanding the +composition, of the Greek fire. It was at length either discovered or +stolen by the Mahometans; and, in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt, they +retorted an invention, contrived against themselves, on the heads of +the Christians. A knight, who despised the swords and lances of the +Saracens, relates, with heartfelt sincerity, his own fears, and those +of his companions, at the sight and sound of the mischievous engine +that discharged a torrent of the Greek fire, the feu Gregeois, as it is +styled by the more early of the French writers. It came flying through +the air, says Joinville, [22] like a winged long-tailed dragon, about +the thickness of a hogshead, with the report of thunder and the velocity +of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by this deadly +illumination. The use of the Greek, or, as it might now be called, of +the Saracen fire, was continued to the middle of the fourteenth century, +[23] when the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur, and +charcoal, effected a new revolution in the art of war and the history of +mankind. [24] + +[Footnote 16: Our sure and indefatigable guide in the middle ages and +Byzantine history, Charles du Fresne du Cange, has treated in several +places of the Greek fire, and his collections leave few gleanings +behind. See particularly Glossar. Med. et Infim. Graecitat. p. 1275, sub +voce. Glossar. Med. et Infim. Latinitat. Ignis Groecus. Observations sur +Villehardouin, p. 305, 306. Observations sur Joinville, p. 71, 72.] + +[Footnote 17: Theophanes styles him, (p. 295.) Cedrenus (p. 437) brings +this artist from (the ruins of) Heliopolis in Egypt; and chemistry was +indeed the peculiar science of the Egyptians.] + +[Footnote 18: The naphtha, the oleum incendiarium of the history of +Jerusalem, (Gest. Dei per Francos, p. 1167,) the Oriental fountain of +James de Vitry, (l. iii. c. 84,) is introduced on slight evidence and +strong probability. Cinanmus (l. vi. p. 165) calls the Greek fire: and +the naphtha is known to abound between the Tigris and the Caspian Sea. +According to Pliny, (Hist. Natur. ii. 109,) it was subservient to the +revenge of Medea, and in either etymology, (Procop. de Bell. Gothic. +l. iv. c. 11,) may fairly signify this liquid bitumen. * Note: It is +remarkable that the Syrian historian Michel gives the name of naphtha +to the newly-invented Greek fire, which seems to indicate that this +substance formed the base of the destructive compound. St. Martin, tom. +xi. p. 420.--M.] + +[Footnote 19: On the different sorts of oils and bitumens, see Dr. +Watson's (the present bishop of Llandaff's) Chemical Essays, vol. iii. +essay i., a classic book, the best adapted to infuse the taste and +knowledge of chemistry. The less perfect ideas of the ancients may be +found in Strabo (Geograph. l. xvi. p. 1078) and Pliny, (Hist. Natur. +ii. 108, 109.) Huic (Naphthae) magna cognatio est ignium, transiliuntque +protinus in eam undecunque visam. Of our travellers I am best pleased +with Otter, (tom. i. p. 153, 158.)] + +[Footnote 20: Anna Comnena has partly drawn aside the curtain. (Alexiad. +l. xiii. p. 383.) Elsewhere (l. xi. p. 336) she mentions the property of +burning. Leo, in the xixth chapter of his Tactics, (Opera Meursii, tom. +vi. p. 843, edit. Lami, Florent. 1745,) speaks of the new invention. +These are genuine and Imperial testimonies.] + +[Footnote 21: Constantin. Porphyrogenit. de Administrat. Imperii, c. +xiii. p. 64, 65.] + +[Footnote 22: Histoire de St. Louis, p. 39. Paris, 1668, p. 44. Paris, +de l'Imprimerie Royale, 1761. The former of these editions is precious +for the observations of Ducange; the latter for the pure and original +text of Joinville. We must have recourse to that text to discover, that +the feu Gregeois was shot with a pile or javelin, from an engine that +acted like a sling.] + +[Footnote 23: The vanity, or envy, of shaking the established property +of Fame, has tempted some moderns to carry gunpowder above the xivth, +(see Sir William Temple, Dutens, &c.,) and the Greek fire above the +viith century, (see the Saluste du President des Brosses, tom. ii. +p. 381.) But their evidence, which precedes the vulgar aera of the +invention, is seldom clear or satisfactory, and subsequent writers +may be suspected of fraud or credulity. In the earliest sieges, some +combustibles of oil and sulphur have been used, and the Greek fire has +some affinities with gunpowder both in its nature and effects: for the +antiquity of the first, a passage of Procopius, (de Bell. Goth. l. iv. +c. 11,) for that of the second, some facts in the Arabic history of +Spain, (A.D. 1249, 1312, 1332. Bibliot. Arab. Hisp. tom. ii. p. 6, 7, +8,) are the most difficult to elude.] + +[Footnote 24: That extraordinary man, Friar Bacon, reveals two of the +ingredients, saltpetre and sulphur, and conceals the third in a sentence +of mysterious gibberish, as if he dreaded the consequences of his own +discovery, (Biog. Brit. vol. i. p. 430, new edition.)] + + + + +Chapter LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part II. + +Constantinople and the Greek fire might exclude the Arabs from the +eastern entrance of Europe; but in the West, on the side of the +Pyrenees, the provinces of Gaul were threatened and invaded by the +conquerors of Spain. [25] The decline of the French monarchy invited the +attack of these insatiate fanatics. The descendants of Clovis had +lost the inheritance of his martial and ferocious spirit; and their +misfortune or demerit has affixed the epithet of lazy to the last kings +of the Merovingian race. [26] They ascended the throne without power, +and sunk into the grave without a name. A country palace, in the +neighborhood of Compiegne [27] was allotted for their residence or +prison: but each year, in the month of March or May, they were conducted +in a wagon drawn by oxen to the assembly of the Franks, to give audience +to foreign ambassadors, and to ratify the acts of the mayor of the +palace. That domestic officer was become the minister of the nation and +the master of the prince. A public employment was converted into the +patrimony of a private family: the elder Pepin left a king of mature +years under the guardianship of his own widow and her child; and these +feeble regents were forcibly dispossessed by the most active of his +bastards. A government, half savage and half corrupt, was almost +dissolved; and the tributary dukes, and provincial counts, and the +territorial lords, were tempted to despise the weakness of the monarch, +and to imitate the ambition of the mayor. Among these independent +chiefs, one of the boldest and most successful was Eudes, duke of +Aquitain, who in the southern provinces of Gaul usurped the authority, +and even the title of king. The Goths, the Gascons, and the Franks, +assembled under the standard of this Christian hero: he repelled the +first invasion of the Saracens; and Zama, lieutenant of the caliph, lost +his army and his life under the walls of Thoulouse. The ambition of his +successors was stimulated by revenge; they repassed the Pyrenees with +the means and the resolution of conquest. The advantageous situation +which had recommended Narbonne [28] as the first Roman colony, was +again chosen by the Moslems: they claimed the province of Septimania or +Languedoc as a just dependence of the Spanish monarchy: the vineyards +of Gascony and the city of Bourdeaux were possessed by the sovereign of +Damascus and Samarcand; and the south of France, from the mouth of +the Garonne to that of the Rhone, assumed the manners and religion of +Arabia. + +[Footnote 25: For the invasion of France and the defeat of the Arabs by +Charles Martel, see the Historia Arabum (c. 11, 12, 13, 14) of Roderic +Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo, who had before him the Christian +chronicle of Isidore Pacensis, and the Mahometan history of Novairi. +The Moslems are silent or concise in the account of their losses; but M +Cardonne (tom. i. p. 129, 130, 131) has given a pure and simple account +of all that he could collect from Ibn Halikan, Hidjazi, and an anonymous +writer. The texts of the chronicles of France, and lives of saints, are +inserted in the Collection of Bouquet, (tom. iii.,) and the Annals +of Pagi, who (tom. iii. under the proper years) has restored the +chronology, which is anticipated six years in the Annals of Baronius. +The Dictionary of Bayle (Abderame and Munuza) has more merit for lively +reflection than original research.] + +[Footnote 26: Eginhart, de Vita Caroli Magni, c. ii. p. 13-78, edit. +Schmink, Utrecht, 1711. Some modern critics accuse the minister of +Charlemagne of exaggerating the weakness of the Merovingians; but the +general outline is just, and the French reader will forever repeat the +beautiful lines of Boileau's Lutrin.] + +[Footnote 27: Mamaccae, on the Oyse, between Compiegne and Noyon, which +Eginhart calls perparvi reditus villam, (see the notes, and the map of +ancient France for Dom. Bouquet's Collection.) Compendium, or Compiegne, +was a palace of more dignity, (Hadrian. Valesii Notitia Galliarum, p. +152,) and that laughing philosopher, the Abbe Galliani, (Dialogues sur +le Commerce des Bleds,) may truly affirm, that it was the residence of +the rois tres Chretiens en tres chevelus.] + +[Footnote 28: Even before that colony, A. U. C. 630, (Velleius Patercul. +i. 15,) In the time of Polybius, (Hist. l. iii. p. 265, edit. Gronov.) +Narbonne was a Celtic town of the first eminence, and one of the most +northern places of the known world, (D'Anville, Notice de l'Ancienne +Gaule, p. 473.)] + +But these narrow limits were scorned by the spirit of Abdalraman, or +Abderame, who had been restored by the caliph Hashem to the wishes of +the soldiers and people of Spain. That veteran and daring commander +adjudged to the obedience of the prophet whatever yet remained of France +or of Europe; and prepared to execute the sentence, at the head of a +formidable host, in the full confidence of surmounting all opposition +either of nature or of man. His first care was to suppress a domestic +rebel, who commanded the most important passes of the Pyrenees: Manuza, +a Moorish chief, had accepted the alliance of the duke of Aquitain; +and Eudes, from a motive of private or public interest, devoted his +beauteous daughter to the embraces of the African misbeliever. But the +strongest fortresses of Cerdagne were invested by a superior force; the +rebel was overtaken and slain in the mountains; and his widow was sent +a captive to Damascus, to gratify the desires, or more probably the +vanity, of the commander of the faithful. From the Pyrenees, Abderame +proceeded without delay to the passage of the Rhone and the siege of +Arles. + +An army of Christians attempted the relief of the city: the tombs of +their leaders were yet visible in the thirteenth century; and many +thousands of their dead bodies were carried down the rapid stream into +the Mediterranean Sea. The arms of Abderame were not less successful +on the side of the ocean. He passed without opposition the Garonne and +Dordogne, which unite their waters in the Gulf of Bourdeaux; but he +found, beyond those rivers, the camp of the intrepid Eudes, who had +formed a second army and sustained a second defeat, so fatal to the +Christians, that, according to their sad confession, God alone could +reckon the number of the slain. The victorious Saracen overran the +provinces of Aquitain, whose Gallic names are disguised, rather than +lost, in the modern appellations of Perigord, Saintonge, and Poitou: his +standards were planted on the walls, or at least before the gates, +of Tours and of Sens; and his detachments overspread the kingdom of +Burgundy as far as the well-known cities of Lyons and Besançon. The +memory of these devastations (for Abderame did not spare the country or +the people) was long preserved by tradition; and the invasion of France +by the Moors or Mahometans affords the groundwork of those fables, +which have been so wildly disfigured in the romances of chivalry, and +so elegantly adorned by the Italian muse. In the decline of society and +art, the deserted cities could supply a slender booty to the Saracens; +their richest spoil was found in the churches and monasteries, which +they stripped of their ornaments and delivered to the flames: and the +tutelar saints, both Hilary of Poitiers and Martin of Tours, forgot +their miraculous powers in the defence of their own sepulchres. [29] A +victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from +the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an +equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland +and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not more impassable than +the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a +naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of +the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits +might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the +revelation of Mahomet. [30] + +[Footnote 29: With regard to the sanctuary of St. Martin of Tours, +Roderic Ximenes accuses the Saracens of the deed. Turonis civitatem, +ecclesiam et palatia vastatione et incendio simili diruit et consumpsit. +The continuator of Fredegarius imputes to them no more than the +intention. Ad domum beatissimi Martini evertendam destinant. At Carolus, +&c. The French annalist was more jealous of the honor of the saint.] + +[Footnote 30: Yet I sincerely doubt whether the Oxford mosch would have +produced a volume of controversy so elegant and ingenious as the sermons +lately preached by Mr. White, the Arabic professor, at Mr. Bampton's +lecture. His observations on the character and religion of Mahomet +are always adapted to his argument, and generally founded in truth and +reason. He sustains the part of a lively and eloquent advocate; and +sometimes rises to the merit of an historian and philosopher.] + +From such calamities was Christendom delivered by the genius and fortune +of one man. Charles, the illegitimate son of the elder Pepin, was +content with the titles of mayor or duke of the Franks; but he deserved +to become the father of a line of kings. In a laborious administration +of twenty-four years, he restored and supported the dignity of the +throne, and the rebels of Germany and Gaul were successively crushed by +the activity of a warrior, who, in the same campaign, could display +his banner on the Elbe, the Rhone, and the shores of the ocean. In +the public danger he was summoned by the voice of his country; and his +rival, the duke of Aquitain, was reduced to appear among the fugitives +and suppliants. "Alas!" exclaimed the Franks, "what a misfortune! what +an indignity! We have long heard of the name and conquests of the +Arabs: we were apprehensive of their attack from the East; they have +now conquered Spain, and invade our country on the side of the West. Yet +their numbers, and (since they have no buckler) their arms, are inferior +to our own." "If you follow my advice," replied the prudent mayor of +the palace, "you will not interrupt their march, nor precipitate your +attack. They are like a torrent, which it is dangerous to stem in its +career. The thirst of riches, and the consciousness of success, redouble +their valor, and valor is of more avail than arms or numbers. Be patient +till they have loaded themselves with the encumbrance of wealth. The +possession of wealth will divide their councils and assure your +victory." This subtile policy is perhaps a refinement of the Arabian +writers; and the situation of Charles will suggest a more narrow and +selfish motive of procrastination--the secret desire of humbling the +pride and wasting the provinces of the rebel duke of Aquitain. It is yet +more probable, that the delays of Charles were inevitable and reluctant. +A standing army was unknown under the first and second race; more than +half the kingdom was now in the hands of the Saracens: according to +their respective situation, the Franks of Neustria and Austrasia were to +conscious or too careless of the impending danger; and the voluntary +aids of the Gepidae and Germans were separated by a long interval from +the standard of the Christian general. No sooner had he collected his +forces, than he sought and found the enemy in the centre of France, +between Tours and Poitiers. His well-conducted march was covered with a +range of hills, and Abderame appears to have been surprised by his +unexpected presence. The nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe, advanced +with equal ardor to an encounter which would change the history of the +world. In the six first days of desultory combat, the horsemen and +archers of the East maintained their advantage: but in the closer onset +of the seventh day, the Orientals were oppressed by the strength and +stature of the Germans, who, with stout hearts and iron hands, [31] +asserted the civil and religious freedom of their posterity. The epithet +of Martel, the Hammer, which has been added to the name of Charles, is +expressive of his weighty and irresistible strokes: the valor of Eudes +was excited by resentment and emulation; and their companions, in the +eye of history, are the true Peers and Paladins of French chivalry. +After a bloody field, in which Abderame was slain, the Saracens, in the +close of the evening, retired to their camp. In the disorder and despair +of the night, the various tribes of Yemen and Damascus, of Africa and +Spain, were provoked to turn their arms against each other: the remains +of their host were suddenly dissolved, and each emir consulted his +safety by a hasty and separate retreat. At the dawn of the day, the +stillness of a hostile camp was suspected by the victorious Christians: +on the report of their spies, they ventured to explore the riches of the +vacant tents; but if we except some celebrated relics, a small portion +of the spoil was restored to the innocent and lawful owners. The joyful +tidings were soon diffused over the Catholic world, and the monks of +Italy could affirm and believe that three hundred and fifty, or three +hundred and seventy-five, thousand of the Mahometans had been crushed by +the hammer of Charles, [32] while no more than fifteen hundred +Christians were slain in the field of Tours. But this incredible tale is +sufficiently disproved by the caution of the French general, who +apprehended the snares and accidents of a pursuit, and dismissed his +German allies to their native forests. + +The inactivity of a conqueror betrays the loss of strength and blood, +and the most cruel execution is inflicted, not in the ranks of battle, +but on the backs of a flying enemy. Yet the victory of the Franks was +complete and final; Aquitain was recovered by the arms of Eudes; the +Arabs never resumed the conquest of Gaul, and they were soon driven +beyond the Pyrenees by Charles Martel and his valiant race. [33] It +might have been expected that the savior of Christendom would have been +canonized, or at least applauded, by the gratitude of the clergy, who +are indebted to his sword for their present existence. But in the +public distress, the mayor of the palace had been compelled to apply +the riches, or at least the revenues, of the bishops and abbots, to +the relief of the state and the reward of the soldiers. His merits were +forgotten, his sacrilege alone was remembered, and, in an epistle to +a Carlovingian prince, a Gallic synod presumes to declare that his +ancestor was damned; that on the opening of his tomb, the spectators +were affrighted by a smell of fire and the aspect of a horrid dragon; +and that a saint of the times was indulged with a pleasant vision of the +soul and body of Charles Martel, burning, to all eternity, in the abyss +of hell. [34] + +[Footnote 31: Gens Austriae membrorum pre-eminentia valida, et gens +Germana corde et corpore praestantissima, quasi in ictu oculi, manu +ferrea, et pectore arduo, Arabes extinxerunt, (Roderic. Toletan. c. +xiv.)] + +[Footnote 32: These numbers are stated by Paul Warnefrid, the deacon +of Aquileia, (de Gestis Langobard. l. vi. p. 921, edit. Grot.,) and +Anastasius, the librarian of the Roman church, (in Vit. Gregorii +II.,) who tells a miraculous story of three consecrated sponges, which +rendered invulnerable the French soldiers, among whom they had been +shared It should seem, that in his letters to the pope, Eudes usurped +the honor of the victory, from which he is chastised by the French +annalists, who, with equal falsehood, accuse him of inviting the +Saracens.] + +[Footnote 33: Narbonne, and the rest of Septimania, was recovered by +Pepin the son of Charles Martel, A.D. 755, (Pagi, Critica, tom. iii. p. +300.) Thirty-seven years afterwards, it was pillaged by a sudden inroad +of the Arabs, who employed the captives in the construction of the mosch +of Cordova, (De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 354.)] + +[Footnote 34: This pastoral letter, addressed to Lewis the Germanic, the +grandson of Charlemagne, and most probably composed by the pen of the +artful Hincmar, is dated in the year 858, and signed by the bishops of +the provinces of Rheims and Rouen, (Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 741. +Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. x. p. 514-516.) Yet Baronius himself, and +the French critics, reject with contempt this episcopal fiction.] + +The loss of an army, or a province, in the Western world, was less +painful to the court of Damascus, than the rise and progress of a +domestic competitor. Except among the Syrians, the caliphs of the house +of Ommiyah had never been the objects of the public favor. The life of +Mahomet recorded their perseverance in idolatry and rebellion: their +conversion had been reluctant, their elevation irregular and factious, +and their throne was cemented with the most holy and noble blood of +Arabia. The best of their race, the pious Omar, was dissatisfied with +his own title: their personal virtues were insufficient to justify a +departure from the order of succession; and the eyes and wishes of the +faithful were turned towards the line of Hashem, and the kindred of +the apostle of God. Of these the Fatimites were either rash or +pusillanimous; but the descendants of Abbas cherished, with courage +and discretion, the hopes of their rising fortunes. From an obscure +residence in Syria, they secretly despatched their agents and +missionaries, who preached in the Eastern provinces their hereditary +indefeasible right; and Mohammed, the son of Ali, the son of Abdallah, +the son of Abbas, the uncle of the prophet, gave audience to the +deputies of Chorasan, and accepted their free gift of four hundred +thousand pieces of gold. After the death of Mohammed, the oath of +allegiance was administered in the name of his son Ibrahim to a numerous +band of votaries, who expected only a signal and a leader; and the +governor of Chorasan continued to deplore his fruitless admonitions and +the deadly slumber of the caliphs of Damascus, till he himself, with +all his adherents, was driven from the city and palace of Meru, by the +rebellious arms of Abu Moslem. [35] That maker of kings, the author, as +he is named, of the call of the Abbassides, was at length rewarded for +his presumption of merit with the usual gratitude of courts. A mean, +perhaps a foreign, extraction could not repress the aspiring energy of +Abu Moslem. Jealous of his wives, liberal of his wealth, prodigal of +his own blood and of that of others, he could boast with pleasure, and +possibly with truth, that he had destroyed six hundred thousand of his +enemies; and such was the intrepid gravity of his mind and countenance, +that he was never seen to smile except on a day of battle. In the +visible separation of parties, the green was consecrated to the +Fatimites; the Ommiades were distinguished by the white; and the black, +as the most adverse, was naturally adopted by the Abbassides. Their +turbans and garments were stained with that gloomy color: two black +standards, on pike staves nine cubits long, were borne aloft in the van +of Abu Moslem; and their allegorical names of the night and the shadow +obscurely represented the indissoluble union and perpetual succession +of the line of Hashem. From the Indus to the Euphrates, the East was +convulsed by the quarrel of the white and the black factions: the +Abbassides were most frequently victorious; but their public success +was clouded by the personal misfortune of their chief. The court +of Damascus, awakening from a long slumber, resolved to prevent the +pilgrimage of Mecca, which Ibrahim had undertaken with a splendid +retinue, to recommend himself at once to the favor of the prophet and of +the people. A detachment of cavalry intercepted his march and arrested +his person; and the unhappy Ibrahim, snatched away from the promise of +untasted royalty, expired in iron fetters in the dungeons of Haran. His +two younger brothers, Saffah [3511] and Almansor, eluded the search of +the tyrant, and lay concealed at Cufa, till the zeal of the people and +the approach of his Eastern friends allowed them to expose their persons +to the impatient public. On Friday, in the dress of a caliph, in the +colors of the sect, Saffah proceeded with religious and military pomp +to the mosch: ascending the pulpit, he prayed and preached as the lawful +successor of Mahomet; and after his departure, his kinsmen bound a +willing people by an oath of fidelity. But it was on the banks of the +Zab, and not in the mosch of Cufa, that this important controversy was +determined. Every advantage appeared to be on the side of the white +faction: the authority of established government; an army of a hundred +and twenty thousand soldiers, against a sixth part of that number; and +the presence and merit of the caliph Mervan, the fourteenth and last +of the house of Ommiyah. Before his accession to the throne, he had +deserved, by his Georgian warfare, the honorable epithet of the ass of +Mesopotamia; [36] and he might have been ranked amongst the greatest +princes, had not, says Abulfeda, the eternal order decreed that moment +for the ruin of his family; a decree against which all human fortitude +and prudence must struggle in vain. The orders of Mervan were mistaken, +or disobeyed: the return of his horse, from which he had dismounted on +a necessary occasion, impressed the belief of his death; and the +enthusiasm of the black squadrons was ably conducted by Abdallah, the +uncle of his competitor. After an irretrievab defeat, the caliph escaped +to Mosul; but the colors of the Abbassides were displayed from the +rampart; he suddenly repassed the Tigris, cast a melancholy look on his +palace of Haran, crossed the Euphrates, abandoned the fortifications of +Damascus, and, without halting in Palestine, pitched his last and fatal +camp at Busir, on the banks of the Nile. [37] His speed was urged by +the incessant diligence of Abdallah, who in every step of the pursuit +acquired strength and reputation: the remains of the white faction were +finally vanquished in Egypt; and the lance, which terminated the life +and anxiety of Mervan, was not less welcome perhaps to the unfortunate +than to the victorious chief. The merciless inquisition of the conqueror +eradicated the most distant branches of the hostile race: their bones +were scattered, their memory was accursed, and the martyrdom of Hossein +was abundantly revenged on the posterity of his tyrants. Fourscore of +the Ommiades, who had yielded to the faith or clemency of their foes, +were invited to a banquet at Damascus. The laws of hospitality were +violated by a promiscuous massacre: the board was spread over their +fallen bodies; and the festivity of the guests was enlivened by the +music of their dying groans. By the event of the civil war, the dynasty +of the Abbassides was firmly established; but the Christians only +could triumph in the mutual hatred and common loss of the disciples of +Mahomet. [38] + +[Footnote 35: The steed and the saddle which had carried any of his +wives were instantly killed or burnt, lest they should afterwards be +mounted by a male. Twelve hundred mules or camels were required for his +kitchen furniture; and the daily consumption amounted to three thousand +cakes, a hundred sheep, besides oxen, poultry, &c., (Abul pharagius, +Hist. Dynast. p. 140.)] + +[Footnote 3511: He is called Abdullah or Abul Abbas in the Tarikh Tebry. +Price vol. i. p. 600. Saffah or Saffauh (the Sanguinary) was a name +which be required after his bloody reign, (vol. ii. p. 1.)--M.] + +[Footnote 36: Al Hemar. He had been governor of Mesopotamia, and the +Arabic proverb praises the courage of that warlike breed of asses +who never fly from an enemy. The surname of Mervan may justify the +comparison of Homer, (Iliad, A. 557, &c.,) and both will silence +the moderns, who consider the ass as a stupid and ignoble emblem, +(D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 558.)] + +[Footnote 37: Four several places, all in Egypt, bore the name of Busir, +or Busiris, so famous in Greek fable. The first, where Mervan was slain +was to the west of the Nile, in the province of Fium, or Arsinoe; +the second in the Delta, in the Sebennytic nome; the third near the +pyramids; the fourth, which was destroyed by Dioclesian, (see above, +vol. ii. p. 130,) in the Thebais. I shall here transcribe a note of the +learned and orthodox Michaelis: Videntur in pluribus Aegypti superioris +urbibus Busiri Coptoque arma sumpsisse Christiani, libertatemque de +religione sentiendi defendisse, sed succubuisse quo in bello Coptus et +Busiris diruta, et circa Esnam magna strages edita. Bellum narrant sed +causam belli ignorant scriptores Byzantini, alioqui Coptum et Busirim +non rebellasse dicturi, sed causam Christianorum suscepturi, (Not. 211, +p. 100.) For the geography of the four Busirs, see Abulfeda, (Descript. +Aegypt. p. 9, vers. Michaelis, Gottingae, 1776, in 4to.,) Michaelis, +(Not. 122-127, p. 58-63,) and D'Anville, (Memoire sua l'Egypte, p. 85, +147, 205.)] + +[Footnote 38: See Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 136-145,) Eutychius, +(Annal. tom. ii. p. 392, vers. Pocock,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. +109-121,) Abulpharagius, (Hist. Dynast. p. 134-140,) Roderic of +Toledo, (Hist. Arabum, c. xviii. p. 33,) Theophanes, (Chronograph. +p. 356, 357, who speaks of the Abbassides) and the Bibliotheque of +D'Herbelot, in the articles Ommiades, Abbassides, Moervan, Ibrahim, +Saffah, Abou Moslem.] + +Yet the thousands who were swept away by the sword of war might +have been speedily retrieved in the succeeding generation, if the +consequences of the revolution had not tended to dissolve the power +and unity of the empire of the Saracens. In the proscription of the +Ommiades, a royal youth of the name of Abdalrahman alone escaped the +rage of his enemies, who hunted the wandering exile from the banks +of the Euphrates to the valleys of Mount Atlas. His presence in the +neighborhood of Spain revived the zeal of the white faction. The name +and cause of the Abbassides had been first vindicated by the Persians: +the West had been pure from civil arms; and the servants of the +abdicated family still held, by a precarious tenure, the inheritance +of their lands and the offices of government. Strongly prompted by +gratitude, indignation, and fear, they invited the grandson of the +caliph Hashem to ascend the throne of his ancestors; and, in his +desperate condition, the extremes of rashness and prudence were almost +the same. The acclamations of the people saluted his landing on the +coast of Andalusia: and, after a successful struggle, Abdalrahman +established the throne of Cordova, and was the father of the Ommiades of +Spain, who reigned above two hundred and fifty years from the Atlantic +to the Pyrenees. [39] He slew in battle a lieutenant of the Abbassides, +who had invaded his dominions with a fleet and army: the head of Ala, in +salt and camphire, was suspended by a daring messenger before the palace +of Mecca; and the caliph Almansor rejoiced in his safety, that he was +removed by seas and lands from such a formidable adversary. Their mutual +designs or declarations of offensive war evaporated without effect; +but instead of opening a door to the conquest of Europe, Spain was +dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy, engaged in perpetual +hostility with the East, and inclined to peace and friendship with the +Christian sovereigns of Constantinople and France. The example of the +Ommiades was imitated by the real or fictitious progeny of Ali, the +Edrissites of Mauritania, and the more powerful fatimites of Africa and +Egypt. In the tenth century, the chair of Mahomet was disputed by three +caliphs or commanders of the faithful, who reigned at Bagdad, Cairoan, +and Cordova, excommunicating each other, and agreed only in a principle +of discord, that a sectary is more odious and criminal than an +unbeliever. [40] + +[Footnote 39: For the revolution of Spain, consult Roderic of Toledo, +(c. xviii. p. 34, &c.,) the Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, (tom. ii. p. +30, 198,) and Cardonne, (Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, tom. i. p. +180-197, 205, 272, 323, &c.)] + +[Footnote 40: I shall not stop to refute the strange errors and fancies +of Sir William Temple (his Works, vol. iii. p. 371-374, octavo edition) +and Voltaire (Histoire Generale, c. xxviii. tom. ii. p. 124, 125, +edition de Lausanne) concerning the division of the Saracen empire. The +mistakes of Voltaire proceeded from the want of knowledge or reflection; +but Sir William was deceived by a Spanish impostor, who has framed an +apocryphal history of the conquest of Spain by the Arabs.] + +Mecca was the patrimony of the line of Hashem, yet the Abbassides were +never tempted to reside either in the birthplace or the city of the +prophet. Damascus was disgraced by the choice, and polluted with the +blood, of the Ommiades; and, after some hesitation, Almansor, the +brother and successor of Saffah, laid the foundations of Bagdad, [41] +the Imperial seat of his posterity during a reign of five hundred years. +[42] The chosen spot is on the eastern bank of the Tigris, about fifteen +miles above the ruins of Modain: the double wall was of a circular +form; and such was the rapid increase of a capital, now dwindled to a +provincial town, that the funeral of a popular saint might be attended +by eight hundred thousand men and sixty thousand women of Bagdad and the +adjacent villages. In this city of peace, [43] amidst the riches of the +East, the Abbassides soon disdained the abstinence and frugality of the +first caliphs, and aspired to emulate the magnificence of the Persian +kings. After his wars and buildings, Almansor left behind him in gold +and silver about thirty millions sterling: [44] and this treasure was +exhausted in a few years by the vices or virtues of his children. His +son Mahadi, in a single pilgrimage to Mecca, expended six millions +of dinars of gold. A pious and charitable motive may sanctify the +foundation of cisterns and caravanseras, which he distributed along a +measured road of seven hundred miles; but his train of camels, laden +with snow, could serve only to astonish the natives of Arabia, and to +refresh the fruits and liquors of the royal banquet. [45] The courtiers +would surely praise the liberality of his grandson Almamon, who gave +away four fifths of the income of a province, a sum of two millions four +hundred thousand gold dinars, before he drew his foot from the stirrup. +At the nuptials of the same prince, a thousand pearls of the largest +size were showered on the head of the bride, [46] and a lottery of lands +and houses displayed the capricious bounty of fortune. The glories of +the court were brightened, rather than impaired, in the decline of the +empire, and a Greek ambassador might admire, or pity, the magnificence +of the feeble Moctader. "The caliph's whole army," says the historian +Abulfeda, "both horse and foot, was under arms, which together made +a body of one hundred and sixty thousand men. His state officers, +the favorite slaves, stood near him in splendid apparel, their belts +glittering with gold and gems. Near them were seven thousand eunuchs, +four thousand of them white, the remainder black. The porters or +door-keepers were in number seven hundred. Barges and boats, with the +most superb decorations, were seen swimming upon the Tigris. Nor was the +palace itself less splendid, in which were hung up thirty-eight thousand +pieces of tapestry, twelve thousand five hundred of which were of +silk embroidered with gold. The carpets on the floor were twenty-two +thousand. A hundred lions were brought out, with a keeper to each lion. +[47] Among the other spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree +of gold and silver spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and +on the lesser boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious +metals, as well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery affected +spontaneous motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony. +Through this scene of magnificence, the Greek ambassador was led by +the vizier to the foot of the caliph's throne." [48] In the West, the +Ommiades of Spain supported, with equal pomp, the title of commander +of the faithful. Three miles from Cordova, in honor of his favorite +sultana, the third and greatest of the Abdalrahmans constructed the +city, palace, and gardens of Zehra. Twenty-five years, and above three +millions sterling, were employed by the founder: his liberal taste +invited the artists of Constantinople, the most skilful sculptors and +architects of the age; and the buildings were sustained or adorned by +twelve hundred columns of Spanish and African, of Greek and Italian +marble. The hall of audience was incrusted with gold and pearls, and +a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curious and costly +figures of birds and quadrupeds. In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one +of these basins and fountains, so delightful in a sultry climate, +was replenished not with water, but with the purest quicksilver. The +seraglio of Abdalrahman, his wives, concubines, and black eunuchs, +amounted to six thousand three hundred persons: and he was attended to +the field by a guard of twelve thousand horse, whose belts and cimeters +were studded with gold. [49] + +[Footnote 41: The geographer D'Anville, (l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. +121-123,) and the Orientalist D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque, p. 167, 168,) +may suffice for the knowledge of Bagdad. Our travellers, Pietro +della Valle, (tom. i. p. 688-698,) Tavernier, (tom. i. p. 230-238,) +Thevenot, (part ii. p. 209-212,) Otter, (tom. i. p. 162-168,) and +Niebuhr, (Voyage en Arabie, tom. ii. p. 239-271,) have seen only its +decay; and the Nubian geographer, (p. 204,) and the travelling Jew, +Benjamin of Tuleda (Itinerarium, p. 112-123, a Const. l'Empereur, apud +Elzevir, 1633,) are the only writers of my acquaintance, who have known +Bagdad under the reign of the Abbassides.] + +[Footnote 42: The foundations of Bagdad were laid A. H. 145, A.D. 762. +Mostasem, the last of the Abbassides, was taken and put to death by the +Tartars, A. H. 656, A.D. 1258, the 20th of February.] + +[Footnote 43: Medinat al Salem, Dar al Salem. Urbs pacis, or, as it is +more neatly compounded by the Byzantine writers, (Irenopolis.) There is +some dispute concerning the etymology of Bagdad, but the first syllable +is allowed to signify a garden in the Persian tongue; the garden of +Dad, a Christian hermit, whose cell had been the only habitation on the +spot.] + +[Footnote 44: Reliquit in aerario sexcenties millies mille stateres. et +quater et vicies millies mille aureos aureos. Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. +p. 126. I have reckoned the gold pieces at eight shillings, and the +proportion to the silver as twelve to one. But I will never answer for +the numbers of Erpenius; and the Latins are scarcely above the savages +in the language of arithmetic.] + +[Footnote 45: D'Herbelot, p. 530. Abulfeda, p. 154. Nivem Meccam +apportavit, rem ibi aut nunquam aut rarissime visam.] + +[Footnote 46: Abulfeda (p. 184, 189) describes the splendor and +liberality of Almamon. Milton has alluded to this Oriental custom:-- + + Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, + + Showers on her kings Barbaric pearls and gold. + +I have used the modern word lottery to express the word of the Roman +emperors, which entitled to some prize the person who caught them, as +they were thrown among the crowd.] + +[Footnote 47: When Bell of Antermony (Travels, vol. i. p. 99) +accompanied the Russian ambassador to the audience of the unfortunate +Shah Hussein of Persia, two lions were introduced, to denote the power +of the king over the fiercest animals.] + +[Footnote 48: Abulfeda, p. 237. D'Herbelot, p. 590. This embassy was +received at Bagdad, A. H. 305, A.D. 917. In the passage of Abulfeda, I +have used, with some variations, the English translation of the learned +and amiable Mr. Harris of Salisbury, (Philological Enquiries p. 363, +364.)] + +[Footnote 49: Cardonne, Histoire de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, tom. i. +p. 330-336. A just idea of the taste and architecture of the Arabians +of Spain may be conceived from the description and plates of the +Alhambra of Grenada, (Swinburne's Travels, p. 171-188.)] + + + + +Chapter LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part III. + +In a private condition, our desires are perpetually repressed by poverty +and subordination; but the lives and labors of millions are devoted to +the service of a despotic prince, whose laws are blindly obeyed, and +whose wishes are instantly gratified. Our imagination is dazzled by the +splendid picture; and whatever may be the cool dictates of reason, there +are few among us who would obstinately refuse a trial of the comforts +and the cares of royalty. It may therefore be of some use to borrow +the experience of the same Abdalrahman, whose magnificence has perhaps +excited our admiration and envy, and to transcribe an authentic memorial +which was found in the closet of the deceased caliph. "I have now +reigned above fifty years in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, +dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, +power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly +blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation, +I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which +have fallen to my lot: they amount to Fourteen:--O man! place not thy +confidence in this present world!" [50] The luxury of the caliphs, so +useless to their private happiness, relaxed the nerves, and terminated +the progress, of the Arabian empire. Temporal and spiritual conquest had +been the sole occupation of the first successors of Mahomet; and after +supplying themselves with the necessaries of life, the whole revenue +was scrupulously devoted to that salutary work. The Abbassides were +impoverished by the multitude of their wants, and their contempt of +oeconomy. Instead of pursuing the great object of ambition, their +leisure, their affections, the powers of their mind, were diverted by +pomp and pleasure: the rewards of valor were embezzled by women and +eunuchs, and the royal camp was encumbered by the luxury of the palace. +A similar temper was diffused among the subjects of the caliph. Their +stern enthusiasm was softened by time and prosperity. they sought riches +in the occupations of industry, fame in the pursuits of literature, and +happiness in the tranquillity of domestic life. War was no longer the +passion of the Saracens; and the increase of pay, the repetition of +donatives, were insufficient to allure the posterity of those voluntary +champions who had crowded to the standard of Abubeker and Omar for the +hopes of spoil and of paradise. + +[Footnote 50: Cardonne, tom. i. p. 329, 330. This confession, the +complaints of Solomon of the vanity of this world, (read Prior's verbose +but eloquent poem,) and the happy ten days of the emperor Seghed, +(Rambler, No. 204, 205,) will be triumphantly quoted by the detractors +of human life. Their expectations are commonly immoderate, their +estimates are seldom impartial. If I may speak of myself, (the only +person of whom I can speak with certainty,) my happy hours have far +exceeded, and far exceed, the scanty numbers of the caliph of Spain; and +I shall not scruple to add, that many of them are due to the pleasing +labor of the present composition.] + +Under the reign of the Ommiades, the studies of the Moslems were +confined to the interpretation of the Koran, and the eloquence and +poetry of their native tongue. A people continually exposed to the +dangers of the field must esteem the healing powers of medicine, or +rather of surgery; but the starving physicians of Arabia murmured a +complaint that exercise and temperance deprived them of the greatest +part of their practice. [51] After their civil and domestic wars, the +subjects of the Abbassides, awakening from this mental lethargy, found +leisure and felt curiosity for the acquisition of profane science. This +spirit was first encouraged by the caliph Almansor, who, besides his +knowledge of the Mahometan law, had applied himself with success to +the study of astronomy. But when the sceptre devolved to Almamon, the +seventh of the Abbassides, he completed the designs of his grandfather, +and invited the muses from their ancient seats. His ambassadors at +Constantinople, his agents in Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, collected the +volumes of Grecian science at his command they were translated by the +most skilful interpreters into the Arabic language: his subjects were +exhorted assiduously to peruse these instructive writings; and +the successor of Mahomet assisted with pleasure and modesty at the +assemblies and disputations of the learned. "He was not ignorant," says +Abulpharagius, "that they are the elect of God, his best and most useful +servants, whose lives are devoted to the improvement of their rational +faculties. The mean ambition of the Chinese or the Turks may glory in +the industry of their hands or the indulgence of their brutal appetites. +Yet these dexterous artists must view, with hopeless emulation, the +hexagons and pyramids of the cells of a beehive: [52] these +fortitudinous heroes are awed by the superior fierceness of the lions +and tigers; and in their amorous enjoyments they are much inferior to +the vigor of the grossest and most sordid quadrupeds. The teachers of +wisdom are the true luminaries and legislators of a world, which, +without their aid, would again sink in ignorance and barbarism." [53] +The zeal and curiosity of Almamon were imitated by succeeding princes of +the line of Abbas: their rivals, the Fatimites of Africa and the +Ommiades of Spain, were the patrons of the learned, as well as the +commanders of the faithful; the same royal prerogative was claimed by +their independent emirs of the provinces; and their emulation diffused +the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand and Bochara to Fez +and Cordova. The vizier of a sultan consecrated a sum of two hundred +thousand pieces of gold to the foundation of a college at Bagdad, which +he endowed with an annual revenue of fifteen thousand dinars. The fruits +of instruction were communicated, perhaps at different times, to six +thousand disciples of every degree, from the son of the noble to that of +the mechanic: a sufficient allowance was provided for the indigent +scholars; and the merit or industry of the professors was repaid with +adequate stipends. In every city the productions of Arabic literature +were copied and collected by the curiosity of the studious and the +vanity of the rich. A private doctor refused the invitation of the +sultan of Bochara, because the carriage of his books would have required +four hundred camels. The royal library of the Fatimites consisted of one +hundred thousand manuscripts, elegantly transcribed and splendidly +bound, which were lent, without jealousy or avarice, to the students of +Cairo. Yet this collection must appear moderate, if we can believe that +the Ommiades of Spain had formed a library of six hundred thousand +volumes, forty-four of which were employed in the mere catalogue. Their +capital, Cordova, with the adjacent towns of Malaga, Almeria, and +Murcia, had given birth to more than three hundred writers, and above +seventy public libraries were opened in the cities of the Andalusian +kingdom. The age of Arabian learning continued about five hundred years, +till the great eruption of the Moguls, and was coeval with the darkest +and most slothful period of European annals; but since the sun of +science has arisen in the West, it should seem that the Oriental studies +have languished and declined. [54] + +[Footnote 51: The Guliston (p. 29) relates the conversation of Mahomet +and a physician, (Epistol. Renaudot. in Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. +i. p. 814.) The prophet himself was skilled in the art of medicine; and +Gagnier (Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 394-405) has given an extract of +the aphorisms which are extant under his name.] + +[Footnote 52: See their curious architecture in Reaumur (Hist. des +Insectes, tom. v. Memoire viii.) These hexagons are closed by a pyramid; +the angles of the three sides of a similar pyramid, such as would +accomplish the given end with the smallest quantity possible of +materials, were determined by a mathematician, at 109] degrees 26 +minutes for the larger, 70 degrees 34 minutes for the smaller. The +actual measure is 109 degrees 28 minutes, 70 degrees 32 minutes. Yet +this perfect harmony raises the work at the expense of the artist he +bees are not masters of transcendent geometry.] + +[Footnote 53: Saed Ebn Ahmed, cadhi of Toledo, who died A. H. 462, A.D. +069, has furnished Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 160) with this curious +passage, as well as with the text of Pocock's Specimen Historiae Arabum. +A number of literary anecdotes of philosophers, physicians, &c., who +have flourished under each caliph, form the principal merit of the +Dynasties of Abulpharagius.] + +[Footnote 54: These literary anecdotes are borrowed from the Bibliotheca +Arabico-Hispana, (tom. ii. p. 38, 71, 201, 202,) Leo Africanus, (de +Arab. Medicis et Philosophis, in Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. xiii. p. +259-293, particularly p. 274,) and Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. +p. 274, 275, 536, 537,) besides the chronological remarks of +Abulpharagius.] + +In the libraries of the Arabians, as in those of Europe, the far greater +part of the innumerable volumes were possessed only of local value or +imaginary merit. [55] The shelves were crowded with orators and poets, +whose style was adapted to the taste and manners of their countrymen; +with general and partial histories, which each revolving generation +supplied with a new harvest of persons and events; with codes and +commentaries of jurisprudence, which derived their authority from the +law of the prophet; with the interpreters of the Koran, and orthodox +tradition; and with the whole theological tribe, polemics, mystics, +scholastics, and moralists, the first or the last of writers, according +to the different estimates of sceptics or believers. The works of +speculation or science may be reduced to the four classes of philosophy, +mathematics, astronomy, and physic. The sages of Greece were translated +and illustrated in the Arabic language, and some treatises, now lost +in the original, have been recovered in the versions of the East, [56] +which possessed and studied the writings of Aristotle and Plato, of +Euclid and Apollonius, of Ptolemy, Hippocrates, and Galen. [57] Among +the ideal systems which have varied with the fashion of the times, the +Arabians adopted the philosophy of the Stagirite, alike intelligible +or alike obscure for the readers of every age. Plato wrote for the +Athenians, and his allegorical genius is too closely blended with the +language and religion of Greece. After the fall of that religion, +the Peripatetics, emerging from their obscurity, prevailed in the +controversies of the Oriental sects, and their founder was long +afterwards restored by the Mahometans of Spain to the Latin schools. +[58] The physics, both of the Academy and the Lycaeum, as they are +built, not on observation, but on argument, have retarded the progress +of real knowledge. The metaphysics of infinite, or finite, spirit, have +too often been enlisted in the service of superstition. But the human +faculties are fortified by the art and practice of dialectics; the ten +predicaments of Aristotle collect and methodize our ideas, [59] and his +syllogism is the keenest weapon of dispute. It was dexterously wielded +in the schools of the Saracens, but as it is more effectual for the +detection of error than for the investigation of truth, it is not +surprising that new generations of masters and disciples should still +revolve in the same circle of logical argument. The mathematics are +distinguished by a peculiar privilege, that, in the course of ages, they +may always advance, and can never recede. But the ancient geometry, if I +am not misinformed, was resumed in the same state by the Italians of +the fifteenth century; and whatever may be the origin of the name, the +science of algebra is ascribed to the Grecian Diophantus by the modest +testimony of the Arabs themselves. [60] They cultivated with more +success the sublime science of astronomy, which elevates the mind of +man to disdain his diminutive planet and momentary existence. The costly +instruments of observation were supplied by the caliph Almamon, and the +land of the Chaldaeans still afforded the same spacious level, the same +unclouded horizon. In the plains of Sinaar, and a second time in those +of Cufa, his mathematicians accurately measured a degree of the great +circle of the earth, and determined at twenty-four thousand miles the +entire circumference of our globe. [61] From the reign of the Abbassides +to that of the grandchildren of Tamerlane, the stars, without the aid +of glasses, were diligently observed; and the astronomical tables of +Bagdad, Spain, and Samarcand, [62] correct some minute errors, without +daring to renounce the hypothesis of Ptolemy, without advancing a step +towards the discovery of the solar system. In the Eastern courts, the +truths of science could be recommended only by ignorance and folly, +and the astronomer would have been disregarded, had he not debased his +wisdom or honesty by the vain predictions of astrology. [63] But in the +science of medicine, the Arabians have been deservedly applauded. The +names of Mesua and Geber, of Razis and Avicenna, are ranked with +the Grecian masters; in the city of Bagdad, eight hundred and sixty +physicians were licensed to exercise their lucrative profession: [64] +in Spain, the life of the Catholic princes was intrusted to the skill +of the Saracens, [65] and the school of Salerno, their legitimate +offspring, revived in Italy and Europe the precepts of the healing art. +[66] The success of each professor must have been influenced by personal +and accidental causes; but we may form a less fanciful estimate of their +general knowledge of anatomy, [67] botany, [68] and chemistry, [69] the +threefold basis of their theory and practice. A superstitious reverence +for the dead confined both the Greeks and the Arabians to the dissection +of apes and quadrupeds; the more solid and visible parts were known +in the time of Galen, and the finer scrutiny of the human frame was +reserved for the microscope and the injections of modern artists. Botany +is an active science, and the discoveries of the torrid zone might +enrich the herbal of Dioscorides with two thousand plants. Some +traditionary knowledge might be secreted in the temples and monasteries +of Egypt; much useful experience had been acquired in the practice of +arts and manufactures; but the science of chemistry owes its origin and +improvement to the industry of the Saracens. They first invented +and named the alembic for the purposes of distillation, analyzed the +substances of the three kingdoms of nature, tried the distinction and +affinities of alcalis and acids, and converted the poisonous minerals +into soft and salutary medicines. But the most eager search of Arabian +chemistry was the transmutation of metals, and the elixir of immortal +health: the reason and the fortunes of thousands were evaporated in +the crucibles of alchemy, and the consummation of the great work was +promoted by the worthy aid of mystery, fable, and superstition. + +[Footnote 55: The Arabic catalogue of the Escurial will give a just idea +of the proportion of the classes. In the library of Cairo, the Mss of +astronomy and medicine amounted to 6500, with two fair globes, the one +of brass, the other of silver, (Bibliot. Arab. Hisp. tom. i. p. 417.)] + +[Footnote 56: As, for instance, the fifth, sixth, and seventh books (the +eighth is still wanting) of the Conic Sections of Apollonius Pergaeus, +which were printed from the Florence Ms. 1661, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. +tom. ii. p. 559.) Yet the fifth book had been previously restored by the +mathematical divination of Viviani, (see his Eloge in Fontenelle, tom. +v. p. 59, &c.)] + +[Footnote 57: The merit of these Arabic versions is freely discussed +by Renaudot, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. i. p. 812-816,) and piously +defended by Casiri, (Bibliot. Arab. Hispana, tom. i. p. 238-240.) +Most of the versions of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, &c., are +ascribed to Honain, a physician of the Nestorian sect, who flourished +at Bagdad in the court of the caliphs, and died A.D. 876. He was at the +head of a school or manufacture of translations, and the works of his +sons and disciples were published under his name. See Abulpharagius, +(Dynast. p. 88, 115, 171-174, and apud Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. +tom. ii. p. 438,) D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 456,) Asseman. +(Bibliot. Orient. tom. iii. p. 164,) and Casiri, (Bibliot. Arab. +Hispana, tom. i. p. 238, &c. 251, 286-290, 302, 304, &c.)] + +[Footnote 58: See Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 181, 214, 236, +257, 315, 388, 396, 438, &c.] + +[Footnote 59: The most elegant commentary on the Categories or +Predicaments of Aristotle may be found in the Philosophical Arrangements +of Mr. James Harris, (London, 1775, in octavo,) who labored to revive +the studies of Grecian literature and philosophy.] + +[Footnote 60: Abulpharagius, Dynast. p. 81, 222. Bibliot. Arab. Hisp. +tom. i. p. 370, 371. In quem (says the primate of the Jacobites) si +immiserit selector, oceanum hoc in genere (algebrae) inveniet. The time +of Diophantus of Alexandria is unknown; but his six books are still +extant, and have been illustrated by the Greek Planudes and the +Frenchman Meziriac, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. iv. p. 12-15.)] + +[Footnote 61: Abulfeda (Annal. Moslem. p. 210, 211, vers. Reiske) +describes this operation according to Ibn Challecan, and the best +historians. This degree most accurately contains 200,000 royal or +Hashemite cubits which Arabia had derived from the sacred and legal +practice both of Palestine and Egypt. This ancient cubit is repeated +400 times in each basis of the great pyramid, and seems to indicate the +primitive and universal measures of the East. See the Metrologie of the +laborions. M. Paucton, p. 101-195.] + +[Footnote 62: See the Astronomical Tables of Ulugh Begh, with the +preface of Dr. Hyde in the first volume of his Syntagma Dissertationum, +Oxon. 1767.] + +[Footnote 63: The truth of astrology was allowed by Albumazar, and +the best of the Arabian astronomers, who drew their most certain +predictions, not from Venus and Mercury, but from Jupiter and the sun, +(Abulpharag. Dynast. p. 161-163.) For the state and science of the +Persian astronomers, see Chardin, (Voyages en Perse, tom. iii. p. +162-203.)] + +[Footnote 64: Bibliot. Arabico-Hispana, tom. i. p. 438. The original +relates a pleasant tale of an ignorant, but harmless, practitioner.] + +[Footnote 65: In the year 956, Sancho the Fat, king of Leon, was cured +by the physicians of Cordova, (Mariana, l. viii. c. 7, tom. i. p. 318.)] + +[Footnote 66: The school of Salerno, and the introduction of the +Arabian sciences into Italy, are discussed with learning and judgment +by Muratori (Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. iii. p. 932-940) and +Giannone, (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. ii. p. 119-127.)] + +[Footnote 67: See a good view of the progress of anatomy in Wotton, +(Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learning, p. 208-256.) His reputation +has been unworthily depreciated by the wits in the controversy of Boyle +and Bentley.] + +[Footnote 68: Bibliot. Arab. Hispana, tom. i. p. 275. Al Beithar, of +Malaga, their greatest botanist, had travelled into Africa, Persia, and +India.] + +[Footnote 69: Dr. Watson, (Elements of Chemistry, vol. i. p. 17, &c.) +allows the original merit of the Arabians. Yet he quotes the modest +confession of the famous Geber of the ixth century, (D'Herbelot, p. +387,) that he had drawn most of his science, perhaps the transmutation +of metals, from the ancient sages. Whatever might be the origin or +extent of their knowledge, the arts of chemistry and alchemy appear to +have been known in Egypt at least three hundred years before Mahomet, +(Wotton's Reflections, p. 121-133. Pauw, Recherches sur les Egyptiens +et les Chinois, tom. i. p. 376-429.) * Note: Mr. Whewell (Hist. of +Inductive Sciences, vol. i. p. 336) rejects the claim of the Arabians as +inventors of the science of chemistry. "The formation and realization +of the notions of analysis and affinity were important steps in chemical +science; which, as I shall hereafter endeavor to show it remained for +the chemists of Europe to make at a much later period."--M.] + +But the Moslems deprived themselves of the principal benefits of a +familiar intercourse with Greece and Rome, the knowledge of antiquity, +the purity of taste, and the freedom of thought. Confident in the riches +of their native tongue, the Arabians disdained the study of any +foreign idiom. The Greek interpreters were chosen among their Christian +subjects; they formed their translations, sometimes on the original +text, more frequently perhaps on a Syriac version; and in the crowd of +astronomers and physicians, there is no example of a poet, an orator, or +even an historian, being taught to speak the language of the Saracens. +[70] The mythology of Homer would have provoked the abhorrence of those +stern fanatics: they possessed in lazy ignorance the colonies of the +Macedonians, and the provinces of Carthage and Rome: the heroes of +Plutarch and Livy were buried in oblivion; and the history of the world +before Mahomet was reduced to a short legend of the patriarchs, the +prophets, and the Persian kings. Our education in the Greek and Latin +schools may have fixed in our minds a standard of exclusive taste; and +I am not forward to condemn the literature and judgment of nations, of +whose language I am ignorant. Yet I know that the classics have much +to teach, and I believe that the Orientals have much to learn; the +temperate dignity of style, the graceful proportions of art, the forms +of visible and intellectual beauty, the just delineation of character +and passion, the rhetoric of narrative and argument, the regular fabric +of epic and dramatic poetry. [71] The influence of truth and reason +is of a less ambiguous complexion. The philosophers of Athens and Rome +enjoyed the blessings, and asserted the rights, of civil and religious +freedom. Their moral and political writings might have gradually +unlocked the fetters of Eastern despotism, diffused a liberal spirit of +inquiry and toleration, and encouraged the Arabian sages to suspect +that their caliph was a tyrant, and their prophet an impostor. [72] The +instinct of superstition was alarmed by the introduction even of the +abstract sciences; and the more rigid doctors of the law condemned +the rash and pernicious curiosity of Almamon. [73] To the thirst of +martyrdom, the vision of paradise, and the belief of predestination, we +must ascribe the invincible enthusiasm of the prince and people. And the +sword of the Saracens became less formidable when their youth was drawn +away from the camp to the college, when the armies of the faithful +presumed to read and to reflect. Yet the foolish vanity of the Greeks +was jealous of their studies, and reluctantly imparted the sacred fire +to the Barbarians of the East. [74] + +[Footnote 70: Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 26, 148) mentions a Syriac +version of Homer's two poems, by Theophilus, a Christian Maronite of +Mount Libanus, who professed astronomy at Roha or Edessa towards the end +of the viiith century. His work would be a literary curiosity. I +have read somewhere, but I do not believe, that Plutarch's Lives were +translated into Turkish for the use of Mahomet the Second.] + +[Footnote 71: I have perused, with much pleasure, Sir William Jones's +Latin Commentary on Asiatic Poetry, (London, 1774, in octavo,) which +was composed in the youth of that wonderful linguist. At present, in +the maturity of his taste and judgment, he would perhaps abate of +the fervent, and even partial, praise which he has bestowed on the +Orientals.] + +[Footnote 72: Among the Arabian philosophers, Averroes has been +accused of despising the religions of the Jews, the Christians, and the +Mahometans, (see his article in Bayle's Dictionary.) Each of these +sects would agree, that in two instances out of three, his contempt was +reasonable.] + +[Footnote 73: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque, Orientale, p. 546.] + +[Footnote 74: Cedrenus, p. 548, who relates how manfully the emperor +refused a mathematician to the instances and offers of the caliph +Almamon. This absurd scruple is expressed almost in the same words by +the continuator of Theophanes, (Scriptores post Theophanem, p. 118.)] + +In the bloody conflict of the Ommiades and Abbassides, the Greeks had +stolen the opportunity of avenging their wrongs and enlarging their +limits. But a severe retribution was exacted by Mohadi, the third caliph +of the new dynasty, who seized, in his turn, the favorable opportunity, +while a woman and a child, Irene and Constantine, were seated on the +Byzantine throne. An army of ninety-five thousand Persians and Arabs +was sent from the Tigris to the Thracian Bosphorus, under the command of +Harun, [75] or Aaron, the second son of the commander of the faithful. +His encampment on the opposite heights of Chrysopolis, or Scutari, +informed Irene, in her palace of Constantinople, of the loss of her +troops and provinces. With the consent or connivance of their sovereign, +her ministers subscribed an ignominious peace; and the exchange of some +royal gifts could not disguise the annual tribute of seventy thousand +dinars of gold, which was imposed on the Roman empire. The Saracens had +too rashly advanced into the midst of a distant and hostile land: their +retreat was solicited by the promise of faithful guides and plentiful +markets; and not a Greek had courage to whisper, that their weary forces +might be surrounded and destroyed in their necessary passage between +a slippery mountain and the River Sangarius. Five years after this +expedition, Harun ascended the throne of his father and his elder +brother; the most powerful and vigorous monarch of his race, illustrious +in the West, as the ally of Charlemagne, and familiar to the most +childish readers, as the perpetual hero of the Arabian tales. His title +to the name of Al Rashid (the Just) is sullied by the extirpation of the +generous, perhaps the innocent, Barmecides; yet he could listen to the +complaint of a poor widow who had been pillaged by his troops, and who +dared, in a passage of the Koran, to threaten the inattentive despot +with the judgment of God and posterity. His court was adorned with +luxury and science; but, in a reign of three-and-twenty years, Harun +repeatedly visited his provinces from Chorasan to Egypt; nine times +he performed the pilgrimage of Mecca; eight times he invaded the +territories of the Romans; and as often as they declined the payment of +the tribute, they were taught to feel that a month of depredation was +more costly than a year of submission. But when the unnatural mother +of Constantine was deposed and banished, her successor, Nicephorus, +resolved to obliterate this badge of servitude and disgrace. The epistle +of the emperor to the caliph was pointed with an allusion to the game +of chess, which had already spread from Persia to Greece. "The queen (he +spoke of Irene) considered you as a rook, and herself as a pawn. That +pusillanimous female submitted to pay a tribute, the double of which she +ought to have exacted from the Barbarians. Restore therefore the fruits +of your injustice, or abide the determination of the sword." At these +words the ambassadors cast a bundle of swords before the foot of the +throne. The caliph smiled at the menace, and drawing his cimeter, +samsamah, a weapon of historic or fabulous renown, he cut asunder the +feeble arms of the Greeks, without turning the edge, or endangering the +temper, of his blade. He then dictated an epistle of tremendous brevity: +"In the name of the most merciful God, Harun al Rashid, commander of the +faithful, to Nicephorus, the Roman dog. I have read thy letter, O thou +son of an unbelieving mother. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt behold, my +reply." It was written in characters of blood and fire on the plains of +Phrygia; and the warlike celerity of the Arabs could only be checked by +the arts of deceit and the show of repentance. + +The triumphant caliph retired, after the fatigues of the campaign, to +his favorite palace of Racca on the Euphrates: [76] but the distance +of five hundred miles, and the inclemency of the season, encouraged his +adversary to violate the peace. Nicephorus was astonished by the bold +and rapid march of the commander of the faithful, who repassed, in the +depth of winter, the snows of Mount Taurus: his stratagems of policy and +war were exhausted; and the perfidious Greek escaped with three wounds +from a field of battle overspread with forty thousand of his subjects. +Yet the emperor was ashamed of submission, and the caliph was resolved +on victory. One hundred and thirty-five thousand regular soldiers +received pay, and were inscribed in the military roll; and above three +hundred thousand persons of every denomination marched under the black +standard of the Abbassides. They swept the surface of Asia Minor far +beyond Tyana and Ancyra, and invested the Pontic Heraclea, [77] once +a flourishing state, now a paltry town; at that time capable of +sustaining, in her antique walls, a month's siege against the forces of +the East. The ruin was complete, the spoil was ample; but if Harun had +been conversant with Grecian story, he would have regretted the statue +of Hercules, whose attributes, the club, the bow, the quiver, and the +lion's hide, were sculptured in massy gold. The progress of desolation +by sea and land, from the Euxine to the Isle of Cyprus, compelled the +emperor Nicephorus to retract his haughty defiance. In the new treaty, +the ruins of Heraclea were left forever as a lesson and a trophy; and +the coin of the tribute was marked with the image and superscription +of Harun and his three sons. [78] Yet this plurality of lords might +contribute to remove the dishonor of the Roman name. After the death of +their father, the heirs of the caliph were involved in civil discord, +and the conqueror, the liberal Almamon, was sufficiently engaged in the +restoration of domestic peace and the introduction of foreign science. + +[Footnote 75: See the reign and character of Harun Al Rashid, in the +Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 431-433, under his proper title; and in the +relative articles to which M. D'Herbelot refers. That learned collector +has shown much taste in stripping the Oriental chronicles of their +instructive and amusing anecdotes.] + +[Footnote 76: For the situation of Racca, the old Nicephorium, consult +D'Anville, (l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 24-27.) The Arabian Nights +represent Harun al Rashid as almost stationary in Bagdad. He respected +the royal seat of the Abbassides: but the vices of the inhabitants had +driven him from the city, (Abulfed. Annal. p. 167.)] + +[Footnote 77: M. de Tournefort, in his coasting voyage from +Constantinople to Trebizond, passed a night at Heraclea or Eregri. His +eye surveyed the present state, his reading collected the antiquities, +of the city (Voyage du Levant, tom. iii. lettre xvi. p. 23-35.) We have +a separate history of Heraclea in the fragments of Memnon, which are +preserved by Photius.] + +[Footnote 78: The wars of Harun al Rashid against the Roman empire are +related by Theophanes, (p. 384, 385, 391, 396, 407, 408.) Zonaras, (tom. +iii. l. xv. p. 115, 124,) Cedrenus, (p. 477, 478,) Eutycaius, +(Annal. tom. ii. p. 407,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 136, 151, 152,) +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 147, 151,) and Abulfeda, (p. 156, 166-168.)] + + + + +Chapter LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part IV. + +Under the reign of Almamon at Bagdad, of Michael the Stammerer at +Constantinople, the islands of Crete [79] and Sicily were subdued by the +Arabs. The former of these conquests is disdained by their own writers, +who were ignorant of the fame of Jupiter and Minos, but it has not been +overlooked by the Byzantine historians, who now begin to cast a clearer +light on the affairs of their own times. [80] A band of Andalusian +volunteers, discontented with the climate or government of Spain, +explored the adventures of the sea; but as they sailed in no more than +ten or twenty galleys, their warfare must be branded with the name of +piracy. As the subjects and sectaries of the white party, they might +lawfully invade the dominions of the black caliphs. A rebellious faction +introduced them into Alexandria; [81] they cut in pieces both friends +and foes, pillaged the churches and the moschs, sold above six thousand +Christian captives, and maintained their station in the capital of +Egypt, till they were oppressed by the forces and the presence of +Almamon himself. From the mouth of the Nile to the Hellespont, the +islands and sea-coasts both of the Greeks and Moslems were exposed to +their depredations; they saw, they envied, they tasted the fertility of +Crete, and soon returned with forty galleys to a more serious attack. +The Andalusians wandered over the land fearless and unmolested; but when +they descended with their plunder to the sea-shore, their vessels were +in flames, and their chief, Abu Caab, confessed himself the author of +the mischief. Their clamors accused his madness or treachery. "Of what +do you complain?" replied the crafty emir. "I have brought you to a land +flowing with milk and honey. Here is your true country; repose from your +toils, and forget the barren place of your nativity." "And our wives and +children?" "Your beauteous captives will supply the place of your +wives, and in their embraces you will soon become the fathers of a new +progeny." The first habitation was their camp, with a ditch and rampart, +in the Bay of Suda; but an apostate monk led them to a more desirable +position in the eastern parts; and the name of Candax, their fortress +and colony, has been extended to the whole island, under the corrupt +and modern appellation of Candia. The hundred cities of the age of +Minos were diminished to thirty; and of these, only one, most probably +Cydonia, had courage to retain the substance of freedom and the +profession of Christianity. The Saracens of Crete soon repaired the loss +of their navy; and the timbers of Mount Ida were launched into the +main. During a hostile period of one hundred and thirty-eight years, +the princes of Constantinople attacked these licentious corsairs with +fruitless curses and ineffectual arms. + +[Footnote 79: The authors from whom I have learned the most of the +ancient and modern state of Crete, are Belon, (Observations, &c., c. +3-20, Paris, 1555,) Tournefort, (Voyage du Levant, tom. i. lettre ii. +et iii.,) and Meursius, (Creta, in his works, tom. iii. p. 343-544.) +Although Crete is styled by Homer, by Dionysius, I cannot conceive +that mountainous island to surpass, or even to equal, in fertility the +greater part of Spain.] + +[Footnote 80: The most authentic and circumstantial intelligence is +obtained from the four books of the Continuation of Theophanes, compiled +by the pen or the command of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, with the Life +of his father Basil, the Macedonian, (Scriptores post Theophanem, p. +1-162, a Francisc. Combefis, Paris, 1685.) The loss of Crete and Sicily +is related, l. ii. p. 46-52. To these we may add the secondary evidence +of Joseph Genesius, (l. ii. p. 21, Venet. 1733,) George Cedrenus, +(Compend. p. 506-508,) and John Scylitzes Curopalata, (apud Baron. +Annal. Eccles. A.D. 827, No. 24, &c.) But the modern Greeks are such +notorious plagiaries, that I should only quote a plurality of names.] + +[Footnote 81: Renaudot (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 251-256, 268-270) had +described the ravages of the Andalusian Arabs in Egypt, but has forgot +to connect them with the conquest of Crete.] + +The loss of Sicily [82] was occasioned by an act of superstitious rigor. +An amorous youth, who had stolen a nun from her cloister, was sentenced +by the emperor to the amputation of his tongue. Euphemius appealed to +the reason and policy of the Saracens of Africa; and soon returned with +the Imperial purple, a fleet of one hundred ships, and an army of seven +hundred horse and ten thousand foot. They landed at Mazara near the +ruins of the ancient Selinus; but after some partial victories, Syracuse +[83] was delivered by the Greeks, the apostate was slain before her +walls, and his African friends were reduced to the necessity of feeding +on the flesh of their own horses. In their turn they were relieved by a +powerful reenforcement of their brethren of Andalusia; the largest and +western part of the island was gradually reduced, and the commodious +harbor of Palermo was chosen for the seat of the naval and military +power of the Saracens. Syracuse preserved about fifty years the faith +which she had sworn to Christ and to Caesar. In the last and fatal +siege, her citizens displayed some remnant of the spirit which had +formerly resisted the powers of Athens and Carthage. They stood above +twenty days against the battering-rams and catapultoe, the mines and +tortoises of the besiegers; and the place might have been relieved, +if the mariners of the Imperial fleet had not been detained at +Constantinople in building a church to the Virgin Mary. The deacon +Theodosius, with the bishop and clergy, was dragged in chains from the +altar to Palermo, cast into a subterraneous dungeon, and exposed to +the hourly peril of death or apostasy. His pathetic, and not inelegant, +complaint may be read as the epitaph of his country. [84] From the Roman +conquest to this final calamity, Syracuse, now dwindled to the primitive +Isle of Ortygea, had insensibly declined. Yet the relics were still +precious; the plate of the cathedral weighed five thousand pounds of +silver; the entire spoil was computed at one million of pieces of gold, +(about four hundred thousand pounds sterling,) and the captives must +outnumber the seventeen thousand Christians, who were transported from +the sack of Tauromenium into African servitude. In Sicily, the religion +and language of the Greeks were eradicated; and such was the docility of +the rising generation, that fifteen thousand boys were circumcised and +clothed on the same day with the son of the Fatimite caliph. The Arabian +squadrons issued from the harbors of Palermo, Biserta, and Tunis; a +hundred and fifty towns of Calabria and Campania were attacked and +pillaged; nor could the suburbs of Rome be defended by the name of the +Caesars and apostles. Had the Mahometans been united, Italy must have +fallen an easy and glorious accession to the empire of the prophet. +But the caliphs of Bagdad had lost their authority in the West; the +Aglabites and Fatimites usurped the provinces of Africa, their emirs of +Sicily aspired to independence; and the design of conquest and dominion +was degraded to a repetition of predatory inroads. [85] + +[Footnote 82: Theophanes, l. ii. p. 51. This history of the loss of +Sicily is no longer extant. Muratori (Annali d' Italia, tom. vii. +p. 719, 721, &c.) has added some circumstances from the Italian +chronicles.] + +[Footnote 83: The splendid and interesting tragedy of Tancrede would +adapt itself much better to this epoch, than to the date (A.D. 1005) +which Voltaire himself has chosen. But I must gently reproach the poet +for infusing into the Greek subjects the spirit of modern knights and +ancient republicans.] + +[Footnote 84: The narrative or lamentation of Theodosius is transcribed +and illustrated by Pagi, (Critica, tom. iii. p. 719, &c.) Constantine +Porphyrogenitus (in Vit. Basil, c. 69, 70, p. 190-192) mentions the +loss of Syracuse and the triumph of the demons.] + +[Footnote 85: The extracts from the Arabic histories of Sicily are given +in Abulfeda, (Annal' Moslem. p. 271-273,) and in the first volume of +Muratori's Scriptores Rerum Italicarum. M. de Guignes (Hist. des Huns, +tom. i. p. 363, 364) has added some important facts.] + +In the sufferings of prostrate Italy, the name of Rome awakens a solemn +and mournful recollection. A fleet of Saracens from the African coast +presumed to enter the mouth of the Tyber, and to approach a city which +even yet, in her fallen state, was revered as the metropolis of the +Christian world. The gates and ramparts were guarded by a trembling +people; but the tombs and temples of St. Peter and St. Paul were left +exposed in the suburbs of the Vatican and of the Ostian way. Their +invisible sanctity had protected them against the Goths, the Vandals, +and the Lombards; but the Arabs disdained both the gospel and the +legend; and their rapacious spirit was approved and animated by the +precepts of the Koran. The Christian idols were stripped of their costly +offerings; a silver altar was torn away from the shrine of St. Peter; +and if the bodies or the buildings were left entire, their deliverance +must be imputed to the haste, rather than the scruples, of the Saracens. +In their course along the Appian way, they pillaged Fundi and besieged +Gayeta; but they had turned aside from the walls of Rome, and by their +divisions, the Capitol was saved from the yoke of the prophet of Mecca. +The same danger still impended on the heads of the Roman people; and +their domestic force was unequal to the assault of an African emir. They +claimed the protection of their Latin sovereign; but the Carlovingian +standard was overthrown by a detachment of the Barbarians: they +meditated the restoration of the Greek emperors; but the attempt was +treasonable, and the succor remote and precarious. [86] Their distress +appeared to receive some aggravation from the death of their spiritual +and temporal chief; but the pressing emergency superseded the forms +and intrigues of an election; and the unanimous choice of Pope Leo the +Fourth [87] was the safety of the church and city. This pontiff was born +a Roman; the courage of the first ages of the republic glowed in his +breast; and, amidst the ruins of his country, he stood erect, like one +of the firm and lofty columns that rear their heads above the fragments +of the Roman forum. The first days of his reign were consecrated to the +purification and removal of relics, to prayers and processions, and to +all the solemn offices of religion, which served at least to heal the +imagination, and restore the hopes, of the multitude. The public defence +had been long neglected, not from the presumption of peace, but from the +distress and poverty of the times. As far as the scantiness of his means +and the shortness of his leisure would allow, the ancient walls were +repaired by the command of Leo; fifteen towers, in the most accessible +stations, were built or renewed; two of these commanded on either side +of the Tyber; and an iron chain was drawn across the stream to impede +the ascent of a hostile navy. The Romans were assured of a short respite +by the welcome news, that the siege of Gayeta had been raised, and that +a part of the enemy, with their sacrilegious plunder, had perished in +the waves. + +[Footnote 86: One of the most eminent Romans (Gratianus, magister +militum et Romani palatii superista) was accused of declaring, Quia +Franci nihil nobis boni faciunt, neque adjutorium praebent, sed magis +quae nostra sunt violenter tollunt. Quare non advocamus Graecos, et cum +eis foedus pacis componentes, Francorum regem et gentem de nostro regno +et dominatione expellimus? Anastasius in Leone IV. p. 199.] + +[Footnote 87: Voltaire (Hist. Generale, tom. ii. c. 38, p. 124) appears +to be remarkably struck with the character of Pope Leo IV. I have +borrowed his general expression, but the sight of the forum has +furnished me with a more distinct and lively image.] + +But the storm, which had been delayed, soon burst upon them with +redoubled violence. The Aglabite, [88] who reigned in Africa, had +inherited from his father a treasure and an army: a fleet of Arabs and +Moors, after a short refreshment in the harbors of Sardinia, cast anchor +before the mouth of the Tyber, sixteen miles from the city: and their +discipline and numbers appeared to threaten, not a transient inroad, but +a serious design of conquest and dominion. But the vigilance of Leo had +formed an alliance with the vassals of the Greek empire, the free +and maritime states of Gayeta, Naples, and Amalfi; and in the hour of +danger, their galleys appeared in the port of Ostia under the command +of Caesarius, the son of the Neapolitan duke, a noble and valiant +youth, who had already vanquished the fleets of the Saracens. With his +principal companions, Caesarius was invited to the Lateran palace, and +the dexterous pontiff affected to inquire their errand, and to accept +with joy and surprise their providential succor. The city bands, in +arms, attended their father to Ostia, where he reviewed and blessed his +generous deliverers. They kissed his feet, received the communion with +martial devotion, and listened to the prayer of Leo, that the same God +who had supported St. Peter and St. Paul on the waves of the sea, would +strengthen the hands of his champions against the adversaries of his +holy name. After a similar prayer, and with equal resolution, the +Moslems advanced to the attack of the Christian galleys, which preserved +their advantageous station along the coast. The victory inclined to the +side of the allies, when it was less gloriously decided in their favor +by a sudden tempest, which confounded the skill and courage of the +stoutest mariners. The Christians were sheltered in a friendly harbor, +while the Africans were scattered and dashed in pieces among the rocks +and islands of a hostile shore. Those who escaped from shipwreck +and hunger neither found, nor deserved, mercy at the hands of their +implacable pursuers. The sword and the gibbet reduced the dangerous +multitude of captives; and the remainder was more usefully employed, +to restore the sacred edifices which they had attempted to subvert. +The pontiff, at the head of the citizens and allies, paid his grateful +devotion at the shrines of the apostles; and, among the spoils of this +naval victory, thirteen Arabian bows of pure and massy silver were +suspended round the altar of the fishermen of Galilee. The reign of Leo +the Fourth was employed in the defence and ornament of the Roman state. +The churches were renewed and embellished: near four thousand pounds +of silver were consecrated to repair the losses of St. Peter; and +his sanctuary was decorated with a plate of gold of the weight of two +hundred and sixteen pounds, embossed with the portraits of the pope +and emperor, and encircled with a string of pearls. Yet this vain +magnificence reflects less glory on the character of Leo than the +paternal care with which he rebuilt the walls of Horta and Ameria; +and transported the wandering inhabitants of Centumcellae to his new +foundation of Leopolis, twelve miles from the sea-shore. [89] By his +liberality, a colony of Corsicans, with their wives and children, was +planted in the station of Porto, at the mouth of the Tyber: the falling +city was restored for their use, the fields and vineyards were divided +among the new settlers: their first efforts were assisted by a gift of +horses and cattle; and the hardy exiles, who breathed revenge against +the Saracens, swore to live and die under the standard of St. Peter. The +nations of the West and North who visited the threshold of the apostles +had gradually formed the large and populous suburb of the Vatican, and +their various habitations were distinguished, in the language of the +times, as the schools of the Greeks and Goths, of the Lombards and +Saxons. But this venerable spot was still open to sacrilegious insult: +the design of enclosing it with walls and towers exhausted all that +authority could command, or charity would supply: and the pious labor +of four years was animated in every season, and at every hour, by the +presence of the indefatigable pontiff. The love of fame, a generous but +worldly passion, may be detected in the name of the Leonine city, which +he bestowed on the Vatican; yet the pride of the dedication was tempered +with Christian penance and humility. The boundary was trod by the bishop +and his clergy, barefoot, in sackcloth and ashes; the songs of triumph +were modulated to psalms and litanies; the walls were besprinkled with +holy water; and the ceremony was concluded with a prayer, that, under +the guardian care of the apostles and the angelic host, both the old and +the new Rome might ever be preserved pure, prosperous, and impregnable. +[90] + +[Footnote 88: De Guignes, Hist. Generale des Huns, tom. i. p. 363, 364. +Cardonne, Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne, sous la Domination +des Arabs, tom. ii. p. 24, 25. I observe, and cannot reconcile, the +difference of these writers in the succession of the Aglabites.] + +[Footnote 89: Beretti (Chorographia Italiae Medii Evi, p. 106, 108) +has illustrated Centumcellae, Leopolis, Civitas Leonina, and the other +places of the Roman duchy.] + +[Footnote 90: The Arabs and the Greeks are alike silent concerning the +invasion of Rome by the Africans. The Latin chronicles do not afford +much instruction, (see the Annals of Baronius and Pagi.) Our authentic +and contemporary guide for the popes of the ixth century is Anastasius, +librarian of the Roman church. His Life of Leo IV, contains twenty-four +pages, (p. 175-199, edit. Paris;) and if a great part consist of +superstitious trifles, we must blame or command his hero, who was much +oftener in a church than in a camp.] + +The emperor Theophilus, son of Michael the Stammerer, was one of the +most active and high-spirited princes who reigned at Constantinople +during the middle age. In offensive or defensive war, he marched in +person five times against the Saracens, formidable in his attack, +esteemed by the enemy in his losses and defeats. In the last of these +expeditions he penetrated into Syria, and besieged the obscure town of +Sozopetra; the casual birthplace of the caliph Motassem, whose father +Harun was attended in peace or war by the most favored of his wives and +concubines. The revolt of a Persian impostor employed at that moment the +arms of the Saracen, and he could only intercede in favor of a place for +which he felt and acknowledged some degree of filial affection. These +solicitations determined the emperor to wound his pride in so sensible a +part. Sozopetra was levelled with the ground, the Syrian prisoners were +marked or mutilated with ignominious cruelty, and a thousand female +captives were forced away from the adjacent territory. Among these a +matron of the house of Abbas invoked, in an agony of despair, the name +of Motassem; and the insults of the Greeks engaged the honor of her +kinsman to avenge his indignity, and to answer her appeal. Under the +reign of the two elder brothers, the inheritance of the youngest +had been confined to Anatolia, Armenia, Georgia, and Circassia; this +frontier station had exercised his military talents; and among his +accidental claims to the name of Octonary, [91] the most meritorious are +the eight battles which he gained or fought against the enemies of the +Koran. In this personal quarrel, the troops of Irak, Syria, and Egypt, +were recruited from the tribes of Arabia and the Turkish hordes; his +cavalry might be numerous, though we should deduct some myriads from the +hundred and thirty thousand horses of the royal stables; and the expense +of the armament was computed at four millions sterling, or one hundred +thousand pounds of gold. From Tarsus, the place of assembly, +the Saracens advanced in three divisions along the high road of +Constantinople: Motassem himself commanded the centre, and the vanguard +was given to his son Abbas, who, in the trial of the first adventures, +might succeed with the more glory, or fail with the least reproach. In +the revenge of his injury, the caliph prepared to retaliate a similar +affront. The father of Theophilus was a native of Amorium [92] in +Phrygia: the original seat of the Imperial house had been adorned with +privileges and monuments; and, whatever might be the indifference of the +people, Constantinople itself was scarcely of more value in the eyes of +the sovereign and his court. The name of Amorium was inscribed on the +shields of the Saracens; and their three armies were again united +under the walls of the devoted city. It had been proposed by the wisest +counsellors, to evacuate Amorium, to remove the inhabitants, and to +abandon the empty structures to the vain resentment of the Barbarians. +The emperor embraced the more generous resolution of defending, in a +siege and battle, the country of his ancestors. When the armies drew +near, the front of the Mahometan line appeared to a Roman eye more +closely planted with spears and javelins; but the event of the action +was not glorious on either side to the national troops. The Arabs were +broken, but it was by the swords of thirty thousand Persians, who had +obtained service and settlement in the Byzantine empire. The Greeks +were repulsed and vanquished, but it was by the arrows of the Turkish +cavalry; and had not their bowstrings been damped and relaxed by the +evening rain, very few of the Christians could have escaped with the +emperor from the field of battle. They breathed at Dorylaeum, at +the distance of three days; and Theophilus, reviewing his trembling +squadrons, forgave the common flight both of the prince and people. +After this discovery of his weakness, he vainly hoped to deprecate +the fate of Amorium: the inexorable caliph rejected with contempt his +prayers and promises; and detained the Roman ambassadors to be the +witnesses of his great revenge. They had nearly been the witnesses of +his shame. The vigorous assaults of fifty-five days were encountered by +a faithful governor, a veteran garrison, and a desperate people; and +the Saracens must have raised the siege, if a domestic traitor had not +pointed to the weakest part of the wall, a place which was decorated +with the statues of a lion and a bull. The vow of Motassem was +accomplished with unrelenting rigor: tired, rather than satiated, +with destruction, he returned to his new palace of Samara, in the +neighborhood of Bagdad, while the unfortunate [93] Theophilus implored +the tardy and doubtful aid of his Western rival the emperor of the +Franks. Yet in the siege of Amorium about seventy thousand Moslems +had perished: their loss had been revenged by the slaughter of thirty +thousand Christians, and the sufferings of an equal number of captives, +who were treated as the most atrocious criminals. Mutual necessity could +sometimes extort the exchange or ransom of prisoners: [94] but in the +national and religious conflict of the two empires, peace was without +confidence, and war without mercy. Quarter was seldom given in the +field; those who escaped the edge of the sword were condemned to +hopeless servitude, or exquisite torture; and a Catholic emperor +relates, with visible satisfaction, the execution of the Saracens of +Crete, who were flayed alive, or plunged into caldrons of boiling oil. +[95] To a point of honor Motassem had sacrificed a flourishing city, two +hundred thousand lives, and the property of millions. The same caliph +descended from his horse, and dirtied his robe, to relieve the distress +of a decrepit old man, who, with his laden ass, had tumbled into a +ditch. On which of these actions did he reflect with the most pleasure, +when he was summoned by the angel of death? [96] + +[Footnote 91: The same number was applied to the following circumstance +in the life of Motassem: he was the eight of the Abbassides; he reigned +eight years, eight months, and eight days; left eight sons, eight +daughters, eight thousand slaves, eight millions of gold.] + +[Footnote 92: Amorium is seldom mentioned by the old geographers, and +to tally forgotten in the Roman Itineraries. After the vith century, +it became an episcopal see, and at length the metropolis of the new +Galatia, (Carol. Scto. Paulo, Geograph. Sacra, p. 234.) The city rose +again from its ruins, if we should read Ammeria, not Anguria, in the +text of the Nubian geographer. (p. 236.)] + +[Footnote 93: In the East he was styled, (Continuator Theophan. l. iii. +p. 84;) but such was the ignorance of the West, that his ambassadors, +in public discourse, might boldly narrate, de victoriis, quas adversus +exteras bellando gentes coelitus fuerat assecutus, (Annalist. Bertinian. +apud Pagi, tom. iii. p. 720.)] + +[Footnote 94: Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 167, 168) relates one of these +singular transactions on the bridge of the River Lamus in Cilicia, the +limit of the two empires, and one day's journey westward of Tarsus, +(D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 91.) Four thousand four +hundred and sixty Moslems, eight hundred women and children, one hundred +confederates, were exchanged for an equal number of Greeks. They passed +each other in the middle of the bridge, and when they reached their +respective friends, they shouted Allah Acbar, and Kyrie Eleison. Many of +the prisoners of Amorium were probably among them, but in the same year, +(A. H. 231,) the most illustrious of them, the forty two martyrs, were +beheaded by the caliph's order.] + +[Footnote 95: Constantin. Porphyrogenitus, in Vit. Basil. c. 61, p. 186. +These Saracens were indeed treated with peculiar severity as pirates and +renegadoes.] + +[Footnote 96: For Theophilus, Motassem, and the Amorian war, see the +Continuator of Theophanes, (l. iii. p. 77-84,) Genesius (l. iii. p. +24-34.) Cedrenus, (p. 528-532,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen, p. 180,) +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 165, 166,) Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 191,) +D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 639, 640.)] + +With Motassem, the eighth of the Abbassides, the glory of his family and +nation expired. When the Arabian conquerors had spread themselves over +the East, and were mingled with the servile crowds of Persia, Syria, +and Egypt, they insensibly lost the freeborn and martial virtues of the +desert. The courage of the South is the artificial fruit of discipline +and prejudice; the active power of enthusiasm had decayed, and the +mercenary forces of the caliphs were recruited in those climates of the +North, of which valor is the hardy and spontaneous production. Of the +Turks [97] who dwelt beyond the Oxus and Jaxartes, the robust youths, +either taken in war or purchased in trade, were educated in the +exercises of the field, and the profession of the Mahometan faith. The +Turkish guards stood in arms round the throne of their benefactor, +and their chiefs usurped the dominion of the palace and the provinces. +Motassem, the first author of this dangerous example, introduced +into the capital above fifty thousand Turks: their licentious conduct +provoked the public indignation, and the quarrels of the soldiers and +people induced the caliph to retire from Bagdad, and establish his +own residence and the camp of his Barbarian favorites at Samara on +the Tigris, about twelve leagues above the city of Peace. [98] His son +Motawakkel was a jealous and cruel tyrant: odious to his subjects, he +cast himself on the fidelity of the strangers, and these strangers, +ambitious and apprehensive, were tempted by the rich promise of a +revolution. At the instigation, or at least in the cause of his son, +they burst into his apartment at the hour of supper, and the caliph +was cut into seven pieces by the same swords which he had recently +distributed among the guards of his life and throne. To this throne, yet +streaming with a father's blood, Montasser was triumphantly led; but in +a reign of six months, he found only the pangs of a guilty conscience. +If he wept at the sight of an old tapestry which represented the crime +and punishment of the son of Chosroes, if his days were abridged by +grief and remorse, we may allow some pity to a parricide, who exclaimed, +in the bitterness of death, that he had lost both this world and the +world to come. After this act of treason, the ensigns of royalty, the +garment and walking-staff of Mahomet, were given and torn away by the +foreign mercenaries, who in four years created, deposed, and murdered, +three commanders of the faithful. As often as the Turks were inflamed +by fear, or rage, or avarice, these caliphs were dragged by the +feet, exposed naked to the scorching sun, beaten with iron clubs, and +compelled to purchase, by the abdication of their dignity, a short +reprieve of inevitable fate. [99] At length, however, the fury of the +tempest was spent or diverted: the Abbassides returned to the less +turbulent residence of Bagdad; the insolence of the Turks was curbed +with a firmer and more skilful hand, and their numbers were divided +and destroyed in foreign warfare. But the nations of the East had been +taught to trample on the successors of the prophet; and the blessings +of domestic peace were obtained by the relaxation of strength and +discipline. So uniform are the mischiefs of military despotism, that I +seem to repeat the story of the praetorians of Rome. [100] + +[Footnote 97: M. de Guignes, who sometimes leaps, and sometimes +stumbles, in the gulf between Chinese and Mahometan story, thinks he +can see, that these Turks are the Hoei-ke, alias the Kao-tche, or +high-wagons; that they were divided into fifteen hordes, from China and +Siberia to the dominions of the caliphs and Samanides, &c., (Hist. des +Huns, tom. iii. p. 1-33, 124-131.)] + +[Footnote 98: He changed the old name of Sumera, or Samara, into the +fanciful title of Sermen-rai, that which gives pleasure at first sight, +(D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 808. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et le +Tigre p. 97, 98.)] + +[Footnote 99: Take a specimen, the death of the caliph Motaz: Correptum +pedibus pertrahunt, et sudibus probe permulcant, et spoliatum laceris +vestibus in sole collocant, prae cujus acerrimo aestu pedes alternos +attollebat et demittebat. Adstantium aliquis misero colaphos continuo +ingerebat, quos ille objectis manibus avertere studebat..... Quo facto +traditus tortori fuit, totoque triduo cibo potuque prohibitus..... +Suffocatus, &c. (Abulfeda, p. 206.) Of the caliph Mohtadi, he says, +services ipsi perpetuis ictibus contundebant, testiculosque pedibus +conculcabant, (p. 208.)] + +[Footnote 100: See under the reigns of Motassem, Motawakkel, Montasser, +Mostain, Motaz, Mohtadi, and Motamed, in the Bibliotheque of D'Herbelot, +and the now familiar Annals of Elmacin, Abulpharagius, and Abulfeda.] + +While the flame of enthusiasm was damped by the business, the pleasure, +and the knowledge, of the age, it burnt with concentrated heat in the +breasts of the chosen few, the congenial spirits, who were ambitious of +reigning either in this world or in the next. How carefully soever the +book of prophecy had been sealed by the apostle of Mecca, the wishes, +and (if we may profane the word) even the reason, of fanaticism might +believe that, after the successive missions of Adam, Noah, Abraham, +Moses, Jesus, and Mahomet, the same God, in the fulness of time, would +reveal a still more perfect and permanent law. In the two hundred and +seventy-seventh year of the Hegira, and in the neighborhood of Cufa, +an Arabian preacher, of the name of Carmath, assumed the lofty and +incomprehensible style of the Guide, the Director, the Demonstration, +the Word, the Holy Ghost, the Camel, the Herald of the Messiah, who had +conversed with him in a human shape, and the representative of Mohammed +the son of Ali, of St. John the Baptist, and of the angel Gabriel. In +his mystic volume, the precepts of the Koran were refined to a more +spiritual sense: he relaxed the duties of ablution, fasting, and +pilgrimage; allowed the indiscriminate use of wine and forbidden food; +and nourished the fervor of his disciples by the daily repetition of +fifty prayers. The idleness and ferment of the rustic crowd awakened the +attention of the magistrates of Cufa; a timid persecution assisted +the progress of the new sect; and the name of the prophet became more +revered after his person had been withdrawn from the world. His twelve +apostles dispersed themselves among the Bedoweens, "a race of men," says +Abulfeda, "equally devoid of reason and of religion;" and the success +of their preaching seemed to threaten Arabia with a new revolution. The +Carmathians were ripe for rebellion, since they disclaimed the title +of the house of Abbas, and abhorred the worldly pomp of the caliphs of +Bagdad. They were susceptible of discipline, since they vowed a blind +and absolute submission to their Imam, who was called to the prophetic +office by the voice of God and the people. Instead of the legal tithes, +he claimed the fifth of their substance and spoil; the most flagitious +sins were no more than the type of disobedience; and the brethren were +united and concealed by an oath of secrecy. After a bloody conflict, +they prevailed in the province of Bahrein, along the Persian Gulf: +far and wide, the tribes of the desert were subject to the sceptre, +or rather to the sword of Abu Said and his son Abu Taher; and these +rebellious imams could muster in the field a hundred and seven thousand +fanatics. The mercenaries of the caliph were dismayed at the approach +of an enemy who neither asked nor accepted quarter; and the difference +between, them in fortitude and patience, is expressive of the change +which three centuries of prosperity had effected in the character of the +Arabians. Such troops were discomfited in every action; the cities of +Racca and Baalbec, of Cufa and Bassora, were taken and pillaged; Bagdad +was filled with consternation; and the caliph trembled behind the veils +of his palace. In a daring inroad beyond the Tigris, Abu Taher advanced +to the gates of the capital with no more than five hundred horse. By +the special order of Moctader, the bridges had been broken down, and the +person or head of the rebel was expected every hour by the commander of +the faithful. His lieutenant, from a motive of fear or pity, apprised +Abu Taher of his danger, and recommended a speedy escape. "Your master," +said the intrepid Carmathian to the messenger, "is at the head of thirty +thousand soldiers: three such men as these are wanting in his host:" at +the same instant, turning to three of his companions, he commanded the +first to plunge a dagger into his breast, the second to leap into the +Tigris, and the third to cast himself headlong down a precipice. They +obeyed without a murmur. + +"Relate," continued the imam, "what you have seen: before the evening +your general shall be chained among my dogs." Before the evening, the +camp was surprised, and the menace was executed. The rapine of the +Carmathians was sanctified by their aversion to the worship of Mecca: +they robbed a caravan of pilgrims, and twenty thousand devout Moslems +were abandoned on the burning sands to a death of hunger and thirst. +Another year they suffered the pilgrims to proceed without interruption; +but, in the festival of devotion, Abu Taher stormed the holy city, and +trampled on the most venerable relics of the Mahometan faith. Thirty +thousand citizens and strangers were put to the sword; the sacred +precincts were polluted by the burial of three thousand dead bodies; the +well of Zemzem overflowed with blood; the golden spout was forced +from its place; the veil of the Caaba was divided among these impious +sectaries; and the black stone, the first monument of the nation, was +borne away in triumph to their capital. After this deed of sacrilege +and cruelty, they continued to infest the confines of Irak, Syria, and +Egypt: but the vital principle of enthusiasm had withered at the root. +Their scruples, or their avarice, again opened the pilgrimage of Mecca, +and restored the black stone of the Caaba; and it is needless to inquire +into what factions they were broken, or by whose swords they were +finally extirpated. The sect of the Carmathians may be considered as +the second visible cause of the decline and fall of the empire of the +caliphs. [101] + +[Footnote 101: For the sect of the Carmathians, consult Elmacin, (Hist. +Sara cen, p. 219, 224, 229, 231, 238, 241, 243,) Abulpharagius, (Dynast. +p. 179-182,) Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 218, 219, &c., 245, 265, +274.) and D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 256-258, 635.) I find +some inconsistencies of theology and chronology, which it would not be +easy nor of much importance to reconcile. * Note: Compare Von Hammer, +Geschichte der Assassinen, p. 44, &c.--M.] + + + + +Chapter LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part V. + +The third and most obvious cause was the weight and magnitude of the +empire itself. The caliph Almamon might proudly assert, that it +was easier for him to rule the East and the West, than to manage a +chess-board of two feet square: [102] yet I suspect that in both those +games he was guilty of many fatal mistakes; and I perceive, that in the +distant provinces the authority of the first and most powerful of the +Abbassides was already impaired. The analogy of despotism invests the +representative with the full majesty of the prince; the division and +balance of powers might relax the habits of obedience, might encourage +the passive subject to inquire into the origin and administration of +civil government. He who is born in the purple is seldom worthy to +reign; but the elevation of a private man, of a peasant, perhaps, or +a slave, affords a strong presumption of his courage and capacity. +The viceroy of a remote kingdom aspires to secure the property and +inheritance of his precarious trust; the nations must rejoice in the +presence of their sovereign; and the command of armies and treasures +are at once the object and the instrument of his ambition. A change was +scarcely visible as long as the lieutenants of the caliph were content +with their vicarious title; while they solicited for themselves or their +sons a renewal of the Imperial grant, and still maintained on the coin +and in the public prayers the name and prerogative of the commander of +the faithful. But in the long and hereditary exercise of power, they +assumed the pride and attributes of royalty; the alternative of peace +or war, of reward or punishment, depended solely on their will; and the +revenues of their government were reserved for local services or +private magnificence. Instead of a regular supply of men and money, the +successors of the prophet were flattered with the ostentatious gift of +an elephant, or a cast of hawks, a suit of silk hangings, or some pounds +of musk and amber. [103] + +[Footnote 102: Hyde, Syntagma Dissertat. tom. ii. p. 57, in Hist. +Shahiludii.] + +[Footnote 103: The dynasties of the Arabian empire may be studied in the +Annals of Elmacin, Abulpharagius, and Abulfeda, under the proper years, +in the dictionary of D'Herbelot, under the proper names. The tables of +M. de Guignes (Hist. des Huns, tom. i.) exhibit a general chronology +of the East, interspersed with some historical anecdotes; but his +attachment to national blood has sometimes confounded the order of time +and place.] + +After the revolt of Spain from the temporal and spiritual supremacy of +the Abbassides, the first symptoms of disobedience broke forth in the +province of Africa. Ibrahim, the son of Aglab, the lieutenant of the +vigilant and rigid Harun, bequeathed to the dynasty of the Aglabites +the inheritance of his name and power. The indolence or policy of the +caliphs dissembled the injury and loss, and pursued only with poison the +founder of the Edrisites, [104] who erected the kingdom and city of Fez +on the shores of the Western ocean. [105] In the East, the first dynasty +was that of the Taherites; [106] the posterity of the valiant Taher, +who, in the civil wars of the sons of Harun, had served with too much +zeal and success the cause of Almamon, the younger brother. He was +sent into honorable exile, to command on the banks of the Oxus; and the +independence of his successors, who reigned in Chorasan till the fourth +generation, was palliated by their modest and respectful demeanor, the +happiness of their subjects and the security of their frontier. They +were supplanted by one of those adventures so frequent in the annals +of the East, who left his trade of a brazier (from whence the name of +Soffarides) for the profession of a robber. In a nocturnal visit to the +treasure of the prince of Sistan, Jacob, the son of Leith, stumbled over +a lump of salt, which he unwarily tasted with his tongue. Salt, among +the Orientals, is the symbol of hospitality, and the pious robber +immediately retired without spoil or damage. The discovery of this +honorable behavior recommended Jacob to pardon and trust; he led an army +at first for his benefactor, at last for himself, subdued Persia, and +threatened the residence of the Abbassides. On his march towards Bagdad, +the conqueror was arrested by a fever. He gave audience in bed to the +ambassador of the caliph; and beside him on a table were exposed a naked +cimeter, a crust of brown bread, and a bunch of onions. "If I die," +said he, "your master is delivered from his fears. If I live, this +must determine between us. If I am vanquished, I can return without +reluctance to the homely fare of my youth." From the height where he +stood, the descent would not have been so soft or harmless: a timely +death secured his own repose and that of the caliph, who paid with the +most lavish concessions the retreat of his brother Amrou to the palaces +of Shiraz and Ispahan. The Abbassides were too feeble to contend, too +proud to forgive: they invited the powerful dynasty of the Samanides, +who passed the Oxus with ten thousand horse so poor, that their stirrups +were of wood: so brave, that they vanquished the Soffarian army, eight +times more numerous than their own. The captive Amrou was sent in +chains, a grateful offering to the court of Bagdad; and as the victor +was content with the inheritance of Transoxiana and Chorasan, the realms +of Persia returned for a while to the allegiance of the caliphs. The +provinces of Syria and Egypt were twice dismembered by their Turkish +slaves of the race of Toulon and Ilkshid. [107] These Barbarians, in +religion and manners the countrymen of Mahomet, emerged from the bloody +factions of the palace to a provincial command and an independent +throne: their names became famous and formidable in their time; but the +founders of these two potent dynasties confessed, either in words or +actions, the vanity of ambition. The first on his death-bed implored the +mercy of God to a sinner, ignorant of the limits of his own power: +the second, in the midst of four hundred thousand soldiers and eight +thousand slaves, concealed from every human eye the chamber where he +attempted to sleep. Their sons were educated in the vices of kings; +and both Egypt and Syria were recovered and possessed by the Abbassides +during an interval of thirty years. In the decline of their empire, +Mesopotamia, with the important cities of Mosul and Aleppo, was occupied +by the Arabian princes of the tribe of Hamadan. The poets of their court +could repeat without a blush, that nature had formed their countenances +for beauty, their tongues for eloquence, and their hands for liberality +and valor: but the genuine tale of the elevation and reign of the +Hamadanites exhibits a scene of treachery, murder, and parricide. + +At the same fatal period, the Persian kingdom was again usurped by +the dynasty of the Bowides, by the sword of three brothers, who, under +various names, were styled the support and columns of the state, and +who, from the Caspian Sea to the ocean, would suffer no tyrants but +themselves. Under their reign, the language and genius of Persia +revived, and the Arabs, three hundred and four years after the death of +Mahomet, were deprived of the sceptre of the East. + +[Footnote 104: The Aglabites and Edrisites are the professed subject of +M. de Cardonne, (Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne sous la Domination +des Arabes, tom. ii. p. 1-63.)] + +[Footnote 105: To escape the reproach of error, I must criticize the +inaccuracies of M. de Guignes (tom. i. p. 359) concerning the Edrisites. +1. The dynasty and city of Fez could not be founded in the year of the +Hegira 173, since the founder was a posthumous child of a descendant of +Ali, who fled from Mecca in the year 168. 2. This founder, Edris, the +son of Edris, instead of living to the improbable age of 120 years, A. +H. 313, died A. H. 214, in the prime of manhood. 3. The dynasty ended A. +H. 307, twenty-three years sooner than it is fixed by the historian of +the Huns. See the accurate Annals of Abulfeda p. 158, 159, 185, 238.] + +[Footnote 106: The dynasties of the Taherites and Soffarides, with the +rise of that of the Samanines, are described in the original history and +Latin version of Mirchond: yet the most interesting facts had already +been drained by the diligence of M. D'Herbelot.] + +[Footnote 107: M. de Guignes (Hist. des Huns, tom. iii. p. 124-154) has +exhausted the Toulunides and Ikshidites of Egypt, and thrown some light +on the Carmathians and Hamadanites.] + +Rahadi, the twentieth of the Abbassides, and the thirty-ninth of the +successors of Mahomet, was the last who deserved the title of commander +of the faithful; [108] the last (says Abulfeda) who spoke to the people, +or conversed with the learned; the last who, in the expense of his +household, represented the wealth and magnificence of the ancient +caliphs. After him, the lords of the Eastern world were reduced to the +most abject misery, and exposed to the blows and insults of a servile +condition. The revolt of the provinces circumscribed their dominions +within the walls of Bagdad: but that capital still contained an +innumerable multitude, vain of their past fortune, discontented with +their present state, and oppressed by the demands of a treasury which +had formerly been replenished by the spoil and tribute of nations. Their +idleness was exercised by faction and controversy. Under the mask of +piety, the rigid followers of Hanbal [109] invaded the pleasures of +domestic life, burst into the houses of plebeians and princes, the wine, +broke the instruments, beat the musicians, and dishonored, with infamous +suspicions, the associates of every handsome youth. In each profession, +which allowed room for two persons, the one was a votary, the other an +antagonist, of Ali; and the Abbassides were awakened by the clamorous +grief of the sectaries, who denied their title, and cursed their +progenitors. A turbulent people could only be repressed by a military +force; but who could satisfy the avarice or assert the discipline of the +mercenaries themselves? The African and the Turkish guards drew their +swords against each other, and the chief commanders, the emirs al Omra, +[110] imprisoned or deposed their sovereigns, and violated the sanctuary +of the mosch and harem. If the caliphs escaped to the camp or court of +any neighboring prince, their deliverance was a change of servitude, +till they were prompted by despair to invite the Bowides, the sultans of +Persia, who silenced the factions of Bagdad by their irresistible arms. +The civil and military powers were assumed by Moezaldowlat, the second +of the three brothers, and a stipend of sixty thousand pounds sterling +was assigned by his generosity for the private expense of the commander +of the faithful. But on the fortieth day, at the audience of the +ambassadors of Chorasan, and in the presence of a trembling multitude, +the caliph was dragged from his throne to a dungeon, by the command +of the stranger, and the rude hands of his Dilamites. His palace was +pillaged, his eyes were put out, and the mean ambition of the Abbassides +aspired to the vacant station of danger and disgrace. In the school +of adversity, the luxurious caliphs resumed the grave and abstemious +virtues of the primitive times. Despoiled of their armor and silken +robes, they fasted, they prayed, they studied the Koran and the +tradition of the Sonnites: they performed, with zeal and knowledge, +the functions of their ecclesiastical character. The respect of nations +still waited on the successors of the apostle, the oracles of the law +and conscience of the faithful; and the weakness or division of their +tyrants sometimes restored the Abbassides to the sovereignty of +Bagdad. But their misfortunes had been imbittered by the triumph of +the Fatimites, the real or spurious progeny of Ali. Arising from the +extremity of Africa, these successful rivals extinguished, in Egypt and +Syria, both the spiritual and temporal authority of the Abbassides; and +the monarch of the Nile insulted the humble pontiff on the banks of the +Tigris. + +[Footnote 108: Hic est ultimus chalifah qui multum atque saepius pro +concione peroraret.... Fuit etiam ultimus qui otium cum eruditis et +facetis hominibus fallere hilariterque agere soleret. Ultimus tandem +chalifarum cui sumtus, stipendia, reditus, et thesauri, culinae, +caeteraque omnis aulica pompa priorum chalifarum ad instar comparata +fuerint. Videbimus enim paullo post quam indignis et servilibius +ludibriis exagitati, quam ad humilem fortunam altimumque contemptum +abjecti fuerint hi quondam potentissimi totius terrarum Orientalium +orbis domini. Abulfed. Annal. Moslem. p. 261. I have given this passage +as the manner and tone of Abulfeda, but the cast of Latin eloquence +belongs more properly to Reiske. The Arabian historian (p. 255, 257, +261-269, 283, &c.) has supplied me with the most interesting facts of +this paragraph.] + +[Footnote 109: Their master, on a similar occasion, showed himself of a +more indulgent and tolerating spirit. Ahmed Ebn Hanbal, the head of one +of the four orthodox sects, was born at Bagdad A. H. 164, and died there +A. H. 241. He fought and suffered in the dispute concerning the creation +of the Koran.] + +[Footnote 110: The office of vizier was superseded by the emir al Omra, +Imperator Imperatorum, a title first instituted by Radhi, and which +merged at length in the Bowides and Seljukides: vectigalibus, et +tributis, et curiis per omnes regiones praefecit, jussitque in omnibus +suggestis nominis ejus in concionibus mentionem fieri, (Abulpharagius, +Dynart. p 199.) It is likewise mentioned by Elmacin, (p. 254, 255.)] + +In the declining age of the caliphs, in the century which elapsed after +the war of Theophilus and Motassem, the hostile transactions of the two +nations were confined to some inroads by sea and land, the fruits of +their close vicinity and indelible hatred. But when the Eastern world +was convulsed and broken, the Greeks were roused from their lethargy +by the hopes of conquest and revenge. The Byzantine empire, since the +accession of the Basilian race, had reposed in peace and dignity; and +they might encounter with their entire strength the front of some petty +emir, whose rear was assaulted and threatened by his national foes of +the Mahometan faith. The lofty titles of the morning star, and the +death of the Saracens, [111] were applied in the public acclamations to +Nicephorus Phocas, a prince as renowned in the camp, as he was unpopular +in the city. In the subordinate station of great domestic, or general +of the East, he reduced the Island of Crete, and extirpated the nest +of pirates who had so long defied, with impunity, the majesty of the +empire. [112] His military genius was displayed in the conduct and +success of the enterprise, which had so often failed with loss and +dishonor. The Saracens were confounded by the landing of his troops on +safe and level bridges, which he cast from the vessels to the shore. +Seven months were consumed in the siege of Candia; the despair of the +native Cretans was stimulated by the frequent aid of their brethren of +Africa and Spain; and after the massy wall and double ditch had been +stormed by the Greeks a hopeless conflict was still maintained in the +streets and houses of the city. [1121] The whole island was subdued in +the capital, and a submissive people accepted, without resistance, +the baptism of the conqueror. [113] Constantinople applauded the +long-forgotten pomp of a triumph; but the Imperial diadem was the +sole reward that could repay the services, or satisfy the ambition, of +Nicephorus. + +[Footnote 111: Liutprand, whose choleric temper was imbittered by his +uneasy situation, suggests the names of reproach and contempt more +applicable to Nicephorus than the vain titles of the Greeks, Ecce venit +stella matutina, surgit Eous, reverberat obtutu solis radios, pallida +Saracenorum mors, Nicephorus.] + +[Footnote 112: Notwithstanding the insinuation of Zonaras, &c., (tom. +ii. l. xvi. p. 197,) it is an undoubted fact, that Crete was completely +and finally subdued by Nicephorus Phocas, (Pagi, Critica, tom. iii. p. +873-875. Meursius, Creta, l. iii. c. 7, tom. iii. p. 464, 465.)] + +[Footnote 1121: The Acroases of Theodorus, de expugnatione Cretae, +miserable iambics, relate the whole campaign. Whoever would fairly +estimate the merit of the poetic deacon, may read the description of the +slinging a jackass into the famishing city. The poet is in a transport +at the wit of the general, and revels in the luxury of antithesis. +Theodori Acroases, lib. iii. 172, in Niebuhr's Byzant. Hist.--M.] + +[Footnote 113: A Greek Life of St. Nicon the Armenian was found in the +Sforza library, and translated into Latin by the Jesuit Sirmond, for the +use of Cardinal Baronius. This contemporary legend casts a ray of +light on Crete and Peloponnesus in the 10th century. He found the +newly-recovered island, foedis detestandae Agarenorum superstitionis +vestigiis adhuc plenam ac refertam.... but the victorious missionary, +perhaps with some carnal aid, ad baptismum omnes veraeque fidei +disciplinam pepulit. Ecclesiis per totam insulam aedificatis, &c., +(Annal. Eccles. A.D. 961.)] + +After the death of the younger Romanus, the fourth in lineal descent of +the Basilian race, his widow Theophania successively married Nicephorus +Phocas and his assassin John Zimisces, the two heroes of the age. They +reigned as the guardians and colleagues of her infant sons; and the +twelve years of their military command form the most splendid period of +the Byzantine annals. The subjects and confederates, whom they led to +war, appeared, at least in the eyes of an enemy, two hundred thousand +strong; and of these about thirty thousand were armed with cuirasses: +[114] a train of four thousand mules attended their march; and their +evening camp was regularly fortified with an enclosure of iron spikes. +A series of bloody and undecisive combats is nothing more than an +anticipation of what would have been effected in a few years by the +course of nature; but I shall briefly prosecute the conquests of the +two emperors from the hills of Cappadocia to the desert of Bagdad. The +sieges of Mopsuestia and Tarsus, in Cilicia, first exercised the skill +and perseverance of their troops, on whom, at this moment, I shall not +hesitate to bestow the name of Romans. In the double city of Mopsuestia, +which is divided by the River Sarus, two hundred thousand Moslems +were predestined to death or slavery, [115] a surprising degree of +population, which must at least include the inhabitants of the dependent +districts. They were surrounded and taken by assault; but Tarsus was +reduced by the slow progress of famine; and no sooner had the Saracens +yielded on honorable terms than they were mortified by the distant and +unprofitable view of the naval succors of Egypt. They were dismissed +with a safe-conduct to the confines of Syria: a part of the old +Christians had quietly lived under their dominion; and the vacant +habitations were replenished by a new colony. But the mosch was +converted into a stable; the pulpit was delivered to the flames; many +rich crosses of gold and gems, the spoils of Asiatic churches, were +made a grateful offering to the piety or avarice of the emperor; and he +transported the gates of Mopsuestia and Tarsus, which were fixed in the +walls of Constantinople, an eternal monument of his victory. After they +had forced and secured the narrow passes of Mount Amanus, the two Roman +princes repeatedly carried their arms into the heart of Syria. Yet, +instead of assaulting the walls of Antioch, the humanity or superstition +of Nicephorus appeared to respect the ancient metropolis of the East: he +contented himself with drawing round the city a line of circumvallation; +left a stationary army; and instructed his lieutenant to expect, without +impatience, the return of spring. But in the depth of winter, in a dark +and rainy night, an adventurous subaltern, with three hundred soldiers, +approached the rampart, applied his scaling-ladders, occupied two +adjacent towers, stood firm against the pressure of multitudes, and +bravely maintained his post till he was relieved by the tardy, though +effectual, support of his reluctant chief. The first tumult of slaughter +and rapine subsided; the reign of Caesar and of Christ was restored; and +the efforts of a hundred thousand Saracens, of the armies of Syria and +the fleets of Africa, were consumed without effect before the walls of +Antioch. The royal city of Aleppo was subject to Seifeddowlat, of +the dynasty of Hamadan, who clouded his past glory by the precipitate +retreat which abandoned his kingdom and capital to the Roman invaders. +In his stately palace, that stood without the walls of Aleppo, they +joyfully seized a well-furnished magazine of arms, a stable of fourteen +hundred mules, and three hundred bags of silver and gold. But the walls +of the city withstood the strokes of their battering-rams: and the +besiegers pitched their tents on the neighboring mountain of Jaushan. +Their retreat exasperated the quarrel of the townsmen and mercenaries; +the guard of the gates and ramparts was deserted; and while they +furiously charged each other in the market-place, they were surprised +and destroyed by the sword of a common enemy. The male sex was +exterminated by the sword; ten thousand youths were led into captivity; +the weight of the precious spoil exceeded the strength and number of +the beasts of burden; the superfluous remainder was burnt; and, after +a licentious possession of ten days, the Romans marched away from the +naked and bleeding city. In their Syrian inroads they commanded the +husbandmen to cultivate their lands, that they themselves, in the +ensuing season, might reap the benefit; more than a hundred cities were +reduced to obedience; and eighteen pulpits of the principal moschs were +committed to the flames to expiate the sacrilege of the disciples of +Mahomet. The classic names of Hierapolis, Apamea, and Emesa, revive for +a moment in the list of conquest: the emperor Zimisces encamped in the +paradise of Damascus, and accepted the ransom of a submissive people; +and the torrent was only stopped by the impregnable fortress of +Tripoli, on the sea-coast of Phoenicia. Since the days of Heraclius, the +Euphrates, below the passage of Mount Taurus, had been impervious, and +almost invisible, to the Greeks. + +The river yielded a free passage to the victorious Zimisces; and the +historian may imitate the speed with which he overran the once famous +cities of Samosata, Edessa, Martyropolis, Amida, [116] and Nisibis, the +ancient limit of the empire in the neighborhood of the Tigris. His +ardor was quickened by the desire of grasping the virgin treasures of +Ecbatana, [117] a well-known name, under which the Byzantine writer +has concealed the capital of the Abbassides. The consternation of the +fugitives had already diffused the terror of his name; but the fancied +riches of Bagdad had already been dissipated by the avarice and +prodigality of domestic tyrants. The prayers of the people, and the +stern demands of the lieutenant of the Bowides, required the caliph to +provide for the defence of the city. The helpless Mothi replied, that +his arms, his revenues, and his provinces, had been torn from his hands, +and that he was ready to abdicate a dignity which he was unable to +support. The emir was inexorable; the furniture of the palace was sold; +and the paltry price of forty thousand pieces of gold was instantly +consumed in private luxury. But the apprehensions of Bagdad were +relieved by the retreat of the Greeks: thirst and hunger guarded the +desert of Mesopotamia; and the emperor, satiated with glory, and laden +with Oriental spoils, returned to Constantinople, and displayed, in his +triumph, the silk, the aromatics, and three hundred myriads of gold and +silver. Yet the powers of the East had been bent, not broken, by this +transient hurricane. After the departure of the Greeks, the fugitive +princes returned to their capitals; the subjects disclaimed their +involuntary oaths of allegiance; the Moslems again purified their +temples, and overturned the idols of the saints and martyrs; the +Nestorians and Jacobites preferred a Saracen to an orthodox master; and +the numbers and spirit of the Melchites were inadequate to the support +of the church and state. + +Of these extensive conquests, Antioch, with the cities of Cilicia and +the Isle of Cyprus, was alone restored, a permanent and useful accession +to the Roman empire. [118] + +[Footnote 114: Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 278, 279. Liutprand was +disposed to depreciate the Greek power, yet he owns that Nicephorus led +against Assyria an army of eighty thousand men.] + +[Footnote 115: Ducenta fere millia hominum numerabat urbs (Abulfeda, +Annal. Moslem. p. 231) of Mopsuestia, or Masifa, Mampsysta, Mansista, +Mamista, as it is corruptly, or perhaps more correctly, styled in the +middle ages, (Wesseling, Itinerar. p. 580.) Yet I cannot credit this +extreme populousness a few years after the testimony of the emperor Leo, +(Tactica, c. xviii. in Meursii Oper. tom. vi. p. 817.)] + +[Footnote 116: The text of Leo the deacon, in the corrupt names of +Emeta and Myctarsim, reveals the cities of Amida and Martyropolis, (Mia +farekin. See Abulfeda, Geograph. p. 245, vers. Reiske.) Of the former, +Leo observes, urbus munita et illustris; of the latter, clara atque +conspicua opibusque et pecore, reliquis ejus provinciis urbibus atque +oppidis longe praestans.] + +[Footnote 117: Ut et Ecbatana pergeret Agarenorumque regiam +everteret.... aiunt enim urbium quae usquam sunt ac toto orbe existunt +felicissimam esse auroque ditissimam, (Leo Diacon. apud Pagium, tom. +iv. p. 34.) This splendid description suits only with Bagdad, and cannot +possibly apply either to Hamadan, the true Ecbatana, (D'Anville, Geog. +Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 237,) or Tauris, which has been commonly mistaken +for that city. The name of Ecbatana, in the same indefinite sense, is +transferred by a more classic authority (Cicero pro Lego Manilia, c. 4) +to the royal seat of Mithridates, king of Pontus.] + +[Footnote 118: See the Annals of Elmacin, Abulpharagius, and Abulfeda, +from A. H. 351 to A. H. 361; and the reigns of Nicephorus Phocas and +John Zimisces, in the Chronicles of Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xvi. p. 199--l. +xvii. 215) and Cedrenus, (Compend. p. 649-684.) Their manifold defects +are partly supplied by the Ms. history of Leo the deacon, which Pagi +obtained from the Benedictines, and has inserted almost entire, in a +Latin version, (Critica, tom. iii. p. 873, tom. iv. 37.) * Note: The +whole original work of Leo the Deacon has been published by Hase, and +is inserted in the new edition of the Byzantine historians. M Lassen +has added to the Arabian authorities of this period some extracts from +Kemaleddin's account of the treaty for the surrender of Aleppo.--M.] + + + + +Chapter LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part I. + + Fate Of The Eastern Empire In The Tenth Century.--Extent And + Division.--Wealth And Revenue.--Palace Of Constantinople.-- + Titles And Offices.--Pride And Power Of The Emperors.-- + Tactics Of The Greeks, Arabs, And Franks.--Loss Of The Latin + Tongue.--Studies And Solitude Of The Greeks. + +A ray of historic light seems to beam from the darkness of the tenth +century. We open with curiosity and respect the royal volumes of +Constantine Porphyrogenitus, [1] which he composed at a mature age for +the instruction of his son, and which promise to unfold the state of the +eastern empire, both in peace and war, both at home and abroad. In the +first of these works he minutely describes the pompous ceremonies of the +church and palace of Constantinople, according to his own practice, and +that of his predecessors. [2] In the second, he attempts an accurate +survey of the provinces, the themes, as they were then denominated, both +of Europe and Asia. [3] The system of Roman tactics, the discipline and +order of the troops, and the military operations by land and sea, are +explained in the third of these didactic collections, which may be +ascribed to Constantine or his father Leo. [4] In the fourth, of the +administration of the empire, he reveals the secrets of the Byzantine +policy, in friendly or hostile intercourse with the nations of the +earth. The literary labors of the age, the practical systems of law, +agriculture, and history, might redound to the benefit of the subject +and the honor of the Macedonian princes. The sixty books of the +Basilics, [5] the code and pandects of civil jurisprudence, were +gradually framed in the three first reigns of that prosperous dynasty. +The art of agriculture had amused the leisure, and exercised the pens, +of the best and wisest of the ancients; and their chosen precepts are +comprised in the twenty books of the Geoponics [6] of Constantine. At +his command, the historical examples of vice and virtue were methodized +in fifty-three books, [7] and every citizen might apply, to his +contemporaries or himself, the lesson or the warning of past times. From +the august character of a legislator, the sovereign of the East +descends to the more humble office of a teacher and a scribe; and if his +successors and subjects were regardless of his paternal cares, we may +inherit and enjoy the everlasting legacy. + +[Footnote 1: The epithet of Porphyrogenitus, born in the purple, is +elegantly defined by Claudian:-- + + Ardua privatos nescit fortuna Penates; + Et regnum cum luce dedit. + Cognata potestas + Excepit Tyrio venerabile pignus in ostro. + +And Ducange, in his Greek and Latin Glossaries, produces many passages +expressive of the same idea.] + +[Footnote 2: A splendid Ms. of Constantine, de Caeremoniis Aulae et +Ecclesiae Byzantinae, wandered from Constantinople to Buda, Frankfort, +and Leipsic, where it was published in a splendid edition by Leich and +Reiske, (A.D. 1751, in folio,) with such lavish praise as editors never +fail to bestow on the worthy or worthless object of their toil.] + +[Footnote 3: See, in the first volume of Banduri's Imperium Orientale, +Constantinus de Thematibus, p. 1-24, de Administrando Imperio, p. +45-127, edit. Venet. The text of the old edition of Meursius is +corrected from a Ms. of the royal library of Paris, which Isaac Casaubon +had formerly seen, (Epist. ad Polybium, p. 10,) and the sense is +illustrated by two maps of William Deslisle, the prince of geographers +till the appearance of the greater D'Anville.] + +[Footnote 4: The Tactics of Leo and Constantine are published with the +aid of some new Mss. in the great edition of the works of Meursius, +by the learned John Lami, (tom. vi. p. 531-920, 1211-1417, Florent. +1745,) yet the text is still corrupt and mutilated, the version is still +obscure and faulty. The Imperial library of Vienna would afford some +valuable materials to a new editor, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p. +369, 370.)] + +[Footnote 5: On the subject of the Basilics, Fabricius, (Bibliot. +Graec. tom. xii. p. 425-514,) and Heineccius, (Hist. Juris Romani, +p. 396-399,) and Giannone, (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. i. p. +450-458,) as historical civilians, may be usefully consulted: xli. +books of this Greek code have been published, with a Latin version, by +Charles Annibal Frabrottus, (Paris, 1647,) in seven tomes in folio; +iv. other books have been since discovered, and are inserted in Gerard +Meerman's Novus Thesaurus Juris Civ. et Canon. tom. v. Of the whole +work, the sixty books, John Leunclavius has printed, (Basil, 1575,) +an eclogue or synopsis. The cxiii. novels, or new laws, of Leo, may be +found in the Corpus Juris Civilis.] + +[Footnote 6: I have used the last and best edition of the Geoponics, +(by Nicolas Niclas, Leipsic, 1781, 2 vols. in octavo.) I read in the +preface, that the same emperor restored the long-forgotten systems +of rhetoric and philosophy; and his two books of Hippiatrica, or +Horse-physic, were published at Paris, 1530, in folio, (Fabric. Bibliot. +Graec. tom. vi. p. 493-500.)] + +[Footnote 7: Of these LIII. books, or titles, only two have been +preserved and printed, de Legationibus (by Fulvius Ursinus, Antwerp, +1582, and Daniel Hoeschelius, August. Vindel. 1603) and de Virtutibus et +Vitiis, (by Henry Valesius, or de Valois, Paris, 1634.)] + +A closer survey will indeed reduce the value of the gift, and the +gratitude of posterity: in the possession of these Imperial treasures we +may still deplore our poverty and ignorance; and the fading glories +of their authors will be obliterated by indifference or contempt. The +Basilics will sink to a broken copy, a partial and mutilated version, in +the Greek language, of the laws of Justinian; but the sense of the +old civilians is often superseded by the influence of bigotry: and the +absolute prohibition of divorce, concubinage, and interest for money, +enslaves the freedom of trade and the happiness of private life. In the +historical book, a subject of Constantine might admire the inimitable +virtues of Greece and Rome: he might learn to what a pitch of energy +and elevation the human character had formerly aspired. But a contrary +effect must have been produced by a new edition of the lives of the +saints, which the great logothete, or chancellor of the empire, was +directed to prepare; and the dark fund of superstition was enriched by +the fabulous and florid legends of Simon the Metaphrast. [8] The merits +and miracles of the whole calendar are of less account in the eyes of a +sage, than the toil of a single husbandman, who multiplies the gifts +of the Creator, and supplies the food of his brethren. Yet the royal +authors of the Geoponics were more seriously employed in expounding the +precepts of the destroying art, which had been taught since the days of +Xenophon, [9] as the art of heroes and kings. But the Tactics of Leo and +Constantine are mingled with the baser alloy of the age in which they +lived. It was destitute of original genius; they implicitly transcribe +the rules and maxims which had been confirmed by victories. It was +unskilled in the propriety of style and method; they blindly confound +the most distant and discordant institutions, the phalanx of Sparta +and that of Macedon, the legions of Cato and Trajan, of Augustus and +Theodosius. Even the use, or at least the importance, of these military +rudiments may be fairly questioned: their general theory is dictated +by reason; but the merit, as well as difficulty, consists in the +application. The discipline of a soldier is formed by exercise rather +than by study: the talents of a commander are appropriated to those +calm, though rapid, minds, which nature produces to decide the fate of +armies and nations: the former is the habit of a life, the latter the +glance of a moment; and the battles won by lessons of tactics may be +numbered with the epic poems created from the rules of criticism. +The book of ceremonies is a recital, tedious yet imperfect, of the +despicable pageantry which had infected the church and state since the +gradual decay of the purity of the one and the power of the other. +A review of the themes or provinces might promise such authentic and +useful information, as the curiosity of government only can obtain, +instead of traditionary fables on the origin of the cities, and +malicious epigrams on the vices of their inhabitants. [10] Such +information the historian would have been pleased to record; nor should +his silence be condemned if the most interesting objects, the population +of the capital and provinces, the amount of the taxes and revenues, +the numbers of subjects and strangers who served under the Imperial +standard, have been unnoticed by Leo the philosopher, and his son +Constantine. His treatise of the public administration is stained with +the same blemishes; yet it is discriminated by peculiar merit; the +antiquities of the nations may be doubtful or fabulous; but the +geography and manners of the Barbaric world are delineated with curious +accuracy. Of these nations, the Franks alone were qualified to observe +in their turn, and to describe, the metropolis of the East. The +ambassador of the great Otho, a bishop of Cremona, has painted the state +of Constantinople about the middle of the tenth century: his style +is glowing, his narrative lively, his observation keen; and even the +prejudices and passions of Liutprand are stamped with an original +character of freedom and genius. [11] From this scanty fund of foreign +and domestic materials, I shall investigate the form and substance of +the Byzantine empire; the provinces and wealth, the civil government and +military force, the character and literature, of the Greeks in a period +of six hundred years, from the reign of Heraclius to his successful +invasion of the Franks or Latins. + +[Footnote 8: The life and writings of Simon Metaphrastes are described +by Hankius, (de Scriptoribus Byzant. p. 418-460.) This biographer +of the saints indulged himself in a loose paraphrase of the sense or +nonsense of more ancient acts. His Greek rhetoric is again paraphrased +in the Latin version of Surius, and scarcely a thread can be now visible +of the original texture.] + +[Footnote 9: According to the first book of the Cyropaedia, professors +of tactics, a small part of the science of war, were already instituted +in Persia, by which Greece must be understood. A good edition of all the +Scriptores Tactici would be a task not unworthy of a scholar. His +industry might discover some new Mss., and his learning might illustrate +the military history of the ancients. But this scholar should be +likewise a soldier; and alas! Quintus Icilius is no more. * Note: M. +Guichardt, author of Memoires Militaires sur les Grecs et sur les +Romains. See Gibbon's Extraits Raisonnees de mes Lectures, Misc. Works +vol. v. p. 219.--M] + +[Footnote 10: After observing that the demerit of the Cappadocians +rose in proportion to their rank and riches, he inserts a more pointed +epigram, which is ascribed to Demodocus. The sting is precisely the same +with the French epigram against Freron: Un serpent mordit Jean +Freron--Eh bien? Le serpent en mourut. But as the Paris wits are seldom +read in the Anthology, I should be curious to learn, through what +channel it was conveyed for their imitation, (Constantin. Porphyrogen. +de Themat. c. ii. Brunck Analect. Graec. tom. ii. p. 56. Brodaei +Anthologia, l. ii. p. 244.)] + +[Footnote 11: The Legatio Liutprandi Episcopi Cremonensis ad Nicephorum +Phocam is inserted in Muratori, Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, tom. ii. +pars i.] + +After the final division between the sons of Theodosius, the swarms +of Barbarians from Scythia and Germany over-spread the provinces and +extinguished the empire of ancient Rome. The weakness of Constantinople +was concealed by extent of dominion: her limits were inviolate, or at +least entire; and the kingdom of Justinian was enlarged by the splendid +acquisition of Africa and Italy. But the possession of these new +conquests was transient and precarious; and almost a moiety of the +Eastern empire was torn away by the arms of the Saracens. Syria and +Egypt were oppressed by the Arabian caliphs; and, after the reduction of +Africa, their lieutenants invaded and subdued the Roman province which +had been changed into the Gothic monarchy of Spain. The islands of the +Mediterranean were not inaccessible to their naval powers; and it was +from their extreme stations, the harbors of Crete and the fortresses of +Cilicia, that the faithful or rebel emirs insulted the majesty of the +throne and capital. The remaining provinces, under the obedience of +the emperors, were cast into a new mould; and the jurisdiction of +the presidents, the consulars, and the counts were superseded by the +institution of the themes, [12] or military governments, which prevailed +under the successors of Heraclius, and are described by the pen of the +royal author. Of the twenty-nine themes, twelve in Europe and seventeen +in Asia, the origin is obscure, the etymology doubtful or capricious: +the limits were arbitrary and fluctuating; but some particular names, +that sound the most strangely to our ear, were derived from the +character and attributes of the troops that were maintained at the +expense, and for the guard, of the respective divisions. The vanity of +the Greek princes most eagerly grasped the shadow of conquest and the +memory of lost dominion. A new Mesopotamia was created on the western +side of the Euphrates: the appellation and praetor of Sicily were +transferred to a narrow slip of Calabria; and a fragment of the duchy of +Beneventum was promoted to the style and title of the theme of Lombardy. +In the decline of the Arabian empire, the successors of Constantine +might indulge their pride in more solid advantages. The victories of +Nicephorus, John Zimisces, and Basil the Second, revived the fame, and +enlarged the boundaries, of the Roman name: the province of Cilicia, the +metropolis of Antioch, the islands of Crete and Cyprus, were restored to +the allegiance of Christ and Caesar: one third of Italy was annexed to +the throne of Constantinople: the kingdom of Bulgaria was destroyed; and +the last sovereigns of the Macedonian dynasty extended their sway from +the sources of the Tigris to the neighborhood of Rome. In the eleventh +century, the prospect was again clouded by new enemies and new +misfortunes: the relics of Italy were swept away by the Norman +adventures; and almost all the Asiatic branches were dissevered from the +Roman trunk by the Turkish conquerors. After these losses, the +emperors of the Comnenian family continued to reign from the Danube +to Peloponnesus, and from Belgrade to Nice, Trebizond, and the winding +stream of the Meander. The spacious provinces of Thrace, Macedonia, +and Greece, were obedient to their sceptre; the possession of Cyprus, +Rhodes, and Crete, was accompanied by the fifty islands of the Aegean or +Holy Sea; [13] and the remnant of their empire transcends the measure of +the largest of the European kingdoms. + +[Footnote 12: See Constantine de Thematibus, in Banduri, tom. i. p. +1-30. It is used by Maurice (Strata gem. l. ii. c. 2) for a legion, +from whence the name was easily transferred to its post or province, +(Ducange, Gloss. Graec. tom. i. p. 487-488.) Some etymologies are +attempted for the Opiscian, Optimatian, Thracesian, themes.] + +[Footnote 13: It is styled by the modern Greeks, from which the corrupt +names of Archipelago, l'Archipel, and the Arches, have been transformed +by geographers and seamen, (D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. +281. Analyse de la Carte de la Greece, p. 60.) The numbers of monks +or caloyers in all the islands and the adjacent mountain of Athos, +(Observations de Belon, fol. 32, verso,) monte santo, might justify the +epithet of holy, a slight alteration from the original, imposed by the +Dorians, who, in their dialect, gave the figurative name of goats, to +the bounding waves, (Vossius, apud Cellarium, Geograph. Antiq. tom. i. +p. 829.)] + +The same princes might assert, with dignity and truth, that of all the +monarchs of Christendom they possessed the greatest city, [14] the most +ample revenue, the most flourishing and populous state. With the decline +and fall of the empire, the cities of the West had decayed and fallen; +nor could the ruins of Rome, or the mud walls, wooden hovels, and narrow +precincts of Paris and London, prepare the Latin stranger to contemplate +the situation and extent of Constantinople, her stately palaces +and churches, and the arts and luxury of an innumerable people. Her +treasures might attract, but her virgin strength had repelled, and still +promised to repel, the audacious invasion of the Persian and Bulgarian, +the Arab and the Russian. The provinces were less fortunate and +impregnable; and few districts, few cities, could be discovered which +had not been violated by some fierce Barbarian, impatient to despoil, +because he was hopeless to possess. From the age of Justinian the +Eastern empire was sinking below its former level; the powers of +destruction were more active than those of improvement; and the +calamities of war were imbittered by the more permanent evils of +civil and ecclesiastical tyranny. The captive who had escaped from the +Barbarians was often stripped and imprisoned by the ministers of his +sovereign: the Greek superstition relaxed the mind by prayer, and +emaciated the body by fasting; and the multitude of convents and +festivals diverted many hands and many days from the temporal service +of mankind. Yet the subjects of the Byzantine empire were still the most +dexterous and diligent of nations; their country was blessed by nature +with every advantage of soil, climate, and situation; and, in the +support and restoration of the arts, their patient and peaceful temper +was more useful than the warlike spirit and feudal anarchy of Europe. +The provinces that still adhered to the empire were repeopled and +enriched by the misfortunes of those which were irrecoverably lost. +From the yoke of the caliphs, the Catholics of Syria, Egypt, and Africa +retired to the allegiance of their prince, to the society of their +brethren: the movable wealth, which eludes the search of oppression, +accompanied and alleviated their exile, and Constantinople received +into her bosom the fugitive trade of Alexandria and Tyre. The chiefs +of Armenia and Scythia, who fled from hostile or religious persecution, +were hospitably entertained: their followers were encouraged to build +new cities and to cultivate waste lands; and many spots, both in Europe +and Asia, preserved the name, the manners, or at least the memory, of +these national colonies. Even the tribes of Barbarians, who had seated +themselves in arms on the territory of the empire, were gradually +reclaimed to the laws of the church and state; and as long as they were +separated from the Greeks, their posterity supplied a race of faithful +and obedient soldiers. Did we possess sufficient materials to survey +the twenty-nine themes of the Byzantine monarchy, our curiosity might +be satisfied with a chosen example: it is fortunate enough that the +clearest light should be thrown on the most interesting province, +and the name of Peloponnesus will awaken the attention of the classic +reader. + +[Footnote 14: According to the Jewish traveller who had visited Europe +and Asia, Constantinople was equalled only by Bagdad, the great city of +the Ismaelites, (Voyage de Benjamin de Tudele, par Baratier, tom. l. c. +v. p. 46.)] + +As early as the eighth century, in the troubled reign of the +Iconoclasts, Greece, and even Peloponnesus, [15] were overrun by some +Sclavonian bands who outstripped the royal standard of Bulgaria. The +strangers of old, Cadmus, and Danaus, and Pelops, had planted in that +fruitful soil the seeds of policy and learning; but the savages of the +north eradicated what yet remained of their sickly and withered roots. +In this irruption, the country and the inhabitants were transformed; the +Grecian blood was contaminated; and the proudest nobles of Peloponnesus +were branded with the names of foreigners and slaves. By the diligence +of succeeding princes, the land was in some measure purified from the +Barbarians; and the humble remnant was bound by an oath of obedience, +tribute, and military service, which they often renewed and often +violated. The siege of Patras was formed by a singular concurrence of +the Sclavonians of Peloponnesus and the Saracens of Africa. In their +last distress, a pious fiction of the approach of the praetor of +Corinth revived the courage of the citizens. Their sally was bold and +successful; the strangers embarked, the rebels submitted, and the glory +of the day was ascribed to a phantom or a stranger, who fought in the +foremost ranks under the character of St. Andrew the Apostle. The shrine +which contained his relics was decorated with the trophies of victory, +and the captive race was forever devoted to the service and vassalage +of the metropolitan church of Patras. By the revolt of two Sclavonian +tribes, in the neighborhood of Helos and Lacedaemon, the peace of the +peninsula was often disturbed. They sometimes insulted the weakness, and +sometimes resisted the oppression, of the Byzantine government, till at +length the approach of their hostile brethren extorted a golden bull +to define the rites and obligations of the Ezzerites and Milengi, whose +annual tribute was defined at twelve hundred pieces of gold. From +these strangers the Imperial geographer has accurately distinguished a +domestic, and perhaps original, race, who, in some degree, might derive +their blood from the much-injured Helots. The liberality of the Romans, +and especially of Augustus, had enfranchised the maritime cities from +the dominion of Sparta; and the continuance of the same benefit ennobled +them with the title of Eleuthero, or Free-Laconians. [16] In the time +of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, they had acquired the name of Mainotes, +under which they dishonor the claim of liberty by the inhuman pillage of +all that is shipwrecked on their rocky shores. Their territory, barren +of corn, but fruitful of olives, extended to the Cape of Malea: they +accepted a chief or prince from the Byzantine praetor, and a light +tribute of four hundred pieces of gold was the badge of their immunity, +rather than of their dependence. The freemen of Laconia assumed the +character of Romans, and long adhered to the religion of the Greeks. +By the zeal of the emperor Basil, they were baptized in the faith of +Christ: but the altars of Venus and Neptune had been crowned by these +rustic votaries five hundred years after they were proscribed in the +Roman world. In the theme of Peloponnesus, [17] forty cities were still +numbered, and the declining state of Sparta, Argos, and Corinth, may be +suspended in the tenth century, at an equal distance, perhaps, between +their antique splendor and their present desolation. The duty of +military service, either in person or by substitute, was imposed on the +lands or benefices of the province; a sum of five pieces of gold was +assessed on each of the substantial tenants; and the same capitation was +shared among several heads of inferior value. On the proclamation of +an Italian war, the Peloponnesians excused themselves by a voluntary +oblation of one hundred pounds of gold, (four thousand pounds sterling,) +and a thousand horses with their arms and trappings. The churches +and monasteries furnished their contingent; a sacrilegious profit was +extorted from the sale of ecclesiastical honors; and the indigent bishop +of Leucadia [18] was made responsible for a pension of one hundred +pieces of gold. [19] + +[Footnote 15: Says Constantine, (Thematibus, l. ii. c. vi. p. 25,) in +a style as barbarous as the idea, which he confirms, as usual, by a +foolish epigram. The epitomizer of Strabo likewise observes, (l. vii. p. +98, edit. Hudson. edit. Casaub. 1251;) a passage which leads Dodwell +a weary dance (Geograph, Minor. tom. ii. dissert. vi. p. 170-191) to +enumerate the inroads of the Sclavi, and to fix the date (A.D. 980) of +this petty geographer.] + +[Footnote 16: Strabon. Geograph. l. viii. p. 562. Pausanius, Graec. +Descriptio, l. c 21, p. 264, 265. Pliny, Hist. Natur. l. iv. c. 8.] + +[Footnote 17: Constantin. de Administrando Imperio, l. ii. c. 50, 51, +52.] + +[Footnote 18: The rock of Leucate was the southern promontory of his +island and diocese. Had he been the exclusive guardian of the Lover's +Leap so well known to the readers of Ovid (Epist. Sappho) and the +Spectator, he might have been the richest prelate of the Greek church.] + +[Footnote 19: Leucatensis mihi juravit episcopus, quotannis ecclesiam +suam debere Nicephoro aureos centum persolvere, similiter et ceteras +plus minusve secundum vires suos, (Liutprand in Legat. p. 489.)] + +But the wealth of the province, and the trust of the revenue, were +founded on the fair and plentiful produce of trade and manufacturers; +and some symptoms of liberal policy may be traced in a law which exempts +from all personal taxes the mariners of Peloponnesus, and the workmen +in parchment and purple. This denomination may be fairly applied or +extended to the manufacturers of linen, woollen, and more especially of +silk: the two former of which had flourished in Greece since the days +of Homer; and the last was introduced perhaps as early as the reign +of Justinian. These arts, which were exercised at Corinth, Thebes, +and Argos, afforded food and occupation to a numerous people: the +men, women, and children were distributed according to their age and +strength; and, if many of these were domestic slaves, their masters, who +directed the work and enjoyed the profit, were of a free and honorable +condition. The gifts which a rich and generous matron of Peloponnesus +presented to the emperor Basil, her adopted son, were doubtless +fabricated in the Grecian looms. Danielis bestowed a carpet of fine +wool, of a pattern which imitated the spots of a peacock's tail, of a +magnitude to overspread the floor of a new church, erected in the triple +name of Christ, of Michael the archangel, and of the prophet Elijah. +She gave six hundred pieces of silk and linen, of various use and +denomination: the silk was painted with the Tyrian dye, and adorned by +the labors of the needle; and the linen was so exquisitely fine, that +an entire piece might be rolled in the hollow of a cane. [20] In +his description of the Greek manufactures, an historian of Sicily +discriminates their price, according to the weight and quality of the +silk, the closeness of the texture, the beauty of the colors, and the +taste and materials of the embroidery. A single, or even a double or +treble thread was thought sufficient for ordinary sale; but the union +of six threads composed a piece of stronger and more costly workmanship. +Among the colors, he celebrates, with affectation of eloquence, the +fiery blaze of the scarlet, and the softer lustre of the green. The +embroidery was raised either in silk or gold: the more simple ornament +of stripes or circles was surpassed by the nicer imitation of flowers: +the vestments that were fabricated for the palace or the altar often +glittered with precious stones; and the figures were delineated in +strings of Oriental pearls. [21] Till the twelfth century, Greece alone, +of all the countries of Christendom, was possessed of the insect who +is taught by nature, and of the workmen who are instructed by art, +to prepare this elegant luxury. But the secret had been stolen by the +dexterity and diligence of the Arabs: the caliphs of the East and West +scorned to borrow from the unbelievers their furniture and apparel; +and two cities of Spain, Almeria and Lisbon, were famous for the +manufacture, the use, and, perhaps, the exportation, of silk. It was +first introduced into Sicily by the Normans; and this emigration of +trade distinguishes the victory of Roger from the uniform and fruitless +hostilities of every age. After the sack of Corinth, Athens, and Thebes, +his lieutenant embarked with a captive train of weavers and artificers +of both sexes, a trophy glorious to their master, and disgraceful to the +Greek emperor. [22] The king of Sicily was not insensible of the value +of the present; and, in the restitution of the prisoners, he excepted +only the male and female manufacturers of Thebes and Corinth, who labor, +says the Byzantine historian, under a barbarous lord, like the old +Eretrians in the service of Darius. [23] A stately edifice, in the +palace of Palermo, was erected for the use of this industrious colony; +[24] and the art was propagated by their children and disciples to +satisfy the increasing demand of the western world. The decay of the +looms of Sicily may be ascribed to the troubles of the island, and the +competition of the Italian cities. In the year thirteen hundred and +fourteen, Lucca alone, among her sister republics, enjoyed the lucrative +monopoly. [25] A domestic revolution dispersed the manufacturers to +Florence, Bologna, Venice, Milan, and even the countries beyond the +Alps; and thirteen years after this event the statutes of Modena enjoin +the planting of mulberry-trees, and regulate the duties on raw silk. +[26] The northern climates are less propitious to the education of the +silkworm; but the industry of France and England [27] is supplied and +enriched by the productions of Italy and China. + +[Footnote 20: See Constantine, (in Vit. Basil. c. 74, 75, 76, p. +195, 197, in Script. post Theophanem,) who allows himself to use many +technical or barbarous words: barbarous, says he. Ducange labors on +some: but he was not a weaver.] + +[Footnote 21: The manufactures of Palermo, as they are described by Hugo +Falcandus, (Hist. Sicula in proem. in Muratori Script. Rerum Italicarum, +tom. v. p. 256,) is a copy of those of Greece. Without transcribing +his declamatory sentences, which I have softened in the text, I shall +observe, that in this passage the strange word exarentasmata is very +properly changed for exanthemata by Carisius, the first editor Falcandus +lived about the year 1190.] + +[Footnote 22: Inde ad interiora Graeciae progressi, Corinthum, Thebas, +Athenas, antiqua nobilitate celebres, expugnant; et, maxima ibidem +praeda direpta, opifices etiam, qui sericos pannos texere solent, +ob ignominiam Imperatoris illius, suique principis gloriam, captivos +deducunt. Quos Rogerius, in Palermo Siciliae, metropoli collocans, artem +texendi suos edocere praecepit; et exhinc praedicta ars illa, prius a +Graecis tantum inter Christianos habita, Romanis patere coepit ingeniis, +(Otho Frisingen. de Gestis Frederici I. l. i. c. 33, in Muratori Script. +Ital. tom. vi. p. 668.) This exception allows the bishop to celebrate +Lisbon and Almeria in sericorum pannorum opificio praenobilissimae, (in +Chron. apud Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. ix. p. 415.)] + +[Footnote 23: Nicetas in Manuel, l. ii. c. 8. p. 65. He describes these +Greeks as skilled.] + +[Footnote 24: Hugo Falcandus styles them nobiles officinas. The Arabs +had not introduced silk, though they had planted canes and made sugar in +the plain of Palermo.] + +[Footnote 25: See the Life of Castruccio Casticani, not by Machiavel, +but by his more authentic biographer Nicholas Tegrimi. Muratori, who has +inserted it in the xith volume of his Scriptores, quotes this curious +passage in his Italian Antiquities, (tom. i. dissert. xxv. p. 378.)] + +[Footnote 26: From the Ms. statutes, as they are quoted by Muratori in +his Italian Antiquities, (tom. ii. dissert. xxv. p. 46-48.)] + +[Footnote 27: The broad silk manufacture was established in England in +the year 1620, (Anderson's Chronological Deduction, vol. ii. p. 4: ) +but it is to the revocation of the edict of Nantes that we owe the +Spitalfields colony.] + + + + +Chapter LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part II. + +I must repeat the complaint that the vague and scanty memorials of the +times will not afford any just estimate of the taxes, the revenue, and +the resources of the Greek empire. From every province of Europe and +Asia the rivulets of gold and silver discharged into the Imperial +reservoir a copious and perennial stream. The separation of the branches +from the trunk increased the relative magnitude of Constantinople; and +the maxims of despotism contracted the state to the capital, the capital +to the palace, and the palace to the royal person. A Jewish traveller, +who visited the East in the twelfth century, is lost in his admiration +of the Byzantine riches. "It is here," says Benjamin of Tudela, "in +the queen of cities, that the tributes of the Greek empire are annually +deposited and the lofty towers are filled with precious magazines of +silk, purple, and gold. It is said, that Constantinople pays each day +to her sovereign twenty thousand pieces of gold; which are levied on the +shops, taverns, and markets, on the merchants of Persia and Egypt, of +Russia and Hungary, of Italy and Spain, who frequent the capital by +sea and land." [28] In all pecuniary matters, the authority of a Jew +is doubtless respectable; but as the three hundred and sixty-five days +would produce a yearly income exceeding seven millions sterling, I +am tempted to retrench at least the numerous festivals of the Greek +calendar. The mass of treasure that was saved by Theodora and Basil +the Second will suggest a splendid, though indefinite, idea of their +supplies and resources. The mother of Michael, before she retired to a +cloister, attempted to check or expose the prodigality of her ungrateful +son, by a free and faithful account of the wealth which he inherited; +one hundred and nine thousand pounds of gold, and three hundred thousand +of silver, the fruits of her own economy and that of her deceased +husband. [29] The avarice of Basil is not less renowned than his valor +and fortune: his victorious armies were paid and rewarded without +breaking into the mass of two hundred thousand pounds of gold, (about +eight millions sterling,) which he had buried in the subterraneous +vaults of the palace. [30] Such accumulation of treasure is rejected by +the theory and practice of modern policy; and we are more apt to compute +the national riches by the use and abuse of the public credit. Yet the +maxims of antiquity are still embraced by a monarch formidable to his +enemies; by a republic respectable to her allies; and both have attained +their respective ends of military power and domestic tranquillity. + +[Footnote 28: Voyage de Benjamin de Tudele, tom. i. c. 5, p. 44-52. The +Hebrew text has been translated into French by that marvellous child +Baratier, who has added a volume of crude learning. The errors and +fictions of the Jewish rabbi are not a sufficient ground to deny the +reality of his travels. * Note: I am inclined, with Buegnot (Les +Juifs d'Occident, part iii. p. 101 et seqq.) and Jost (Geschichte +der Israeliter, vol. vi. anhang. p. 376) to consider this work a mere +compilation, and to doubt the reality of the travels.--M.] + +[Footnote 29: See the continuator of Theophanes, (l. iv. p. 107,) +Cedremis, (p. 544,) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xvi. p. 157.)] + +[Footnote 30: Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xvii. p. 225,) instead of pounds, +uses the more classic appellation of talents, which, in a literal +sense and strict computation, would multiply sixty fold the treasure of +Basil.] + +Whatever might be consumed for the present wants, or reserved for the +future use, of the state, the first and most sacred demand was for the +pomp and pleasure of the emperor, and his discretion only could define +the measure of his private expense. The princes of Constantinople were +far removed from the simplicity of nature; yet, with the revolving +seasons, they were led by taste or fashion to withdraw to a purer air, +from the smoke and tumult of the capital. They enjoyed, or affected to +enjoy, the rustic festival of the vintage: their leisure was amused by +the exercise of the chase and the calmer occupation of fishing, and in +the summer heats, they were shaded from the sun, and refreshed by the +cooling breezes from the sea. The coasts and islands of Asia and Europe +were covered with their magnificent villas; but, instead of the modest +art which secretly strives to hide itself and to decorate the scenery of +nature, the marble structure of their gardens served only to expose +the riches of the lord, and the labors of the architect. The successive +casualties of inheritance and forfeiture had rendered the sovereign +proprietor of many stately houses in the city and suburbs, of which +twelve were appropriated to the ministers of state; but the great +palace, [31] the centre of the Imperial residence, was fixed during +eleven centuries to the same position, between the hippodrome, the +cathedral of St. Sophia, and the gardens, which descended by many a +terrace to the shores of the Propontis. The primitive edifice of the +first Constantine was a copy, or rival, of ancient Rome; the gradual +improvements of his successors aspired to emulate the wonders of the old +world, [32] and in the tenth century, the Byzantine palace excited the +admiration, at least of the Latins, by an unquestionable preeminence of +strength, size, and magnificence. [33] But the toil and treasure of so +many ages had produced a vast and irregular pile: each separate building +was marked with the character of the times and of the founder; and the +want of space might excuse the reigning monarch, who demolished, perhaps +with secret satisfaction, the works of his predecessors. The economy +of the emperor Theophilus allowed a more free and ample scope for his +domestic luxury and splendor. A favorite ambassador, who had astonished +the Abbassides themselves by his pride and liberality, presented on his +return the model of a palace, which the caliph of Bagdad had recently +constructed on the banks of the Tigris. The model was instantly copied +and surpassed: the new buildings of Theophilus [34] were accompanied +with gardens, and with five churches, one of which was conspicuous for +size and beauty: it was crowned with three domes, the roof of gilt brass +reposed on columns of Italian marble, and the walls were incrusted with +marbles of various colors. In the face of the church, a semicircular +portico, of the figure and name of the Greek sigma, was supported by +fifteen columns of Phrygian marble, and the subterraneous vaults were of +a similar construction. The square before the sigma was decorated with +a fountain, and the margin of the basin was lined and encompassed with +plates of silver. In the beginning of each season, the basin, instead +of water, was replenished with the most exquisite fruits, which were +abandoned to the populace for the entertainment of the prince. He +enjoyed this tumultuous spectacle from a throne resplendent with gold +and gems, which was raised by a marble staircase to the height of a +lofty terrace. Below the throne were seated the officers of his guards, +the magistrates, the chiefs of the factions of the circus; the inferior +steps were occupied by the people, and the place below was covered with +troops of dancers, singers, and pantomimes. The square was surrounded +by the hall of justice, the arsenal, and the various offices of +business and pleasure; and the purple chamber was named from the annual +distribution of robes of scarlet and purple by the hand of the empress +herself. The long series of the apartments was adapted to the seasons, +and decorated with marble and porphyry, with painting, sculpture, and +mosaics, with a profusion of gold, silver, and precious stones. His +fanciful magnificence employed the skill and patience of such artists +as the times could afford: but the taste of Athens would have despised +their frivolous and costly labors; a golden tree, with its leaves and +branches, which sheltered a multitude of birds warbling their artificial +notes, and two lions of massy gold, and of natural size, who looked and +roared like their brethren of the forest. The successors of Theophilus, +of the Basilian and Comnenian dynasties, were not less ambitious of +leaving some memorial of their residence; and the portion of the palace +most splendid and august was dignified with the title of the golden +triclinium. [35] With becoming modesty, the rich and noble Greeks +aspired to imitate their sovereign, and when they passed through the +streets on horseback, in their robes of silk and embroidery, they were +mistaken by the children for kings. [36] A matron of Peloponnesus, +[37] who had cherished the infant fortunes of Basil the Macedonian, was +excited by tenderness or vanity to visit the greatness of her adopted +son. In a journey of five hundred miles from Patras to Constantinople, +her age or indolence declined the fatigue of a horse or carriage: the +soft litter or bed of Danielis was transported on the shoulders of ten +robust slaves; and as they were relieved at easy distances, a band of +three hundred were selected for the performance of this service. She +was entertained in the Byzantine palace with filial reverence, and the +honors of a queen; and whatever might be the origin of her wealth, her +gifts were not unworthy of the regal dignity. I have already described +the fine and curious manufactures of Peloponnesus, of linen, silk, and +woollen; but the most acceptable of her presents consisted in three +hundred beautiful youths, of whom one hundred were eunuchs; [38] "for +she was not ignorant," says the historian, "that the air of the palace +is more congenial to such insects, than a shepherd's dairy to the flies +of the summer." During her lifetime, she bestowed the greater part of +her estates in Peloponnesus, and her testament instituted Leo, the +son of Basil, her universal heir. After the payment of the legacies, +fourscore villas or farms were added to the Imperial domain; and three +thousand slaves of Danielis were enfranchised by their new lord, and +transplanted as a colony to the Italian coast. From this example of +a private matron, we may estimate the wealth and magnificence of the +emperors. Yet our enjoyments are confined by a narrow circle; and, +whatsoever may be its value, the luxury of life is possessed with more +innocence and safety by the master of his own, than by the steward of +the public, fortune. + +[Footnote 31: For a copious and minute description of the Imperial +palace, see the Constantinop. Christiana (l. ii. c. 4, p. 113-123) of +Ducange, the Tillemont of the middle ages. Never has laborious Germany +produced two antiquarians more laborious and accurate than these two +natives of lively France.] + +[Footnote 32: The Byzantine palace surpasses the Capitol, the palace +of Pergamus, the Rufinian wood, the temple of Adrian at Cyzicus, the +pyramids, the Pharus, &c., according to an epigram (Antholog. Graec. l. +iv. p. 488, 489. Brodaei, apud Wechel) ascribed to Julian, ex-praefect +of Egypt. Seventy-one of his epigrams, some lively, are collected in +Brunck, (Analect. Graec. tom. ii. p. 493-510; but this is wanting.] + +[Footnote 33: Constantinopolitanum Palatium non pulchritudine solum, +verum stiam fortitudine, omnibus quas unquam videram munitionibus +praestat, (Liutprand, Hist. l. v. c. 9, p. 465.)] + +[Footnote 34: See the anonymous continuator of Theophanes, (p. 59, 61, +86,) whom I have followed in the neat and concise abstract of Le Beau, +(Hint. du Bas Empire, tom. xiv. p. 436, 438.)] + +[Footnote 35: In aureo triclinio quae praestantior est pars +potentissimus (the usurper Romanus) degens caeteras partes (filiis) +distribuerat, (Liutprand. Hist. l. v. c. 9, p. 469.) For this last +signification of Triclinium see Ducange (Gloss. Graec. et Observations +sur Joinville, p. 240) and Reiske, (ad Constantinum de Ceremoniis, p. +7.)] + +[Footnote 36: In equis vecti (says Benjamin of Tudela) regum filiis +videntur persimiles. I prefer the Latin version of Constantine +l'Empereur (p. 46) to the French of Baratier, (tom. i. p. 49.)] + +[Footnote 37: See the account of her journey, munificence, and +testament, in the life of Basil, by his grandson Constantine, (p. 74, +75, 76, p. 195-197.)] + +[Footnote 38: Carsamatium. Graeci vocant, amputatis virilibus et virga, +puerum eunuchum quos Verdunenses mercatores obinmensum lucrum facere +solent et in Hispaniam ducere, (Liutprand, l. vi. c. 3, p. 470.)--The +last abomination of the abominable slave-trade! Yet I am surprised +to find, in the xth century, such active speculations of commerce in +Lorraine.] + +In an absolute government, which levels the distinctions of noble and +plebeian birth, the sovereign is the sole fountain of honor; and the +rank, both in the palace and the empire, depends on the titles and +offices which are bestowed and resumed by his arbitrary will. Above a +thousand years, from Vespasian to Alexius Comnenus, [39] the Caesar +was the second person, or at least the second degree, after the supreme +title of Augustus was more freely communicated to the sons and brothers +of the reigning monarch. To elude without violating his promise to +a powerful associate, the husband of his sister, and, without giving +himself an equal, to reward the piety of his brother Isaac, the crafty +Alexius interposed a new and supereminent dignity. The happy flexibility +of the Greek tongue allowed him to compound the names of Augustus and +Emperor (Sebastos and Autocrator,) and the union produces the sonorous +title of Sebastocrator. He was exalted above the Caesar on the first +step of the throne: the public acclamations repeated his name; and he +was only distinguished from the sovereign by some peculiar ornaments +of the head and feet. The emperor alone could assume the purple or red +buskins, and the close diadem or tiara, which imitated the fashion of +the Persian kings. [40] It was a high pyramidal cap of cloth or silk, +almost concealed by a profusion of pearls and jewels: the crown was +formed by a horizontal circle and two arches of gold: at the summit, +the point of their intersection, was placed a globe or cross, and two +strings or lappets of pearl depended on either cheek. Instead of red, +the buskins of the Sebastocrator and Caesar were green; and on +their open coronets or crowns, the precious gems were more sparingly +distributed. Beside and below the Caesar the fancy of Alexius +created the Panhypersebastos and the Protosebastos, whose sound and +signification will satisfy a Grecian ear. They imply a superiority and +a priority above the simple name of Augustus; and this sacred and +primitive title of the Roman prince was degraded to the kinsmen and +servants of the Byzantine court. The daughter of Alexius applauds, with +fond complacency, this artful gradation of hopes and honors; but the +science of words is accessible to the meanest capacity; and this vain +dictionary was easily enriched by the pride of his successors. To their +favorite sons or brothers, they imparted the more lofty appellation +of Lord or Despot, which was illustrated with new ornaments, and +prerogatives, and placed immediately after the person of the emperor +himself. The five titles of, 1. Despot; 2. Sebastocrator; 3. Caesar; 4. +Panhypersebastos; and, 5. Protosebastos; were usually confined to the +princes of his blood: they were the emanations of his majesty; but as +they exercised no regular functions, their existence was useless, and +their authority precarious. + +[Footnote 39: See the Alexiad (l. iii. p. 78, 79) of Anna Comnena, who, +except in filial piety, may be compared to Mademoiselle de Montpensier. +In her awful reverence for titles and forms, she styles her father, the +inventor of this royal art.] + +[Footnote 40: See Reiske, and Ceremoniale, p. 14, 15. Ducange has given +a learned dissertation on the crowns of Constantinople, Rome, France, +&c., (sur Joinville, xxv. p. 289-303;) but of his thirty-four models, +none exactly tally with Anne's description.] + +But in every monarchy the substantial powers of government must be +divided and exercised by the ministers of the palace and treasury, the +fleet and army. The titles alone can differ; and in the revolution of +ages, the counts and praefects, the praetor and quaestor, insensibly +descended, while their servants rose above their heads to the first +honors of the state. 1. In a monarchy, which refers every object to the +person of the prince, the care and ceremonies of the palace form the +most respectable department. The Curopalata, [41] so illustrious in the +age of Justinian, was supplanted by the Protovestiare, whose primitive +functions were limited to the custody of the wardrobe. From thence his +jurisdiction was extended over the numerous menials of pomp and luxury; +and he presided with his silver wand at the public and private audience. +2. In the ancient system of Constantine, the name of Logothete, or +accountant, was applied to the receivers of the finances: the principal +officers were distinguished as the Logothetes of the domain, of +the posts, the army, the private and public treasure; and the great +Logothete, the supreme guardian of the laws and revenues, is compared +with the chancellor of the Latin monarchies. [42] His discerning +eye pervaded the civil administration; and he was assisted, in due +subordination, by the eparch or praefect of the city, the first +secretary, and the keepers of the privy seal, the archives, and the red +or purple ink which was reserved for the sacred signature of the emperor +alone. [43] The introductor and interpreter of foreign ambassadors +were the great Chiauss [44] and the Dragoman, [45] two names of Turkish +origin, and which are still familiar to the Sublime Porte. 3. From the +humble style and service of guards, the Domestics insensibly rose to +the station of generals; the military themes of the East and West, the +legions of Europe and Asia, were often divided, till the great Domestic +was finally invested with the universal and absolute command of the land +forces. The Protostrator, in his original functions, was the assistant +of the emperor when he mounted on horseback: he gradually became the +lieutenant of the great Domestic in the field; and his jurisdiction +extended over the stables, the cavalry, and the royal train of hunting +and hawking. The Stratopedarch was the great judge of the camp: the +Protospathaire commanded the guards; the Constable, [46] the great +Aeteriarch, and the Acolyth, were the separate chiefs of the Franks, the +Barbarians, and the Varangi, or English, the mercenary strangers, who, +a the decay of the national spirit, formed the nerve of the Byzantine +armies. 4. The naval powers were under the command of the great Duke; +in his absence they obeyed the great Drungaire of the fleet; and, in +his place, the Emir, or Admiral, a name of Saracen extraction, [47] but +which has been naturalized in all the modern languages of Europe. Of +these officers, and of many more whom it would be useless to enumerate, +the civil and military hierarchy was framed. Their honors and +emoluments, their dress and titles, their mutual salutations and +respective preeminence, were balanced with more exquisite labor than +would have fixed the constitution of a free people; and the code was +almost perfect when this baseless fabric, the monument of pride and +servitude, was forever buried in the ruins of the empire. [48] + +[Footnote 41: Par exstans curis, solo diademate dispar, Ordine pro rerum +vocitatus Cura-Palati, says the African Corippus, (de Laudibus Justini, +l. i. 136,) and in the same century (the vith) Cassiodorus represents +him, who, virga aurea decoratus, inter numerosa obsequia primus +ante pedes regis incederet (Variar. vii. 5.) But this great officer, +(unknown,) exercising no function, was cast down by the modern Greeks to +the xvth rank, (Codin. c. 5, p. 65.)] + +[Footnote 42: Nicetas (in Manuel, l. vii. c. 1) defines him. Yet the +epithet was added by the elder Andronicus, (Ducange, tom. i. p. 822, +823.)] + +[Footnote 43: From Leo I. (A.D. 470) the Imperial ink, which is still +visible on some original acts, was a mixture of vermilion and cinnabar, +or purple. The emperor's guardians, who shared in this prerogative, +always marked in green ink the indiction and the month. See the +Dictionnaire Diplomatique, (tom. i. p. 511-513) a valuable abridgment.] + +[Footnote 44: The sultan sent to Alexius, (Anna Comnena, l. vi. p. 170. +Ducange ad loc.;) and Pachymer often speaks, (l. vii. c. 1, l. xii. +c. 30, l. xiii. c. 22.) The Chiaoush basha is now at the head of 700 +officers, (Rycaut's Ottoman Empire, p. 349, octavo edition.)] + +[Footnote 45: Tagerman is the Arabic name of an interpreter, +(D'Herbelot, p. 854, 855;), says Codinus, (c. v. No. 70, p. 67.) +See Villehardouin, (No. 96,) Bus, (Epist. iv. p. 338,) and Ducange, +(Observations sur Villehardouin, and Gloss. Graec. et Latin)] + +[Footnote 46: A corruption from the Latin Comes stabuli, or the French +Connetable. In a military sense, it was used by the Greeks in the +eleventh century, at least as early as in France.] + +[Footnote 47: It was directly borrowed from the Normans. In the +xiith century, Giannone reckons the admiral of Sicily among the great +officers.] + +[Footnote 48: This sketch of honors and offices is drawn from George +Cordinus Curopalata, who survived the taking of Constantinople by the +Turks: his elaborate, though trifling, work (de Officiis Ecclesiae et +Aulae C. P.) has been illustrated by the notes of Goar, and the three +books of Gretser, a learned Jesuit.] + + + + +Chapter LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part III. + +The most lofty titles, and the most humble postures, which devotion has +applied to the Supreme Being, have been prostituted by flattery and fear +to creatures of the same nature with ourselves. The mode of adoration, +[49] of falling prostrate on the ground, and kissing the feet of the +emperor, was borrowed by Diocletian from Persian servitude; but it +was continued and aggravated till the last age of the Greek monarchy. +Excepting only on Sundays, when it was waived, from a motive of +religious pride, this humiliating reverence was exacted from all who +entered the royal presence, from the princes invested with the diadem +and purple, and from the ambassadors who represented their independent +sovereigns, the caliphs of Asia, Egypt, or Spain, the kings of France +and Italy, and the Latin emperors of ancient Rome. In his transactions +of business, Liutprand, bishop of Cremona, [50] asserted the free spirit +of a Frank and the dignity of his master Otho. Yet his sincerity cannot +disguise the abasement of his first audience. When he approached the +throne, the birds of the golden tree began to warble their notes, which +were accompanied by the roarings of the two lions of gold. With his two +companions Liutprand was compelled to bow and to fall prostrate; and +thrice to touch the ground with his forehead. He arose, but in the short +interval, the throne had been hoisted from the floor to the ceiling, +the Imperial figure appeared in new and more gorgeous apparel, and the +interview was concluded in haughty and majestic silence. In this honest +and curious narrative, the Bishop of Cremona represents the ceremonies +of the Byzantine court, which are still practised in the Sublime Porte, +and which were preserved in the last age by the dukes of Muscovy +or Russia. After a long journey by sea and land, from Venice to +Constantinople, the ambassador halted at the golden gate, till he was +conducted by the formal officers to the hospitable palace prepared for +his reception; but this palace was a prison, and his jealous keepers +prohibited all social intercourse either with strangers or natives. +At his first audience, he offered the gifts of his master, slaves, and +golden vases, and costly armor. The ostentatious payment of the officers +and troops displayed before his eyes the riches of the empire: he was +entertained at a royal banquet, [51] in which the ambassadors of the +nations were marshalled by the esteem or contempt of the Greeks: from +his own table, the emperor, as the most signal favor, sent the plates +which he had tasted; and his favorites were dismissed with a robe +of honor. [52] In the morning and evening of each day, his civil and +military servants attended their duty in the palace; their labors were +repaid by the sight, perhaps by the smile, of their lord; his commands +were signified by a nod or a sign: but all earthly greatness stood +silent and submissive in his presence. In his regular or extraordinary +processions through the capital, he unveiled his person to the public +view: the rites of policy were connected with those of religion, and his +visits to the principal churches were regulated by the festivals of the +Greek calendar. On the eve of these processions, the gracious or devout +intention of the monarch was proclaimed by the heralds. The streets were +cleared and purified; the pavement was strewed with flowers; the most +precious furniture, the gold and silver plate, and silken hangings, +were displayed from the windows and balconies, and a severe discipline +restrained and silenced the tumult of the populace. The march was opened +by the military officers at the head of their troops: they were followed +in long order by the magistrates and ministers of the civil government: +the person of the emperor was guarded by his eunuchs and domestics, and +at the church door he was solemnly received by the patriarch and +his clergy. The task of applause was not abandoned to the rude and +spontaneous voices of the crowd. The most convenient stations were +occupied by the bands of the blue and green factions of the circus; and +their furious conflicts, which had shaken the capital, were insensibly +sunk to an emulation of servitude. From either side they echoed in +responsive melody the praises of the emperor; their poets and musicians +directed the choir, and long life [53] and victory were the burden of +every song. The same acclamations were performed at the audience, the +banquet, and the church; and as an evidence of boundless sway, they were +repeated in the Latin, [54] Gothic, Persian, French, and even English +language, [55] by the mercenaries who sustained the real or fictitious +character of those nations. By the pen of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, +this science of form and flattery has been reduced into a pompous and +trifling volume, [56] which the vanity of succeeding times might enrich +with an ample supplement. Yet the calmer reflection of a prince +would surely suggest that the same acclamations were applied to every +character and every reign: and if he had risen from a private rank, he +might remember, that his own voice had been the loudest and most eager +in applause, at the very moment when he envied the fortune, or conspired +against the life, of his predecessor. [57] + +[Footnote 49: The respectful salutation of carrying the hand to the +mouth, ad os, is the root of the Latin word adoro, adorare. See our +learned Selden, (vol. iii. p. 143-145, 942,) in his Titles of Honor. It +seems, from the 1st book of Herodotus, to be of Persian origin.] + +[Footnote 50: The two embassies of Liutprand to Constantinople, all that +he saw or suffered in the Greek capital, are pleasantly described +by himself (Hist. l. vi. c. 1-4, p. 469-471. Legatio ad Nicephorum +Phocam, p. 479-489.)] + +[Footnote 51: Among the amusements of the feast, a boy balanced, on his +forehead, a pike, or pole, twenty-four feet long, with a cross bar of +two cubits a little below the top. Two boys, naked, though cinctured, +(campestrati,) together, and singly, climbed, stood, played, descended, +&c., ita me stupidum reddidit: utrum mirabilius nescio, (p. 470.) At +another repast a homily of Chrysostom on the Acts of the Apostles was +read elata voce non Latine, (p. 483.)] + +[Footnote 52: Gala is not improbably derived from Cala, or Caloat, in +Arabic a robe of honor, (Reiske, Not. in Ceremon. p. 84.)] + +[Footnote 53: It is explained, (Codin, c. 7. Ducange, Gloss. Graec. tom. +i. p. 1199.)] + +[Footnote 54: (Ceremon. c. 75, p. 215.) The want of the Latin 'V' +obliged the Greeks to employ their 'beta'; nor do they regard quantity. +Till he recollected the true language, these strange sentences might +puzzle a professor.] + +[Footnote 55: (Codin.p. 90.) I wish he had preserved the words, however +corrupt, of their English acclamation.] + +[Footnote 56: For all these ceremonies, see the professed work of +Constantine Porphyrogenitus with the notes, or rather dissertations, +of his German editors, Leich and Reiske. For the rank of standing +courtiers, p. 80, not. 23, 62; for the adoration, except on Sundays, +p. 95, 240, not. 131; the processions, p. 2, &c., not. p. 3, &c.; +the acclamations passim not. 25 &c.; the factions and Hippodrome, p. +177-214, not. 9, 93, &c.; the Gothic games, p. 221, not. 111; vintage, +p. 217, not 109: much more information is scattered over the work.] + +[Footnote 57: Et privato Othoni et nuper eadem dicenti nota adulatio, +(Tacit. Hist. 1,85.)] + +The princes of the North, of the nations, says Constantine, without +faith or fame, were ambitious of mingling their blood with the blood of +the Caesars, by their marriage with a royal virgin, or by the nuptials +of their daughters with a Roman prince. [58] The aged monarch, in his +instructions to his son, reveals the secret maxims of policy and pride; +and suggests the most decent reasons for refusing these insolent and +unreasonable demands. Every animal, says the discreet emperor, is +prompted by the distinction of language, religion, and manners. A just +regard to the purity of descent preserves the harmony of public and +private life; but the mixture of foreign blood is the fruitful source of +disorder and discord. Such had ever been the opinion and practice of the +sage Romans: their jurisprudence proscribed the marriage of a citizen +and a stranger: in the days of freedom and virtue, a senator would have +scorned to match his daughter with a king: the glory of Mark Antony was +sullied by an Egyptian wife: [59] and the emperor Titus was compelled, +by popular censure, to dismiss with reluctance the reluctant Berenice. +[60] This perpetual interdict was ratified by the fabulous sanction of +the great Constantine. The ambassadors of the nations, more especially +of the unbelieving nations, were solemnly admonished, that such strange +alliances had been condemned by the founder of the church and city. +The irrevocable law was inscribed on the altar of St. Sophia; and the +impious prince who should stain the majesty of the purple was excluded +from the civil and ecclesiastical communion of the Romans. If the +ambassadors were instructed by any false brethren in the Byzantine +history, they might produce three memorable examples of the violation +of this imaginary law: the marriage of Leo, or rather of his father +Constantine the Fourth, with the daughter of the king of the Chozars, +the nuptials of the granddaughter of Romanus with a Bulgarian prince, +and the union of Bertha of France or Italy with young Romanus, the +son of Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself. To these objections three +answers were prepared, which solved the difficulty and established the +law. I. + +The deed and the guilt of Constantine Copronymus were acknowledged. +The Isaurian heretic, who sullied the baptismal font, and declared war +against the holy images, had indeed embraced a Barbarian wife. By this +impious alliance he accomplished the measure of his crimes, and was +devoted to the just censure of the church and of posterity. II. Romanus +could not be alleged as a legitimate emperor; he was a plebeian usurper, +ignorant of the laws, and regardless of the honor, of the monarchy. His +son Christopher, the father of the bride, was the third in rank in +the college of princes, at once the subject and the accomplice of a +rebellious parent. The Bulgarians were sincere and devout Christians; +and the safety of the empire, with the redemption of many thousand +captives, depended on this preposterous alliance. Yet no consideration +could dispense from the law of Constantine: the clergy, the senate, and +the people, disapproved the conduct of Romanus; and he was reproached, +both in his life and death, as the author of the public disgrace. III. +For the marriage of his own son with the daughter of Hugo, king +of Italy, a more honorable defence is contrived by the wise +Porphyrogenitus. Constantine, the great and holy, esteemed the fidelity +and valor of the Franks; [61] and his prophetic spirit beheld the vision +of their future greatness. They alone were excepted from the general +prohibition: Hugo, king of France, was the lineal descendant of +Charlemagne; [62] and his daughter Bertha inherited the prerogatives of +her family and nation. The voice of truth and malice insensibly betrayed +the fraud or error of the Imperial court. The patrimonial estate of Hugo +was reduced from the monarchy of France to the simple county of Arles; +though it was not denied, that, in the confusion of the times, he had +usurped the sovereignty of Provence, and invaded the kingdom of Italy. +His father was a private noble; and if Bertha derived her female descent +from the Carlovingian line, every step was polluted with illegitimacy +or vice. The grandmother of Hugo was the famous Valdrada, the concubine, +rather than the wife, of the second Lothair; whose adultery, divorce, +and second nuptials, had provoked against him the thunders of +the Vatican. His mother, as she was styled, the great Bertha, was +successively the wife of the count of Arles and of the marquis of +Tuscany: France and Italy were scandalized by her gallantries; and, till +the age of threescore, her lovers, of every degree, were the zealous +servants of her ambition. The example of maternal incontinence was +copied by the king of Italy; and the three favorite concubines of Hugo +were decorated with the classic names of Venus, Juno, and Semele. [63] +The daughter of Venus was granted to the solicitations of the Byzantine +court: her name of Bertha was changed to that of Eudoxia; and she was +wedded, or rather betrothed, to young Romanus, the future heir of +the empire of the East. The consummation of this foreign alliance was +suspended by the tender age of the two parties; and, at the end of five +years, the union was dissolved by the death of the virgin spouse. The +second wife of the emperor Romanus was a maiden of plebeian, but of +Roman, birth; and their two daughters, Theophano and Anne, were given +in marriage to the princes of the earth. The eldest was bestowed, as the +pledge of peace, on the eldest son of the great Otho, who had solicited +this alliance with arms and embassies. It might legally be questioned +how far a Saxon was entitled to the privilege of the French nation; +but every scruple was silenced by the fame and piety of a hero who had +restored the empire of the West. After the death of her father-in-law +and husband, Theophano governed Rome, Italy, and Germany, during the +minority of her son, the third Otho; and the Latins have praised the +virtues of an empress, who sacrificed to a superior duty the remembrance +of her country. [64] In the nuptials of her sister Anne, every prejudice +was lost, and every consideration of dignity was superseded, by +the stronger argument of necessity and fear. A Pagan of the North, +Wolodomir, great prince of Russia, aspired to a daughter of the Roman +purple; and his claim was enforced by the threats of war, the promise of +conversion, and the offer of a powerful succor against a domestic rebel. +A victim of her religion and country, the Grecian princess was torn +from the palace of her fathers, and condemned to a savage reign, and a +hopeless exile on the banks of the Borysthenes, or in the neighborhood +of the Polar circle. [65] Yet the marriage of Anne was fortunate and +fruitful: the daughter of her grandson Joroslaus was recommended by her +Imperial descent; and the king of France, Henry I., sought a wife on the +last borders of Europe and Christendom. [66] + +[Footnote 58: The xiiith chapter, de Administratione Imperii, may be +explained and rectified by the Familiae Byzantinae of Ducange.] + +[Footnote 59: Sequiturque nefas Aegyptia conjux, (Virgil, Aeneid, viii. +688.) Yet this Egyptian wife was the daughter of a long line of kings. +Quid te mutavit (says Antony in a private letter to Augustus) an quod +reginam ineo? Uxor mea est, (Sueton. in August. c. 69.) Yet I much +question (for I cannot stay to inquire) whether the triumvir ever dared +to celebrate his marriage either with Roman or Egyptian rites.] + +[Footnote 60: Berenicem invitus invitam dimisit, (Suetonius in Tito, c. +7.) Have I observed elsewhere, that this Jewish beauty was at this +time above fifty years of age? The judicious Racine has most discreetly +suppressed both her age and her country.] + +[Footnote 61: Constantine was made to praise the the Franks, with whom +he claimed a private and public alliance. The French writers (Isaac +Casaubon in Dedicat. Polybii) are highly delighted with these +compliments.] + +[Footnote 62: Constantine Porphyrogenitus (de Administrat. Imp. c. +36) exhibits a pedigree and life of the illustrious King Hugo. A more +correct idea may be formed from the Criticism of Pagi, the Annals of +Muratori, and the Abridgment of St. Marc, A.D. 925-946.] + +[Footnote 63: After the mention of the three goddesses, Luitprand very +naturally adds, et quoniam non rex solus iis abutebatur, earum nati +ex incertis patribus originera ducunt, (Hist. l. iv. c. 6: ) for +the marriage of the younger Bertha, see Hist. l. v. c. 5; for the +incontinence of the elder, dulcis exercipio Hymenaei, l. ii. c. 15; for +the virtues and vices of Hugo, l. iii. c. 5. Yet it must not be forgot, +that the bishop of Cremona was a lover of scandal.] + +[Footnote 64: Licet illa Imperatrix Graeca sibi et aliis fuisset satis +utilis, et optima, &c., is the preamble of an inimical writer, apud +Pagi, tom. iv. A.D. 989, No. 3. Her marriage and principal actions may +be found in Muratori, Pagi, and St. Marc, under the proper years.] + +[Footnote 65: Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 699. Zonaras, tom. i. p. 221. +Elmacin, Hist. Saracenica, l. iii. c. 6. Nestor apud Levesque, tom. ii. +p. 112 Pagi, Critica, A.D. 987, No. 6: a singular concourse! Wolodomir +and Anne are ranked among the saints of the Russian church. Yet we know +his vices, and are ignorant of her virtues.] + +[Footnote 66: Henricus primus duxit uxorem Scythicam, Russam, filiam +regis Jeroslai. An embassy of bishops was sent into Russia, and the +father gratanter filiam cum multis donis misit. This event happened in +the year 1051. See the passages of the original chronicles in Bouquet's +Historians of France, (tom. xi. p. 29, 159, 161, 319, 384, 481.) +Voltaire might wonder at this alliance; but he should not have owned +his ignorance of the country, religion, &c., of Jeroslaus--a name so +conspicuous in the Russian annals.] + +In the Byzantine palace, the emperor was the first slave of the +ceremonies which he imposed, of the rigid forms which regulated each +word and gesture, besieged him in the palace, and violated the leisure +of his rural solitude. But the lives and fortunes of millions hung on +his arbitrary will; and the firmest minds, superior to the allurements +of pomp and luxury, may be seduced by the more active pleasure of +commanding their equals. The legislative and executive powers were +centred in the person of the monarch, and the last remains of the +authority of the senate were finally eradicated by Leo the philosopher. +[67] A lethargy of servitude had benumbed the minds of the Greeks: in +the wildest tumults of rebellion they never aspired to the idea of a +free constitution; and the private character of the prince was the only +source and measure of their public happiness. Superstition rivetted +their chains; in the church of St. Sophia he was solemnly crowned by +the patriarch; at the foot of the altar, they pledged their passive and +unconditional obedience to his government and family. On his side he +engaged to abstain as much as possible from the capital punishments of +death and mutilation; his orthodox creed was subscribed with his own +hand, and he promised to obey the decrees of the seven synods, and the +canons of the holy church. [68] But the assurance of mercy was loose and +indefinite: he swore, not to his people, but to an invisible judge; and +except in the inexpiable guilt of heresy, the ministers of heaven were +always prepared to preach the indefeasible right, and to absolve the +venial transgressions, of their sovereign. The Greek ecclesiastics were +themselves the subjects of the civil magistrate: at the nod of a tyrant, +the bishops were created, or transferred, or deposed, or punished with +an ignominious death: whatever might be their wealth or influence, they +could never succeed like the Latin clergy in the establishment of an +independent republic; and the patriarch of Constantinople condemned, +what he secretly envied, the temporal greatness of his Roman brother. +Yet the exercise of boundless despotism is happily checked by the laws +of nature and necessity. In proportion to his wisdom and virtue, the +master of an empire is confined to the path of his sacred and laborious +duty. In proportion to his vice and folly, he drops the sceptre too +weighty for his hands; and the motions of the royal image are ruled by +the imperceptible thread of some minister or favorite, who undertakes +for his private interest to exercise the task of the public oppression. +In some fatal moment, the most absolute monarch may dread the reason +or the caprice of a nation of slaves; and experience has proved, that +whatever is gained in the extent, is lost in the safety and solidity, of +regal power. + +[Footnote 67: A constitution of Leo the Philosopher (lxxviii.) ne +senatus consulta amplius fiant, speaks the language of naked despotism.] + +[Footnote 68: Codinus (de Officiis, c. xvii. p. 120, 121) gives an idea +of this oath so strong to the church, so weak to the people.] + +Whatever titles a despot may assume, whatever claims he may assert, it +is on the sword that he must ultimately depend to guard him against his +foreign and domestic enemies. From the age of Charlemagne to that of the +Crusades, the world (for I overlook the remote monarchy of China) was +occupied and disputed by the three great empires or nations of the +Greeks, the Saracens, and the Franks. Their military strength may be +ascertained by a comparison of their courage, their arts and riches, and +their obedience to a supreme head, who might call into action all the +energies of the state. The Greeks, far inferior to their rivals in the +first, were superior to the Franks, and at least equal to the Saracens, +in the second and third of these warlike qualifications. + +The wealth of the Greeks enabled them to purchase the service of the +poorer nations, and to maintain a naval power for the protection of +their coasts and the annoyance of their enemies. [69] A commerce of +mutual benefit exchanged the gold of Constantinople for the blood +of Sclavonians and Turks, the Bulgarians and Russians: their valor +contributed to the victories of Nicephorus and Zimisces; and if a +hostile people pressed too closely on the frontier, they were recalled +to the defence of their country, and the desire of peace, by the +well-managed attack of a more distant tribe. [70] The command of the +Mediterranean, from the mouth of the Tanais to the columns of +Hercules, was always claimed, and often possessed, by the successors of +Constantine. Their capital was filled with naval stores and dexterous +artificers: the situation of Greece and Asia, the long coasts, deep +gulfs, and numerous islands, accustomed their subjects to the exercise +of navigation; and the trade of Venice and Amalfi supplied a nursery of +seamen to the Imperial fleet. [71] Since the time of the Peloponnesian +and Punic wars, the sphere of action had not been enlarged; and the +science of naval architecture appears to have declined. The art of +constructing those stupendous machines which displayed three, or six, +or ten, ranges of oars, rising above, or falling behind, each other, +was unknown to the ship-builders of Constantinople, as well as to the +mechanicians of modern days. [72] The Dromones, [73] or light galleys of +the Byzantine empire, were content with two tier of oars; each tier was +composed of five-and-twenty benches; and two rowers were seated on each +bench, who plied their oars on either side of the vessel. To these we +must add the captain or centurion, who, in time of action, stood erect +with his armor-bearer on the poop, two steersmen at the helm, and two +officers at the prow, the one to manage the anchor, the other to point +and play against the enemy the tube of liquid fire. The whole crew, as +in the infancy of the art, performed the double service of mariners and +soldiers; they were provided with defensive and offensive arms, with +bows and arrows, which they used from the upper deck, with long pikes, +which they pushed through the portholes of the lower tier. Sometimes, +indeed, the ships of war were of a larger and more solid construction; +and the labors of combat and navigation were more regularly divided +between seventy soldiers and two hundred and thirty mariners. But for +the most part they were of the light and manageable size; and as +the Cape of Malea in Peloponnesus was still clothed with its ancient +terrors, an Imperial fleet was transported five miles over land across +the Isthmus of Corinth. [74] The principles of maritime tactics had not +undergone any change since the time of Thucydides: a squadron of galleys +still advanced in a crescent, charged to the front, and strove to impel +their sharp beaks against the feeble sides of their antagonists. A +machine for casting stones and darts was built of strong timbers, in the +midst of the deck; and the operation of boarding was effected by a crane +that hoisted baskets of armed men. The language of signals, so clear and +copious in the naval grammar of the moderns, was imperfectly expressed +by the various positions and colors of a commanding flag. In the +darkness of the night, the same orders to chase, to attack, to halt, to +retreat, to break, to form, were conveyed by the lights of the leading +galley. By land, the fire-signals were repeated from one mountain to +another; a chain of eight stations commanded a space of five hundred +miles; and Constantinople in a few hours was apprised of the hostile +motions of the Saracens of Tarsus. [75] Some estimate may be formed of +the power of the Greek emperors, by the curious and minute detail of the +armament which was prepared for the reduction of Crete. A fleet of one +hundred and twelve galleys, and seventy-five vessels of the Pamphylian +style, was equipped in the capital, the islands of the Aegean Sea, and +the seaports of Asia, Macedonia, and Greece. It carried thirty-four +thousand mariners, seven thousand three hundred and forty soldiers, +seven hundred Russians, and five thousand and eighty-seven Mardaites, +whose fathers had been transplanted from the mountains of Libanus. Their +pay, most probably of a month, was computed at thirty-four centenaries +of gold, about one hundred and thirty-six thousand pounds sterling. Our +fancy is bewildered by the endless recapitulation of arms and engines, +of clothes and linen, of bread for the men and forage for the horses, +and of stores and utensils of every description, inadequate to the +conquest of a petty island, but amply sufficient for the establishment +of a flourishing colony. [76] + +[Footnote 69: If we listen to the threats of Nicephorus to the +ambassador of Otho, Nec est in mari domino tuo classium numerus. +Navigantium fortitudo mihi soli inest, qui eum classibus aggrediar, +bello maritimas ejus civitates demoliar; et quae fluminibus sunt vicina +redigam in favillam. (Liutprand in Legat. ad Nicephorum Phocam, in +Muratori Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, tom. ii. pars i. p. 481.) He +observes in another place, qui caeteris praestant Venetici sunt et +Amalphitani.] + +[Footnote 70: Nec ipsa capiet eum (the emperor Otho) in qua ortus est +pauper et pellicea Saxonia: pecunia qua pollemus omnes nationes super +eum invitabimus: et quasi Keramicum confringemus, (Liutprand in Legat. +p. 487.) The two books, de Administrando Imperio, perpetually inculcate +the same policy.] + +[Footnote 71: The xixth chapter of the Tactics of Leo, (Meurs. Opera, +tom. vi. p. 825-848,) which is given more correct from a manuscript +of Gudius, by the laborious Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p. +372-379,) relates to the Naumachia, or naval war.] + +[Footnote 72: Even of fifteen and sixteen rows of oars, in the navy +of Demetrius Poliorcetes. These were for real use: the forty rows of +Ptolemy Philadelphus were applied to a floating palace, whose tonnage, +according to Dr. Arbuthnot, (Tables of Ancient Coins, &c., p. 231-236,) +is compared as 4 1/2 to 1 with an English 100 gun ship.] + +[Footnote 73: The Dromones of Leo, &c., are so clearly described with +two tier of oars, that I must censure the version of Meursius and +Fabricius, who pervert the sense by a blind attachment to the classic +appellation of Triremes. The Byzantine historians are sometimes guilty +of the same inaccuracy.] + +[Footnote 74: Constantin. Porphyrogen. in Vit. Basil. c. lxi. p. 185. +He calmly praises the stratagem; but the sailing round Peloponnesus is +described by his terrified fancy as a circumnavigation of a thousand +miles.] + +[Footnote 75: The continuator of Theophanes (l. iv. p. 122, 123) names +the successive stations, the castle of Lulum near Tarsus, Mount Argaeus +Isamus, Aegilus, the hill of Mamas, Cyrisus, Mocilus, the hill of +Auxentius, the sun-dial of the Pharus of the great palace. He affirms +that the news were transmitted in an indivisible moment of time. +Miserable amplification, which, by saying too much, says nothing. How +much more forcible and instructive would have been the definition of +three, or six, or twelve hours!] + +[Footnote 76: See the Ceremoniale of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, l. ii. +c. 44, p. 176-192. A critical reader will discern some inconsistencies +in different parts of this account; but they are not more obscure or +more stubborn than the establishment and effectives, the present and fit +for duty, the rank and file and the private, of a modern return, which +retain in proper hands the knowledge of these profitable mysteries.] + +The invention of the Greek fire did not, like that of gun powder, +produce a total revolution in the art of war. To these liquid +combustibles the city and empire of Constantine owed their deliverance; +and they were employed in sieges and sea-fights with terrible effect. +But they were either less improved, or less susceptible of improvement: +the engines of antiquity, the catapultae, balistae, and battering-rams, +were still of most frequent and powerful use in the attack and defence +of fortifications; nor was the decision of battles reduced to the quick +and heavy fire of a line of infantry, whom it were fruitless to protect +with armor against a similar fire of their enemies. Steel and iron were +still the common instruments of destruction and safety; and the helmets, +cuirasses, and shields, of the tenth century did not, either in form +or substance, essentially differ from those which had covered the +companions of Alexander or Achilles. [77] But instead of accustoming the +modern Greeks, like the legionaries of old, to the constant and easy use +of this salutary weight, their armor was laid aside in light chariots, +which followed the march, till, on the approach of an enemy, they +resumed with haste and reluctance the unusual encumbrance. Their +offensive weapons consisted of swords, battle-axes, and spears; but the +Macedonian pike was shortened a fourth of its length, and reduced to the +more convenient measure of twelve cubits or feet. The sharpness of the +Scythian and Arabian arrows had been severely felt; and the emperors +lament the decay of archery as a cause of the public misfortunes, and +recommend, as an advice and a command, that the military youth, till the +age of forty, should assiduously practise the exercise of the bow. [78] +The bands, or regiments, were usually three hundred strong; and, as a +medium between the extremes of four and sixteen, the foot soldiers of +Leo and Constantine were formed eight deep; but the cavalry charged in +four ranks, from the reasonable consideration, that the weight of the +front could not be increased by any pressure of the hindmost horses. +If the ranks of the infantry or cavalry were sometimes doubled, this +cautious array betrayed a secret distrust of the courage of the troops, +whose numbers might swell the appearance of the line, but of whom only +a chosen band would dare to encounter the spears and swords of the +Barbarians. The order of battle must have varied according to the +ground, the object, and the adversary; but their ordinary disposition, +in two lines and a reserve, presented a succession of hopes and +resources most agreeable to the temper as well as the judgment of the +Greeks. [79] In case of a repulse, the first line fell back into the +intervals of the second; and the reserve, breaking into two divisions, +wheeled round the flanks to improve the victory or cover the retreat. +Whatever authority could enact was accomplished, at least in theory, +by the camps and marches, the exercises and evolutions, the edicts and +books, of the Byzantine monarch. [80] Whatever art could produce from +the forge, the loom, or the laboratory, was abundantly supplied by the +riches of the prince, and the industry of his numerous workmen. But +neither authority nor art could frame the most important machine, the +soldier himself; and if the ceremonies of Constantine always suppose the +safe and triumphal return of the emperor, [81] his tactics seldom soar +above the means of escaping a defeat, and procrastinating the war. [82] +Notwithstanding some transient success, the Greeks were sunk in their +own esteem and that of their neighbors. A cold hand and a loquacious +tongue was the vulgar description of the nation: the author of the +tactics was besieged in his capital; and the last of the Barbarians, who +trembled at the name of the Saracens, or Franks, could proudly exhibit +the medals of gold and silver which they had extorted from the feeble +sovereign of Constantinople. What spirit their government and character +denied, might have been inspired in some degree by the influence of +religion; but the religion of the Greeks could only teach them to suffer +and to yield. The emperor Nicephorus, who restored for a moment the +discipline and glory of the Roman name, was desirous of bestowing the +honors of martyrdom on the Christians who lost their lives in a holy +war against the infidels. But this political law was defeated by the +opposition of the patriarch, the bishops, and the principal senators; +and they strenuously urged the canons of St. Basil, that all who were +polluted by the bloody trade of a soldier should be separated, during +three years, from the communion of the faithful. [83] + +[Footnote 77: See the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters, and, in +the Tactics of Leo, with the corresponding passages in those of +Constantine.] + +[Footnote 78: (Leo, Tactic. p. 581 Constantin. p 1216.) Yet such were +not the maxims of the Greeks and Romans, who despised the loose and +distant practice of archery.] + +[Footnote 79: Compare the passages of the Tactics, p. 669 and 721, and +the xiith with the xviiith chapter.] + +[Footnote 80: In the preface to his Tactics, Leo very freely deplores +the loss of discipline and the calamities of the times, and repeats, +without scruple, (Proem. p. 537,) the reproaches, nor does it appear +that the same censures were less deserved in the next generation by the +disciples of Constantine.] + +[Footnote 81: See in the Ceremonial (l. ii. c. 19, p. 353) the form of +the emperor's trampling on the necks of the captive Saracens, while +the singers chanted, "Thou hast made my enemies my footstool!" and the +people shouted forty times the kyrie eleison.] + +[Footnote 82: Leo observes (Tactic. p. 668) that a fair open battle +against any nation whatsoever: the words are strong, and the remark is +true: yet if such had been the opinion of the old Romans, Leo had never +reigned on the shores of the Thracian Bosphorus.] + +[Footnote 83: Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xvi. p. 202, 203) and Cedrenus, +(Compend p. 668,) who relate the design of Nicephorus, most +unfortunately apply the epithet to the opposition of the patriarch.] + +These scruples of the Greeks have been compared with the tears of +the primitive Moslems when they were held back from battle; and this +contrast of base superstition and high-spirited enthusiasm, unfolds to +a philosophic eye the history of the rival nations. The subjects of the +last caliphs [84] had undoubtedly degenerated from the zeal and faith of +the companions of the prophet. Yet their martial creed still represented +the Deity as the author of war: [85] the vital though latent spark of +fanaticism still glowed in the heart of their religion, and among +the Saracens, who dwelt on the Christian borders, it was frequently +rekindled to a lively and active flame. Their regular force was formed +of the valiant slaves who had been educated to guard the person and +accompany the standard of their lord: but the Mussulman people of Syria +and Cilicia, of Africa and Spain, was awakened by the trumpet which +proclaimed a holy war against the infidels. The rich were ambitious of +death or victory in the cause of God; the poor were allured by the hopes +of plunder; and the old, the infirm, and the women, assumed their share +of meritorious service by sending their substitutes, with arms and +horses, into the field. These offensive and defensive arms were similar +in strength and temper to those of the Romans, whom they far excelled +in the management of the horse and the bow: the massy silver of their +belts, their bridles, and their swords, displayed the magnificence of a +prosperous nation; and except some black archers of the South, the Arabs +disdained the naked bravery of their ancestors. Instead of wagons, they +were attended by a long train of camels, mules, and asses: the multitude +of these animals, whom they bedecked with flags and streamers, appeared +to swell the pomp and magnitude of their host; and the horses of the +enemy were often disordered by the uncouth figure and odious smell of +the camels of the East. Invincible by their patience of thirst and heat, +their spirits were frozen by a winter's cold, and the consciousness of +their propensity to sleep exacted the most rigorous precautions against +the surprises of the night. Their order of battle was a long square of +two deep and solid lines; the first of archers, the second of cavalry. +In their engagements by sea and land, they sustained with patient +firmness the fury of the attack, and seldom advanced to the charge till +they could discern and oppress the lassitude of their foes. But if +they were repulsed and broken, they knew not how to rally or renew the +combat; and their dismay was heightened by the superstitious prejudice, +that God had declared himself on the side of their enemies. The decline +and fall of the caliphs countenanced this fearful opinion; nor were +there wanting, among the Mahometans and Christians, some obscure +prophecies [86] which prognosticated their alternate defeats. The unity +of the Arabian empire was dissolved, but the independent fragments were +equal to populous and powerful kingdoms; and in their naval and military +armaments, an emir of Aleppo or Tunis might command no despicable fund +of skill, and industry, and treasure. In their transactions of peace and +war with the Saracens, the princes of Constantinople too often felt that +these Barbarians had nothing barbarous in their discipline; and that +if they were destitute of original genius, they had been endowed with +a quick spirit of curiosity and imitation. The model was indeed more +perfect than the copy; their ships, and engines, and fortifications, +were of a less skilful construction; and they confess, without shame, +that the same God who has given a tongue to the Arabians, had more +nicely fashioned the hands of the Chinese, and the heads of the Greeks. +[87] + +[Footnote 84: The xviith chapter of the tactics of the different nations +is the most historical and useful of the whole collection of Leo. The +manners and arms of the Saracens (Tactic. p. 809-817, and a fragment +from the Medicean Ms. in the preface of the vith volume of Meursius) the +Roman emperor was too frequently called upon to study.] + +[Footnote 85: Leon. Tactic. p. 809.] + +[Footnote 86: Liutprand (p. 484, 485) relates and interprets the oracles +of the Greeks and Saracens, in which, after the fashion of prophecy, +the past is clear and historical, the future is dark, enigmatical, and +erroneous. From this boundary of light and shade an impartial critic may +commonly determine the date of the composition.] + +[Footnote 87: The sense of this distinction is expressed by +Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 2, 62, 101;) but I cannot recollect the +passage in which it is conveyed by this lively apothegm.] + + + + +Chapter LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part IV. + +A name of some German tribes between the Rhine and the Weser had spread +its victorious influence over the greatest part of Gaul, Germany, and +Italy; and the common appellation of Franks [88] was applied by the +Greeks and Arabians to the Christians of the Latin church, the nations +of the West, who stretched beyond their knowledge to the shores of the +Atlantic Ocean. The vast body had been inspired and united by the +soul of Charlemagne; but the division and degeneracy of his race soon +annihilated the Imperial power, which would have rivalled the Caesars +of Byzantium, and revenged the indignities of the Christian name. The +enemies no longer feared, nor could the subjects any longer trust, the +application of a public revenue, the labors of trade and manufactures +in the military service, the mutual aid of provinces and armies, and +the naval squadrons which were regularly stationed from the mouth of the +Elbe to that of the Tyber. In the beginning of the tenth century, the +family of Charlemagne had almost disappeared; his monarchy was broken +into many hostile and independent states; the regal title was assumed +by the most ambitious chiefs; their revolt was imitated in a long +subordination of anarchy and discord, and the nobles of every province +disobeyed their sovereign, oppressed their vassals, and exercised +perpetual hostilities against their equals and neighbors. Their private +wars, which overturned the fabric of government, fomented the martial +spirit of the nation. In the system of modern Europe, the power of the +sword is possessed, at least in fact, by five or six mighty potentates; +their operations are conducted on a distant frontier, by an order of men +who devote their lives to the study and practice of the military art: +the rest of the country and community enjoys in the midst of war the +tranquillity of peace, and is only made sensible of the change by the +aggravation or decrease of the public taxes. In the disorders of the +tenth and eleventh centuries, every peasant was a soldier, and every +village a fortification; each wood or valley was a scene of murder +and rapine; and the lords of each castle were compelled to assume the +character of princes and warriors. To their own courage and policy they +boldly trusted for the safety of their family, the protection of their +lands, and the revenge of their injuries; and, like the conquerors of a +larger size, they were too apt to transgress the privilege of defensive +war. The powers of the mind and body were hardened by the presence of +danger and necessity of resolution: the same spirit refused to desert +a friend and to forgive an enemy; and, instead of sleeping under the +guardian care of a magistrate, they proudly disdained the authority of +the laws. In the days of feudal anarchy, the instruments of agriculture +and art were converted into the weapons of bloodshed: the peaceful +occupations of civil and ecclesiastical society were abolished or +corrupted; and the bishop who exchanged his mitre for a helmet, was more +forcibly urged by the manners of the times than by the obligation of his +tenure. [89] + +[Footnote 88: Ex Francis, quo nomine tam Latinos quam Teutones +comprehendit, ludum habuit, (Liutprand in Legat ad Imp. Nicephorum, p. +483, 484.) This extension of the name may be confirmed from Constantine +(de Administrando Imperio, l. 2, c. 27, 28) and Eutychius, (Annal. tom. +i. p. 55, 56,) who both lived before the Crusades. The testimonies of +Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 69) and Abulfeda (Praefat. ad Geograph.) are +more recent] + +[Footnote 89: On this subject of ecclesiastical and beneficiary +discipline, Father Thomassin, (tom. iii. l. i. c. 40, 45, 46, 47) may +be usefully consulted. A general law of Charlemagne exempted the bishops +from personal service; but the opposite practice, which prevailed from +the ixth to the xvth century, is countenanced by the example or silence +of saints and doctors.... You justify your cowardice by the holy canons, +says Ratherius of Verona; the canons likewise forbid you to whore, and +yet--] + +The love of freedom and of arms was felt, with conscious pride, by the +Franks themselves, and is observed by the Greeks with some degree of +amazement and terror. "The Franks," says the emperor Constantine, "are +bold and valiant to the verge of temerity; and their dauntless spirit is +supported by the contempt of danger and death. In the field and in close +onset, they press to the front, and rush headlong against the enemy, +without deigning to compute either his numbers or their own. Their ranks +are formed by the firm connections of consanguinity and friendship; and +their martial deeds are prompted by the desire of saving or revenging +their dearest companions. In their eyes, a retreat is a shameful flight; +and flight is indelible infamy." [90] A nation endowed with such +high and intrepid spirit, must have been secure of victory if these +advantages had not been counter-balanced by many weighty defects. The +decay of their naval power left the Greeks and Saracens in possession +of the sea, for every purpose of annoyance and supply. In the age +which preceded the institution of knighthood, the Franks were rude +and unskilful in the service of cavalry; [91] and in all perilous +emergencies, their warriors were so conscious of their ignorance, that +they chose to dismount from their horses and fight on foot. Unpractised +in the use of pikes, or of missile weapons, they were encumbered by +the length of their swords, the weight of their armor, the magnitude of +their shields, and, if I may repeat the satire of the meagre Greeks, by +their unwieldy intemperance. Their independent spirit disdained the +yoke of subordination, and abandoned the standard of their chief, if +he attempted to keep the field beyond the term of their stipulation +or service. On all sides they were open to the snares of an enemy less +brave but more artful than themselves. They might be bribed, for the +Barbarians were venal; or surprised in the night, for they neglected the +precautions of a close encampment or vigilant sentinels. The fatigues of +a summer's campaign exhausted their strength and patience, and they sunk +in despair if their voracious appetite was disappointed of a plentiful +supply of wine and of food. This general character of the Franks was +marked with some national and local shades, which I should ascribe to +accident rather than to climate, but which were visible both to natives +and to foreigners. An ambassador of the great Otho declared, in the +palace of Constantinople, that the Saxons could dispute with swords +better than with pens, and that they preferred inevitable death to the +dishonor of turning their backs to an enemy. [92] It was the glory of +the nobles of France, that, in their humble dwellings, war and rapine +were the only pleasure, the sole occupation, of their lives. They +affected to deride the palaces, the banquets, the polished manner of the +Italians, who in the estimate of the Greeks themselves had degenerated +from the liberty and valor of the ancient Lombards. [93] + +[Footnote 90: In the xviiith chapter of his Tactics, the emperor Leo +has fairly stated the military vices and virtues of the Franks +(whom Meursius ridiculously translates by Galli) and the Lombards +or Langobards. See likewise the xxvith Dissertation of Muratori de +Antiquitatibus Italiae Medii Aevi.] + +[Footnote 91: Domini tui milites (says the proud Nicephorus) equitandi +ignari pedestris pugnae sunt inscii: scutorum magnitudo, loricarum +gravitudo, ensium longitudo galearumque pondus neutra parte pugnare +cossinit; ac subridens, impedit, inquit, et eos gastrimargia, hoc est +ventris ingluvies, &c. Liutprand in Legat. p. 480 481] + +[Footnote 92: In Saxonia certe scio.... decentius ensibus pugnare quam +calanis, et prius mortem obire quam hostibus terga dare, (Liutprand, p +482.)] + +[Footnote 93: Leonis Tactica, c. 18, p. 805. The emperor Leo died A.D. +911: an historical poem, which ends in 916, and appears to have been +composed in 910, by a native of Venetia, discriminates in these verses +the manners of Italy and France: + + --Quid inertia bello + + Pectora (Ubertus ait) duris praetenditis armis, + + O Itali? Potius vobis sacra pocula cordi; + + Saepius et stomachum nitidis laxare saginis + + Elatasque domos rutilo fulcire metallo. + + Non eadem Gallos similis vel cura remordet: + + Vicinas quibus est studium devincere terras, + + Depressumque larem spoliis hinc inde coactis + + Sustentare-- + +(Anonym. Carmen Panegyricum de Laudibus Berengarii Augusti, l. n. in +Muratori Script. Rerum Italic. tom. ii. pars i. p. 393.)] + +By the well-known edict of Caracalla, his subjects, from Britain to +Egypt, were entitled to the name and privileges of Romans, and their +national sovereign might fix his occasional or permanent residence in +any province of their common country. In the division of the East and +West, an ideal unity was scrupulously observed, and in their titles, +laws, and statutes, the successors of Arcadius and Honorius announced +themselves as the inseparable colleagues of the same office, as the +joint sovereigns of the Roman world and city, which were bounded by the +same limits. After the fall of the Western monarchy, the majesty of the +purple resided solely in the princes of Constantinople; and of these, +Justinian was the first who, after a divorce of sixty years, regained +the dominion of ancient Rome, and asserted, by the right of conquest, +the august title of Emperor of the Romans. [94] A motive of vanity or +discontent solicited one of his successors, Constans the Second, to +abandon the Thracian Bosphorus, and to restore the pristine honors of +the Tyber: an extravagant project, (exclaims the malicious Byzantine,) +as if he had despoiled a beautiful and blooming virgin, to enrich, or +rather to expose, the deformity of a wrinkled and decrepit matron. +[95] But the sword of the Lombards opposed his settlement in Italy: he +entered Rome not as a conqueror, but as a fugitive, and, after a visit +of twelve days, he pillaged, and forever deserted, the ancient capital +of the world. [96] The final revolt and separation of Italy was +accomplished about two centuries after the conquests of Justinian, and +from his reign we may date the gradual oblivion of the Latin tongue. +That legislator had composed his Institutes, his Code, and his Pandects, +in a language which he celebrates as the proper and public style of +the Roman government, the consecrated idiom of the palace and senate of +Constantinople, of the campus and tribunals of the East. [97] But this +foreign dialect was unknown to the people and soldiers of the Asiatic +provinces, it was imperfectly understood by the greater part of the +interpreters of the laws and the ministers of the state. After a short +conflict, nature and habit prevailed over the obsolete institutions +of human power: for the general benefit of his subjects, Justinian +promulgated his novels in the two languages: the several parts of his +voluminous jurisprudence were successively translated; [98] the original +was forgotten, the version was studied, and the Greek, whose intrinsic +merit deserved indeed the preference, obtained a legal, as well as +popular establishment in the Byzantine monarchy. The birth and residence +of succeeding princes estranged them from the Roman idiom: Tiberius by +the Arabs, [99] and Maurice by the Italians, [100] are distinguished +as the first of the Greek Caesars, as the founders of a new dynasty +and empire: the silent revolution was accomplished before the death of +Heraclius; and the ruins of the Latin speech were darkly preserved in +the terms of jurisprudence and the acclamations of the palace. After +the restoration of the Western empire by Charlemagne and the Othos, the +names of Franks and Latins acquired an equal signification and extent; +and these haughty Barbarians asserted, with some justice, their superior +claim to the language and dominion of Rome. They insulted the alien +of the East who had renounced the dress and idiom of Romans; and their +reasonable practice will justify the frequent appellation of Greeks. +[101] But this contemptuous appellation was indignantly rejected by the +prince and people to whom it was applied. Whatsoever changes had been +introduced by the lapse of ages, they alleged a lineal and unbroken +succession from Augustus and Constantine; and, in the lowest period of +degeneracy and decay, the name of Romans adhered to the last fragments +of the empire of Constantinople. [102] + +[Footnote 94: Justinian, says the historian Agathias, (l. v. p. +157,). Yet the specific title of Emperor of the Romans was not used +at Constantinople, till it had been claimed by the French and German +emperors of old Rome.] + +[Footnote 95: Constantine Manasses reprobates this design in his +barbarous verse, and it is confirmed by Theophanes, Zonaras, Cedrenus, +and the Historia Miscella: voluit in urbem Romam Imperium transferre, +(l. xix. p. 157 in tom. i. pars i. of the Scriptores Rer. Ital. of +Muratori.)] + +[Footnote 96: Paul. Diacon. l. v. c. 11, p. 480. Anastasius in Vitis +Pontificum, in Muratori's Collection, tom. iii. pars i. p. 141.] + +[Footnote 97: Consult the preface of Ducange, (ad Gloss, Graec. Medii +Aevi) and the Novels of Justinian, (vii. lxvi.)] + +[Footnote 98: (Matth. Blastares, Hist. Juris, apud Fabric. Bibliot. +Graec. tom. xii. p. 369.) The Code and Pandects (the latter by +Thalelaeus) were translated in the time of Justinian, (p. 358, 366.) +Theophilus one of the original triumvirs, has left an elegant, though +diffuse, paraphrase of the Institutes. On the other hand, Julian, +antecessor of Constantinople, (A.D. 570,) cxx. Novellas Graecas eleganti +Latinitate donavit (Heineccius, Hist. J. R. p. 396) for the use of Italy +and Africa.] + +[Footnote 99: Abulpharagius assigns the viith Dynasty to the Franks +or Romans, the viiith to the Greeks, the ixth to the Arabs. A tempore +Augusti Caesaris donec imperaret Tiberius Caesar spatio circiter annorum +600 fuerunt Imperatores C. P. Patricii, et praecipua pars exercitus +Romani: extra quod, conciliarii, scribae et populus, omnes Graeci +fuerunt: deinde regnum etiam Graecanicum factum est, (p. 96, vers. +Pocock.) The Christian and ecclesiastical studies of Abulpharagius gave +him some advantage over the more ignorant Moslems.] + +[Footnote 100: Primus ex Graecorum genere in Imperio confirmatus est; or +according to another Ms. of Paulus Diaconus, (l. iii. c. 15, p. 443,) in +Orasorum Imperio.] + +[Footnote 101: Quia linguam, mores, vestesque mutastis, putavit +Sanctissimus Papa. (an audacious irony,) ita vos (vobis) displicere +Romanorum nomen. His nuncios, rogabant Nicephorum Imperatorem Graecorum, +ut cum Othone Imperatore Romanorum amicitiam faceret, (Liutprand in +Legatione, p. 486.) * Note: Sicut et vestem. These words follow in the +text of Liutprand, (apud Murat. Script. Ital. tom. ii. p. 486, to which +Gibbon refers.) But with some inaccuracy or confusion, which rarely +occurs in Gibbon's references, the rest of the quotation, which as it +stands is unintelligible, does not appear--M.] + +[Footnote 102: By Laonicus Chalcocondyles, who survived the last siege +of Constantinople, the account is thus stated, (l. i. p. 3.) Constantine +transplanted his Latins of Italy to a Greek city of Thrace: they adopted +the language and manners of the natives, who were confounded with +them under the name of Romans. The kings of Constantinople, says the +historian.] + +While the government of the East was transacted in Latin, the Greek was +the language of literature and philosophy; nor could the masters of +this rich and perfect idiom be tempted to envy the borrowed learning and +imitative taste of their Roman disciples. After the fall of Paganism, +the loss of Syria and Egypt, and the extinction of the schools of +Alexandria and Athens, the studies of the Greeks insensibly retired +to some regular monasteries, and above all, to the royal college of +Constantinople, which was burnt in the reign of Leo the Isaurian. [103] +In the pompous style of the age, the president of that foundation was +named the Sun of Science: his twelve associates, the professors in the +different arts and faculties, were the twelve signs of the zodiac; a +library of thirty-six thousand five hundred volumes was open to their +inquiries; and they could show an ancient manuscript of Homer, on a roll +of parchment one hundred and twenty feet in length, the intestines, as +it was fabled, of a prodigious serpent. [104] But the seventh and eight +centuries were a period of discord and darkness: the library was burnt, +the college was abolished, the Iconoclasts are represented as the +foes of antiquity; and a savage ignorance and contempt of letters has +disgraced the princes of the Heraclean and Isaurian dynasties. [105] + +[Footnote 103: See Ducange, (C. P. Christiana, l. ii. p. 150, 151,) who +collects the testimonies, not of Theophanes, but at least of Zonaras, +(tom. ii. l. xv. p. 104,) Cedrenus, (p. 454,) Michael Glycas, (p. 281,) +Constantine Manasses, (p. 87.) After refuting the absurd charge against +the emperor, Spanheim, (Hist. Imaginum, p. 99-111,) like a true +advocate, proceeds to doubt or deny the reality of the fire, and almost +of the library.] + +[Footnote 104: According to Malchus, (apud Zonar. l. xiv. p. 53,) this +Homer was burnt in the time of Basiliscus. The Ms. might be renewed--But +on a serpent's skin? Most strange and incredible!] + +[Footnote 105: The words of Zonaras, and of Cedrenus, are strong words, +perhaps not ill suited to those reigns.] + +In the ninth century we trace the first dawnings of the restoration +of science. [106] After the fanaticism of the Arabs had subsided, the +caliphs aspired to conquer the arts, rather than the provinces, of the +empire: their liberal curiosity rekindled the emulation of the Greeks, +brushed away the dust from their ancient libraries, and taught them to +know and reward the philosophers, whose labors had been hitherto repaid +by the pleasure of study and the pursuit of truth. The Caesar Bardas, +the uncle of Michael the Third, was the generous protector of letters, +a title which alone has preserved his memory and excused his ambition. A +particle of the treasures of his nephew was sometimes diverted from +the indulgence of vice and folly; a school was opened in the palace +of Magnaura; and the presence of Bardas excited the emulation of the +masters and students. At their head was the philosopher Leo, archbishop +of Thessalonica: his profound skill in astronomy and the mathematics +was admired by the strangers of the East; and this occult science +was magnified by vulgar credulity, which modestly supposes that all +knowledge superior to its own must be the effect of inspiration +or magic. At the pressing entreaty of the Caesar, his friend, the +celebrated Photius, [107] renounced the freedom of a secular and +studious life, ascended the patriarchal throne, and was alternately +excommunicated and absolved by the synods of the East and West. By the +confession even of priestly hatred, no art or science, except poetry, +was foreign to this universal scholar, who was deep in thought, +indefatigable in reading, and eloquent in diction. Whilst he exercised +the office of protospathaire or captain of the guards, Photius was sent +ambassador to the caliph of Bagdad. [108] The tedious hours of exile, +perhaps of confinement, were beguiled by the hasty composition of his +Library, a living monument of erudition and criticism. Two hundred and +fourscore writers, historians, orators, philosophers, theologians, are +reviewed without any regular method: he abridges their narrative or +doctrine, appreciates their style and character, and judges even the +fathers of the church with a discreet freedom, which often breaks +through the superstition of the times. The emperor Basil, who lamented +the defects of his own education, intrusted to the care of Photius his +son and successor, Leo the philosopher; and the reign of that prince and +of his son Constantine Porphyrogenitus forms one of the most prosperous +aeras of the Byzantine literature. By their munificence the treasures +of antiquity were deposited in the Imperial library; by their pens, +or those of their associates, they were imparted in such extracts +and abridgments as might amuse the curiosity, without oppressing the +indolence, of the public. Besides the Basilics, or code of laws, the +arts of husbandry and war, of feeding or destroying the human species, +were propagated with equal diligence; and the history of Greece and Rome +was digested into fifty-three heads or titles, of which two only (of +embassies, and of virtues and vices) have escaped the injuries of time. +In every station, the reader might contemplate the image of the past +world, apply the lesson or warning of each page, and learn to admire, +perhaps to imitate, the examples of a brighter period. I shall not +expatiate on the works of the Byzantine Greeks, who, by the assiduous +study of the ancients, have deserved, in some measure, the remembrance +and gratitude of the moderns. The scholars of the present age may still +enjoy the benefit of the philosophical commonplace book of Stobaeus, the +grammatical and historical lexicon of Suidas, the Chiliads of Tzetzes, +which comprise six hundred narratives in twelve thousand verses, and the +commentaries on Homer of Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, who, +from his horn of plenty, has poured the names and authorities of four +hundred writers. From these originals, and from the numerous tribe +of scholiasts and critics, [109] some estimate may be formed of the +literary wealth of the twelfth century: Constantinople was enlightened +by the genius of Homer and Demosthenes, of Aristotle and Plato: and +in the enjoyment or neglect of our present riches, we must envy the +generation that could still peruse the history of Theopompus, the +orations of Hyperides, the comedies of Menander, [110] and the odes of +Alcaeus and Sappho. The frequent labor of illustration attests not only +the existence, but the popularity, of the Grecian classics: the general +knowledge of the age may be deduced from the example of two learned +females, the empress Eudocia, and the princess Anna Comnena, who +cultivated, in the purple, the arts of rhetoric and philosophy. [111] +The vulgar dialect of the city was gross and barbarous: a more correct +and elaborate style distinguished the discourse, or at least the +compositions, of the church and palace, which sometimes affected to copy +the purity of the Attic models. + +[Footnote 106: See Zonaras (l. xvi. p. 160, 161) and Cedrenus, (p. 549, +550.) Like Friar Bacon, the philosopher Leo has been transformed by +ignorance into a conjurer; yet not so undeservedly, if he be the author +of the oracles more commonly ascribed to the emperor of the same name. +The physics of Leo in Ms. are in the library of Vienna, (Fabricius, +Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p 366, tom. xii. p. 781.) Qui serant!] + +[Footnote 107: The ecclesiastical and literary character of Photius is +copiously discussed by Hanckius (de Scriptoribus Byzant. p. 269, 396) +and Fabricius.] + +[Footnote 108: It can only mean Bagdad, the seat of the caliphs and the +relation of his embassy might have been curious and instructive. But how +did he procure his books? A library so numerous could neither be found +at Bagdad, nor transported with his baggage, nor preserved in his +memory. Yet the last, however incredible, seems to be affirmed by +Photius himself. Camusat (Hist. Critique des Journaux, p. 87-94) gives +a good account of the Myriobiblon.] + +[Footnote 109: Of these modern Greeks, see the respective articles in +the Bibliotheca Graeca of Fabricius--a laborious work, yet susceptible +of a better method and many improvements; of Eustathius, (tom. i. p. +289-292, 306-329,) of the Pselli, (a diatribe of Leo Allatius, ad +calcem tom. v., of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, tom. vi. p. 486-509) +of John Stobaeus, (tom. viii., 665-728,) of Suidas, (tom. ix. p. +620-827,) John Tzetzes, (tom. xii. p. 245-273.) Mr. Harris, in his +Philological Arrangements, opus senile, has given a sketch of this +Byzantine learning, (p. 287-300.)] + +[Footnote 110: From the obscure and hearsay evidence, Gerard Vossius (de +Poetis Graecis, c. 6) and Le Clerc (Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. xix. p. +285) mention a commentary of Michael Psellus on twenty-four plays +of Menander, still extant in Ms. at Constantinople. Yet such classic +studies seem incompatible with the gravity or dulness of a schoolman, +who pored over the categories, (de Psellis, p. 42;) and Michael has +probably been confounded with Homerus Sellius, who wrote arguments to +the comedies of Menander. In the xth century, Suidas quotes fifty plays, +but he often transcribes the old scholiast of Aristophanes.] + +[Footnote 111: Anna Comnena may boast of her Greek style, and Zonaras +her contemporary, but not her flatterer, may add with truth. The +princess was conversant with the artful dialogues of Plato; and had +studied quadrivium of astrology, geometry, arithmetic, and music, (see +he preface to the Alexiad, with Ducange's notes)] + +In our modern education, the painful though necessary attainment of two +languages, which are no longer living, may consume the time and damp +the ardor of the youthful student. The poets and orators were long +imprisoned in the barbarous dialects of our Western ancestors, devoid +of harmony or grace; and their genius, without precept or example, was +abandoned to the rule and native powers of their judgment and fancy. But +the Greeks of Constantinople, after purging away the impurities of their +vulgar speech, acquired the free use of their ancient language, the most +happy composition of human art, and a familiar knowledge of the sublime +masters who had pleased or instructed the first of nations. But these +advantages only tend to aggravate the reproach and shame of a degenerate +people. They held in their lifeless hands the riches of their fathers, +without inheriting the spirit which had created and improved that sacred +patrimony: they read, they praised, they compiled, but their languid +souls seemed alike incapable of thought and action. In the revolution of +ten centuries, not a single discovery was made to exalt the dignity or +promote the happiness of mankind. Not a single idea has been added +to the speculative systems of antiquity, and a succession of patient +disciples became in their turn the dogmatic teachers of the next +servile generation. Not a single composition of history, philosophy, or +literature, has been saved from oblivion by the intrinsic beauties of +style or sentiment, of original fancy, or even of successful imitation. +In prose, the least offensive of the Byzantine writers are absolved from +censure by their naked and unpresuming simplicity: but the orators, most +eloquent [112] in their own conceit, are the farthest removed from the +models whom they affect to emulate. In every page our taste and reason +are wounded by the choice of gigantic and obsolete words, a stiff and +intricate phraseology, the discord of images, the childish play of false +or unseasonable ornament, and the painful attempt to elevate themselves, +to astonish the reader, and to involve a trivial meaning in the smoke +of obscurity and exaggeration. Their prose is soaring to the vicious +affectation of poetry: their poetry is sinking below the flatness and +insipidity of prose. The tragic, epic, and lyric muses, were silent and +inglorious: the bards of Constantinople seldom rose above a riddle or +epigram, a panegyric or tale; they forgot even the rules of prosody; and +with the melody of Homer yet sounding in their ears, they confound +all measure of feet and syllables in the impotent strains which have +received the name of political or city verses. [113] The minds of the +Greek were bound in the fetters of a base and imperious superstition +which extends her dominion round the circle of profane science. Their +understandings were bewildered in metaphysical controversy: in the +belief of visions and miracles, they had lost all principles of moral +evidence, and their taste was vitiates by the homilies of the monks, +an absurd medley of declamation and Scripture. Even these contemptible +studies were no longer dignified by the abuse of superior talents: the +leaders of the Greek church were humbly content to admire and copy the +oracles of antiquity, nor did the schools of pulpit produce any rivals +of the fame of Athanasius and Chrysostom. [114] + +[Footnote 112: To censure the Byzantine taste. Ducange (Praefat. Gloss. +Graec. p. 17) strings the authorities of Aulus Gellius, Jerom, Petronius +George Hamartolus, Longinus; who give at once the precept and the +example.] + +[Footnote 113: The versus politici, those common prostitutes, as, from +their easiness, they are styled by Leo Allatius, usually consist of +fifteen syllables. They are used by Constantine Manasses, John Tzetzes, +&c. (Ducange, Gloss. Latin. tom. iii. p. i. p. 345, 346, edit. Basil, +1762.)] + +[Footnote 114: As St. Bernard of the Latin, so St. John Damascenus in +the viiith century is revered as the last father of the Greek, church.] + +In all the pursuits of active and speculative life, the emulation of +states and individuals is the most powerful spring of the efforts and +improvements of mankind. The cities of ancient Greece were cast in the +happy mixture of union and independence, which is repeated on a larger +scale, but in a looser form, by the nations of modern Europe; the union +of language, religion, and manners, which renders them the spectators +and judges of each other's merit; [115] the independence of government +and interest, which asserts their separate freedom, and excites them +to strive for preeminence in the career of glory. The situation of the +Romans was less favorable; yet in the early ages of the republic, which +fixed the national character, a similar emulation was kindled among the +states of Latium and Italy; and in the arts and sciences, they aspired +to equal or surpass their Grecian masters. The empire of the Caesars +undoubtedly checked the activity and progress of the human mind; its +magnitude might indeed allow some scope for domestic competition; but +when it was gradually reduced, at first to the East and at last to +Greece and Constantinople, the Byzantine subjects were degraded to an +abject and languid temper, the natural effect of their solitary and +insulated state. From the North they were oppressed by nameless tribes +of Barbarians, to whom they scarcely imparted the appellation of +men. The language and religion of the more polished Arabs were an +insurmountable bar to all social intercourse. The conquerors of Europe +were their brethren in the Christian faith; but the speech of the Franks +or Latins was unknown, their manners were rude, and they were rarely +connected, in peace or war, with the successors of Heraclius. Alone in +the universe, the self-satisfied pride of the Greeks was not disturbed +by the comparison of foreign merit; and it is no wonder if they fainted +in the race, since they had neither competitors to urge their speed, +nor judges to crown their victory. The nations of Europe and Asia +were mingled by the expeditions to the Holy Land; and it is under the +Comnenian dynasty that a faint emulation of knowledge and military +virtue was rekindled in the Byzantine empire. [Footnote 115: Hume's +Essays, vol. i. p. 125] + + + + +Chapter LIV: Origin And Doctrine Of The Paulicians.--Part I. + + Origin And Doctrine Of The Paulicians.--Their Persecution By + The Greek Emperors.--Revolt In Armenia &c.--Transplantation + Into Thrace.--Propagation In The West.--The Seeds, + Character, And Consequences Of The Reformation. + +In the profession of Christianity, the variety of national characters +may be clearly distinguished. The natives of Syria and Egypt abandoned +their lives to lazy and contemplative devotion: Rome again aspired to +the dominion of the world; and the wit of the lively and loquacious +Greeks was consumed in the disputes of metaphysical theology. The +incomprehensible mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation, instead +of commanding their silent submission, were agitated in vehement and +subtile controversies, which enlarged their faith at the expense, +perhaps, of their charity and reason. From the council of Nice to +the end of the seventh century, the peace and unity of the church was +invaded by these spiritual wars; and so deeply did they affect the +decline and fall of the empire, that the historian has too often been +compelled to attend the synods, to explore the creeds, and to enumerate +the sects, of this busy period of ecclesiastical annals. From the +beginning of the eighth century to the last ages of the Byzantine +empire, the sound of controversy was seldom heard: curiosity was +exhausted, zeal was fatigued, and, in the decrees of six councils, the +articles of the Catholic faith had been irrevocably defined. The spirit +of dispute, however vain and pernicious, requires some energy and +exercise of the mental faculties; and the prostrate Greeks were content +to fast, to pray, and to believe in blind obedience to the patriarch +and his clergy. During a long dream of superstition, the Virgin and +the Saints, their visions and miracles, their relics and images, were +preached by the monks, and worshipped by the people; and the appellation +of people might be extended, without injustice, to the first ranks +of civil society. At an unseasonable moment, the Isaurian emperors +attempted somewhat rudely to awaken their subjects: under their +influence reason might obtain some proselytes, a far greater number was +swayed by interest or fear; but the Eastern world embraced or deplored +their visible deities, and the restoration of images was celebrated +as the feast of orthodoxy. In this passive and unanimous state the +ecclesiastical rulers were relieved from the toil, or deprived of the +pleasure, of persecution. The Pagans had disappeared; the Jews were +silent and obscure; the disputes with the Latins were rare and remote +hostilities against a national enemy; and the sects of Egypt and Syria +enjoyed a free toleration under the shadow of the Arabian caliphs. About +the middle of the seventh century, a branch of Manichaeans was selected +as the victims of spiritual tyranny; their patience was at length +exasperated to despair and rebellion; and their exile has scattered over +the West the seeds of reformation. These important events will justify +some inquiry into the doctrine and story of the Paulicians; [1] and, as +they cannot plead for themselves, our candid criticism will magnify +the good, and abate or suspect the evil, that is reported by their +adversaries. + +[Footnote 1: The errors and virtues of the Paulicians are weighed, +with his usual judgment and candor, by the learned Mosheim, (Hist. +Ecclesiast. seculum ix. p. 311, &c.) He draws his original intelligence +from Photius (contra Manichaeos, l. i.) and Peter Siculus, (Hist. +Manichaeorum.) The first of these accounts has not fallen into my +hands; the second, which Mosheim prefers, I have read in a Latin version +inserted in the Maxima Bibliotheca Patrum, (tom. xvi. p. 754-764,) from +the edition of the Jesuit Raderus, (Ingolstadii, 1604, in 4to.) * Note: +Compare Hallam's Middle Ages, p. 461-471. Mr. Hallam justly observes +that this chapter "appears to be accurate as well as luminous, and is at +least far superior to any modern work on the subject."--M.] + +The Gnostics, who had distracted the infancy, were oppressed by +the greatness and authority, of the church. Instead of emulating or +surpassing the wealth, learning, and numbers of the Catholics, their +obscure remnant was driven from the capitals of the East and West, +and confined to the villages and mountains along the borders of the +Euphrates. Some vestige of the Marcionites may be detected in the fifth +century; [2] but the numerous sects were finally lost in the odious name +of the Manichaeans; and these heretics, who presumed to reconcile the +doctrines of Zoroaster and Christ, were pursued by the two religions +with equal and unrelenting hatred. Under the grandson of Heraclius, in +the neighborhood of Samosata, more famous for the birth of Lucian than +for the title of a Syrian kingdom, a reformer arose, esteemed by the +Paulicians as the chosen messenger of truth. In his humble dwelling of +Mananalis, Constantine entertained a deacon, who returned from Syrian +captivity, and received the inestimable gift of the New Testament, which +was already concealed from the vulgar by the prudence of the Greek, and +perhaps of the Gnostic, clergy. [3] These books became the measure of +his studies and the rule of his faith; and the Catholics, who dispute +his interpretation, acknowledge that his text was genuine and sincere. +But he attached himself with peculiar devotion to the writings and +character of St. Paul: the name of the Paulicians is derived by their +enemies from some unknown and domestic teacher; but I am confident +that they gloried in their affinity to the apostle of the Gentiles. +His disciples, Titus, Timothy, Sylvanus, Tychicus, were represented by +Constantine and his fellow-laborers: the names of the apostolic churches +were applied to the congregations which they assembled in Armenia and +Cappadocia; and this innocent allegory revived the example and memory +of the first ages. In the Gospel, and the Epistles of St. Paul, his +faithful follower investigated the Creed of primitive Christianity; +and, whatever might be the success, a Protestant reader will applaud +the spirit, of the inquiry. But if the Scriptures of the Paulicians were +pure, they were not perfect. Their founders rejected the two Epistles of +St. Peter, [4] the apostle of the circumcision, whose dispute with their +favorite for the observance of the law could not easily be forgiven. [5] +They agreed with their Gnostic brethren in the universal contempt for +the Old Testament, the books of Moses and the prophets, which have been +consecrated by the decrees of the Catholic church. With equal boldness, +and doubtless with more reason, Constantine, the new Sylvanus, +disclaimed the visions, which, in so many bulky and splendid volumes, +had been published by the Oriental sects; [6] the fabulous productions +of the Hebrew patriarchs and the sages of the East; the spurious +gospels, epistles, and acts, which in the first age had overwhelmed the +orthodox code; the theology of Manes, and the authors of the kindred +heresies; and the thirty generations, or aeons, which had been created +by the fruitful fancy of Valentine. The Paulicians sincerely condemned +the memory and opinions of the Manichaean sect, and complained of the +injustice which impressed that invidious name on the simple votaries of +St. Paul and of Christ. + +[Footnote 2: In the time of Theodoret, the diocese of Cyrrhus, in Syria, +contained eight hundred villages. Of these, two were inhabited by Arians +and Eunomians, and eight by Marcionites, whom the laborious bishop +reconciled to the Catholic church, (Dupin, Bibliot. Ecclesiastique, tom. +iv. p. 81, 82.)] + +[Footnote 3: Nobis profanis ista (sacra Evangelia) legere non licet sed +sacerdotibus duntaxat, was the first scruple of a Catholic when he was +advised to read the Bible, (Petr. Sicul. p. 761.)] + +[Footnote 4: In rejecting the second Epistle of St. Peter, the +Paulicians are justified by some of the most respectable of the ancients +and moderns, (see Wetstein ad loc., Simon, Hist. Critique du Nouveau +Testament, c. 17.) They likewise overlooked the Apocalypse, (Petr. +Sicul. p. 756;) but as such neglect is not imputed as a crime, the +Greeks of the ixth century must have been careless of the credit and +honor of the Revelations.] + +[Footnote 5: This contention, which has not escaped the malice of +Porphyry, supposes some error and passion in one or both of the +apostles. By Chrysostom, Jerome, and Erasmus, it is represented as a +sham quarrel a pious fraud, for the benefit of the Gentiles and the +correction of the Jews, (Middleton's Works, vol. ii. p. 1-20.)] + +[Footnote 6: Those who are curious of this heterodox library, may +consult the researches of Beausobre, (Hist. Critique du Manicheisme, +tom. i. p. 305-437.) Even in Africa, St. Austin could describe the +Manichaean books, tam multi, tam grandes, tam pretiosi codices, (contra +Faust. xiii. 14;) but he adds, without pity, Incendite omnes illas +membranas: and his advice had been rigorously followed.] + +Of the ecclesiastical chain, many links had been broken by the Paulician +reformers; and their liberty was enlarged, as they reduced the number of +masters, at whose voice profane reason must bow to mystery and miracle. +The early separation of the Gnostics had preceded the establishment of +the Catholic worship; and against the gradual innovations of discipline +and doctrine they were as strongly guarded by habit and aversion, as by +the silence of St. Paul and the evangelists. The objects which had been +transformed by the magic of superstition, appeared to the eyes of the +Paulicians in their genuine and naked colors. An image made without +hands was the common workmanship of a mortal artist, to whose skill +alone the wood and canvas must be indebted for their merit or value. The +miraculous relics were a heap of bones and ashes, destitute of life or +virtue, or of any relation, perhaps, with the person to whom they were +ascribed. The true and vivifying cross was a piece of sound or rotten +timber, the body and blood of Christ, a loaf of bread and a cup of wine, +the gifts of nature and the symbols of grace. The mother of God was +degraded from her celestial honors and immaculate virginity; and the +saints and angels were no longer solicited to exercise the laborious +office of meditation in heaven, and ministry upon earth. In the +practice, or at least in the theory, of the sacraments, the Paulicians +were inclined to abolish all visible objects of worship, and the words +of the gospel were, in their judgment, the baptism and communion of the +faithful. They indulged a convenient latitude for the interpretation of +Scripture: and as often as they were pressed by the literal sense, they +could escape to the intricate mazes of figure and allegory. Their utmost +diligence must have been employed to dissolve the connection between the +Old and the New Testament; since they adored the latter as the oracles +of God, and abhorred the former as the fabulous and absurd invention of +men or daemons. We cannot be surprised, that they should have found +in the Gospel the orthodox mystery of the Trinity: but, instead of +confessing the human nature and substantial sufferings of Christ, they +amused their fancy with a celestial body that passed through the virgin +like water through a pipe; with a fantastic crucifixion, that eluded the +vain and important malice of the Jews. A creed thus simple and spiritual +was not adapted to the genius of the times; [7] and the rational +Christian, who might have been contented with the light yoke and +easy burden of Jesus and his apostles, was justly offended, that the +Paulicians should dare to violate the unity of God, the first article of +natural and revealed religion. Their belief and their trust was in the +Father, of Christ, of the human soul, and of the invisible world. + +But they likewise held the eternity of matter; a stubborn and rebellious +substance, the origin of a second principle of an active being, who has +created this visible world, and exercises his temporal reign till the +final consummation of death and sin. [8] The appearances of moral +and physical evil had established the two principles in the ancient +philosophy and religion of the East; from whence this doctrine was +transfused to the various swarms of the Gnostics. A thousand shades may +be devised in the nature and character of Ahriman, from a rival god to +a subordinate daemon, from passion and frailty to pure and perfect +malevolence: but, in spite of our efforts, the goodness, and the power, +of Ormusd are placed at the opposite extremities of the line; and every +step that approaches the one must recede in equal proportion from the +other. [9] + +[Footnote 7: The six capital errors of the Paulicians are defined by +Peter (p. 756,) with much prejudice and passion.] + +[Footnote 8: Primum illorum axioma est, duo rerum esse principia; Deum +malum et Deum bonum, aliumque hujus mundi conditorem et princi pem, et +alium futuri aevi, (Petr. Sicul. 765.)] + +[Footnote 9: Two learned critics, Beausobre (Hist. Critique du +Manicheisme, l. i. iv. v. vi.) and Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. and +de Rebus Christianis ante Constantinum, sec. i. ii. iii.,) have labored +to explore and discriminate the various systems of the Gnostics on the +subject of the two principles.] + +The apostolic labors of Constantine Sylvanus soon multiplied the number +of his disciples, the secret recompense of spiritual ambition. The +remnant of the Gnostic sects, and especially the Manichaeans of Armenia, +were united under his standard; many Catholics were converted or seduced +by his arguments; and he preached with success in the regions of Pontus +[10] and Cappadocia, which had long since imbibed the religion of +Zoroaster. The Paulician teachers were distinguished only by their +Scriptural names, by the modest title of Fellow-pilgrims, by the +austerity of their lives, their zeal or knowledge, and the credit of +some extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. But they were incapable +of desiring, or at least of obtaining, the wealth and honors of the +Catholic prelacy; such anti-Christian pride they bitterly censured; and +even the rank of elders or presbyters was condemned as an institution of +the Jewish synagogue. The new sect was loosely spread over the provinces +of Asia Minor to the westward of the Euphrates; six of their principal +congregations represented the churches to which St. Paul had addressed +his epistles; and their founder chose his residence in the neighborhood +of Colonia, [11] in the same district of Pontus which had been +celebrated by the altars of Bellona [12] and the miracles of Gregory. +[13] After a mission of twenty-seven years, Sylvanus, who had retired +from the tolerating government of the Arabs, fell a sacrifice to Roman +persecution. The laws of the pious emperors, which seldom touched the +lives of less odious heretics, proscribed without mercy or disguise the +tenets, the books, and the persons of the Montanists and Manichaeans: +the books were delivered to the flames; and all who should presume to +secrete such writings, or to profess such opinions, were devoted to an +ignominious death. [14] A Greek minister, armed with legal and military +powers, appeared at Colonia to strike the shepherd, and to reclaim, if +possible, the lost sheep. By a refinement of cruelty, Simeon placed the +unfortunate Sylvanus before a line of his disciples, who were commanded, +as the price of their pardon and the proof of their repentance, to +massacre their spiritual father. They turned aside from the impious +office; the stones dropped from their filial hands, and of the whole +number, only one executioner could be found, a new David, as he is +styled by the Catholics, who boldly overthrew the giant of heresy. +This apostate (Justin was his name) again deceived and betrayed his +unsuspecting brethren, and a new conformity to the acts of St. Paul may +be found in the conversion of Simeon: like the apostle, he embraced the +doctrine which he had been sent to persecute, renounced his honors and +fortunes, and required among the Paulicians the fame of a missionary and +a martyr. They were not ambitious of martyrdom, [15] but in a calamitous +period of one hundred and fifty years, their patience sustained +whatever zeal could inflict; and power was insufficient to eradicate the +obstinate vegetation of fanaticism and reason. From the blood and +ashes of the first victims, a succession of teachers and congregations +repeatedly arose: amidst their foreign hostilities, they found leisure +for domestic quarrels: they preached, they disputed, they suffered; +and the virtues, the apparent virtues, of Sergius, in a pilgrimage +of thirty-three years, are reluctantly confessed by the orthodox +historians. [16] The native cruelty of Justinian the Second was +stimulated by a pious cause; and he vainly hoped to extinguish, in a +single conflagration, the name and memory of the Paulicians. By their +primitive simplicity, their abhorrence of popular superstition, +the Iconoclast princes might have been reconciled to some erroneous +doctrines; but they themselves were exposed to the calumnies of the +monks, and they chose to be the tyrants, lest they should be accused +as the accomplices, of the Manichaeans. Such a reproach has sullied the +clemency of Nicephorus, who relaxed in their favor the severity of +the penal statutes, nor will his character sustain the honor of a +more liberal motive. The feeble Michael the First, the rigid Leo the +Armenian, were foremost in the race of persecution; but the prize +must doubtless be adjudged to the sanguinary devotion of Theodora, who +restored the images to the Oriental church. Her inquisitors explored +the cities and mountains of the Lesser Asia, and the flatterers of +the empress have affirmed that, in a short reign, one hundred thousand +Paulicians were extirpated by the sword, the gibbet, or the flames. Her +guilt or merit has perhaps been stretched beyond the measure of truth: +but if the account be allowed, it must be presumed that many simple +Iconoclasts were punished under a more odious name; and that some who +were driven from the church, unwillingly took refuge in the bosom of +heresy. + +[Footnote 10: The countries between the Euphrates and the Halys were +possessed above 350 years by the Medes (Herodot. l. i. c. 103) and +Persians; and the kings of Pontus were of the royal race of the +Achaemenides, (Sallust. Fragment. l. iii. with the French supplement and +notes of the president de Brosses.)] + +[Footnote 11: Most probably founded by Pompey after the conquest of +Pontus. This Colonia, on the Lycus, above Neo-Caesarea, is named by +the Turks Coulei-hisar, or Chonac, a populous town in a strong country, +(D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 34. Tournefort, Voyage du +Levant, tom. iii. lettre xxi. p. 293.)] + +[Footnote 12: The temple of Bellona, at Comana in Pontus was a powerful +and wealthy foundation, and the high priest was respected as the second +person in the kingdom. As the sacerdotal office had been occupied by +his mother's family, Strabo (l. xii. p. 809, 835, 836, 837) dwells with +peculiar complacency on the temple, the worship, and festival, which was +twice celebrated every year. But the Bellona of Pontus had the features +and character of the goddess, not of war, but of love.] + +[Footnote 13: Gregory, bishop of Neo-Caesarea, (A.D. 240-265,) surnamed +Thaumaturgus, or the Wonder-worker. An hundred years afterwards, the +history or romance of his life was composed by Gregory of Nyssa, his +namesake and countryman, the brother of the great St. Basil.] + +[Footnote 14: Hoc caeterum ad sua egregia facinora, divini atque +orthodoxi Imperatores addiderunt, ut Manichaeos Montanosque capitali +puniri sententia juberent, eorumque libros, quocunque in loco +inventi essent, flammis tradi; quod siquis uspiam eosdem occultasse +deprehenderetur, hunc eundem mortis poenae addici, ejusque bona in +fiscum inferri, (Petr. Sicul. p. 759.) What more could bigotry and +persecution desire?] + +[Footnote 15: It should seem, that the Paulicians allowed themselves +some latitude of equivocation and mental reservation; till the Catholics +discovered the pressing questions, which reduced them to the alternative +of apostasy or martyrdom, (Petr. Sicul. p. 760.)] + +[Footnote 16: The persecution is told by Petrus Siculus (p. 579-763) +with satisfaction and pleasantry. Justus justa persolvit. See likewise +Cedrenus, (p. 432-435.)] + +The most furious and desperate of rebels are the sectaries of a religion +long persecuted, and at length provoked. In a holy cause they are no +longer susceptible of fear or remorse: the justice of their arms hardens +them against the feelings of humanity; and they revenge their fathers' +wrongs on the children of their tyrants. Such have been the Hussites of +Bohemia and the Calvinists of France, and such, in the ninth century, +were the Paulicians of Armenia and the adjacent provinces. [17] They +were first awakened to the massacre of a governor and bishop, who +exercised the Imperial mandate of converting or destroying the heretics; +and the deepest recesses of Mount Argaeus protected their independence +and revenge. A more dangerous and consuming flame was kindled by the +persecution of Theodora, and the revolt of Carbeas, a valiant Paulician, +who commanded the guards of the general of the East. His father had been +impaled by the Catholic inquisitors; and religion, or at least nature, +might justify his desertion and revenge. Five thousand of his brethren +were united by the same motives; they renounced the allegiance of +anti-Christian Rome; a Saracen emir introduced Carbeas to the caliph; +and the commander of the faithful extended his sceptre to the implacable +enemy of the Greeks. In the mountains between Siwas and Trebizond he +founded or fortified the city of Tephrice, [18] which is still occupied +by a fierce or licentious people, and the neighboring hills were covered +with the Paulician fugitives, who now reconciled the use of the Bible +and the sword. During more than thirty years, Asia was afflicted by the +calamities of foreign and domestic war; in their hostile inroads, +the disciples of St. Paul were joined with those of Mahomet; and +the peaceful Christians, the aged parent and tender virgin, who were +delivered into barbarous servitude, might justly accuse the intolerant +spirit of their sovereign. So urgent was the mischief, so intolerable +the shame, that even the dissolute Michael, the son of Theodora, was +compelled to march in person against the Paulicians: he was defeated +under the walls of Samosata; and the Roman emperor fled before the +heretics whom his mother had condemned to the flames. The Saracens +fought under the same banners, but the victory was ascribed to Carbeas; +and the captive generals, with more than a hundred tribunes, were either +released by his avarice, or tortured by his fanaticism. The valor and +ambition of Chrysocheir, [19] his successor, embraced a wider circle +of rapine and revenge. In alliance with his faithful Moslems, he boldly +penetrated into the heart of Asia; the troops of the frontier and +the palace were repeatedly overthrown; the edicts of persecution were +answered by the pillage of Nice and Nicomedia, of Ancyra and Ephesus; +nor could the apostle St. John protect from violation his city and +sepulchre. The cathedral of Ephesus was turned into a stable for mules +and horses; and the Paulicians vied with the Saracens in their contempt +and abhorrence of images and relics. It is not unpleasing to observe +the triumph of rebellion over the same despotism which had disdained +the prayers of an injured people. The emperor Basil, the Macedonian, +was reduced to sue for peace, to offer a ransom for the captives, and +to request, in the language of moderation and charity, that Chrysocheir +would spare his fellow-Christians, and content himself with a royal +donative of gold and silver and silk garments. "If the emperor," replied +the insolent fanatic, "be desirous of peace, let him abdicate the East, +and reign without molestation in the West. If he refuse, the servants +of the Lord will precipitate him from the throne." The reluctant Basil +suspended the treaty, accepted the defiance, and led his army into the +land of heresy, which he wasted with fire and sword. The open country +of the Paulicians was exposed to the same calamities which they had +inflicted; but when he had explored the strength of Tephrice, the +multitude of the Barbarians, and the ample magazines of arms and +provisions, he desisted with a sigh from the hopeless siege. On his +return to Constantinople, he labored, by the foundation of convents and +churches, to secure the aid of his celestial patrons, of Michael the +archangel and the prophet Elijah; and it was his daily prayer that he +might live to transpierce, with three arrows, the head of his impious +adversary. Beyond his expectations, the wish was accomplished: after a +successful inroad, Chrysocheir was surprised and slain in his retreat; +and the rebel's head was triumphantly presented at the foot of the +throne. On the reception of this welcome trophy, Basil instantly called +for his bow, discharged three arrows with unerring aim, and accepted the +applause of the court, who hailed the victory of the royal archer. With +Chrysocheir, the glory of the Paulicians faded and withered: [20] on the +second expedition of the emperor, the impregnable Tephrice, was deserted +by the heretics, who sued for mercy or escaped to the borders. The city +was ruined, but the spirit of independence survived in the mountains: +the Paulicians defended, above a century, their religion and liberty, +infested the Roman limits, and maintained their perpetual alliance with +the enemies of the empire and the gospel. + +[Footnote 17: Petrus Siculus, (p. 763, 764,) the continuator of +Theophanes, (l. iv. c. 4, p. 103, 104,) Cedrenus, (p. 541, 542, 545,) +and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xvi. p. 156,) describe the revolt and exploits +of Carbeas and his Paulicians.] + +[Footnote 18: Otter (Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, tom. ii.) is +probably the only Frank who has visited the independent Barbarians of +Tephrice now Divrigni, from whom he fortunately escaped in the train of +a Turkish officer.] + +[Footnote 19: In the history of Chrysocheir, Genesius (Chron. p. 67-70, +edit. Venet.) has exposed the nakedness of the empire. Constantine +Porphyrogenitus (in Vit. Basil. c. 37-43, p. 166-171) has displayed +the glory of his grandfather. Cedrenus (p. 570-573) is without their +passions or their knowledge.] + +[Footnote 20: How elegant is the Greek tongue, even in the mouth of +Cedrenus!] + + + + +Chapter LIV: Origin And Doctrine Of The Paulicians.--Part II. + +About the middle of the eight century, Constantine, surnamed Copronymus +by the worshippers of images, had made an expedition into Armenia, and +found, in the cities of Melitene and Theodosiopolis, a great number +of Paulicians, his kindred heretics. As a favor, or punishment, he +transplanted them from the banks of the Euphrates to Constantinople +and Thrace; and by this emigration their doctrine was introduced and +diffused in Europe. [21] If the sectaries of the metropolis were soon +mingled with the promiscuous mass, those of the country struck a deep +root in a foreign soil. The Paulicians of Thrace resisted the storms +of persecution, maintained a secret correspondence with their Armenian +brethren, and gave aid and comfort to their preachers, who solicited, +not without success, the infant faith of the Bulgarians. [22] In the +tenth century, they were restored and multiplied by a more powerful +colony, which John Zimisces [23] transported from the Chalybian hills +to the valleys of Mount Haemus. The Oriental clergy who would have +preferred the destruction, impatiently sighed for the absence, of the +Manichaeans: the warlike emperor had felt and esteemed their valor: +their attachment to the Saracens was pregnant with mischief; but, on +the side of the Danube, against the Barbarians of Scythia, their service +might be useful, and their loss would be desirable. Their exile in a +distant land was softened by a free toleration: the Paulicians held the +city of Philippopolis and the keys of Thrace; the Catholics were their +subjects; the Jacobite emigrants their associates: they occupied a +line of villages and castles in Macedonia and Epirus; and many native +Bulgarians were associated to the communion of arms and heresy. As long +as they were awed by power and treated with moderation, their voluntary +bands were distinguished in the armies of the empire; and the courage of +these dogs, ever greedy of war, ever thirsty of human blood, is noticed +with astonishment, and almost with reproach, by the pusillanimous +Greeks. The same spirit rendered them arrogant and contumacious: they +were easily provoked by caprice or injury; and their privileges were +often violated by the faithless bigotry of the government and clergy. +In the midst of the Norman war, two thousand five hundred Manichaeans +deserted the standard of Alexius Comnenus, [24] and retired to their +native homes. He dissembled till the moment of revenge; invited the +chiefs to a friendly conference; and punished the innocent and guilty +by imprisonment, confiscation, and baptism. In an interval of peace, the +emperor undertook the pious office of reconciling them to the church +and state: his winter quarters were fixed at Philippopolis; and the +thirteenth apostle, as he is styled by his pious daughter, consumed +whole days and nights in theological controversy. His arguments were +fortified, their obstinacy was melted, by the honors and rewards which +he bestowed on the most eminent proselytes; and a new city, surrounded +with gardens, enriched with immunities, and dignified with his own name, +was founded by Alexius for the residence of his vulgar converts. The +important station of Philippopolis was wrested from their hands; the +contumacious leaders were secured in a dungeon, or banished from their +country; and their lives were spared by the prudence, rather than the +mercy, of an emperor, at whose command a poor and solitary heretic was +burnt alive before the church of St. Sophia. [25] But the proud hope of +eradicating the prejudices of a nation was speedily overturned by the +invincible zeal of the Paulicians, who ceased to dissemble or refused to +obey. After the departure and death of Alexius, they soon resumed their +civil and religious laws. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, +their pope or primate (a manifest corruption) resided on the confines of +Bulgaria, Croatia, and Dalmatia, and governed, by his vicars, the +filial congregations of Italy and France. [26] From that aera, a minute +scrutiny might prolong and perpetuate the chain of tradition. At the end +of the last age, the sect or colony still inhabited the valleys of Mount +Haemus, where their ignorance and poverty were more frequently +tormented by the Greek clergy than by the Turkish government. The modern +Paulicians have lost all memory of their origin; and their religion +is disgraced by the worship of the cross, and the practice of bloody +sacrifice, which some captives have imported from the wilds of Tartary. +[27] + +[Footnote 21: Copronymus transported his heretics; and thus says +Cedrenus, (p. 463,) who has copied the annals of Theophanes.] + +[Footnote 22: Petrus Siculus, who resided nine months at Tephrice +(A.D. 870) for the ransom of captives, (p. 764,) was informed of +their intended mission, and addressed his preservative, the Historia +Manichaeorum to the new archbishop of the Bulgarians, (p. 754.)] + +[Footnote 23: The colony of Paulicians and Jacobites transplanted by +John Zimisces (A.D. 970) from Armenia to Thrace, is mentioned by Zonaras +(tom. ii. l. xvii. p. 209) and Anna Comnena, (Alexiad, l. xiv. p. 450, +&c.)] + +[Footnote 24: The Alexiad of Anna Comnena (l. v. p. 131, l. vi. p. 154, +155, l. xiv. p. 450-457, with the Annotations of Ducange) records +the transactions of her apostolic father with the Manichaeans, whose +abominable heresy she was desirous of refuting.] + +[Footnote 25: Basil, a monk, and the author of the Bogomiles, a sect of +Gnostics, who soon vanished, (Anna Comnena, Alexiad, l. xv. p. 486-494 +Mosheim, Hist. Ecclesiastica, p. 420.)] + +[Footnote 26: Matt. Paris, Hist. Major, p. 267. This passage of +our English historian is alleged by Ducange in an excellent note on +Villehardouin (No. 208,) who found the Paulicians at Philippopolis the +friends of the Bulgarians.] + +[Footnote 27: See Marsigli, Stato Militare dell' Imperio Ottomano, p. +24.] + +In the West, the first teachers of the Manichaean theology had been +repulsed by the people, or suppressed by the prince. The favor and +success of the Paulicians in the eleventh and twelfth centuries must be +imputed to the strong, though secret, discontent which armed the most +pious Christians against the church of Rome. Her avarice was oppressive, +her despotism odious; less degenerate perhaps than the Greeks in the +worship of saints and images, her innovations were more rapid and +scandalous: she had rigorously defined and imposed the doctrine of +transubstantiation: the lives of the Latin clergy were more corrupt, and +the Eastern bishops might pass for the successors of the apostles, if +they were compared with the lordly prelates, who wielded by turns +the crosier, the sceptre, and the sword. Three different roads might +introduce the Paulicians into the heart of Europe. After the conversion +of Hungary, the pilgrims who visited Jerusalem might safely follow the +course of the Danube: in their journey and return they passed through +Philippopolis; and the sectaries, disguising their name and heresy, +might accompany the French or German caravans to their respective +countries. The trade and dominion of Venice pervaded the coast of the +Adriatic, and the hospitable republic opened her bosom to foreigners of +every climate and religion. Under the Byzantine standard, the Paulicians +were often transported to the Greek provinces of Italy and Sicily: in +peace and war, they freely conversed with strangers and natives, and +their opinions were silently propagated in Rome, Milan, and the kingdoms +beyond the Alps. [28] It was soon discovered, that many thousand +Catholics of every rank, and of either sex, had embraced the Manichaean +heresy; and the flames which consumed twelve canons of Orleans was the +first act and signal of persecution. The Bulgarians, [29] a name so +innocent in its origin, so odious in its application, spread their +branches over the face of Europe. United in common hatred of idolatry +and Rome, they were connected by a form of episcopal and presbyterian +government; their various sects were discriminated by some fainter +or darker shades of theology; but they generally agreed in the two +principles, the contempt of the Old Testament and the denial of the +body of Christ, either on the cross or in the eucharist. A confession of +simple worship and blameless manners is extorted from their enemies; +and so high was their standard of perfection, that the increasing +congregations were divided into two classes of disciples, of those +who practised, and of those who aspired. It was in the country of the +Albigeois, [30] in the southern provinces of France, that the Paulicians +were most deeply implanted; and the same vicissitudes of martyrdom and +revenge which had been displayed in the neighborhood of the Euphrates, +were repeated in the thirteenth century on the banks of the Rhone. The +laws of the Eastern emperors were revived by Frederic the Second. The +insurgents of Tephrice were represented by the barons and cities of +Languedoc: Pope Innocent III. surpassed the sanguinary fame of Theodora. +It was in cruelty alone that her soldiers could equal the heroes of +the Crusades, and the cruelty of her priests was far excelled by the +founders of the Inquisition; [31] an office more adapted to confirm, +than to refute, the belief of an evil principle. The visible assemblies +of the Paulicians, or Albigeois, were extirpated by fire and sword; +and the bleeding remnant escaped by flight, concealment, or Catholic +conformity. But the invincible spirit which they had kindled still lived +and breathed in the Western world. In the state, in the church, and even +in the cloister, a latent succession was preserved of the disciples of +St. Paul; who protested against the tyranny of Rome, embraced the Bible +as the rule of faith, and purified their creed from all the visions of +the Gnostic theology. [3111] The struggles of Wickliff in England, +of Huss in Bohemia, were premature and ineffectual; but the names of +Zuinglius, Luther, and Calvin, are pronounced with gratitude as the +deliverers of nations. + +[Footnote 28: The introduction of the Paulicians into Italy and France +is amply discussed by Muratori (Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. v. +dissert. lx. p. 81-152) and Mosheim, (p. 379-382, 419-422.) Yet both +have overlooked a curious passage of William the Apulian, who clearly +describes them in a battle between the Greeks and Normans, A.D. 1040, +(in Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. tom. v. p. 256:) + + Cum Graecis aderant quidam, quos pessimus error + + Fecerat amentes, et ab ipso nomen habebant. + +But he is so ignorant of their doctrine as to make them a kind of +Sabellians or Patripassians.] + +[Footnote 29: Bulgari, Boulgres, Bougres, a national appellation, +has been applied by the French as a term of reproach to usurers and +unnatural sinners. The Paterini, or Patelini, has been made to signify +a smooth and flattering hypocrite, such as l'Avocat Patelin of that +original and pleasant farce, (Ducange, Gloss. Latinitat. Medii et Infimi +Aevi.) The Manichaeans were likewise named Cathari or the pure, by +corruption. Gazari, &c.] + +[Footnote 30: Of the laws, crusade, and persecution against the +Albigeois, a just, though general, idea is expressed by Mosheim, (p. +477-481.) The detail may be found in the ecclesiastical historians, +ancient and modern, Catholics and Protestants; and amongst these Fleury +is the most impartial and moderate.] + +[Footnote 31: The Acts (Liber Sententiarum) of the Inquisition +of Tholouse (A.D. 1307-1323) have been published by Limborch, +(Amstelodami, 1692,) with a previous History of the Inquisition in +general. They deserved a more learned and critical editor. As we must +not calumniate even Satan, or the Holy Office, I will observe, that of a +list of criminals which fills nineteen folio pages, only fifteen men and +four women were delivered to the secular arm.] + +[Footnote 3111: The popularity of "Milner's History of the Church" +with some readers, may make it proper to observe, that his attempt to +exculpate the Paulicians from the charge of Gnosticism or Manicheism +is in direct defiance, if not in ignorance, of all the original +authorities. Gibbon himself, it appears, was not acquainted with the +work of Photius, "Contra Manicheos Repullulantes," the first book of +which was edited by Montfaucon, Bibliotheca Coisliniana, pars ii. p. +349, 375, the whole by Wolf, in his Anecdota Graeca. Hamburg 1722. +Compare a very sensible tract. Letter to Rev. S. R. Maitland, by J G. +Dowling, M. A. London, 1835.--M.] + +A philosopher, who calculates the degree of their merit and the value of +their reformation, will prudently ask from what articles of faith, above +or against our reason, they have enfranchised the Christians; for such +enfranchisement is doubtless a benefit so far as it may be compatible +with truth and piety. After a fair discussion, we shall rather be +surprised by the timidity, than scandalized by the freedom, of our first +reformers. [32] With the Jews, they adopted the belief and defence of +all the Hebrew Scriptures, with all their prodigies, from the garden of +Eden to the visions of the prophet Daniel; and they were bound, like the +Catholics, to justify against the Jews the abolition of a divine law. +In the great mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation the reformers were +severely orthodox: they freely adopted the theology of the four, or the +six first councils; and with the Athanasian creed, they pronounced +the eternal damnation of all who did not believe the Catholic faith. +Transubstantiation, the invisible change of the bread and wine into the +body and blood of Christ, is a tenet that may defy the power of argument +and pleasantry; but instead of consulting the evidence of their senses, +of their sight, their feeling, and their taste, the first Protestants +were entangled in their own scruples, and awed by the words of Jesus +in the institution of the sacrament. Luther maintained a corporeal, and +Calvin a real, presence of Christ in the eucharist; and the opinion +of Zuinglius, that it is no more than a spiritual communion, a simple +memorial, has slowly prevailed in the reformed churches. [33] But the +loss of one mystery was amply compensated by the stupendous doctrines of +original sin, redemption, faith, grace, and predestination, which have +been strained from the epistles of St. Paul. These subtile questions had +most assuredly been prepared by the fathers and schoolmen; but the final +improvement and popular use may be attributed to the first reformers, +who enforced them as the absolute and essential terms of salvation. +Hitherto the weight of supernatural belief inclines against the +Protestants; and many a sober Christian would rather admit that a wafer +is God, than that God is a cruel and capricious tyrant. + +[Footnote 32: The opinions and proceedings of the reformers are exposed +in the second part of the general history of Mosheim; but the balance, +which he has held with so clear an eye, and so steady a hand, begins to +incline in favor of his Lutheran brethren.] + +[Footnote 33: Under Edward VI. our reformation was more bold and +perfect, but in the fundamental articles of the church of England, +a strong and explicit declaration against the real presence was +obliterated in the original copy, to please the people or the Lutherans, +or Queen Elizabeth, (Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. +82, 128, 302.)] + +Yet the services of Luther and his rivals are solid and important; and +the philosopher must own his obligations to these fearless enthusiasts. +[34] I. By their hands the lofty fabric of superstition, from the abuse +of indulgences to the intercesson of the Virgin, has been levelled +with the ground. Myriads of both sexes of the monastic profession were +restored to the liberty and labors of social life. A hierarchy of saints +and angels, of imperfect and subordinate deities, were stripped of their +temporal power, and reduced to the enjoyment of celestial happiness; +their images and relics were banished from the church; and the credulity +of the people was no longer nourished with the daily repetition of +miracles and visions. The imitation of Paganism was supplied by a pure +and spiritual worship of prayer and thanksgiving, the most worthy +of man, the least unworthy of the Deity. It only remains to observe, +whether such sublime simplicity be consistent with popular devotion; +whether the vulgar, in the absence of all visible objects, will not +be inflamed by enthusiasm, or insensibly subside in languor and +indifference. II. The chain of authority was broken, which restrains +the bigot from thinking as he pleases, and the slave from speaking as he +thinks: the popes, fathers, and councils, were no longer the supreme +and infallible judges of the world; and each Christian was taught +to acknowledge no law but the Scriptures, no interpreter but his own +conscience. This freedom, however, was the consequence, rather than +the design, of the Reformation. The patriot reformers were ambitious of +succeeding the tyrants whom they had dethroned. They imposed with equal +rigor their creeds and confessions; they asserted the right of the +magistrate to punish heretics with death. The pious or personal +animosity of Calvin proscribed in Servetus [35] the guilt of his own +rebellion; [36] and the flames of Smithfield, in which he was afterwards +consumed, had been kindled for the Anabaptists by the zeal of Cranmer. +[37] The nature of the tiger wa s the same, but he was gradually +deprived of his teeth and fangs. A spiritual and temporal kingdom was +possessed by the Roman pontiff; the Protestant doctors were subjects +of an humble rank, without revenue or jurisdiction. His decrees were +consecrated by the antiquity of the Catholic church: their arguments +and disputes were submitted to the people; and their appeal to private +judgment was accepted beyond their wishes, by curiosity and enthusiasm. +Since the days of Luther and Calvin, a secret reformation has been +silently working in the bosom of the reformed churches; many weeds of +prejudice were eradicated; and the disciples of Erasmus [38] diffused +a spirit of freedom and moderation. The liberty of conscience has +been claimed as a common benefit, an inalienable right: [39] the free +governments of Holland [40] and England [41] introduced the practice of +toleration; and the narrow allowance of the laws has been enlarged by +the prudence and humanity of the times. In the exercise, the mind has +understood the limits of its powers, and the words and shadows that +might amuse the child can no longer satisfy his manly reason. The +volumes of controversy are overspread with cobwebs: the doctrine of a +Protestant church is far removed from the knowledge or belief of its +private members; and the forms of orthodoxy, the articles of faith, +are subscribed with a sigh, or a smile, by the modern clergy. Yet the +friends of Christianity are alarmed at the boundless impulse of inquiry +and scepticism. The predictions of the Catholics are accomplished: the +web of mystery is unravelled by the Arminians, Arians, and Socinians, +whose number must not be computed from their separate congregations; and +the pillars of Revelation are shaken by those men who preserve the name +without the substance of religion, who indulge the license without the +temper of philosophy. [42] [4211] + +[Footnote 34: "Had it not been for such men as Luther and myself," +said the fanatic Whiston to Halley the philosopher, "you would now be +kneeling before an image of St. Winifred."] + +[Footnote 35: The article of Servet in the Dictionnaire Critique of +Chauffepie is the best account which I have seen of this shameful +transaction. See likewise the Abbe d'Artigny, Nouveaux Memoires +d'Histoire, &c., tom. ii. p. 55-154.] + +[Footnote 36: I am more deeply scandalized at the single execution of +Servetus, than at the hecatombs which have blazed in the Auto de Fes of +Spain and Portugal. 1. The zeal of Calvin seems to have been envenomed +by personal malice, and perhaps envy. He accused his adversary before +their common enemies, the judges of Vienna, and betrayed, for his +destruction, the sacred trust of a private correspondence. 2. The deed +of cruelty was not varnished by the pretence of danger to the church or +state. In his passage through Geneva, Servetus was a harmless stranger, +who neither preached, nor printed, nor made proselytes. 3. A Catholic +inquisition yields the same obedience which he requires, but Calvin +violated the golden rule of doing as he would be done by; a rule which I +read in a moral treatise of Isocrates (in Nicocle, tom. i. p. 93, edit. +Battie) four hundred years before the publication of the Gospel. * Note: +Gibbon has not accurately rendered the sense of this passage, which does +not contain the maxim of charity Do unto others as you would they should +do unto you, but simply the maxim of justice, Do not to others the which +would offend you if they should do it to you.--G.] + +[Footnote 37: See Burnet, vol. ii. p. 84-86. The sense and humanity of +the young king were oppressed by the authority of the primate.] + +[Footnote 38: Erasmus may be considered as the father of rational +theology. After a slumber of a hundred years, it was revived by the +Arminians of Holland, Grotius, Limborch, and Le Clerc; in England by +Chillingworth, the latitudinarians of Cambridge, (Burnet, Hist. of Own +Times, vol. i. p. 261-268, octavo edition.) Tillotson, Clarke, Hoadley, +&c.] + +[Footnote 39: I am sorry to observe, that the three writers of the +last age, by whom the rights of toleration have been so nobly defended, +Bayle, Leibnitz, and Locke, are all laymen and philosophers.] + +[Footnote 40: See the excellent chapter of Sir William Temple on the +Religion of the United Provinces. I am not satisfied with Grotius, (de +Rebus Belgicis, Annal. l. i. p. 13, 14, edit. in 12mo.,) who approves +the Imperial laws of persecution, and only condemns the bloody tribunal +of the inquisition.] + +[Footnote 41: Sir William Blackstone (Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 53, +54) explains the law of England as it was fixed at the Revolution. The +exceptions of Papists, and of those who deny the Trinity, would still +have a tolerable scope for persecution if the national spirit were not +more effectual than a hundred statutes.] + +[Footnote 42: I shall recommend to public animadversion two passages in +Dr. Priestley, which betray the ultimate tendency of his opinions. At +the first of these (Hist. of the Corruptions of Christianity, vol. i. +p. 275, 276) the priest, at the second (vol. ii. p. 484) the magistrate, +may tremble!] + +[Footnote 4211: There is something ludicrous, if it were not offensive, +in Gibbon holding up to "public animadversion" the opinions of any +believer in Christianity, however imperfect his creed. The observations +which the whole of this passage on the effects of the reformation, +in which much truth and justice is mingled with much prejudice, would +suggest, could not possibly be compressed into a note; and would indeed +embrace the whole religious and irreligious history of the time which +has elapsed since Gibbon wrote.--M.] + + + + +Chapter LV: The Bulgarians, The Hungarians And The Russians.--Part I. + + The Bulgarians.--Origin, Migrations, And Settlement Of The + Hungarians.--Their Inroads In The East And West.--The + Monarchy Of Russia.--Geography And Trade.--Wars Of The + Russians Against The Greek Empire.--Conversion Of The + Barbarians. + +Under the reign of Constantine the grandson of Heraclius, the ancient +barrier of the Danube, so often violated and so often restored, was +irretrievably swept away by a new deluge of Barbarians. Their progress +was favored by the caliphs, their unknown and accidental auxiliaries: +the Roman legions were occupied in Asia; and after the loss of Syria, +Egypt, and Africa, the Caesars were twice reduced to the danger and +disgrace of defending their capital against the Saracens. If, in the +account of this interesting people, I have deviated from the strict and +original line of my undertaking, the merit of the subject will hide my +transgression, or solicit my excuse. In the East, in the West, in war, +in religion, in science, in their prosperity, and in their decay, the +Arabians press themselves on our curiosity: the first overthrow of the +church and empire of the Greeks may be imputed to their arms; and the +disciples of Mahomet still hold the civil and religious sceptre of the +Oriental world. But the same labor would be unworthily bestowed on the +swarms of savages, who, between the seventh and the twelfth century, +descended from the plains of Scythia, in transient inroad or perpetual +emigration. [1] Their names are uncouth, their origins doubtful, their +actions obscure, their superstition was blind, their valor brutal, and +the uniformity of their public and private lives was neither softened +by innocence nor refined by policy. The majesty of the Byzantine throne +repelled and survived their disorderly attacks; the greater part of +these Barbarians has disappeared without leaving any memorial of their +existence, and the despicable remnant continues, and may long continue, +to groan under the dominion of a foreign tyrant. From the antiquities +of, I. Bulgarians, II. Hungarians, and, III. Russians, I shall content +myself with selecting such facts as yet deserve to be remembered. The +conquests of the, IV. Normans, and the monarchy of the, V. Turks, will +naturally terminate in the memorable Crusades to the Holy Land, and the +double fall of the city and empire of Constantine. + +[Footnote 1: All the passages of the Byzantine history which relate to +the Barbarians are compiled, methodized, and transcribed, in a Latin +version, by the laborious John Gotthelf Stritter, in his "Memoriae +Populorum, ad Danubium, Pontum Euxinum, Paludem Maeotidem, Caucasum, +Mare Caspium, et inde Magis ad Septemtriones incolentium." Petropoli, +1771-1779; in four tomes, or six volumes, in 4to. But the fashion has +not enhanced the price of these raw materials.] + +I. In his march to Italy, Theodoric [2] the Ostrogoth had trampled on +the arms of the Bulgarians. After this defeat, the name and the nation +are lost during a century and a half; and it may be suspected that the +same or a similar appellation was revived by strange colonies from the +Borysthenes, the Tanais, or the Volga. A king of the ancient Bulgaria, +bequeathed to his five sons a last lesson of moderation and concord. +It was received as youth has ever received the counsels of age and +experience: the five princes buried their father; divided his subjects +and cattle; forgot his advice; separated from each other; and wandered +in quest of fortune till we find the most adventurous in the heart of +Italy, under the protection of the exarch of Ravenna. [4] But the stream +of emigration was directed or impelled towards the capital. The modern +Bulgaria, along the southern banks of the Danube, was stamped with +the name and image which it has retained to the present hour: the new +conquerors successively acquired, by war or treaty, the Roman provinces +of Dardania, Thessaly, and the two Epirus; [5] the ecclesiastical +supremacy was translated from the native city of Justinian; and, in +their prosperous age, the obscure town of Lychnidus, or Achrida, +was honored with the throne of a king and a patriarch. [6] The +unquestionable evidence of language attests the descent of the +Bulgarians from the original stock of the Sclavonian, or more properly +Slavonian, race; [7] and the kindred bands of Servians, Bosnians, +Rascians, Croatians, Walachians, [8] &c., followed either the standard +or the example of the leading tribe. From the Euxine to the Adriatic, in +the state of captives, or subjects, or allies, or enemies, of the Greek +empire, they overspread the land; and the national appellation of the +slaves [9] has been degraded by chance or malice from the signification +of glory to that of servitude. [10] Among these colonies, the +Chrobatians, [11] or Croats, who now attend the motions of an Austrian +army, are the descendants of a mighty people, the conquerors and +sovereigns of Dalmatia. The maritime cities, and of these the infant +republic of Ragusa, implored the aid and instructions of the Byzantine +court: they were advised by the magnanimous Basil to reserve a small +acknowledgment of their fidelity to the Roman empire, and to appease, +by an annual tribute, the wrath of these irresistible Barbarians. The +kingdom of Crotia was shared by eleven Zoupans, or feudatory lords; +and their united forces were numbered at sixty thousand horse and +one hundred thousand foot. A long sea-coast, indented with capacious +harbors, covered with a string of islands, and almost in sight of the +Italian shores, disposed both the natives and strangers to the practice +of navigation. The boats or brigantines of the Croats were constructed +after the fashion of the old Liburnians: one hundred and eighty vessels +may excite the idea of a respectable navy; but our seamen will smile at +the allowance of ten, or twenty, or forty, men for each of these ships +of war. They were gradually converted to the more honorable service of +commerce; yet the Sclavonian pirates were still frequent and dangerous; +and it was not before the close of the tenth century that the freedom +and sovereignty of the Gulf were effectually vindicated by the Venetian +republic. [12] The ancestors of these Dalmatian kings were equally +removed from the use and abuse of navigation: they dwelt in the White +Croatia, in the inland regions of Silesia and Little Poland, thirty +days' journey, according to the Greek computation, from the sea of +darkness. + +[Footnote 2: Hist. vol. iv. p. 11.] + +[Footnote 3: Theophanes, p. 296-299. Anastasius, p. 113. Nicephorus, +C. P. p. 22, 23. Theophanes places the old Bulgaria on the banks of the +Atell or Volga; but he deprives himself of all geographical credit by +discharging that river into the Euxine Sea.] + +[Footnote 4: Paul. Diacon. de Gestis Langobard. l. v. c. 29, p. 881, +882. The apparent difference between the Lombard historian and the +above-mentioned Greeks, is easily reconciled by Camillo Pellegrino (de +Ducatu Beneventano, dissert. vii. in the Scriptores Rerum Ital. (tom. v. +p. 186, 187) and Beretti, (Chorograph. Italiae Medii Aevi, p. 273, &c. +This Bulgarian colony was planted in a vacant district of Samnium, and +learned the Latin, without forgetting their native language.] + +[Footnote 5: These provinces of the Greek idiom and empire are assigned +to the Bulgarian kingdom in the dispute of ecclesiastical jurisdiction +between the patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople, (Baronius, Annal. +Eccles. A.D. 869, No. 75.)] + +[Footnote 6: The situation and royalty of Lychnidus, or Achrida, are +clearly expressed in Cedrenus, (p. 713.) The removal of an archbishop or +patriarch from Justinianea prima to Lychnidus, and at length to Ternovo, +has produced some perplexity in the ideas or language of the Greeks, +(Nicephorus Gregoras, l. ii. c. 2, p. 14, 15. Thomassin, Discipline de +l'Eglise, tom. i. l. i. c. 19, 23;) and a Frenchman (D'Anville) is more +accurately skilled in the geography of their own country, (Hist. de +l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxxi.)] + +[Footnote 7: Chalcocondyles, a competent judge, affirms the identity of +the language of the Dalmatians, Bosnians, Servians, Bulgarians, Poles, +(de Rebus Turcicis, l. x. p. 283,) and elsewhere of the Bohemians, +(l. ii. p. 38.) The same author has marked the separate idiom of the +Hungarians. * Note: The Slavonian languages are no doubt Indo-European, +though an original branch of that great family, comprehending the +various dialects named by Gibbon and others. Shafarik, t. 33.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 8: See the work of John Christopher de Jordan, de Originibus +Sclavicis, Vindobonae, 1745, in four parts, or two volumes in folio. His +collections and researches are useful to elucidate the antiquities of +Bohemia and the adjacent countries; but his plan is narrow, his style +barbarous, his criticism shallow, and the Aulic counsellor is not free +from the prejudices of a Bohemian. * Note: We have at length a profound +and satisfactory work on the Slavonian races. Shafarik, Slawische +Alterthumer. B. 2, Leipzig, 1843.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 9: Jordan subscribes to the well-known and probable derivation +from Slava, laus, gloria, a word of familiar use in the different +dialects and parts of speech, and which forms the termination of the +most illustrious names, (de Originibus Sclavicis, pars. i. p. 40, pars. +iv. p. 101, 102)] + +[Footnote 10: This conversion of a national into an appellative name +appears to have arisen in the viiith century, in the Oriental France, +where the princes and bishops were rich in Sclavonian captives, not of +the Bohemian, (exclaims Jordan,) but of Sorabian race. From thence the +word was extended to the general use, to the modern languages, and even +to the style of the last Byzantines, (see the Greek and Latin Glossaries +and Ducange.) The confusion of the Servians with the Latin Servi, was +still more fortunate and familiar, (Constant. Porphyr. de Administrando, +Imperio, c. 32, p. 99.)] + +[Footnote 11: The emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, most accurate +for his own times, most fabulous for preceding ages, describes the +Sclavonians of Dalmatia, (c. 29-36.)] + +[Footnote 12: See the anonymous Chronicle of the xith century, ascribed +to John Sagorninus, (p. 94-102,) and that composed in the xivth by the +Doge Andrew Dandolo, (Script. Rerum. Ital. tom. xii. p. 227-230,) the +two oldest monuments of the history of Venice.] + +The glory of the Bulgarians [13] was confined to a narrow scope both of +time and place. In the ninth and tenth centuries, they reigned to the +south of the Danube; but the more powerful nations that had followed +their emigration repelled all return to the north and all progress to +the west. Yet in the obscure catalogue of their exploits, they might +boast an honor which had hitherto been appropriated to the Goths: that +of slaying in battle one of the successors of Augustus and Constantine. +The emperor Nicephorus had lost his fame in the Arabian, he lost his +life in the Sclavonian, war. In his first operations he advanced with +boldness and success into the centre of Bulgaria, and burnt the royal +court, which was probably no more than an edifice and village of timber. +But while he searched the spoil and refused all offers of treaty, his +enemies collected their spirits and their forces: the passes of retreat +were insuperably barred; and the trembling Nicephorus was heard to +exclaim, "Alas, alas! unless we could assume the wings of birds, we +cannot hope to escape." Two days he waited his fate in the inactivity of +despair; but, on the morning of the third, the Bulgarians surprised the +camp, and the Roman prince, with the great officers of the empire, +were slaughtered in their tents. The body of Valens had been saved +from insult; but the head of Nicephorus was exposed on a spear, and +his skull, enchased with gold, was often replenished in the feasts +of victory. The Greeks bewailed the dishonor of the throne; but they +acknowledged the just punishment of avarice and cruelty. This savage cup +was deeply tinctured with the manners of the Scythian wilderness; but +they were softened before the end of the same century by a peaceful +intercourse with the Greeks, the possession of a cultivated region, and +the introduction of the Christian worship. The nobles of Bulgaria were +educated in the schools and palace of Constantinople; and Simeon, [14] +a youth of the royal line, was instructed in the rhetoric of Demosthenes +and the logic of Aristotle. He relinquished the profession of a monk for +that of a king and warrior; and in his reign of more than forty years, +Bulgaria assumed a rank among the civilized powers of the earth. The +Greeks, whom he repeatedly attacked, derived a faint consolation from +indulging themselves in the reproaches of perfidy and sacrilege. They +purchased the aid of the Pagan Turks; but Simeon, in a second battle, +redeemed the loss of the first, at a time when it was esteemed a +victory to elude the arms of that formidable nation. The Servians +were overthrown, made captive and dispersed; and those who visited +the country before their restoration could discover no more than +fifty vagrants, without women or children, who extorted a precarious +subsistence from the chase. On classic ground, on the banks of Achelous, +the greeks were defeated; their horn was broken by the strength of the +Barbaric Hercules. [15] He formed the siege of Constantinople; and, in +a personal conference with the emperor, Simeon imposed the conditions of +peace. They met with the most jealous precautions: the royal gallery +was drawn close to an artificial and well-fortified platform; and the +majesty of the purple was emulated by the pomp of the Bulgarian. "Are +you a Christian?" said the humble Romanus: "it is your duty to abstain +from the blood of your fellow-Christians. Has the thirst of riches +seduced you from the blessings of peace? Sheathe your sword, open +your hand, and I will satiate the utmost measure of your desires." The +reconciliation was sealed by a domestic alliance; the freedom of trade +was granted or restored; the first honors of the court were secured to +the friends of Bulgaria, above the ambassadors of enemies or strangers; +[16] and her princes were dignified with the high and invidious title of +Basileus, or emperor. But this friendship was soon disturbed: after the +death of Simeon, the nations were again in arms; his feeble successors +were divided and extinguished; and, in the beginning of the eleventh +century, the second Basil, who was born in the purple, deserved the +appellation of conqueror of the Bulgarians. His avarice was in some +measure gratified by a treasure of four hundred thousand pounds +sterling, (ten thousand pounds' weight of gold,) which he found in +the palace of Lychnidus. His cruelty inflicted a cool and exquisite +vengeance on fifteen thousand captives who had been guilty of the +defence of their country. They were deprived of sight; but to one of +each hundred a single eye was left, that he might conduct his blind +century to the presence of their king. Their king is said to have +expired of grief and horror; the nation was awed by this terrible +example; the Bulgarians were swept away from their settlements, and +circumscribed within a narrow province; the surviving chiefs bequeathed +to their children the advice of patience and the duty of revenge. + +[Footnote 13: The first kingdom of the Bulgarians may be found, under +the proper dates, in the Annals of Cedrenus and Zonaras. The Byzantine +materials are collected by Stritter, (Memoriae Populorum, tom. ii. pars +ii. p. 441-647;) and the series of their kings is disposed and settled +by Ducange, (Fam. Byzant. p. 305-318.] + +[Footnote 14: Simeonem semi-Graecum esse aiebant, eo quod a pueritia +Byzantii Demosthenis rhetoricam et Aristotelis syllogismos didicerat, +(Liutprand, l. iii. c. 8.) He says in another place, Simeon, fortis +bella tor, Bulgariae praeerat; Christianus, sed vicinis Graecis valde +inimicus, (l. i. c. 2.)] + +[Footnote 15:--Rigidum fera dextera cornu Dum tenet, infregit, truncaque +a fronte revellit. Ovid (Metamorph. ix. 1-100) has boldly painted the +combat of the river god and the hero; the native and the stranger.] + +[Footnote 16: The ambassador of Otho was provoked by the Greek excuses, +cum Christophori filiam Petrus Bulgarorum Vasileus conjugem duceret, +Symphona, id est consonantia scripto juramento firmata sunt, ut omnium +gentium Apostolis, id est nunciis, penes nos Bulgarorum Apostoli +praeponantur, honorentur, diligantur, (Liutprand in Legatione, p. 482.) +See the Ceremoniale of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, tom. i. p. 82, tom. +ii. p. 429, 430, 434, 435, 443, 444, 446, 447, with the annotations of +Reiske.] + +II. When the black swarm of Hungarians first hung over Europe, above +nine hundred years after the Christian aera, they were mistaken by fear +and superstition for the Gog and Magog of the Scriptures, the signs +and forerunners of the end of the world. [17] Since the introduction +of letters, they have explored their own antiquities with a strong and +laudable impulse of patriotic curiosity. [18] Their rational criticism +can no longer be amused with a vain pedigree of Attila and the Huns; but +they complain that their primitive records have perished in the Tartar +war; that the truth or fiction of their rustic songs is long since +forgotten; and that the fragments of a rude chronicle [19] must be +painfully reconciled with the contemporary though foreign intelligence +of the imperial geographer. [20] Magiar is the national and oriental +denomination of the Hungarians; but, among the tribes of Scythia, they +are distinguished by the Greeks under the proper and peculiar name of +Turks, as the descendants of that mighty people who had conquered +and reigned from China to the Volga. The Pannonian colony preserved a +correspondence of trade and amity with the eastern Turks on the confines +of Persia and after a separation of three hundred and fifty years, the +missionaries of the king of Hungary discovered and visited their ancient +country near the banks of the Volga. They were hospitably entertained +by a people of Pagans and Savages who still bore the name of Hungarians; +conversed in their native tongue, recollected a tradition of their +long-lost brethren, and listened with amazement to the marvellous tale +of their new kingdom and religion. The zeal of conversion was animated +by the interest of consanguinity; and one of the greatest of +their princes had formed the generous, though fruitless, design of +replenishing the solitude of Pannonia by this domestic colony from the +heart of Tartary. [21] From this primitive country they were driven to +the West by the tide of war and emigration, by the weight of the more +distant tribes, who at the same time were fugitives and conquerors. +[2111] Reason or fortune directed their course towards the frontiers of +the Roman empire: they halted in the usual stations along the banks of +the great rivers; and in the territories of Moscow, Kiow, and Moldavia, +some vestiges have been discovered of their temporary residence. In +this long and various peregrination, they could not always escape the +dominion of the stronger; and the purity of their blood was improved or +sullied by the mixture of a foreign race: from a motive of compulsion, +or choice, several tribes of the Chazars were associated to the standard +of their ancient vassals; introduced the use of a second language; and +obtained by their superior renown the most honorable place in the front +of battle. The military force of the Turks and their allies marched in +seven equal and artificial divisions; each division was formed of thirty +thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven warriors, and the proportion of +women, children, and servants, supposes and requires at least a million +of emigrants. Their public counsels were directed by seven vayvods, +or hereditary chiefs; but the experience of discord and weakness +recommended the more simple and vigorous administration of a single +person. The sceptre, which had been declined by the modest Lebedias, +was granted to the birth or merit of Almus and his son Arpad, and the +authority of the supreme khan of the Chazars confirmed the engagement of +the prince and people; of the people to obey his commands, of the prince +to consult their happiness and glory. + +[Footnote 17: A bishop of Wurtzburgh submitted his opinion to a +reverend abbot; but he more gravely decided, that Gog and Magog were the +spiritual persecutors of the church; since Gog signifies the root, +the pride of the Heresiarchs, and Magog what comes from the root, the +propagation of their sects. Yet these men once commanded the respect of +mankind, (Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. xi. p. 594, &c.)] + +[Footnote 18: The two national authors, from whom I have derived the +mos assistance, are George Pray (Dissertationes and Annales veterum Hun +garorum, &c., Vindobonae, 1775, in folio) and Stephen Katona, (Hist. +Critica Ducum et Regum Hungariae Stirpis Arpadianae, Paestini, +1778-1781, 5 vols. in octavo.) The first embraces a large and +often conjectural space; the latter, by his learning, judgment, and +perspicuity, deserves the name of a critical historian. * Note: Compare +Engel Geschichte des Ungrischen Reichs und seiner Neben lander, Halle, +1797, and Mailath, Geschichte der Magyaren, Wien, 1828. In an appendix +to the latter work will be found a brief abstract of the speculations +(for it is difficult to consider them more) which have been advanced by +the learned, on the origin of the Magyar and Hungarian names. Compare +vol. vi. p. 35, note.--M.] + +[Footnote 19: The author of this Chronicle is styled the notary of King +Bela. Katona has assigned him to the xiith century, and defends his +character against the hypercriticism of Pray. This rude annalist must +have transcribed some historical records, since he could affirm +with dignity, rejectis falsis fabulis rusticorum, et garrulo cantu +joculatorum. In the xvth century, these fables were collected +by Thurotzius, and embellished by the Italian Bonfinius. See the +Preliminary Discourse in the Hist. Critica Ducum, p. 7-33.] + +[Footnote 20: See Constantine de Administrando Imperio, c. 3, 4, 13, +38-42, Katona has nicely fixed the composition of this work to the +years 949, 950, 951, (p. 4-7.) The critical historian (p. 34-107) +endeavors to prove the existence, and to relate the actions, of a first +duke Almus the father of Arpad, who is tacitly rejected by Constantine.] + +[Footnote 21: Pray (Dissert. p. 37-39, &c.) produces and illustrates +the original passages of the Hungarian missionaries, Bonfinius and +Aeneas Sylvius.] + +[Footnote 2111: In the deserts to the south-east of Astrakhan have been +found the ruins of a city named Madchar, which proves the residence of +the Hungarians or Magiar in those regions. Precis de la Geog. Univ. par +Malte Brun, vol. i. p. 353.--G.----This is contested by Klaproth in +his Travels, c. xxi. Madschar, (he states) in old Tartar, means +"stone building." This was a Tartar city mentioned by the Mahometan +writers.--M.] + +With this narrative we might be reasonably content, if the penetration +of modern learning had not opened a new and larger prospect of the +antiquities of nations. The Hungarian language stands alone, and as it +were insulated, among the Sclavonian dialects; but it bears a close and +clear affinity to the idioms of the Fennic race, [22] of an obsolete and +savage race, which formerly occupied the northern regions of Asia and +Europe. [2211] The genuine appellation of Ugri or Igours is found on +the western confines of China; [23] their migration to the banks of the +Irtish is attested by Tartar evidence; [24] a similar name and language +are detected in the southern parts of Siberia; [25] and the remains of +the Fennic tribes are widely, though thinly scattered from the sources +of the Oby to the shores of Lapland. [26] The consanguinity of the +Hungarians and Laplanders would display the powerful energy of climate +on the children of a common parent; the lively contrast between the bold +adventurers who are intoxicated with the wines of the Danube, and the +wretched fugitives who are immersed beneath the snows of the polar +circle. + +Arms and freedom have ever been the ruling, though too often the +unsuccessful, passion of the Hungarians, who are endowed by nature +with a vigorous constitution of soul and body. [27] Extreme cold has +diminished the stature and congealed the faculties of the Laplanders; +and the arctic tribes, alone among the sons of men, are ignorant of war, +and unconscious of human blood; a happy ignorance, if reason and virtue +were the guardians of their peace! [28] + +[Footnote 22: Fischer in the Quaestiones Petropolitanae, de Origine +Ungrorum, and Pray, Dissertat. i. ii. iii. &c., have drawn up several +comparative tables of the Hungarian with the Fennic dialects. The +affinity is indeed striking, but the lists are short; the words are +purposely chosen; and I read in the learned Bayer, (Comment. Academ. +Petropol. tom. x. p. 374,) that although the Hungarian has adopted many +Fennic words, (innumeras voces,) it essentially differs toto genio et +natura.] + +[Footnote 2211: The connection between the Magyar language and that of +the Finns is now almost generally admitted. Klaproth, Asia Polyglotta, +p. 188, &c. Malte Bran, tom. vi. p. 723, &c.--M.] + +[Footnote 23: In the religion of Turfan, which is clearly and minutely +described by the Chinese Geographers, (Gaubil, Hist. du Grand Gengiscan, +13; De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 31, &c.)] + +[Footnote 24: Hist. Genealogique des Tartars, par Abulghazi Bahadur Khan +partie ii. p. 90-98.] + +[Footnote 25: In their journey to Pekin, both Isbrand Ives (Harris's +Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. ii. p. 920, 921) and Bell +(Travels, vol. i p. 174) found the Vogulitz in the neighborhood of +Tobolsky. By the tortures of the etymological art, Ugur and Vogul are +reduced to the same name; the circumjacent mountains really bear the +appellation of Ugrian; and of all the Fennic dialects, the Vogulian is +the nearest to the Hungarian, (Fischer, Dissert. i. p. 20-30. Pray. +Dissert. ii. p. 31-34.)] + +[Footnote 26: The eight tribes of the Fennic race are described in the +curious work of M. Leveque, (Hist. des Peuples soumis a la Domination de +la Russie, tom. ii. p. 361-561.)] + +[Footnote 27: This picture of the Hungarians and Bulgarians is chiefly +drawn from the Tactics of Leo, p. 796-801, and the Latin Annals, which +are alleged by Baronius, Pagi, and Muratori, A.D. 889, &c.] + +[Footnote 28: Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. v. p. 6, in 12mo. Gustavus +Adolphus attempted, without success, to form a regiment of Laplanders. +Grotius says of these arctic tribes, arma arcus et pharetra, sed +adversus feras, (Annal. l. iv. p. 236;) and attempts, after the manner +of Tacitus, to varnish with philosophy their brutal ignorance.] + + + + +Chapter LV: The Bulgarians, The Hungarians And The Russians.--Part II. + +It is the observation of the Imperial author of the Tactics, [29] that +all the Scythian hordes resembled each other in their pastoral and +military life, that they all practised the same means of subsistence, +and employed the same instruments of destruction. But he adds, that +the two nations of Bulgarians and Hungarians were superior to their +brethren, and similar to each other in the improvements, however rude, +of their discipline and government: their visible likeness determines +Leo to confound his friends and enemies in one common description; and +the picture may be heightened by some strokes from their contemporaries +of the tenth century. Except the merit and fame of military prowess, +all that is valued by mankind appeared vile and contemptible to these +Barbarians, whose native fierceness was stimulated by the consciousness +of numbers and freedom. The tents of the Hungarians were of leather, +their garments of fur; they shaved their hair, and scarified their +faces: in speech they were slow, in action prompt, in treaty perfidious; +and they shared the common reproach of Barbarians, too ignorant to +conceive the importance of truth, too proud to deny or palliate the +breach of their most solemn engagements. Their simplicity has been +praised; yet they abstained only from the luxury they had never known; +whatever they saw they coveted; their desires were insatiate, and their +sole industry was the hand of violence and rapine. By the definition of +a pastoral nation, I have recalled a long description of the economy, +the warfare, and the government that prevail in that state of society; +I may add, that to fishing, as well as to the chase, the Hungarians +were indebted for a part of their subsistence; and since they seldom +cultivated the ground, they must, at least in their new settlements, +have sometimes practised a slight and unskilful husbandry. In their +emigrations, perhaps in their expeditions, the host was accompanied +by thousands of sheep and oxen which increased the cloud of formidable +dust, and afforded a constant and wholesale supply of milk and animal +food. A plentiful command of forage was the first care of the general, +and if the flocks and herds were secure of their pastures, the hardy +warrior was alike insensible of danger and fatigue. The confusion of men +and cattle that overspread the country exposed their camp to a nocturnal +surprise, had not a still wider circuit been occupied by their light +cavalry, perpetually in motion to discover and delay the approach of the +enemy. After some experience of the Roman tactics, they adopted the +use of the sword and spear, the helmet of the soldier, and the iron +breastplate of his steed: but their native and deadly weapon was the +Tartar bow: from the earliest infancy their children and servants were +exercised in the double science of archery and horsemanship; their arm +was strong; their aim was sure; and in the most rapid career, they were +taught to throw themselves backwards, and to shoot a volley of arrows +into the air. In open combat, in secret ambush, in flight, or pursuit, +they were equally formidable; an appearance of order was maintained +in the foremost ranks, but their charge was driven forwards by the +impatient pressure of succeeding crowds. They pursued, headlong and +rash, with loosened reins and horrific outcries; but, if they fled, with +real or dissembled fear, the ardor of a pursuing foe was checked and +chastised by the same habits of irregular speed and sudden evolution. +In the abuse of victory, they astonished Europe, yet smarting from the +wounds of the Saracen and the Dane: mercy they rarely asked, and more +rarely bestowed: both sexes were accused is equally inaccessible to +pity, and their appetite for raw flesh might countenance the popular +tale, that they drank the blood, and feasted on the hearts of the slain. +Yet the Hungarians were not devoid of those principles of justice and +humanity, which nature has implanted in every bosom. The license of +public and private injuries was restrained by laws and punishments; and +in the security of an open camp, theft is the most tempting and +most dangerous offence. Among the Barbarians there were many, whose +spontaneous virtue supplied their laws and corrected their manners, who +performed the duties, and sympathized with the affections, of social +life. + +[Footnote 29: Leo has observed, that the government of the Turks was +monarchical, and that their punishments were rigorous, (Tactic. p. 896) +Rhegino (in Chron. A.D. 889) mentions theft as a capital crime, and his +jurisprudence is confirmed by the original code of St. Stephen, (A.D. +1016.) If a slave were guilty, he was chastised, for the first time, +with the loss of his nose, or a fine of five heifers; for the second, +with the loss of his ears, or a similar fine; for the third, with death; +which the freeman did not incur till the fourth offence, as his first +penalty was the loss of liberty, (Katona, Hist. Regum Hungar tom. i. p. +231, 232.)] + +After a long pilgrimage of flight or victory, the Turkish hordes +approached the common limits of the French and Byzantine empires. Their +first conquests and final settlements extended on either side of the +Danube above Vienna, below Belgrade, and beyond the measure of the Roman +province of Pannonia, or the modern kingdom of Hungary. [30] That ample +and fertile land was loosely occupied by the Moravians, a Sclavonian +name and tribe, which were driven by the invaders into the compass of a +narrow province. Charlemagne had stretched a vague and nominal empire +as far as the edge of Transylvania; but, after the failure of his +legitimate line, the dukes of Moravia forgot their obedience and tribute +to the monarchs of Oriental France. The bastard Arnulph was provoked to +invite the arms of the Turks: they rushed through the real or figurative +wall, which his indiscretion had thrown open; and the king of Germany +has been justly reproached as a traitor to the civil and ecclesiastical +society of the Christians. During the life of Arnulph, the Hungarians +were checked by gratitude or fear; but in the infancy of his son Lewis +they discovered and invaded Bavaria; and such was their Scythian speed, +that in a single day a circuit of fifty miles was stripped and consumed. +In the battle of Augsburgh the Christians maintained their advantage +till the seventh hour of the day, they were deceived and vanquished by +the flying stratagems of the Turkish cavalry. The conflagration spread +over the provinces of Bavaria, Swabia, and Franconia; and the Hungarians +[31] promoted the reign of anarchy, by forcing the stoutest barons to +discipline their vassals and fortify their castles. The origin of walled +towns is ascribed to this calamitous period; nor could any distance be +secure against an enemy, who, almost at the same instant, laid in ashes +the Helvetian monastery of St. Gall, and the city of Bremen, on the +shores of the northern ocean. Above thirty years the Germanic empire, +or kingdom, was subject to the ignominy of tribute; and resistance was +disarmed by the menace, the serious and effectual menace of dragging the +women and children into captivity, and of slaughtering the males above +the age of ten years. I have neither power nor inclination to follow the +Hungarians beyond the Rhine; but I must observe with surprise, that +the southern provinces of France were blasted by the tempest, and that +Spain, behind her Pyrenees, was astonished at the approach of these +formidable strangers. [32] The vicinity of Italy had tempted their early +inroads; but from their camp on the Brenta, they beheld with some terror +the apparent strength and populousness of the new discovered country. +They requested leave to retire; their request was proudly rejected by +the Italian king; and the lives of twenty thousand Christians paid the +forfeit of his obstinacy and rashness. Among the cities of the West, the +royal Pavia was conspicuous in fame and splendor; and the preeminence +of Rome itself was only derived from the relics of the apostles. The +Hungarians appeared; Pavia was in flames; forty-three churches were +consumed; and, after the massacre of the people, they spared about two +hundred wretches who had gathered some bushels of gold and silver (a +vague exaggeration) from the smoking ruins of their country. In these +annual excursions from the Alps to the neighborhood of Rome and Capua, +the churches, that yet escaped, resounded with a fearful litany: "O, +save and deliver us from the arrows of the Hungarians!" But the saints +were deaf or inexorable; and the torrent rolled forwards, till it was +stopped by the extreme land of Calabria. [33] A composition was offered +and accepted for the head of each Italian subject; and ten bushels +of silver were poured forth in the Turkish camp. But falsehood is the +natural antagonist of violence; and the robbers were defrauded both in +the numbers of the assessment and the standard of the metal. On the side +of the East, the Hungarians were opposed in doubtful conflict by the +equal arms of the Bulgarians, whose faith forbade an alliance with the +Pagans, and whose situation formed the barrier of the Byzantine empire. +The barrier was overturned; the emperor of Constantinople beheld the +waving banners of the Turks; and one of their boldest warriors presumed +to strike a battle-axe into the golden gate. The arts and treasures +of the Greeks diverted the assault; but the Hungarians might boast, in +their retreat, that they had imposed a tribute on the spirit of Bulgaria +and the majesty of the Caesars. [34] The remote and rapid operations of +the same campaign appear to magnify the power and numbers of the Turks; +but their courage is most deserving of praise, since a light troop of +three or four hundred horse would often attempt and execute the most +daring inroads to the gates of Thessalonica and Constantinople. At this +disastrous aera of the ninth and tenth centuries, Europe was afflicted +by a triple scourge from the North, the East, and the South: the Norman, +the Hungarian, and the Saracen, sometimes trod the same ground of +desolation; and these savage foes might have been compared by Homer +to the two lions growling over the carcass of a mangled stag. [35] +[Footnote 30: See Katona, Hist. Ducum Hungar. p. 321-352.] + +[Footnote 31: Hungarorum gens, cujus omnes fere nationes expertae +saevitium &c., is the preface of Liutprand, (l. i. c. 2,) who frequently +expatiated on the calamities of his own times. See l. i. c. 5, l. ii. c. +1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7; l. iii. c. 1, &c., l. v. c. 8, 15, in Legat. p. 485. +His colors are glaring but his chronology must be rectified by Pagi and +Muratori.] + +[Footnote 32: The three bloody reigns of Arpad, Zoltan, and Toxus, are +critically illustrated by Katona, (Hist. Ducum, &c. p. 107-499.) His +diligence has searched both natives and foreigners; yet to the deeds of +mischief, or glory, I have been able to add the destruction of Bremen, +(Adam Bremensis, i. 43.)] + +[Footnote 33: Muratori has considered with patriotic care the danger and +resources of Modena. The citizens besought St. Geminianus, their patron, +to avert, by his intercession, the rabies, flagellum, &c. Nunc te +rogamus, licet servi pessimi, Ab Ungerorum nos defendas jaculis.The +bishop erected walls for the public defence, not contra dominos serenos, +(Antiquitat. Ital. Med. Aevi, tom. i. dissertat. i. p. 21, 22,) and the +song of the nightly watch is not without elegance or use, (tom. iii. +dis. xl. p. 709.) The Italian annalist has accurately traced the series +of their inroads, (Annali d' Italia, tom. vii. p. 365, 367, 398, 401, +437, 440, tom. viii. p. 19, 41, 52, &c.)] + +[Footnote 34: Both the Hungarian and Russian annals suppose, that they +besieged, or attacked, or insulted Constantinople, (Pray, dissertat. +x. p. 239. Katona, Hist. Ducum, p. 354-360;) and the fact is almost +confessed by the Byzantine historians, (Leo Grammaticus, p. 506. +Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 629: ) yet, however glorious to the nation, it is +denied or doubted by the critical historian, and even by the notary of +Bela. Their scepticism is meritorious; they could not safely transcribe +or believe the rusticorum fabulas: but Katona might have given due +attention to the evidence of Liutprand, Bulgarorum gentem atque daecorum +tributariam fecerant, (Hist. l. ii. c. 4, p. 435.)] + +[Footnote 35:--Iliad, xvi. 756.] + +The deliverance of Germany and Christendom was achieved by the Saxon +princes, Henry the Fowler and Otho the Great, who, in two memorable +battles, forever broke the power of the Hungarians. [36] The valiant +Henry was roused from a bed of sickness by the invasion of his country; +but his mind was vigorous and his prudence successful. "My companions," +said he, on the morning of the combat, "maintain your ranks, receive on +your bucklers the first arrows of the Pagans, and prevent their second +discharge by the equal and rapid career of your lances." They obeyed +and conquered: and the historical picture of the castle of Merseburgh +expressed the features, or at least the character, of Henry, who, in +an age of ignorance, intrusted to the finer arts the perpetuity of his +name. [37] At the end of twenty years, the children of the Turks who had +fallen by his sword invaded the empire of his son; and their force is +defined, in the lowest estimate, at one hundred thousand horse. +They were invited by domestic faction; the gates of Germany were +treacherously unlocked; and they spread, far beyond the Rhine and the +Meuse, into the heart of Flanders. But the vigor and prudence of Otho +dispelled the conspiracy; the princes were made sensible that +unless they were true to each other, their religion and country were +irrecoverably lost; and the national powers were reviewed in the plains +of Augsburgh. They marched and fought in eight legions, according to +the division of provinces and tribes; the first, second, and third, were +composed of Bavarians; the fourth, of Franconians; the fifth, of Saxons, +under the immediate command of the monarch; the sixth and seventh +consisted of Swabians; and the eighth legion, of a thousand Bohemians, +closed the rear of the host. The resources of discipline and valor were +fortified by the arts of superstition, which, on this occasion, may +deserve the epithets of generous and salutary. The soldiers were +purified with a fast; the camp was blessed with the relics of saints +and martyrs; and the Christian hero girded on his side the sword of +Constantine, grasped the invincible spear of Charlemagne, and waved +the banner of St. Maurice, the praefect of the Thebaean legion. But his +firmest confidence was placed in the holy lance, [38] whose point was +fashioned of the nails of the cross, and which his father had extorted +from the king of Burgundy, by the threats of war, and the gift of a +province. The Hungarians were expected in the front; they secretly +passed the Lech, a river of Bavaria that falls into the Danube; turned +the rear of the Christian army; plundered the baggage, and disordered +the legion of Bohemia and Swabia. The battle was restored by the +Franconians, whose duke, the valiant Conrad, was pierced with an arrow +as he rested from his fatigues: the Saxons fought under the eyes of +their king; and his victory surpassed, in merit and importance, the +triumphs of the last two hundred years. The loss of the Hungarians was +still greater in the flight than in the action; they were encompassed by +the rivers of Bavaria; and their past cruelties excluded them from +the hope of mercy. Three captive princes were hanged at Ratisbon, the +multitude of prisoners was slain or mutilated, and the fugitives, who +presumed to appear in the face of their country, were condemned to +everlasting poverty and disgrace. [39] Yet the spirit of the nation was +humbled, and the most accessible passes of Hungary were fortified with +a ditch and rampart. Adversity suggested the counsels of moderation and +peace: the robbers of the West acquiesced in a sedentary life; and the +next generation was taught, by a discerning prince, that far more might +be gained by multiplying and exchanging the produce of a fruitful soil. +The native race, the Turkish or Fennic blood, was mingled with new +colonies of Scythian or Sclavonian origin; [40] many thousands of robust +and industrious captives had been imported from all the countries of +Europe; [41] and after the marriage of Geisa with a Bavarian princess, +he bestowed honors and estates on the nobles of Germany. [42] The son of +Geisa was invested with the regal title, and the house of Arpad +reigned three hundred years in the kingdom of Hungary. But the freeborn +Barbarians were not dazzled by the lustre of the diadem, and the people +asserted their indefeasible right of choosing, deposing, and punishing +the hereditary servant of the state. + +[Footnote 36: They are amply and critically discussed by Katona, (Hist. +Dacum, p. 360-368, 427-470.) Liutprand (l. ii. c. 8, 9) is the best +evidence for the former, and Witichind (Annal. Saxon. l. iii.) of the +latter; but the critical historian will not even overlook the horn of a +warrior, which is said to be preserved at Jaz-berid.] + +[Footnote 37: Hunc vero triumphum, tam laude quam memoria dignum, ad +Meresburgum rex in superiori coenaculo domus per Zeus, id est, picturam, +notari praecepit, adeo ut rem veram potius quam verisimilem videas: a +high encomium, (Liutprand, l. ii. c. 9.) Another palace in Germany +had been painted with holy subjects by the order of Charlemagne; and +Muratori may justly affirm, nulla saecula fuere in quibus pictores +desiderati fuerint, (Antiquitat. Ital. Medii Aevi, tom. ii. dissert. +xxiv. p. 360, 361.) Our domestic claims to antiquity of ignorance and +original imperfection (Mr. Walpole's lively words) are of a much more +recent date, (Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i. p. 2, &c.)] + +[Footnote 38: See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 929, No. 2-5. The lance +of Christ is taken from the best evidence, Liutprand, (l. iv. c. 12,) +Sigebert, and the Acts of St. Gerard: but the other military relics +depend on the faith of the Gesta Anglorum post Bedam, l. ii. c. 8.] + +[Footnote 39: Katona, Hist. Ducum Hungariae, p. 500, &c.] + +[Footnote 40: Among these colonies we may distinguish, 1. The Chazars, +or Cabari, who joined the Hungarians on their march, (Constant. de +Admin. Imp. c. 39, 40, p. 108, 109.) 2. The Jazyges, Moravians, and +Siculi, whom they found in the land; the last were perhaps a remnant of +the Huns of Attila, and were intrusted with the guard of the borders. 3. +The Russians, who, like the Swiss in France, imparted a general name +to the royal porters. 4. The Bulgarians, whose chiefs (A.D. 956) +were invited, cum magna multitudine Hismahelitarum. Had any of those +Sclavonians embraced the Mahometan religion? 5. The Bisseni and Cumans, +a mixed multitude of Patzinacites, Uzi, Chazars, &c., who had spread +to the Lower Danube. The last colony of 40,000 Cumans, A.D. 1239, was +received and converted by the kings of Hungary, who derived from that +tribe a new regal appellation, (Pray, Dissert. vi. vii. p. 109-173. +Katona, Hist. Ducum, p. 95-99, 259-264, 476, 479-483, &c.)] + +[Footnote 41: Christiani autem, quorum pars major populi est, qui ex +omni parte mundi illuc tracti sunt captivi, &c. Such was the language +of Piligrinus, the first missionary who entered Hungary, A.D. 973. Pars +major is strong. Hist. Ducum, p. 517.] + +[Footnote 42: The fideles Teutonici of Geisa are authenticated in old +charters: and Katona, with his usual industry, has made a fair estimate +of these colonies, which had been so loosely magnified by the Italian +Ranzanus, (Hist. Critic. Ducum. p, 667-681.)] + +III. The name of Russians [43] was first divulged, in the ninth century, +by an embassy of Theophilus, emperor of the East, to the emperor of the +West, Lewis, the son of Charlemagne. The Greeks were accompanied by the +envoys of the great duke, or chagan, or czar, of the Russians. In their +journey to Constantinople, they had traversed many hostile nations; +and they hoped to escape the dangers of their return, by requesting +the French monarch to transport them by sea to their native country. A +closer examination detected their origin: they were the brethren of +the Swedes and Normans, whose name was already odious and formidable in +France; and it might justly be apprehended, that these Russian strangers +were not the messengers of peace, but the emissaries of war. They were +detained, while the Greeks were dismissed; and Lewis expected a more +satisfactory account, that he might obey the laws of hospitality +or prudence, according to the interest of both empires. [44] This +Scandinavian origin of the people, or at least the princes, of Russia, +may be confirmed and illustrated by the national annals [45] and +the general history of the North. The Normans, who had so long been +concealed by a veil of impenetrable darkness, suddenly burst forth in +the spirit of naval and military enterprise. The vast, and, as it is +said, the populous regions of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, were crowded +with independent chieftains and desperate adventurers, who sighed in the +laziness of peace, and smiled in the agonies of death. Piracy was the +exercise, the trade, the glory, and the virtue, of the Scandinavian +youth. Impatient of a bleak climate and narrow limits, they started +from the banquet, grasped their arms, sounded their horn, ascended +their vessels, and explored every coast that promised either spoil or +settlement. The Baltic was the first scene of their naval achievements +they visited the eastern shores, the silent residence of Fennic and +Sclavonic tribes, and the primitive Russians of the Lake Ladoga paid +a tribute, the skins of white squirrels, to these strangers, whom they +saluted with the title of Varangians [46] or Corsairs. Their superiority +in arms, discipline, and renown, commanded the fear and reverence of the +natives. In their wars against the more inland savages, the Varangians +condescended to serve as friends and auxiliaries, and gradually, by +choice or conquest, obtained the dominion of a people whom they were +qualified to protect. Their tyranny was expelled, their valor was again +recalled, till at length Ruric, a Scandinavian chief, became the father +of a dynasty which reigned above seven hundred years. His brothers +extended his influence: the example of service and usurpation was +imitated by his companions in the southern provinces of Russia; and +their establishments, by the usual methods of war and assassination, +were cemented into the fabric of a powerful monarchy. + +[Footnote 43: Among the Greeks, this national appellation has a singular +form, as an undeclinable word, of which many fanciful etymologies have +been suggested. I have perused, with pleasure and profit, a dissertation +de Origine Russorum (Comment. Academ. Petropolitanae, tom. viii. p. +388-436) by Theophilus Sigefrid Bayer, a learned German, who spent +his life and labors in the service of Russia. A geographical tract of +D'Anville, de l'Empire de Russie, son Origine, et ses Accroissemens, +(Paris, 1772, in 12mo.,) has likewise been of use. * Note: The later +antiquarians of Russia and Germany appear to aquiesce in the authority +of the monk Nestor, the earliest annalist of Russia, who derives the +Russians, or Vareques, from Scandinavia. The names of the first founders +of the Russian monarchy are Scandinavian or Norman. Their language +(according to Const. Porphyrog. de Administrat. Imper. c. 9) differed +essentially from the Sclavonian. The author of the Annals of St. Bertin, +who first names the Russians (Rhos) in the year 839 of his Annals, +assigns them Sweden for their country. So Liutprand calls the Russians +the same people as the Normans. The Fins, Laplanders, and Esthonians, +call the Swedes, to the present day, Roots, Rootsi, Ruotzi, Rootslaue. +See Thunman, Untersuchungen uber der Geschichte des Estlichen +Europaischen Volker, p. 374. Gatterer, Comm. Societ. Regbcient. Gotting. +xiii. p. 126. Schlozer, in his Nestor. Koch. Revolut. de 'Europe, vol. +i. p. 60. Malte-Brun, Geograph. vol. vi. p. 378.--M.] + +[Footnote 44: See the entire passage (dignum, says Bayer, ut aureis in +tabulis rigatur) in the Annales Bertiniani Francorum, (in Script. Ital. +Muratori, tom. ii. pars i. p. 525,) A.D. 839, twenty-two years before +the aera of Ruric. In the xth century, Liutprand (Hist. l. v. c. 6) +speaks of the Russians and Normans as the same Aquilonares homines of a +red complexion.] + +[Footnote 45: My knowledge of these annals is drawn from M. Leveque, +Histoire de Russie. Nestor, the first and best of these ancient +annalists, was a monk of Kiow, who died in the beginning of the xiith +century; but his Chronicle was obscure, till it was published at +Petersburgh, 1767, in 4to. Leveque, Hist. de Russie, tom. i. p. xvi. +Coxe's Travels, vol. ii. p. 184. * Note: The late M. Schlozer has +translated and added a commentary to the Annals of Nestor; and his +work is the mine from which henceforth the history of the North must be +drawn.--G.] + +[Footnote 46: Theophil. Sig. Bayer de Varagis, (for the name is +differently spelt,) in Comment. Academ. Petropolitanae, tom. iv. p. +275-311.] + +As long as the descendants of Ruric were considered as aliens and +conquerors, they ruled by the sword of the Varangians, distributed +estates and subjects to their faithful captains, and supplied their +numbers with fresh streams of adventurers from the Baltic coast. [47] +But when the Scandinavian chiefs had struck a deep and permanent root +into the soil, they mingled with the Russians in blood, religion, +and language, and the first Waladimir had the merit of delivering his +country from these foreign mercenaries. They had seated him on the +throne; his riches were insufficient to satisfy their demands; but +they listened to his pleasing advice, that they should seek, not a +more grateful, but a more wealthy, master; that they should embark for +Greece, where, instead of the skins of squirrels, silk and gold would +be the recompense of their service. At the same time, the Russian prince +admonished his Byzantine ally to disperse and employ, to recompense and +restrain, these impetuous children of the North. Contemporary writers +have recorded the introduction, name, and character, of the Varangians: +each day they rose in confidence and esteem; the whole body was +assembled at Constantinople to perform the duty of guards; and their +strength was recruited by a numerous band of their countrymen from the +Island of Thule. On this occasion, the vague appellation of Thule is +applied to England; and the new Varangians were a colony of English +and Danes who fled from the yoke of the Norman conqueror. The habits of +pilgrimage and piracy had approximated the countries of the earth; these +exiles were entertained in the Byzantine court; and they preserved, till +the last age of the empire, the inheritance of spotless loyalty, and the +use of the Danish or English tongue. With their broad and double-edged +battle-axes on their shoulders, they attended the Greek emperor to the +temple, the senate, and the hippodrome; he slept and feasted under their +trusty guard; and the keys of the palace, the treasury, and the capital, +were held by the firm and faithful hands of the Varangians. [48] + +[Footnote 47: Yet, as late as the year 1018, Kiow and Russia were still +guarded ex fugitivorum servorum robore, confluentium et maxime Danorum. +Bayer, who quotes (p. 292) the Chronicle of Dithmar of Merseburgh, +observes, that it was unusual for the Germans to enlist in a foreign +service.] + +[Footnote 48: Ducange has collected from the original authors the state +and history of the Varangi at Constantinople, (Glossar. Med. et Infimae +Graecitatis, sub voce. Med. et Infimae Latinitatis, sub voce Vagri. Not. +ad Alexiad. Annae Comnenae, p. 256, 257, 258. Notes sur Villehardouin, +p. 296-299.) See likewise the annotations of Reiske to the Ceremoniale +Aulae Byzant. of Constantine, tom. ii. p. 149, 150. Saxo Grammaticus +affirms that they spoke Danish; but Codinus maintains them till the +fifteenth century in the use of their native English.] + +In the tenth century, the geography of Scythia was extended far beyond +the limits of ancient knowledge; and the monarchy of the Russians +obtains a vast and conspicuous place in the map of Constantine. [49] +The sons of Ruric were masters of the spacious province of Wolodomir, +or Moscow; and, if they were confined on that side by the hordes of the +East, their western frontier in those early days was enlarged to the +Baltic Sea and the country of the Prussians. Their northern reign +ascended above the sixtieth degree of latitude over the Hyperborean +regions, which fancy had peopled with monsters, or clouded with eternal +darkness. To the south they followed the course of the Borysthenes, +and approached with that river the neighborhood of the Euxine Sea. The +tribes that dwelt, or wandered, in this ample circuit were obedient to +the same conqueror, and insensibly blended into the same nation. The +language of Russia is a dialect of the Sclavonian; but in the tenth +century, these two modes of speech were different from each other; and, +as the Sclavonian prevailed in the South, it may be presumed that the +original Russians of the North, the primitive subjects of the Varangian +chief, were a portion of the Fennic race. With the emigration, union, or +dissolution, of the wandering tribes, the loose and indefinite picture +of the Scythian desert has continually shifted. But the most ancient +map of Russia affords some places which still retain their name and +position; and the two capitals, Novogorod [50] and Kiow, [51] are coeval +with the first age of the monarchy. Novogorod had not yet deserved +the epithet of great, nor the alliance of the Hanseatic League, which +diffused the streams of opulence and the principles of freedom. Kiow +could not yet boast of three hundred churches, an innumerable people, +and a degree of greatness and splendor which was compared with +Constantinople by those who had never seen the residence of the Caesars. +In their origin, the two cities were no more than camps or fairs, the +most convenient stations in which the Barbarians might assemble for the +occasional business of war or trade. Yet even these assemblies announce +some progress in the arts of society; a new breed of cattle was imported +from the southern provinces; and the spirit of commercial enterprise +pervaded the sea and land, from the Baltic to the Euxine, from the mouth +of the Oder to the port of Constantinople. In the days of idolatry and +barbarism, the Sclavonic city of Julin was frequented and enriched +by the Normans, who had prudently secured a free mart of purchase +and exchange. [52] From this harbor, at the entrance of the Oder, the +corsair, or merchant, sailed in forty-three days to the eastern shores +of the Baltic, the most distant nations were intermingled, and the +holy groves of Curland are said to have been decorated with Grecian and +Spanish gold. [53] Between the sea and Novogorod an easy intercourse +was discovered; in the summer, through a gulf, a lake, and a navigable +river; in the winter season, over the hard and level surface of +boundless snows. From the neighborhood of that city, the Russians +descended the streams that fall into the Borysthenes; their canoes, of a +single tree, were laden with slaves of every age, furs of every species, +the spoil of their beehives, and the hides of their cattle; and the +whole produce of the North was collected and discharged in the magazines +of Kiow. The month of June was the ordinary season of the departure of +the fleet: the timber of the canoes was framed into the oars and benches +of more solid and capacious boats; and they proceeded without obstacle +down the Borysthenes, as far as the seven or thirteen ridges of rocks, +which traverse the bed, and precipitate the waters, of the river. At +the more shallow falls it was sufficient to lighten the vessels; but the +deeper cataracts were impassable; and the mariners, who dragged their +vessels and their slaves six miles over land, were exposed in this +toilsome journey to the robbers of the desert. [54] At the first island +below the falls, the Russians celebrated the festival of their escape: +at a second, near the mouth of the river, they repaired their shattered +vessels for the longer and more perilous voyage of the Black Sea. If +they steered along the coast, the Danube was accessible; with a fair +wind they could reach in thirty-six or forty hours the opposite shores +of Anatolia; and Constantinople admitted the annual visit of the +strangers of the North. They returned at the stated season with a rich +cargo of corn, wine, and oil, the manufactures of Greece, and the spices +of India. Some of their countrymen resided in the capital and +provinces; and the national treaties protected the persons, effects, and +privileges, of the Russian merchant. [55] + +[Footnote 49: The original record of the geography and trade of Russia +is produced by the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, (de Administrat. +Imperii, c. 2, p. 55, 56, c. 9, p. 59-61, c. 13, p. 63-67, c. 37, p. +106, c. 42, p. 112, 113,) and illustrated by the diligence of Bayer, (de +Geographia Russiae vicinarumque Regionum circiter A. C. 948, in Comment. +Academ. Petropol. tom. ix. p. 367-422, tom. x. p. 371-421,) with the +aid of the chronicles and traditions of Russia, Scandinavia, &c.] + +[Footnote 50: The haughty proverb, "Who can resist God and the great +Novogorod?" is applied by M. Leveque (Hist. de Russie, tom. i. p. 60) +even to the times that preceded the reign of Ruric. In the course of +his history he frequently celebrates this republic, which was suppressed +A.D. 1475, (tom. ii. p. 252-266.) That accurate traveller Adam Olearius +describes (in 1635) the remains of Novogorod, and the route by sea and +land of the Holstein ambassadors, tom. i. p. 123-129.] + +[Footnote 51: In hac magna civitate, quae est caput regni, plus +trecentae ecclesiae habentur et nundinae octo, populi etiam ignota manus +(Eggehardus ad A.D. 1018, apud Bayer, tom. ix. p. 412.) He likewise +quotes (tom. x. p. 397) the words of the Saxon annalist, Cujus (Russioe) +metropolis est Chive, aemula sceptri Constantinopolitani, quae est +clarissimum decus Graeciae. The fame of Kiow, especially in the xith +century, had reached the German and Arabian geographers.] + +[Footnote 52: In Odorae ostio qua Scythicas alluit paludes, nobilissima +civitas Julinum, celeberrimam, Barbaris et Graecis qui sunt in circuitu, +praestans stationem, est sane maxima omnium quas Europa claudit +civitatum, (Adam Bremensis, Hist. Eccles. p. 19;) a strange exaggeration +even in the xith century. The trade of the Baltic, and the Hanseatic +League, are carefully treated in Anderson's Historical Deduction of +Commerce; at least, in our language, I am not acquainted with any book +so satisfactory. * Note: The book of authority is the "Geschichte des +Hanseatischen Bundes," by George Sartorius, Gottingen, 1803, or rather +the later edition of that work by M. Lappenberg, 2 vols. 4to., Hamburgh, +1830.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 53: According to Adam of Bremen, (de Situ Daniae, p. 58,) the +old Curland extended eight days' journey along the coast; and by Peter +Teutoburgicus, (p. 68, A.D. 1326,) Memel is defined as the common +frontier of Russia, Curland, and Prussia. Aurum ibi plurimum, (says +Adam,) divinis auguribus atque necromanticis omnes domus sunt plenae.... +a toto orbe ibi responsa petuntur, maxime ab Hispanis (forsan Zupanis, +id est regulis Lettoviae) et Graecis. The name of Greeks was applied to +the Russians even before their conversion; an imperfect conversion, if +they still consulted the wizards of Curland, (Bayer, tom. x. p. 378, +402, &c. Grotius, Prolegomen. ad Hist. Goth. p. 99.)] + +[Footnote 54: Constantine only reckons seven cataracts, of which he +gives the Russian and Sclavonic names; but thirteen are enumerated by +the Sieur de Beauplan, a French engineer, who had surveyed the +course and navigation of the Dnieper, or Borysthenes, (Description de +l'Ukraine, Rouen, 1660, a thin quarto;) but the map is unluckily wanting +in my copy.] + +[Footnote 55: Nestor, apud Leveque, Hist. de Russie, tom. i. p. 78-80. +From the Dnieper, or Borysthenes, the Russians went to Black Bulgaria, +Chazaria, and Syria. To Syria, how? where? when? The alteration +is slight; the position of Suania, between Chazaria and Lazica, is +perfectly suitable; and the name was still used in the xith century, +(Cedren. tom. ii. p. 770.)] + + + +Chapter LV: The Bulgarians, The Hungarians And The Russians.--Part III. + +But the same communication which had been opened for the benefit, was +soon abused for the injury, of mankind. In a period of one hundred and +ninety years, the Russians made four attempts to plunder the treasures +of Constantinople: the event was various, but the motive, the means, and +the object, were the same in these naval expeditions. [56] The Russian +traders had seen the magnificence, and tasted the luxury of the city of +the Caesars. A marvellous tale, and a scanty supply, excited the desires +of their savage countrymen: they envied the gifts of nature which their +climate denied; they coveted the works of art, which they were too lazy +to imitate and too indigent to purchase; the Varangian princes unfurled +the banners of piratical adventure, and their bravest soldiers were +drawn from the nations that dwelt in the northern isles of the ocean. +[57] The image of their naval armaments was revived in the last century, +in the fleets of the Cossacks, which issued from the Borysthenes, to +navigate the same seas for a similar purpose. [58] The Greek appellation +of monoxyla, or single canoes, might justly be applied to the bottom of +their vessels. It was scooped out of the long stem of a beech or willow, +but the slight and narrow foundation was raised and continued on either +side with planks, till it attained the length of sixty, and the height +of about twelve, feet. These boats were built without a deck, but with +two rudders and a mast; to move with sails and oars; and to contain from +forty to seventy men, with their arms, and provisions of fresh water +and salt fish. The first trial of the Russians was made with two hundred +boats; but when the national force was exerted, they might arm against +Constantinople a thousand or twelve hundred vessels. Their fleet was not +much inferior to the royal navy of Agamemnon, but it was magnified in +the eyes of fear to ten or fifteen times the real proportion of its +strength and numbers. Had the Greek emperors been endowed with foresight +to discern, and vigor to prevent, perhaps they might have sealed with a +maritime force the mouth of the Borysthenes. Their indolence abandoned +the coast of Anatolia to the calamities of a piratical war, which, after +an interval of six hundred years, again infested the Euxine; but as +long as the capital was respected, the sufferings of a distant province +escaped the notice both of the prince and the historian. The storm which +had swept along from the Phasis and Trebizond, at length burst on +the Bosphorus of Thrace; a strait of fifteen miles, in which the rude +vessels of the Russians might have been stopped and destroyed by a more +skilful adversary. In their first enterprise [59] under the princes +of Kiow, they passed without opposition, and occupied the port of +Constantinople in the absence of the emperor Michael, the son of +Theophilus. Through a crowd of perils, he landed at the palace-stairs, +and immediately repaired to a church of the Virgin Mary. [60] By the +advice of the patriarch, her garment, a precious relic, was drawn from +the sanctuary and dipped in the sea; and a seasonable tempest, which +determined the retreat of the Russians, was devoutly ascribed to the +mother of God. [61] The silence of the Greeks may inspire some doubt of +the truth, or at least of the importance, of the second attempt by Oleg, +the guardian of the sons of Ruric. [62] A strong barrier of arms and +fortifications defended the Bosphorus: they were eluded by the usual +expedient of drawing the boats over the isthmus; and this simple +operation is described in the national chronicles, as if the Russian +fleet had sailed over dry land with a brisk and favorable gale. The +leader of the third armament, Igor, the son of Ruric, had chosen a +moment of weakness and decay, when the naval powers of the empire +were employed against the Saracens. But if courage be not wanting, the +instruments of defence are seldom deficient. Fifteen broken and decayed +galleys were boldly launched against the enemy; but instead of the +single tube of Greek fire usually planted on the prow, the sides +and stern of each vessel were abundantly supplied with that liquid +combustible. The engineers were dexterous; the weather was propitious; +many thousand Russians, who chose rather to be drowned than burnt, +leaped into the sea; and those who escaped to the Thracian shore were +inhumanly slaughtered by the peasants and soldiers. Yet one third of the +canoes escaped into shallow water; and the next spring Igor was again +prepared to retrieve his disgrace and claim his revenge. [63] After +a long peace, Jaroslaus, the great grandson of Igor, resumed the same +project of a naval invasion. A fleet, under the command of his son, was +repulsed at the entrance of the Bosphorus by the same artificial +flames. But in the rashness of pursuit, the vanguard of the Greeks +was encompassed by an irresistible multitude of boats and men; their +provision of fire was probably exhausted; and twenty-four galleys were +either taken, sunk, or destroyed. [64] + +[Footnote 56: The wars of the Russians and Greeks in the ixth, xth, and +xith centuries, are related in the Byzantine annals, especially those +of Zonaras and Cedrenus; and all their testimonies are collected in the +Russica of Stritter, tom. ii. pars ii. p. 939-1044.] + +[Footnote 57: Cedrenus in Compend. p. 758] + +[Footnote 58: See Beauplan, (Description de l'Ukraine, p. 54-61: ) +his descriptions are lively, his plans accurate, and except the +circumstances of fire-arms, we may read old Russians for modern +Cosacks.] + +[Footnote 59: It is to be lamented, that Bayer has only given a +Dissertation de Russorum prima Expeditione Constantinopolitana, +(Comment. Academ. Petropol. tom. vi. p. 265-391.) After disentangling +some chronological intricacies, he fixes it in the years 864 or 865, +a date which might have smoothed some doubts and difficulties in the +beginning of M. Leveque's history.] + +[Footnote 60: When Photius wrote his encyclic epistle on the conversion +of the Russians, the miracle was not yet sufficiently ripe.] + +[Footnote 61: Leo Grammaticus, p. 463, 464. Constantini Continuator +in Script. post Theophanem, p. 121, 122. Symeon Logothet. p. 445, 446. +Georg. Monach. p. 535, 536. Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 551. Zonaras, tom. ii. +p. 162.] + +[Footnote 62: See Nestor and Nicon, in Leveque's Hist. de Russie, tom. +i. p. 74-80. Katona (Hist. Ducum, p. 75-79) uses his advantage to +disprove this Russian victory, which would cloud the siege of Kiow by +the Hungarians.] + +[Footnote 63: Leo Grammaticus, p. 506, 507. Incert. Contin. p. 263, 264 +Symeon Logothet. p. 490, 491. Georg. Monach. p. 588, 589. Cedren tom. +ii. p. 629. Zonaras, tom. ii. p. 190, 191, and Liutprand, l. v. c. 6, +who writes from the narratives of his father-in-law, then ambassador at +Constantinople, and corrects the vain exaggeration of the Greeks.] + +[Footnote 64: I can only appeal to Cedrenus (tom. ii. p. 758, 759) and +Zonaras, (tom. ii. p. 253, 254;) but they grow more weighty and credible +as they draw near to their own times.] + +Yet the threats or calamities of a Russian war were more frequently +diverted by treaty than by arms. In these naval hostilities, every +disadvantage was on the side of the Greeks; their savage enemy afforded +no mercy: his poverty promised no spoil; his impenetrable retreat +deprived the conqueror of the hopes of revenge; and the pride or +weakness of empire indulged an opinion, that no honor could be gained +or lost in the intercourse with Barbarians. At first their demands were +high and inadmissible, three pounds of gold for each soldier or mariner +of the fleet: the Russian youth adhered to the design of conquest and +glory; but the counsels of moderation were recommended by the hoary +sages. "Be content," they said, "with the liberal offers of Caesar; it +is not far better to obtain without a combat the possession of gold, +silver, silks, and all the objects of our desires? Are we sure of +victory? Can we conclude a treaty with the sea? We do not tread on the +land; we float on the abyss of water, and a common death hangs over our +heads." [65] The memory of these Arctic fleets that seemed to descend +from the polar circle left deep impression of terror on the Imperial +city. By the vulgar of every rank, it was asserted and believed, that an +equestrian statue in the square of Taurus was secretly inscribed with a +prophecy, how the Russians, in the last days, should become masters of +Constantinople. [66] In our own time, a Russian armament, instead of +sailing from the Borysthenes, has circumnavigated the continent of +Europe; and the Turkish capital has been threatened by a squadron of +strong and lofty ships of war, each of which, with its naval science +and thundering artillery, could have sunk or scattered a hundred canoes, +such as those of their ancestors. Perhaps the present generation may yet +behold the accomplishment of the prediction, of a rare prediction, of +which the style is unambiguous and the date unquestionable. + +[Footnote 65: Nestor, apud Leveque, Hist. de Russie, tom. i. p. 87.] + +[Footnote 66: This brazen statue, which had been brought from Antioch, +and was melted down by the Latins, was supposed to represent either +Joshua or Bellerophon, an odd dilemma. See Nicetas Choniates, (p. 413, +414,) Codinus, (de Originibus C. P. p. 24,) and the anonymous writer de +Antiquitat. C. P. (Banduri, Imp. Orient. tom. i. p. 17, 18,) who lived +about the year 1100. They witness the belief of the prophecy the rest is +immaterial.] + +By land the Russians were less formidable than by sea; and as they +fought for the most part on foot, their irregular legions must often +have been broken and overthrown by the cavalry of the Scythian hordes. +Yet their growing towns, however slight and imperfect, presented a +shelter to the subject, and a barrier to the enemy: the monarchy of +Kiow, till a fatal partition, assumed the dominion of the North; and +the nations from the Volga to the Danube were subdued or repelled by the +arms of Swatoslaus, [67] the son of Igor, the son of Oleg, the son of +Ruric. The vigor of his mind and body was fortified by the hardships of +a military and savage life. Wrapped in a bear-skin, Swatoslaus usually +slept on the ground, his head reclining on a saddle; his diet was coarse +and frugal, and, like the heroes of Homer, [68] his meat (it was often +horse-flesh) was broiled or roasted on the coals. The exercise of war +gave stability and discipline to his army; and it may be presumed, that +no soldier was permitted to transcend the luxury of his chief. By an +embassy from Nicephorus, the Greek emperor, he was moved to undertake +the conquest of Bulgaria; and a gift of fifteen hundred pounds of gold +was laid at his feet to defray the expense, or reward the toils, of the +expedition. An army of sixty thousand men was assembled and embarked; +they sailed from the Borysthenes to the Danube; their landing was +effected on the Maesian shore; and, after a sharp encounter, the swords +of the Russians prevailed against the arrows of the Bulgarian horse. The +vanquished king sunk into the grave; his children were made captive; and +his dominions, as far as Mount Haemus, were subdued or ravaged by the +northern invaders. But instead of relinquishing his prey, and performing +his engagements, the Varangian prince was more disposed to advance than +to retire; and, had his ambition been crowned with success, the seat +of empire in that early period might have been transferred to a more +temperate and fruitful climate. Swatoslaus enjoyed and acknowledged the +advantages of his new position, in which he could unite, by exchange or +rapine, the various productions of the earth. By an easy navigation +he might draw from Russia the native commodities of furs, wax, and +hydromed: Hungary supplied him with a breed of horses and the spoils +of the West; and Greece abounded with gold, silver, and the foreign +luxuries, which his poverty had affected to disdain. The bands of +Patzinacites, Chozars, and Turks, repaired to the standard of victory; +and the ambassador of Nicephorus betrayed his trust, assumed the purple, +and promised to share with his new allies the treasures of the Eastern +world. From the banks of the Danube the Russian prince pursued his march +as far as Adrianople; a formal summons to evacuate the Roman province +was dismissed with contempt; and Swatoslaus fiercely replied, that +Constantinople might soon expect the presence of an enemy and a master. + +[Footnote 67: The life of Swatoslaus, or Sviatoslaf, or Sphendosthlabus, +is extracted from the Russian Chronicles by M. Levesque, (Hist. de +Russie, tom. i. p. 94-107.)] + +[Footnote 68: This resemblance may be clearly seen in the ninth book of +the Iliad, (205-221,) in the minute detail of the cookery of Achilles. +By such a picture, a modern epic poet would disgrace his work, and +disgust his reader; but the Greek verses are harmonious--a dead language +can seldom appear low or familiar; and at the distance of two thousand +seven hundred years, we are amused with the primitive manners of +antiquity.] + +Nicephorus could no longer expel the mischief which he had introduced; +but his throne and wife were inherited by John Zimisces, [69] who, in a +diminutive body, possessed the spirit and abilities of a hero. The +first victory of his lieutenants deprived the Russians of their foreign +allies, twenty thousand of whom were either destroyed by the sword, +or provoked to revolt, or tempted to desert. Thrace was delivered, but +seventy thousand Barbarians were still in arms; and the legions that had +been recalled from the new conquests of Syria, prepared, with the return +of the spring, to march under the banners of a warlike prince, who +declared himself the friend and avenger of the injured Bulgaria. The +passes of Mount Haemus had been left unguarded; they were instantly +occupied; the Roman vanguard was formed of the immortals, (a proud +imitation of the Persian style;) the emperor led the main body of ten +thousand five hundred foot; and the rest of his forces followed in slow +and cautious array, with the baggage and military engines. The first +exploit of Zimisces was the reduction of Marcianopolis, or Peristhlaba, +[70] in two days; the trumpets sounded; the walls were scaled; eight +thousand five hundred Russians were put to the sword; and the sons of +the Bulgarian king were rescued from an ignominious prison, and invested +with a nominal diadem. After these repeated losses, Swatoslaus retired +to the strong post of Drista, on the banks of the Danube, and was +pursued by an enemy who alternately employed the arms of celerity and +delay. The Byzantine galleys ascended the river, the legions completed +a line of circumvallation; and the Russian prince was encompassed, +assaulted, and famished, in the fortifications of the camp and city. +Many deeds of valor were performed; several desperate sallies were +attempted; nor was it till after a siege of sixty-five days that +Swatoslaus yielded to his adverse fortune. The liberal terms which he +obtained announce the prudence of the victor, who respected the valor, +and apprehended the despair, of an unconquered mind. The great duke of +Russia bound himself, by solemn imprecations, to relinquish all hostile +designs; a safe passage was opened for his return; the liberty of trade +and navigation was restored; a measure of corn was distributed to each +of his soldiers; and the allowance of twenty-two thousand measures +attests the loss and the remnant of the Barbarians. After a painful +voyage, they again reached the mouth of the Borysthenes; but their +provisions were exhausted; the season was unfavorable; they passed +the winter on the ice; and, before they could prosecute their march, +Swatoslaus was surprised and oppressed by the neighboring tribes with +whom the Greeks entertained a perpetual and useful correspondence. +[71] Far different was the return of Zimisces, who was received in his +capital like Camillus or Marius, the saviors of ancient Rome. But the +merit of the victory was attributed by the pious emperor to the mother +of God; and the image of the Virgin Mary, with the divine infant in her +arms, was placed on a triumphal car, adorned with the spoils of war, +and the ensigns of Bulgarian royalty. Zimisces made his public entry on +horseback; the diadem on his head, a crown of laurel in his hand; and +Constantinople was astonished to applaud the martial virtues of her +sovereign. [72] + +[Footnote 69: This singular epithet is derived from the Armenian +language. As I profess myself equally ignorant of these words, I may +be indulged in the question in the play, "Pray, which of you is the +interpreter?" From the context, they seem to signify Adolescentulus, +(Leo Diacon l. iv. Ms. apud Ducange, Glossar. Graec. p. 1570.) * Note: +Cerbied. the learned Armenian, gives another derivation. There is a city +called Tschemisch-gaizag, which means a bright or purple sandal, such as +women wear in the East. He was called Tschemisch-ghigh, (for so his name +is written in Armenian, from this city, his native place.) Hase. Note to +Leo Diac. p. 454, in Niebuhr's Byzant. Hist.--M.] + +[Footnote 70: In the Sclavonic tongue, the name of Peristhlaba implied +the great or illustrious city, says Anna Comnena, (Alexiad, l. vii. p. +194.) From its position between Mount Haemus and the Lower Danube, it +appears to fill the ground, or at least the station, of Marcianopolis. +The situation of Durostolus, or Dristra, is well known and conspicuous, +(Comment. Academ. Petropol. tom. ix. p. 415, 416. D'Anville, Geographie +Ancienne, tom. i. p. 307, 311.)] + +[Footnote 71: The political management of the Greeks, more especially +with the Patzinacites, is explained in the seven first chapters, de +Administratione Imperii.] + +[Footnote 72: In the narrative of this war, Leo the Deacon (apud Pagi, +Critica, tom. iv. A.D. 968-973) is more authentic and circumstantial +than Cedrenus (tom. ii. p. 660-683) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. p. +205-214.) These declaimers have multiplied to 308,000 and 330,000 men, +those Russian forces, of which the contemporary had given a moderate and +consistent account.] + +Photius of Constantinople, a patriarch, whose ambition was equal to his +curiosity, congratulates himself and the Greek church on the conversion +of the Russians. [73] Those fierce and bloody Barbarians had been +persuaded, by the voice of reason and religion, to acknowledge Jesus for +their God, the Christian missionaries for their teachers, and the Romans +for their friends and brethren. His triumph was transient and premature. +In the various fortune of their piratical adventures, some Russian +chiefs might allow themselves to be sprinkled with the waters of +baptism; and a Greek bishop, with the name of metropolitan, might +administer the sacraments in the church of Kiow, to a congregation of +slaves and natives. But the seed of the gospel was sown on a barren +soil: many were the apostates, the converts were few; and the baptism +of Olga may be fixed as the aera of Russian Christianity. [74] A female, +perhaps of the basest origin, who could revenge the death, and assume +the sceptre, of her husband Igor, must have been endowed with those +active virtues which command the fear and obedience of Barbarians. In +a moment of foreign and domestic peace, she sailed from Kiow to +Constantinople; and the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus has +described, with minute diligence, the ceremonial of her reception in his +capital and palace. The steps, the titles, the salutations, the banquet, +the presents, were exquisitely adjusted to gratify the vanity of the +stranger, with due reverence to the superior majesty of the purple. +[75] In the sacrament of baptism, she received the venerable name of the +empress Helena; and her conversion might be preceded or followed by her +uncle, two interpreters, sixteen damsels of a higher, and eighteen of +a lower rank, twenty-two domestics or ministers, and forty-four Russian +merchants, who composed the retinue of the great princess Olga. After +her return to Kiow and Novogorod, she firmly persisted in her new +religion; but her labors in the propagation of the gospel were not +crowned with success; and both her family and nation adhered with +obstinacy or indifference to the gods of their fathers. Her son +Swatoslaus was apprehensive of the scorn and ridicule of his companions; +and her grandson Wolodomir devoted his youthful zeal to multiply and +decorate the monuments of ancient worship. The savage deities of the +North were still propitiated with human sacrifices: in the choice of +the victim, a citizen was preferred to a stranger, a Christian to an +idolater; and the father, who defended his son from the sacerdotal +knife, was involved in the same doom by the rage of a fanatic tumult. +Yet the lessons and example of the pious Olga had made a deep, though +secret, impression in the minds of the prince and people: the Greek +missionaries continued to preach, to dispute, and to baptize: and the +ambassadors or merchants of Russia compared the idolatry of the woods +with the elegant superstition of Constantinople. They had gazed with +admiration on the dome of St. Sophia: the lively pictures of saints +and martyrs, the riches of the altar, the number and vestments of the +priests, the pomp and order of the ceremonies; they were edified by the +alternate succession of devout silence and harmonious song; nor was it +difficult to persuade them, that a choir of angels descended each day +from heaven to join in the devotion of the Christians. [76] But the +conversion of Wolodomir was determined, or hastened, by his desire of a +Roman bride. At the same time, and in the city of Cherson, the rites of +baptism and marriage were celebrated by the Christian pontiff: the city +he restored to the emperor Basil, the brother of his spouse; but the +brazen gates were transported, as it is said, to Novogorod, and erected +before the first church as a trophy of his victory and faith. [77] At +his despotic command, Peround, the god of thunder, whom he had so long +adored, was dragged through the streets of Kiow; and twelve sturdy +Barbarians battered with clubs the misshapen image, which was +indignantly cast into the waters of the Borysthenes. The edict of +Wolodomir had proclaimed, that all who should refuse the rites of +baptism would be treated as the enemies of God and their prince; and the +rivers were instantly filled with many thousands of obedient Russians, +who acquiesced in the truth and excellence of a doctrine which had been +embraced by the great duke and his boyars. In the next generation, the +relics of Paganism were finally extirpated; but as the two brothers +of Wolodomir had died without baptism, their bones were taken from the +grave, and sanctified by an irregular and posthumous sacrament. + +[Footnote 73: Phot. Epistol. ii. No. 35, p. 58, edit. Montacut. It was +unworthy of the learning of the editor to mistake the Russian nation, +for a war-cry of the Bulgarians, nor did it become the enlightened +patriarch to accuse the Sclavonian idolaters. They were neither Greeks +nor Atheists.] + +[Footnote 74: M. Levesque has extracted, from old chronicles and modern +researches, the most satisfactory account of the religion of the Slavi, +and the conversion of Russia, (Hist. de Russie, tom. i. p. 35-54, 59, +92, 92, 113-121, 124-129, 148, 149, &c.)] + +[Footnote 75: See the Ceremoniale Aulae Byzant. tom. ii. c. 15, p. +343-345: the style of Olga, or Elga. For the chief of Barbarians the +Greeks whimsically borrowed the title of an Athenian magistrate, with a +female termination, which would have astonished the ear of Demosthenes.] + +[Footnote 76: See an anonymous fragment published by Banduri, (Imperium +Orientale, tom. ii. p. 112, 113, de Conversione Russorum.)] + +[Footnote 77: Cherson, or Corsun, is mentioned by Herberstein (apud Pagi +tom. iv. p. 56) as the place of Wolodomir's baptism and marriage; and +both the tradition and the gates are still preserved at Novogorod. Yet +an observing traveller transports the brazen gates from Magdeburgh in +Germany, (Coxe's Travels into Russia, &c., vol. i. p. 452;) and quotes +an inscription, which seems to justify his opinion. The modern reader +must not confound this old Cherson of the Tauric or Crimaean peninsula, +with a new city of the same name, which has arisen near the mouth of the +Borysthenes, and was lately honored by the memorable interview of the +empress of Russia with the emperor of the West.] + +In the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries of the Christian aera, +the reign of the gospel and of the church was extended over Bulgaria, +Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Russia. +[78] The triumphs of apostolic zeal were repeated in the iron age of +Christianity; and the northern and eastern regions of Europe submitted +to a religion, more different in theory than in practice, from the +worship of their native idols. A laudable ambition excited the +monks both of Germany and Greece, to visit the tents and huts of the +Barbarians: poverty, hardships, and dangers, were the lot of the first +missionaries; their courage was active and patient; their motive pure +and meritorious; their present reward consisted in the testimony of +their conscience and the respect of a grateful people; but the fruitful +harvest of their toils was inherited and enjoyed by the proud and +wealthy prelates of succeeding times. The first conversions were free +and spontaneous: a holy life and an eloquent tongue were the only arms +of the missionaries; but the domestic fables of the Pagans were silenced +by the miracles and visions of the strangers; and the favorable temper +of the chiefs was accelerated by the dictates of vanity and interest. +The leaders of nations, who were saluted with the titles of kings and +saints, [79] held it lawful and pious to impose the Catholic faith on +their subjects and neighbors; the coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to +the Gulf of Finland, was invaded under the standard of the cross; and +the reign of idolatry was closed by the conversion of Lithuania in the +fourteenth century. Yet truth and candor must acknowledge, that the +conversion of the North imparted many temporal benefits both to the old +and the new Christians. The rage of war, inherent to the human species, +could not be healed by the evangelic precepts of charity and peace; and +the ambition of Catholic princes has renewed in every age the calamities +of hostile contention. But the admission of the Barbarians into the +pale of civil and ecclesiastical society delivered Europe from the +depredations, by sea and land, of the Normans, the Hungarians, and +the Russians, who learned to spare their brethren and cultivate their +possessions. [80] The establishment of law and order was promoted by +the influence of the clergy; and the rudiments of art and science were +introduced into the savage countries of the globe. The liberal piety +of the Russian princes engaged in their service the most skilful of the +Greeks, to decorate the cities and instruct the inhabitants: the dome +and the paintings of St. Sophia were rudely copied in the churches of +Kiow and Novogorod: the writings of the fathers were translated into +the Sclavonic idiom; and three hundred noble youths were invited or +compelled to attend the lessons of the college of Jaroslaus. It should +appear that Russia might have derived an early and rapid improvement +from her peculiar connection with the church and state of +Constantinople, which at that age so justly despised the ignorance of +the Latins. But the Byzantine nation was servile, solitary, and verging +to a hasty decline: after the fall of Kiow, the navigation of the +Borysthenes was forgotten; the great princes of Wolodomir and Moscow +were separated from the sea and Christendom; and the divided monarchy +was oppressed by the ignominy and blindness of Tartar servitude. [81] +The Sclavonic and Scandinavian kingdoms, which had been converted by +the Latin missionaries, were exposed, it is true, to the spiritual +jurisdiction and temporal claims of the popes; [82] but they were united +in language and religious worship, with each other, and with Rome; +they imbibed the free and generous spirit of the European republic, +and gradually shared the light of knowledge which arose on the western +world. + +[Footnote 78: Consult the Latin text, or English version, of Mosheim's +excellent History of the Church, under the first head or section of each +of these centuries.] + +[Footnote 79: In the year 1000, the ambassadors of St. Stephen received +from Pope Silvester the title of King of Hungary, with a diadem of Greek +workmanship. It had been designed for the duke of Poland: but the Poles, +by their own confession, were yet too barbarous to deserve an angelical +and apostolical crown. (Katona, Hist. Critic Regum Stirpis Arpadianae, +tom. i. p. 1-20.)] + +[Footnote 80: Listen to the exultations of Adam of Bremen, (A.D. 1080,) +of which the substance is agreeable to truth: Ecce illa ferocissima +Danorum, &c., natio..... jamdudum novit in Dei laudibus Alleluia +resonare..... Ecce populus ille piraticus ..... suis nunc finibus +contentus est. Ecce patria horribilis semper inaccessa propter cultum +idolorum... praedicatores veritatis ubique certatim admittit, &c., &c., +(de Situ Daniae, &c., p. 40, 41, edit. Elzevir; a curious and original +prospect of the north of Europe, and the introduction of Christianity.)] + +[Footnote 81: The great princes removed in 1156 from Kiow, which was +ruined by the Tartars in 1240. Moscow became the seat of empire in the +xivth century. See the 1st and 2d volumes of Levesque's History, and Mr. +Coxe's Travels into the North, tom. i. p. 241, &c.] + +[Footnote 82: The ambassadors of St. Stephen had used the reverential +expressions of regnum oblatum, debitam obedientiam, &c., which were most +rigorously interpreted by Gregory VII.; and the Hungarian Catholics are +distressed between the sanctity of the pope and the independence of the +crown, (Katona, Hist. Critica, tom. i. p. 20-25, tom. ii. p. 304, 346, +360, &c.)] + + + + +Chapter LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part I. + + The Saracens, Franks, And Greeks, In Italy.--First + Adventures And Settlement Of The Normans.--Character And + Conquest Of Robert Guiscard, Duke Of Apulia--Deliverance Of + Sicily By His Brother Roger.--Victories Of Robert Over The + Emperors Of The East And West.--Roger, King Of Sicily, + Invades Africa And Greece.--The Emperor Manuel Comnenus.-- + Wars Of The Greeks And Normans.--Extinction Of The Normans. + +The three great nations of the world, the Greeks, the Saracens, and the +Franks, encountered each other on the theatre of Italy. [1] The southern +provinces, which now compose the kingdom of Naples, were subject, for +the most part, to the Lombard dukes and princes of Beneventum; [2] +so powerful in war, that they checked for a moment the genius of +Charlemagne; so liberal in peace, that they maintained in their capital +an academy of thirty-two philosophers and grammarians. The division of +this flourishing state produced the rival principalities of Benevento, +Salerno, and Capua; and the thoughtless ambition or revenge of +the competitors invited the Saracens to the ruin of their common +inheritance. During a calamitous period of two hundred years, Italy was +exposed to a repetition of wounds, which the invaders were not capable +of healing by the union and tranquility of a perfect conquest. Their +frequent and almost annual squadrons issued from the port of Palermo, +and were entertained with too much indulgence by the Christians of +Naples: the more formidable fleets were prepared on the African coast; +and even the Arabs of Andalusia were sometimes tempted to assist or +oppose the Moslems of an adverse sect. In the revolution of human +events, a new ambuscade was concealed in the Caudine Forks, the fields +of Cannae were bedewed a second time with the blood of the Africans, and +the sovereign of Rome again attacked or defended the walls of Capua and +Tarentum. A colony of Saracens had been planted at Bari, which commands +the entrance of the Adriatic Gulf; and their impartial depredations +provoked the resentment, and conciliated the union of the two emperors. +An offensive alliance was concluded between Basil the Macedonian, the +first of his race, and Lewis the great-grandson of Charlemagne; [3] and +each party supplied the deficiencies of his associate. It would have +been imprudent in the Byzantine monarch to transport his stationary +troops of Asia to an Italian campaign; and the Latin arms would have +been insufficient if his superior navy had not occupied the mouth of the +Gulf. The fortress of Bari was invested by the infantry of the Franks, +and by the cavalry and galleys of the Greeks; and, after a defence of +four years, the Arabian emir submitted to the clemency of Lewis, who +commanded in person the operations of the siege. This important conquest +had been achieved by the concord of the East and West; but their recent +amity was soon imbittered by the mutual complaints of jealousy and +pride. The Greeks assumed as their own the merit of the conquest and +the pomp of the triumph; extolled the greatness of their powers, +and affected to deride the intemperance and sloth of the handful of +Barbarians who appeared under the banners of the Carlovingian prince. +His reply is expressed with the eloquence of indignation and truth: "We +confess the magnitude of your preparation," says the great-grandson of +Charlemagne. "Your armies were indeed as numerous as a cloud of summer +locusts, who darken the day, flap their wings, and, after a short +flight, tumble weary and breathless to the ground. Like them, ye sunk +after a feeble effort; ye were vanquished by your own cowardice; and +withdrew from the scene of action to injure and despoil our Christian +subjects of the Sclavonian coast. We were few in number, and why were +we few? Because, after a tedious expectation of your arrival, I had +dismissed my host, and retained only a chosen band of warriors to +continue the blockade of the city. If they indulged their hospitable +feasts in the face of danger and death, did these feasts abate the vigor +of their enterprise? Is it by your fasting that the walls of Bari have +been overturned? Did not these valiant Franks, diminished as they were +by languor and fatigue, intercept and vanish the three most powerful +emirs of the Saracens? and did not their defeat precipitate the fall +of the city? Bari is now fallen; Tarentum trembles; Calabria will be +delivered; and, if we command the sea, the Island of Sicily may be +rescued from the hands of the infidels. My brother," accelerate (a +name most offensive to the vanity of the Greek,) "accelerate your naval +succors, respect your allies, and distrust your flatterers." [4] + +[Footnote 1: For the general history of Italy in the ixth and xth +centuries, I may properly refer to the vth, vith, and viith books of +Sigonius de Regno Italiae, (in the second volume of his works, Milan, +1732;) the Annals of Baronius, with the criticism of Pagi; the viith and +viiith books of the Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli of Giannone; the +viith and viiith volumes (the octavo edition) of the Annali d' Italia +of Muratori, and the 2d volume of the Abrege Chronologique of M. de St. +Marc, a work which, under a superficial title, contains much genuine +learning and industry. But my long-accustomed reader will give me credit +for saying, that I myself have ascended to the fountain head, as often +as such ascent could be either profitable or possible; and that I have +diligently turned over the originals in the first volumes of Muratori's +great collection of the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum.] + +[Footnote 2: Camillo Pellegrino, a learned Capuan of the last century, +has illustrated the history of the duchy of Beneventum, in his two books +Historia Principum Longobardorum, in the Scriptores of Muratori tom. ii. +pars i. p. 221-345, and tom. v. p 159-245.] + +[Footnote 3: See Constantin. Porphyrogen. de Thematibus, l. ii. c xi. in +Vit Basil. c. 55, p. 181.] + +[Footnote 4: The oriental epistle of the emperor Lewis II. to the +emperor Basil, a curious record of the age, was first published by +Baronius, (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 871, No. 51-71,) from the Vatican Ms. +of Erchempert, or rather of the anonymous historian of Salerno.] These +lofty hopes were soon extinguished by the death of Lewis, and the decay +of the Carlovingian house; and whoever might deserve the honor, the +Greek emperors, Basil, and his son Leo, secured the advantage, of the +reduction of Bari The Italians of Apulia and Calabria were persuaded or +compelled to acknowledge their supremacy, and an ideal line from Mount +Garganus to the Bay of Salerno, leaves the far greater part of the +kingdom of Naples under the dominion of the Eastern empire. Beyond that +line, the dukes or republics of Amalfi [5] and Naples, who had never +forfeited their voluntary allegiance, rejoiced in the neighborhood of +their lawful sovereign; and Amalfi was enriched by supplying Europe +with the produce and manufactures of Asia. But the Lombard princes +of Benevento, Salerno, and Capua, [6] were reluctantly torn from the +communion of the Latin world, and too often violated their oaths of +servitude and tribute. The city of Bari rose to dignity and wealth, as +the metropolis of the new theme or province of Lombardy: the title of +patrician, and afterwards the singular name of Catapan, [7] was assigned +to the supreme governor; and the policy both of the church and state was +modelled in exact subordination to the throne of Constantinople. As long +as the sceptre was disputed by the princes of Italy, their efforts were +feeble and adverse; and the Greeks resisted or eluded the forces of +Germany, which descended from the Alps under the Imperial standard of +the Othos. The first and greatest of those Saxon princes was compelled +to relinquish the siege of Bari: the second, after the loss of his +stoutest bishops and barons, escaped with honor from the bloody field of +Crotona. On that day the scale of war was turned against the Franks by +the valor of the Saracens. [8] These corsairs had indeed been driven +by the Byzantine fleets from the fortresses and coasts of Italy; but a +sense of interest was more prevalent than superstition or resentment, +and the caliph of Egypt had transported forty thousand Moslems to the +aid of his Christian ally. The successors of Basil amused themselves +with the belief, that the conquest of Lombardy had been achieved, and +was still preserved by the justice of their laws, the virtues of their +ministers, and the gratitude of a people whom they had rescued from +anarchy and oppression. A series of rebellions might dart a ray of truth +into the palace of Constantinople; and the illusions of flattery were +dispelled by the easy and rapid success of the Norman adventurers. + +[Footnote 5: See an excellent Dissertation de Republica Amalphitana, +in the Appendix (p. 1-42) of Henry Brencman's Historia Pandectarum, +(Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1722, in 4to.)] + +[Footnote 6: Your master, says Nicephorus, has given aid and protection +prinminibus Capuano et Beneventano, servis meis, quos oppugnare +dispono.... Nova (potius nota) res est quod eorum patres et avi nostro +Imperio tributa dederunt, (Liutprand, in Legat. p. 484.) Salerno is not +mentioned, yet the prince changed his party about the same time, and +Camillo Pellegrino (Script. Rer. Ital. tom. ii. pars i. p. 285) has +nicely discerned this change in the style of the anonymous Chronicle. +On the rational ground of history and language, Liutprand (p. 480) had +asserted the Latin claim to Apulia and Calabria.] + +[Footnote 7: See the Greek and Latin Glossaries of Ducange (catapanus,) +and his notes on the Alexias, (p. 275.) Against the contemporary notion, +which derives it from juxta omne, he treats it as a corruption of the +Latin capitaneus. Yet M. de St. Marc has accurately observed (Abrege +Chronologique, tom. ii. p. 924) that in this age the capitanei were not +captains, but only nobles of the first rank, the great valvassors of +Italy.] + +[Footnote 8: (the Lombards), (Leon. Tactic. c. xv. p. 741.) The little +Chronicle of Beneventum (tom. ii. pars i. p. 280) gives a far different +character of the Greeks during the five years (A.D. 891-896) that Leo +was master of the city.] + +The revolution of human affairs had produced in Apulia and Calabria a +melancholy contrast between the age of Pythagoras and the tenth century +of the Christian aera. At the former period, the coast of Great Greece +(as it was then styled) was planted with free and opulent cities: these +cities were peopled with soldiers, artists, and philosophers; and the +military strength of Tarentum; Sybaris, or Crotona, was not inferior to +that of a powerful kingdom. At the second aera, these once flourishing +provinces were clouded with ignorance impoverished by tyranny, and +depopulated by Barbarian war nor can we severely accuse the exaggeration +of a contemporary, that a fair and ample district was reduced to the +same desolation which had covered the earth after the general deluge. +[9] Among the hostilities of the Arabs, the Franks, and the Greeks, in +the southern Italy, I shall select two or three anecdotes expressive +of their national manners. 1. It was the amusement of the Saracens to +profane, as well as to pillage, the monasteries and churches. At +the siege of Salerno, a Mussulman chief spread his couch on the +communion-table, and on that altar sacrificed each night the virginity +of a Christian nun. As he wrestled with a reluctant maid, a beam in the +roof was accidentally or dexterously thrown down on his head; and the +death of the lustful emir was imputed to the wrath of Christ, which was +at length awakened to the defence of his faithful spouse. [10] 2. The +Saracens besieged the cities of Beneventum and Capua: after a vain +appeal to the successors of Charlemagne, the Lombards implored the +clemency and aid of the Greek emperor. [11] A fearless citizen dropped +from the walls, passed the intrenchments, accomplished his commission, +and fell into the hands of the Barbarians as he was returning with the +welcome news. They commanded him to assist their enterprise, and deceive +his countrymen, with the assurance that wealth and honors should be the +reward of his falsehood, and that his sincerity would be punished with +immediate death. He affected to yield, but as soon as he was conducted +within hearing of the Christians on the rampart, "Friends and brethren," +he cried with a loud voice, "be bold and patient, maintain the city; +your sovereign is informed of your distress, and your deliverers are +at hand. I know my doom, and commit my wife and children to your +gratitude." The rage of the Arabs confirmed his evidence; and the +self-devoted patriot was transpierced with a hundred spears. He deserves +to live in the memory of the virtuous, but the repetition of the same +story in ancient and modern times, may sprinkle some doubts on the +reality of this generous deed. [12] 3. The recital of a third incident +may provoke a smile amidst the horrors of war. Theobald, marquis of +Camerino and Spoleto, [13] supported the rebels of Beneventum; and his +wanton cruelty was not incompatible in that age with the character of a +hero. His captives of the Greek nation or party were castrated without +mercy, and the outrage was aggravated by a cruel jest, that he wished +to present the emperor with a supply of eunuchs, the most precious +ornaments of the Byzantine court. The garrison of a castle had been +defeated in a sally, and the prisoners were sentenced to the customary +operation. But the sacrifice was disturbed by the intrusion of a frantic +female, who, with bleeding cheeks dishevelled hair, and importunate +clamors, compelled the marquis to listen to her complaint. "Is it thus," +she cried, "ye magnanimous heroes, that ye wage war against women, +against women who have never injured ye, and whose only arms are the +distaff and the loom?" Theobald denied the charge, and protested that, +since the Amazons, he had never heard of a female war. "And how," she +furiously exclaimed, "can you attack us more directly, how can you wound +us in a more vital part, than by robbing our husbands of what we most +dearly cherish, the source of our joys, and the hope of our posterity? +The plunder of our flocks and herds I have endured without a murmur, but +this fatal injury, this irreparable loss, subdues my patience, and calls +aloud on the justice of heaven and earth." A general laugh applauded her +eloquence; the savage Franks, inaccessible to pity, were moved by +her ridiculous, yet rational despair; and with the deliverance of the +captives, she obtained the restitution of her effects. As she returned +in triumph to the castle, she was overtaken by a messenger, to inquire, +in the name of Theobald, what punishment should be inflicted on her +husband, were he again taken in arms. "Should such," she answered +without hesitation, "be his guilt and misfortune, he has eyes, and a +nose, and hands, and feet. These are his own, and these he may deserve +to forfeit by his personal offences. But let my lord be pleased to spare +what his little handmaid presumes to claim as her peculiar and lawful +property." [14] + +[Footnote 9: Calabriam adeunt, eamque inter se divisam reperientes +funditus depopulati sunt, (or depopularunt,) ita ut deserta sit velut in +diluvio. Such is the text of Herempert, or Erchempert, according to the +two editions of Carraccioli (Rer. Italic. Script. tom. v. p. 23) and +of Camillo Pellegrino, (tom. ii. pars i. p. 246.) Both were extremely +scarce, when they were reprinted by Muratori.] + +[Footnote 10: Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 874, No. 2) has drawn this +story from a Ms. of Erchempert, who died at Capua only fifteen years +after the event. But the cardinal was deceived by a false title, and +we can only quote the anonymous Chronicle of Salerno, (Paralipomena, c. +110,) composed towards the end of the xth century, and published in the +second volume of Muratori's Collection. See the Dissertations of Camillo +Pellegrino, tom. ii. pars i. p. 231-281, &c.] + +[Footnote 11: Constantine Porphyrogenitus (in Vit. Basil. c. 58, p. 183) +is the original author of this story. He places it under the reigns of +Basil and Lewis II.; yet the reduction of Beneventum by the Greeks is +dated A.D. 891, after the decease of both of those princes.] + +[Footnote 12: In the year 663, the same tragedy is described by Paul the +Deacon, (de Gestis Langobard. l. v. c. 7, 8, p. 870, 871, edit. Grot.,) +under the walls of the same city of Beneventum. But the actors are +different, and the guilt is imputed to the Greeks themselves, which in +the Byzantine edition is applied to the Saracens. In the late war in +Germany, M. D'Assas, a French officer of the regiment of Auvergne, is +said to have devoted himself in a similar manner. His behavior is the +more heroic, as mere silence was required by the enemy who had made him +prisoner, (Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XV. c. 33, tom. ix. p. 172.)] + +[Footnote 13: Theobald, who is styled Heros by Liutprand, was properly +duke of Spoleto and marquis of Camerino, from the year 926 to 935. The +title and office of marquis (commander of the march or frontier) was +introduced into Italy by the French emperors, (Abrege Chronologique, +tom. ii. p. 545-732 &c.)] + +[Footnote 14: Liutprand, Hist. l. iv. c. iv. in the Rerum Italic. +Script. tom. i. pars i. p. 453, 454. Should the licentiousness of the +tale be questioned, I may exclaim, with poor Sterne, that it is hard +if I may not transcribe with caution what a bishop could write without +scruple What if I had translated, ut viris certetis testiculos amputare, +in quibus nostri corporis refocillatio, &c.?] + +The establishment of the Normans in the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily +[15] is an event most romantic in its origin, and in its consequences +most important both to Italy and the Eastern empire. The broken +provinces of the Greeks, Lombards, and Saracens, were exposed to every +invader, and every sea and land were invaded by the adventurous spirit +of the Scandinavian pirates. After a long indulgence of rapine and +slaughter, a fair and ample territory was accepted, occupied, and named, +by the Normans of France: they renounced their gods for the God of the +Christians; [16] and the dukes of Normandy acknowledged themselves +the vassals of the successors of Charlemagne and Capet. The savage +fierceness which they had brought from the snowy mountains of Norway was +refined, without being corrupted, in a warmer climate; the companions +of Rollo insensibly mingled with the natives; they imbibed the manners, +language, [17] and gallantry, of the French nation; and in a +martial age, the Normans might claim the palm of valor and glorious +achievements. Of the fashionable superstitions, they embraced with ardor +the pilgrimages of Rome, Italy, and the Holy Land. [171] In this active +devotion, the minds and bodies were invigorated by exercise: danger was +the incentive, novelty the recompense; and the prospect of the world was +decorated by wonder, credulity, and ambitious hope. They confederated +for their mutual defence; and the robbers of the Alps, who had been +allured by the garb of a pilgrim, were often chastised by the arm of a +warrior. In one of these pious visits to the cavern of Mount Garganus +in Apulia, which had been sanctified by the apparition of the archangel +Michael, [18] they were accosted by a stranger in the Greek habit, but +who soon revealed himself as a rebel, a fugitive, and a mortal foe of +the Greek empire. His name was Melo; a noble citizen of Bari, who, after +an unsuccessful revolt, was compelled to seek new allies and avengers +of his country. The bold appearance of the Normans revived his hopes +and solicited his confidence: they listened to the complaints, and +still more to the promises, of the patriot. The assurance of wealth +demonstrated the justice of his cause; and they viewed, as the +inheritance of the brave, the fruitful land which was oppressed by +effeminate tyrants. On their return to Normandy, they kindled a spark of +enterprise, and a small but intrepid band was freely associated for the +deliverance of Apulia. They passed the Alps by separate roads, and in +the disguise of pilgrims; but in the neighborhood of Rome they were +saluted by the chief of Bari, who supplied the more indigent with arms +and horses, and instantly led them to the field of action. In the first +conflict, their valor prevailed; but in the second engagement they +were overwhelmed by the numbers and military engines of the Greeks, +and indignantly retreated with their faces to the enemy. [1811] The +unfortunate Melo ended his life a suppliant at the court of Germany: his +Norman followers, excluded from their native and their promised land, +wandered among the hills and valleys of Italy, and earned their daily +subsistence by the sword. To that formidable sword the princes of Capua, +Beneventum, Salerno, and Naples, alternately appealed in their domestic +quarrels; the superior spirit and discipline of the Normans gave victory +to the side which they espoused; and their cautious policy observed +the balance of power, lest the preponderance of any rival state should +render their aid less important, and their service less profitable. +Their first asylum was a strong camp in the depth of the marshes of +Campania: but they were soon endowed by the liberality of the duke of +Naples with a more plentiful and permanent seat. Eight miles from his +residence, as a bulwark against Capua, the town of Aversa was built +and fortified for their use; and they enjoyed as their own the corn and +fruits, the meadows and groves, of that fertile district. The report of +their success attracted every year new swarms of pilgrims and soldiers: +the poor were urged by necessity; the rich were excited by hope; and +the brave and active spirits of Normandy were impatient of ease and +ambitious of renown. The independent standard of Aversa afforded shelter +and encouragement to the outlaws of the province, to every fugitive who +had escaped from the injustice or justice of his superiors; and these +foreign associates were quickly assimilated in manners and language to +the Gallic colony. The first leader of the Normans was Count Rainulf; +and, in the origin of society, preeminence of rank is the reward and the +proof of superior merit. [19] [1911] + +[Footnote 15: The original monuments of the Normans in Italy are +collected in the vth volume of Muratori; and among these we may +distinguish the poems of William Appulus (p. 245-278) and the history +of Galfridus (Jeffrey) Malaterra, (p. 537-607.) Both were natives of +France, but they wrote on the spot, in the age of the first conquerors +(before A.D. 1100,) and with the spirit of freemen. It is needless to +recapitulate the compilers and critics of Italian history, Sigonius, +Baronius, Pagi, Giannone, Muratori, St. Marc, &c., whom I have always +consulted, and never copied. * Note: M. Goutier d'Arc has discovered +a translation of the Chronicle of Aime, monk of Mont Cassino, a +contemporary of the first Norman invaders of Italy. He has made use of +it in his Histoire des Conquetes des Normands, and added a summary of +its contents. This work was quoted by later writers, but was supposed to +have been entirely lost.--M.] + +[Footnote 16: Some of the first converts were baptized ten or twelve +times, for the sake of the white garment usually given at this ceremony. +At the funeral of Rollo, the gifts to monasteries for the repose of his +soul were accompanied by a sacrifice of one hundred captives. But in a +generation or two, the national change was pure and general.] + +[Footnote 17: The Danish language was still spoken by the Normans +of Bayeux on the sea-coast, at a time (A.D. 940) when it was already +forgotten at Rouen, in the court and capital. Quem (Richard I.) +confestim pater Baiocas mittens Botoni militiae suae principi nutriendum +tradidit, ut, ibi lingua eruditus Danica, suis exterisque hominibus +sciret aperte dare responsa, (Wilhelm. Gemeticensis de Ducibus +Normannis, l. iii. c. 8, p. 623, edit. Camden.) Of the vernacular and +favorite idiom of William the Conqueror, (A.D. 1035,) Selden (Opera, +tom. ii. p. 1640-1656) has given a specimen, obsolete and obscure even +to antiquarians and lawyers.] + +[Footnote 1711: A band of Normans returning from the Holy Land had +rescued the city of Salerno from the attack of a numerous fleet of +Saracens. Gainar, the Lombard prince of Salerno wished to retain them in +his service and take them into his pay. They answered, "We fight for our +religion, and not for money." Gaimar entreated them to send some +Norman knights to his court. This seems to have been the origin of the +connection of the Normans with Italy. See Histoire des Conquetes des +Normands par Goutier d'Arc, l. i. c. i., Paris, 1830.--M.] + +[Footnote 18: See Leandro Alberti (Descrizione d'Italia, p. 250) and +Baronius, (A.D. 493, No. 43.) If the archangel inherited the temple +and oracle, perhaps the cavern, of old Calchas the soothsayer, (Strab. +Geograph l. vi. p. 435, 436,) the Catholics (on this occasion) have +surpassed the Greeks in the elegance of their superstition.] + +[Footnote 1811: Nine out of ten perished in the field. Chronique d'Aime, +tom. i. p. 21 quoted by M Goutier d'Arc, p. 42.--M.] + +[Footnote 19: See the first book of William Appulus. His words are +applicable to every swarm of Barbarians and freebooters:-- + + Si vicinorum quis pernitiosus ad illos + + Confugiebat eum gratanter suscipiebant: + + Moribus et lingua quoscumque venire videbant + + Informant propria; gens efficiatur ut una. + + And elsewhere, of the native adventurers of Normandy:-- + + Pars parat, exiguae vel opes aderant quia nullae: + + Pars, quia de magnis majora subire volebant.] + +[Footnote 1911: This account is not accurate. After the retreat of the +emperor Henry II. the Normans, united under the command of Rainulf, had +taken possession of Aversa, then a small castle in the duchy of Naples. +They had been masters of it a few years when Pandulf IV., prince of +Capua, found means to take Naples by surprise. Sergius, master of +the soldiers, and head of the republic, with the principal citizens, +abandoned a city in which he could not behold, without horror, the +establishment of a foreign dominion he retired to Aversa; and when, with +the assistance of the Greeks and that of the citizens faithful to their +country, he had collected money enough to satisfy the rapacity of the +Norman adventurers, he advanced at their head to attack the garrison of +the prince of Capua, defeated it, and reentered Naples. It was then that +he confirmed the Normans in the possession of Aversa and its territory, +which he raised into a count's fief, and granted the investiture to +Rainulf. Hist. des Rep. Ital. tom. i. p. 267] + +Since the conquest of Sicily by the Arabs, the Grecian emperors had been +anxious to regain that valuable possession; but their efforts, however +strenuous, had been opposed by the distance and the sea. Their costly +armaments, after a gleam of success, added new pages of calamity and +disgrace to the Byzantine annals: twenty thousand of their best troops +were lost in a single expedition; and the victorious Moslems derided the +policy of a nation which intrusted eunuchs not only with the custody of +their women, but with the command of their men [20] After a reign of +two hundred years, the Saracens were ruined by their divisions. [21] +The emir disclaimed the authority of the king of Tunis; the people rose +against the emir; the cities were usurped by the chiefs; each meaner +rebel was independent in his village or castle; and the weaker of two +rival brothers implored the friendship of the Christians. In every +service of danger the Normans were prompt and useful; and five hundred +knights, or warriors on horseback, were enrolled by Arduin, the agent +and interpreter of the Greeks, under the standard of Maniaces, governor +of Lombardy. Before their landing, the brothers were reconciled; the +union of Sicily and Africa was restored; and the island was guarded to +the water's edge. The Normans led the van and the Arabs of Messina felt +the valor of an untried foe. In a second action the emir of Syracuse was +unhorsed and transpierced by the iron arm of William of Hauteville. In a +third engagement, his intrepid companions discomfited the host of sixty +thousand Saracens, and left the Greeks no more than the labor of the +pursuit: a splendid victory; but of which the pen of the historian may +divide the merit with the lance of the Normans. It is, however, true, +that they essentially promoted the success of Maniaces, who reduced +thirteen cities, and the greater part of Sicily, under the obedience +of the emperor. But his military fame was sullied by ingratitude +and tyranny. In the division of the spoils, the deserts of his brave +auxiliaries were forgotten; and neither their avarice nor their pride +could brook this injurious treatment. They complained by the mouth of +their interpreter: their complaint was disregarded; their interpreter +was scourged; the sufferings were his; the insult and resentment +belonged to those whose sentiments he had delivered. Yet they dissembled +till they had obtained, or stolen, a safe passage to the Italian +continent: their brethren of Aversa sympathized in their indignation, +and the province of Apulia was invaded as the forfeit of the debt. [22] +Above twenty years after the first emigration, the Normans took the +field with no more than seven hundred horse and five hundred foot; and +after the recall of the Byzantine legions [23] from the Sicilian war, +their numbers are magnified to the amount of threescore thousand men. +Their herald proposed the option of battle or retreat; "of battle," was +the unanimous cry of the Normans; and one of their stoutest warriors, +with a stroke of his fist, felled to the ground the horse of the Greek +messenger. He was dismissed with a fresh horse; the insult was concealed +from the Imperial troops; but in two successive battles they were more +fatally instructed of the prowess of their adversaries. In the plains of +Cannae, the Asiatics fled before the adventurers of France; the duke of +Lombardy was made prisoner; the Apulians acquiesced in a new dominion; +and the four places of Bari, Otranto, Brundusium, and Tarentum, were +alone saved in the shipwreck of the Grecian fortunes. From this aera we +may date the establishment of the Norman power, which soon eclipsed the +infant colony of Aversa. Twelve counts [24] were chosen by the popular +suffrage; and age, birth, and merit, were the motives of their choice. +The tributes of their peculiar districts were appropriated to their use; +and each count erected a fortress in the midst of his lands, and at +the head of his vassals. In the centre of the province, the common +habitation of Melphi was reserved as the metropolis and citadel of +the republic; a house and separate quarter was allotted to each of the +twelve counts: and the national concerns were regulated by this military +senate. The first of his peers, their president and general, was +entitled count of Apulia; and this dignity was conferred on William +of the iron arm, who, in the language of the age, is styled a lion in +battle, a lamb in society, and an angel in council. [25] The manners +of his countrymen are fairly delineated by a contemporary and national +historian. [26] "The Normans," says Malaterra, "are a cunning and +revengeful people; eloquence and dissimulation appear to be their +hereditary qualities: they can stoop to flatter; but unless they are +curbed by the restraint of law, they indulge the licentiousness +of nature and passion. Their princes affect the praises of popular +munificence; the people observe the medium, or rather blond the +extremes, of avarice and prodigality; and in their eager thirst of +wealth and dominion, they despise whatever they possess, and hope +whatever they desire. Arms and horses, the luxury of dress, the +exercises of hunting and hawking [27] are the delight of the Normans; +but, on pressing occasions, they can endure with incredible patience +the inclemency of every climate, and the toil and absence of a military +life." [28] + +[Footnote 20: Liutprand, in Legatione, p. 485. Pagi has illustrated this +event from the Ms. history of the deacon Leo, (tom. iv. A.D. 965, No. +17-19.)] + +[Footnote 21: See the Arabian Chronicle of Sicily, apud Muratori, +Script. Rerum Ital. tom. i. p. 253.] + +[Footnote 22: Jeffrey Malaterra, who relates the Sicilian war, and +the conquest of Apulia, (l. i. c. 7, 8, 9, 19.) The same events are +described by Cedrenus (tom. ii. p. 741-743, 755, 756) and Zonaras, +(tom. ii. p. 237, 238;) and the Greeks are so hardened to disgrace, that +their narratives are impartial enough.] + +[Footnote 23: Lydia: consult Constantine de Thematibus, i. 3, 4, with +Delisle's map.] + +[Footnote 24: Omnes conveniunt; et bis sex nobiliores, + + Quos genus et gravitas morum decorabat et aetas, + + Elegere duces. Provectis ad comitatum + + His alii parent. Comitatus nomen honoris + + Quo donantur erat. Hi totas undique terras + + Divisere sibi, ni sors inimica repugnet; + + Singula proponunt loca quae contingere sorte + + Cuique duci debent, et quaeque tributa locorum. + + And after speaking of Melphi, William Appulus adds, + + Pro numero comitum bis sex statuere plateas, + +Atque domus comitum totidem fabricantur in urbe. Leo Ostiensis (l. +ii. c. 67) enumerates the divisions of the Apulian cities, which it is +needless to repeat.] + +[Footnote 25: Gulielm. Appulus, l. ii. c 12, according to the reference +of Giannone, (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. ii. p. 31,) which I cannot +verify in the original. The Apulian praises indeed his validas vires, +probitas animi, and vivida virtus; and declares that, had he lived, no +poet could have equalled his merits, (l. i. p. 258, l. ii. p. 259.) +He was bewailed by the Normans, quippe qui tanti consilii virum, (says +Malaterra, l. i. c. 12, p. 552,) tam armis strenuum, tam sibi munificum, +affabilem, morigeratum, ulterius se habere diffidebant.] + +[Footnote 26: The gens astutissima, injuriarum ultrix.... adulari +sciens.... eloquentiis inserviens, of Malaterra, (l. i. c. 3, p. 550,) +are expressive of the popular and proverbial character of the Normans.] + +[Footnote 27: The hunting and hawking more properly belong to the +descendants of the Norwegian sailors; though they might import from +Norway and Iceland the finest casts of falcons.] + +[Footnote 28: We may compare this portrait with that of William of +Malmsbury, (de Gestis Anglorum, l. iii. p. 101, 102,) who appreciates, +like a philosophic historian, the vices and virtues of the Saxons and +Normans. England was assuredly a gainer by the conquest.] + + + + +Chapter LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part II. + +The Normans of Apulia were seated on the verge of the two empires; and, +according to the policy of the hour, they accepted the investiture of +their lands, from the sovereigns of Germany or Constantinople. But +the firmest title of these adventurers was the right of conquest: they +neither loved nor trusted; they were neither trusted nor beloved: the +contempt of the princes was mixed with fear, and the fear of the natives +was mingled with hatred and resentment. Every object of desire, a +horse, a woman, a garden, tempted and gratified the rapaciousness of the +strangers; [29] and the avarice of their chiefs was only colored by +the more specious names of ambition and glory. The twelve counts were +sometimes joined in the league of injustice: in their domestic quarrels +they disputed the spoils of the people: the virtues of William were +buried in his grave; and Drogo, his brother and successor, was better +qualified to lead the valor, than to restrain the violence, of his +peers. Under the reign of Constantine Monomachus, the policy, rather +than benevolence, of the Byzantine court, attempted to relieve Italy +from this adherent mischief, more grievous than a flight of Barbarians; +[30] and Argyrus, the son of Melo, was invested for this purpose with +the most lofty titles [31] and the most ample commission. The memory +of his father might recommend him to the Normans; and he had already +engaged their voluntary service to quell the revolt of Maniaces, and to +avenge their own and the public injury. It was the design of Constantine +to transplant the warlike colony from the Italian provinces to the +Persian war; and the son of Melo distributed among the chiefs the gold +and manufactures of Greece, as the first-fruits of the Imperial bounty. +But his arts were baffled by the sense and spirit of the conquerors of +Apulia: his gifts, or at least his proposals, were rejected; and they +unanimously refused to relinquish their possessions and their hopes for +the distant prospect of Asiatic fortune. After the means of persuasion +had failed, Argyrus resolved to compel or to destroy: the Latin powers +were solicited against the common enemy; and an offensive alliance was +formed of the pope and the two emperors of the East and West. The throne +of St. Peter was occupied by Leo the Ninth, a simple saint, [32] of a +temper most apt to deceive himself and the world, and whose venerable +character would consecrate with the name of piety the measures least +compatible with the practice of religion. His humanity was affected by +the complaints, perhaps the calumnies, of an injured people: the impious +Normans had interrupted the payment of tithes; and the temporal sword +might be lawfully unsheathed against the sacrilegious robbers, who were +deaf to the censures of the church. As a German of noble birth and royal +kindred, Leo had free access to the court and confidence of the emperor +Henry the Third; and in search of arms and allies, his ardent zeal +transported him from Apulia to Saxony, from the Elbe to the Tyber. +During these hostile preparations, Argyrus indulged himself in the use +of secret and guilty weapons: a crowd of Normans became the victims +of public or private revenge; and the valiant Drogo was murdered in a +church. But his spirit survived in his brother Humphrey, the third count +of Apulia. The assassins were chastised; and the son of Melo, overthrown +and wounded, was driven from the field, to hide his shame behind the +walls of Bari, and to await the tardy succor of his allies. + +[Footnote 29: The biographer of St. Leo IX. pours his holy venom on the +Normans. Videns indisciplinatam et alienam gentem Normannorum, crudeli +et inaudita rabie, et plusquam Pagana impietate, adversus ecclesias Dei +insurgere, passim Christianos trucidare, &c., (Wibert, c. 6.) The honest +Apulian (l. ii. p. 259) says calmly of their accuser, Veris commiscens +fallacia.] + +[Footnote 30: The policy of the Greeks, revolt of Maniaces, &c., must be +collected from Cedrenus, (tom. ii. p. 757, 758,) William Appulus, (l. +i. p 257, 258, l. ii. p. 259,) and the two Chronicles of Bari, by Lupus +Protospata, (Muratori, Script. Ital. tom. v. p. 42, 43, 44,) and an +anonymous writer, (Antiquitat, Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. i. p 31-35.) +This last is a fragment of some value.] + +[Footnote 31: Argyrus received, says the anonymous Chronicle of Bari, +Imperial letters, Foederatus et Patriciatus, et Catapani et Vestatus. +In his Annals, Muratori (tom. viii. p. 426) very properly reads, or +interprets, Sevestatus, the title of Sebastos or Augustus. But in his +Antiquities, he was taught by Ducange to make it a palatine office, +master of the wardrobe.] + +[Footnote 32: A Life of St. Leo IX., deeply tinged with the passions and +prejudices of the age, has been composed by Wibert, printed at +Paris, 1615, in octavo, and since inserted in the Collections of the +Bollandists, of Mabillon, and of Muratori. The public and private +history of that pope is diligently treated by M. de St. Marc. (Abrege, +tom. ii. p. 140-210, and p. 25-95, second column.)] + +But the power of Constantine was distracted by a Turkish war; the mind +of Henry was feeble and irresolute; and the pope, instead of repassing +the Alps with a German army, was accompanied only by a guard of seven +hundred Swabians and some volunteers of Lorraine. In his long progress +from Mantua to Beneventum, a vile and promiscuous multitude of Italians +was enlisted under the holy standard: [33] the priest and the robber +slept in the same tent; the pikes and crosses were intermingled in the +front; and the martial saint repeated the lessons of his youth in the +order of march, of encampment, and of combat. The Normans of Apulia +could muster in the field no more than three thousand horse, with a +handful of infantry: the defection of the natives intercepted their +provisions and retreat; and their spirit, incapable of fear, was chilled +for a moment by superstitious awe. On the hostile approach of Leo, they +knelt without disgrace or reluctance before their spiritual father. +But the pope was inexorable; his lofty Germans affected to deride the +diminutive stature of their adversaries; and the Normans were informed +that death or exile was their only alternative. Flight they disdained, +and, as many of them had been three days without tasting food, they +embraced the assurance of a more easy and honorable death. They climbed +the hill of Civitella, descended into the plain, and charged in three +divisions the army of the pope. On the left, and in the centre, Richard +count of Aversa, and Robert the famous Guiscard, attacked, broke, +routed, and pursued the Italian multitudes, who fought without +discipline, and fled without shame. A harder trial was reserved for +the valor of Count Humphrey, who led the cavalry of the right wing. The +Germans [34] have been described as unskillful in the management of the +horse and the lance, but on foot they formed a strong and impenetrable +phalanx; and neither man, nor steed, nor armor, could resist the weight +of their long and two-handed swords. After a severe conflict, they were +encompassed by the squadrons returning from the pursuit; and died in the +ranks with the esteem of their foes, and the satisfaction of revenge. +The gates of Civitella were shut against the flying pope, and he was +overtaken by the pious conquerors, who kissed his feet, to implore his +blessing and the absolution of their sinful victory. The soldiers beheld +in their enemy and captive the vicar of Christ; and, though we may +suppose the policy of the chiefs, it is probable that they were infected +by the popular superstition. In the calm of retirement, the well-meaning +pope deplored the effusion of Christian blood, which must be imputed to +his account: he felt, that he had been the author of sin and scandal; +and as his undertaking had failed, the indecency of his military +character was universally condemned. [35] With these dispositions, he +listened to the offers of a beneficial treaty; deserted an alliance +which he had preached as the cause of God; and ratified the past +and future conquests of the Normans. By whatever hands they had been +usurped, the provinces of Apulia and Calabria were a part of the +donation of Constantine and the patrimony of St. Peter: the grant +and the acceptance confirmed the mutual claims of the pontiff and the +adventurers. They promised to support each other with spiritual and +temporal arms; a tribute or quitrent of twelve pence was afterwards +stipulated for every ploughland; and since this memorable transaction, +the kingdom of Naples has remained above seven hundred years a fief of +the Holy See. [36] + +[Footnote 33: See the expedition of Leo XI. against the Normans. See +William Appulus (l. ii. p. 259-261) and Jeffrey Malaterra (l. i. c. 13, +14, 15, p. 253.) They are impartial, as the national is counterbalanced +by the clerical prejudice] + +[Footnote 34: + + Teutonici, quia caesaries et forma decoros + + Fecerat egregie proceri corporis illos + + Corpora derident Normannica quae breviora + + Esse videbantur. + +The verses of the Apulian are commonly in this strain, though he heats +himself a little in the battle. Two of his similes from hawking and +sorcery are descriptive of manners.] + +[Footnote 35: Several respectable censures or complaints are produced by +M. de St. Marc, (tom. ii. p. 200-204.) As Peter Damianus, the oracle +of the times, has denied the popes the right of making war, the hermit +(lugens eremi incola) is arraigned by the cardinal, and Baronius (Annal. +Eccles. A.D. 1053, No. 10-17) most strenuously asserts the two swords of +St. Peter.] + +[Footnote 36: The origin and nature of the papal investitures are ably +discussed by Giannone, (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. ii. p. 37-49, +57-66,) as a lawyer and antiquarian. Yet he vainly strives to reconcile +the duties of patriot and Catholic, adopts an empty distinction of +"Ecclesia Romana non dedit, sed accepit," and shrinks from an honest but +dangerous confession of the truth.] + +The pedigree of Robert of Guiscard [37] is variously deduced from the +peasants and the dukes of Normandy: from the peasants, by the pride and +ignorance of a Grecian princess; [38] from the dukes, by the ignorance +and flattery of the Italian subjects. [39] His genuine descent may be +ascribed to the second or middle order of private nobility. [40] +He sprang from a race of valvassors or bannerets, of the diocese of +Coutances, in the Lower Normandy: the castle of Hauteville was their +honorable seat: his father Tancred was conspicuous in the court and army +of the duke; and his military service was furnished by ten soldiers or +knights. Two marriages, of a rank not unworthy of his own, made him +the father of twelve sons, who were educated at home by the impartial +tenderness of his second wife. But a narrow patrimony was insufficient +for this numerous and daring progeny; they saw around the neighborhood +the mischiefs of poverty and discord, and resolved to seek in foreign +wars a more glorious inheritance. Two only remained to perpetuate +the race, and cherish their father's age: their ten brothers, as they +successfully attained the vigor of manhood, departed from the castle, +passed the Alps, and joined the Apulian camp of the Normans. The elder +were prompted by native spirit; their success encouraged their younger +brethren, and the three first in seniority, William, Drogo, and +Humphrey, deserved to be the chiefs of their nation and the founders of +the new republic. Robert was the eldest of the seven sons of the second +marriage; and even the reluctant praise of his foes has endowed him with +the heroic qualities of a soldier and a statesman. His lofty stature +surpassed the tallest of his army: his limbs were cast in the true +proportion of strength and gracefulness; and to the decline of life, he +maintained the patient vigor of health and the commanding dignity of his +form. His complexion was ruddy, his shoulders were broad, his hair and +beard were long and of a flaxen color, his eyes sparkled with fire, and +his voice, like that of Achilles, could impress obedience and terror +amidst the tumult of battle. In the ruder ages of chivalry, such +qualifications are not below the notice of the poet or historians: they +may observe that Robert, at once, and with equal dexterity, could wield +in the right hand his sword, his lance in the left; that in the battle +of Civitella he was thrice unhorsed; and that in the close of that +memorable day he was adjudged to have borne away the prize of valor from +the warriors of the two armies. [41] His boundless ambition was founded +on the consciousness of superior worth: in the pursuit of greatness, he +was never arrested by the scruples of justice, and seldom moved by the +feelings of humanity: though not insensible of fame, the choice of open +or clandestine means was determined only by his present advantage. The +surname of Guiscard [42] was applied to this master of political wisdom, +which is too often confounded with the practice of dissimulation and +deceit; and Robert is praised by the Apulian poet for excelling the +cunning of Ulysses and the eloquence of Cicero. Yet these arts were +disguised by an appearance of military frankness: in his highest +fortune, he was accessible and courteous to his fellow-soldiers; and +while he indulged the prejudices of his new subjects, he affected in +his dress and manners to maintain the ancient fashion of his country. He +grasped with a rapacious, that he might distribute with a liberal, hand: +his primitive indigence had taught the habits of frugality; the gain of +a merchant was not below his attention; and his prisoners were tortured +with slow and unfeeling cruelty, to force a discovery of their secret +treasure. According to the Greeks, he departed from Normandy with only +five followers on horseback and thirty on foot; yet even this allowance +appears too bountiful: the sixth son of Tancred of Hauteville passed +the Alps as a pilgrim; and his first military band was levied among +the adventurers of Italy. His brothers and countrymen had divided the +fertile lands of Apulia; but they guarded their shares with the jealousy +of avarice; the aspiring youth was driven forwards to the mountains of +Calabria, and in his first exploits against the Greeks and the natives, +it is not easy to discriminate the hero from the robber. To surprise +a castle or a convent, to ensnare a wealthy citizen, to plunder the +adjacent villages for necessary food, were the obscure labors which +formed and exercised the powers of his mind and body. The volunteers of +Normandy adhered to his standard; and, under his command, the peasants +of Calabria assumed the name and character of Normans. + +[Footnote 37: The birth, character, and first actions of Robert +Guiscard, may be found in Jeffrey Malaterra, (l. i. c. 3, 4, 11, 16, +17, 18, 38, 39, 40,) William Appulus, (l. ii. p. 260-262,) William +Gemeticensis, or of Jumieges, (l. xi. c. 30, p. 663, 664, edit. Camden,) +and Anna Comnena, (Alexiad, l. i. p. 23-27, l. vi. p. 165, 166,) with +the annotations of Ducange, (Not. in Alexiad, p. 230-232, 320,) who +has swept all the French and Latin Chronicles for supplemental +intelligence.] + +[Footnote 38: (a Greek corruption), and elsewhere, (l. iv. p. 84,). +Anna Comnena was born in the purple; yet her father was no more than a +private though illustrious subject, who raised himself to the empire.] + +[Footnote 39: Giannone, (tom. ii. p. 2) forgets all his original +authors, and rests this princely descent on the credit of Inveges, +an Augustine monk of Palermo in the last century. They continue the +succession of dukes from Rollo to William II. the Bastard or Conqueror, +whom they hold (communemente si tiene) to be the father of Tancred of +Hauteville; a most strange and stupendous blunder! The sons of Tancred +fought in Apulia, before William II. was three years old, (A.D. 1037.)] + +[Footnote 40: The judgment of Ducange is just and moderate: Certe +humilis fuit ac tenuis Roberti familia, si ducalem et regium spectemus +apicem, ad quem postea pervenit; quae honesta tamen et praeter nobilium +vulgarium statum et conditionem illustris habita est, "quae nec humi +reperet nec altum quid tumeret." (Wilhem. Malmsbur. de Gestis Anglorum, +l. iii. p. 107. Not. ad Alexiad. p. 230.)] + +[Footnote 41: I shall quote with pleasure some of the best lines of the +Apulian, (l. ii. p. 270.) + + Pugnat utraque manu, nec lancea cassa, nec ensis + + Cassus erat, quocunque manu deducere vellet. + + Ter dejectus equo, ter viribus ipse resumptis + + Major in arma redit: stimulos furor ipse ministrat. + + Ut Leo cum frendens, &c. + + - -- -- -- -- -- - + + Nullus in hoc bello sicuti post bella probatum est + + Victor vel victus, tam magnos edidit ictus.] + +[Footnote 42: The Norman writers and editors most conversant with their +own idiom interpret Guiscard or Wiscard, by Callidus, a cunning man. The +root (wise) is familiar to our ear; and in the old word Wiseacre, I +can discern something of a similar sense and termination. It is no bad +translation of the surname and character of Robert.] + +As the genius of Robert expanded with his fortune, he awakened the +jealousy of his elder brother, by whom, in a transient quarrel, his life +was threatened and his liberty restrained. After the death of Humphrey, +the tender age of his sons excluded them from the command; they were +reduced to a private estate, by the ambition of their guardian and +uncle; and Guiscard was exalted on a buckler, and saluted count of +Apulia and general of the republic. With an increase of authority and of +force, he resumed the conquest of Calabria, and soon aspired to a rank +that should raise him forever above the heads of his equals. + +By some acts of rapine or sacrilege, he had incurred a papal +excommunication; but Nicholas the Second was easily persuaded that the +divisions of friends could terminate only in their mutual prejudice; +that the Normans were the faithful champions of the Holy See; and it +was safer to trust the alliance of a prince than the caprice of an +aristocracy. A synod of one hundred bishops was convened at Melphi; and +the count interrupted an important enterprise to guard the person and +execute the decrees of the Roman pontiff. His gratitude and policy +conferred on Robert and his posterity the ducal title, [43] with the +investiture of Apulia, Calabria, and all the lands, both in Italy and +Sicily, which his sword could rescue from the schismatic Greeks and the +unbelieving Saracens. [44] This apostolic sanction might justify his +arms; but the obedience of a free and victorious people could not be +transferred without their consent; and Guiscard dissembled his elevation +till the ensuing campaign had been illustrated by the conquest of +Consenza and Reggio. In the hour of triumph, he assembled his troops, +and solicited the Normans to confirm by their suffrage the judgment of +the vicar of Christ: the soldiers hailed with joyful acclamations their +valiant duke; and the counts, his former equals, pronounced the oath +of fidelity with hollow smiles and secret indignation. After this +inauguration, Robert styled himself, "By the grace of God and St. Peter, +duke of Apulia, Calabria, and hereafter of Sicily;" and it was the labor +of twenty years to deserve and realize these lofty appellations. Such +sardy progress, in a narrow space, may seem unworthy of the abilities +of the chief and the spirit of the nation; but the Normans were few in +number; their resources were scanty; their service was voluntary and +precarious. The bravest designs of the duke were sometimes opposed by +the free voice of his parliament of barons: the twelve counts of popular +election conspired against his authority; and against their perfidious +uncle, the sons of Humphrey demanded justice and revenge. By his policy +and vigor, Guiscard discovered their plots, suppressed their rebellions, +and punished the guilty with death or exile: but in these domestic +feuds, his years, and the national strength, were unprofitably consumed. +After the defeat of his foreign enemies, the Greeks, Lombards, and +Saracens, their broken forces retreated to the strong and populous +cities of the sea-coast. They excelled in the arts of fortification and +defence; the Normans were accustomed to serve on horseback in the field, +and their rude attempts could only succeed by the efforts of persevering +courage. The resistance of Salerno was maintained above eight months; +the siege or blockade of Bari lasted near four years. In these actions +the Norman duke was the foremost in every danger; in every fatigue the +last and most patient. As he pressed the citadel of Salerno, a huge +stone from the rampart shattered one of his military engines; and by +a splinter he was wounded in the breast. Before the gates of Bari, he +lodged in a miserable hut or barrack, composed of dry branches, and +thatched with straw; a perilous station, on all sides open to the +inclemency of the winter and the spears of the enemy. [45] + +[Footnote 43: The acquisition of the ducal title by Robert Guiscard is +a nice and obscure business. With the good advice of Giannone, Muratori, +and St. Marc, I have endeavored to form a consistent and probable +narrative.] + +[Footnote 44: Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A.D. 1059, No. 69) has published +the original act. He professes to have copied it from the Liber Censuum, +a Vatican Ms. Yet a Liber Censuum of the xiith century has been printed +by Muratori, (Antiquit. Medii Aevi, tom. v. p. 851-908;) and the names +of Vatican and Cardinal awaken the suspicions of a Protestant, and even +of a philosopher.] + +[Footnote 45: Read the life of Guiscard in the second and third books of +the Apulian, the first and second books of Malaterra.] + +The Italian conquests of Robert correspond with the limits of the +present kingdom of Naples; and the countries united by his arms have +not been dissevered by the revolutions of seven hundred years. [46] +The monarchy has been composed of the Greek provinces of Calabria and +Apulia, of the Lombard principality of Salerno, the republic of +Amalphi, and the inland dependencies of the large and ancient duchy of +Beneventum. Three districts only were exempted from the common law +of subjection; the first forever, the two last till the middle of the +succeeding century. The city and immediate territory of Benevento had +been transferred, by gift or exchange, from the German emperor to the +Roman pontiff; and although this holy land was sometimes invaded, the +name of St. Peter was finally more potent than the sword of the Normans. +Their first colony of Aversa subdued and held the state of Capua; and +her princes were reduced to beg their bread before the palace of their +fathers. The dukes of Naples, the present metropolis, maintained the +popular freedom, under the shadow of the Byzantine empire. Among the new +acquisitions of Guiscard, the science of Salerno, [47] and the trade of +Amalphi, [48] may detain for a moment the curiosity of the reader. I. Of +the learned faculties, jurisprudence implies the previous establishment +of laws and property; and theology may perhaps be superseded by the full +light of religion and reason. But the savage and the sage must alike +implore the assistance of physic; and, if our diseases are inflamed by +luxury, the mischiefs of blows and wounds would be more frequent in +the ruder ages of society. The treasures of Grecian medicine had been +communicated to the Arabian colonies of Africa, Spain, and Sicily; +and in the intercourse of peace and war, a spark of knowledge had been +kindled and cherished at Salerno, an illustrious city, in which the men +were honest and the women beautiful. [49] A school, the first that +arose in the darkness of Europe, was consecrated to the healing art: +the conscience of monks and bishops was reconciled to that salutary and +lucrative profession; and a crowd of patients, of the most eminent rank, +and most distant climates, invited or visited the physicians of Salerno. +They were protected by the Norman conquerors; and Guiscard, though bred +in arms, could discern the merit and value of a philosopher. After a +pilgrimage of thirty-nine years, Constantine, an African Christian, +returned from Bagdad, a master of the language and learning of the +Arabians; and Salerno was enriched by the practice, the lessons, and the +writings of the pupil of Avicenna. The school of medicine has long slept +in the name of a university; but her precepts are abridged in a string +of aphorisms, bound together in the Leonine verses, or Latin rhymes, of +the twelfth century. [50] II. Seven miles to the west of Salerno, and +thirty to the south of Naples, the obscure town of Amalphi displayed the +power and rewards of industry. The land, however fertile, was of narrow +extent; but the sea was accessible and open: the inhabitants first +assumed the office of supplying the western world with the manufactures +and productions of the East; and this useful traffic was the source +of their opulence and freedom. The government was popular, under the +administration of a duke and the supremacy of the Greek emperor. Fifty +thousand citizens were numbered in the walls of Amalphi; nor was any +city more abundantly provided with gold, silver, and the objects of +precious luxury. The mariners who swarmed in her port, excelled in the +theory and practice of navigation and astronomy: and the discovery of +the compass, which has opened the globe, is owing to their ingenuity or +good fortune. Their trade was extended to the coasts, or at least to +the commodities, of Africa, Arabia, and India: and their settlements +in Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, acquired the +privileges of independent colonies. [51] After three hundred years of +prosperity, Amalphi was oppressed by the arms of the Normans, and +sacked by the jealousy of Pisa; but the poverty of one thousand [5111] +fisherman is yet dignified by the remains of an arsenal, a cathedral, +and the palaces of royal merchants. + +[Footnote 46: The conquests of Robert Guiscard and Roger I., the +exemption of Benevento and the xii provinces of the kingdom, are fairly +exposed by Giannone in the second volume of his Istoria Civile, l. ix. +x. xi and l. xvii. p. 460-470. This modern division was not established +before the time of Frederic II.] + +[Footnote 47: Giannone, (tom. ii. p. 119-127,) Muratori, (Antiquitat. +Medii Aevi, tom. iii. dissert. xliv. p. 935, 936,) and Tiraboschi, +(Istoria della Letteratura Italiana,) have given an historical account +of these physicians; their medical knowledge and practice must be left +to our physicians.] + +[Footnote 48: At the end of the Historia Pandectarum of Henry +Brenckmann, (Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1722, in 4to.,) the indefatigable +author has inserted two dissertations, de Republica Amalphitana, and +de Amalphi a Pisanis direpta, which are built on the testimonies of +one hundred and forty writers. Yet he has forgotten two most important +passages of the embassy of Liutprand, (A.D. 939,) which compare the +trade and navigation of Amalphi with that of Venice.] + +[Footnote 49: Urbs Latii non est hac delitiosior urbe, + + Frugibus, arboribus, vinoque redundat; et unde + + Non tibi poma, nuces, non pulchra palatia desunt, + + Non species muliebris abest probitasque virorum. + + --Gulielmus Appulus, l. iii. p. 367] + +[Footnote 50: Muratori carries their antiquity above the year (1066) +of the death of Edward the Confessor, the rex Anglorum to whom they are +addressed. Nor is this date affected by the opinion, or rather mistake, +of Pasquier (Recherches de la France, l. vii. c. 2) and Ducange, +(Glossar. Latin.) The practice of rhyming, as early as the viith +century, was borrowed from the languages of the North and East, +(Muratori, Antiquitat. tom. iii. dissert. xl. p. 686-708.)] + +[Footnote 51: The description of Amalphi, by William the Apulian, (l. +iii. p. 267,) contains much truth and some poetry, and the third line +may be applied to the sailor's compass:-- + + Nulla magis locuples argento, vestibus, auro + + Partibus innumeris: hac plurimus urbe moratur + + Nauta maris Caelique vias aperire peritus. + + Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbe + + Regis, et Antiochi. Gens haec freta plurima transit. + + His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri. + + Haec gens est totum proore nobilitata per orbem, + + Et mercando forens, et amans mercata referre.] + +[Footnote 5111: Amalfi had only one thousand inhabitants at the +commencement of the 18th century, when it was visited by Brenckmann, +(Brenckmann de Rep. Amalph. Diss. i. c. 23.) At present it has six or +eight thousand Hist. des Rep. tom. i. p. 304.--G.] + + + + +Chapter LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part III. + +Roger, the twelfth and last of the sons of Tancred, had been long +detained in Normandy by his own and his father' age. He accepted the +welcome summons; hastened to the Apulian camp; and deserved at first the +esteem, and afterwards the envy, of his elder brother. Their valor and +ambition were equal; but the youth, the beauty, the elegant manners, +of Roger engaged the disinterested love of the soldiers and people. +So scanty was his allowance for himself and forty followers, that he +descended from conquest to robbery, and from robbery to domestic theft; +and so loose were the notions of property, that, by his own historian, +at his special command, he is accused of stealing horses from a stable +at Melphi. [52] His spirit emerged from poverty and disgrace: from these +base practices he rose to the merit and glory of a holy war; and the +invasion of Sicily was seconded by the zeal and policy of his brother +Guiscard. After the retreat of the Greeks, the idolaters, a most +audacious reproach of the Catholics, had retrieved their losses and +possessions; but the deliverance of the island, so vainly undertaken by +the forces of the Eastern empire, was achieved by a small and private +band of adventurers. [53] In the first attempt, Roger braved, in an open +boat, the real and fabulous dangers of Scylla and Charybdis; landed with +only sixty soldiers on a hostile shore; drove the Saracens to the gates +of Messina and safely returned with the spoils of the adjacent country. +In the fortress of Trani, his active and patient courage were equally +conspicuous. In his old age he related with pleasure, that, by the +distress of the siege, himself, and the countess his wife, had been +reduced to a single cloak or mantle, which they wore alternately; that +in a sally his horse had been slain, and he was dragged away by the +Saracens; but that he owed his rescue to his good sword, and had +retreated with his saddle on his back, lest the meanest trophy might +be left in the hands of the miscreants. In the siege of Trani, three +hundred Normans withstood and repulsed the forces of the island. In the +field of Ceramio, fifty thousand horse and foot were overthrown by one +hundred and thirty-six Christian soldiers, without reckoning St. George, +who fought on horseback in the foremost ranks. The captive banners, with +four camels, were reserved for the successor of St. Peter; and had these +barbaric spoils been exposed, not in the Vatican, but in the Capitol, +they might have revived the memory of the Punic triumphs. These +insufficient numbers of the Normans most probably denote their knights, +the soldiers of honorable and equestrian rank, each of whom was attended +by five or six followers in the field; [54] yet, with the aid of this +interpretation, and after every fair allowance on the side of valor, +arms, and reputation, the discomfiture of so many myriads will reduce +the prudent reader to the alternative of a miracle or a fable. The Arabs +of Sicily derived a frequent and powerful succor from their countrymen +of Africa: in the siege of Palermo, the Norman cavalry was assisted by +the galleys of Pisa; and, in the hour of action, the envy of the two +brothers was sublimed to a generous and invincible emulation. After a +war of thirty years, [55] Roger, with the title of great count, +obtained the sovereignty of the largest and most fruitful island of the +Mediterranean; and his administration displays a liberal and enlightened +mind, above the limits of his age and education. The Moslems were +maintained in the free enjoyment of their religion and property: [56] a +philosopher and physician of Mazara, of the race of Mahomet, harangued +the conqueror, and was invited to court; his geography of the seven +climates was translated into Latin; and Roger, after a diligent perusal, +preferred the work of the Arabian to the writings of the Grecian +Ptolemy. [57] A remnant of Christian natives had promoted the success of +the Normans: they were rewarded by the triumph of the cross. The island +was restored to the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff; new bishops +were planted in the principal cities; and the clergy was satisfied by +a liberal endowment of churches and monasteries. Yet the Catholic hero +asserted the rights of the civil magistrate. Instead of resigning the +investiture of benefices, he dexterously applied to his own profit the +papal claims: the supremacy of the crown was secured and enlarged, by +the singular bull, which declares the princes of Sicily hereditary and +perpetual legates of the Holy See. [58] + +[Footnote 52: Latrocinio armigerorum suorum in multis sustentabatur, +quod quidem ad ejus ignominiam non dicimus; sed ipso ita praecipiente +adhuc viliora et reprehensibiliora dicturi sumus ut pluribus patescat, +quam laboriose et cum quanta angustia a profunda paupertate ad summum +culmen divitiarum vel honoris attigerit. Such is the preface of +Malaterra (l. i. c. 25) to the horse-stealing. From the moment (l. i. c. +19) that he has mentioned his patron Roger, the elder brother sinks into +the second character. Something similar in Velleius Paterculus may be +observed of Augustus and Tiberius.] + +[Footnote 53: Duo sibi proficua deputans animae scilicet et corporis si +terran: Idolis deditam ad cultum divinum revocaret, (Galfrid Malaterra, +l. ii. c. 1.) The conquest of Sicily is related in the three last +books, and he himself has given an accurate summary of the chapters, (p. +544-546.)] + +[Footnote 54: See the word Milites in the Latin Glossary of Ducange.] + +[Footnote 55: Of odd particulars, I learn from Malaterra, that the +Arabs had introduced into Sicily the use of camels (l. i. c. 33) and of +carrier-pigeons, (c. 42;) and that the bite of the tarantula provokes a +windy disposition, quae per anum inhoneste crepitando emergit; a symptom +most ridiculously felt by the whole Norman army in their camp near +Palermo, (c. 36.) I shall add an etymology not unworthy of the xith +century: Messana is divided from Messis, the place from whence the +harvests of the isle were sent in tribute to Rome, (l. ii. c. 1.)] + +[Footnote 56: See the capitulation of Palermo in Malaterra, l. ii. c. +45, and Giannone, who remarks the general toleration of the Saracens, +(tom ii. p. 72.)] + +[Footnote 57: John Leo Afer, de Medicis et Philosophus Arabibus, c. 14, +apud Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. xiii. p. 278, 279. This philosopher is +named Esseriph Essachalli, and he died in Africa, A. H. 516, A.D. 1122. +Yet this story bears a strange resemblance to the Sherif al Edrissi, who +presented his book (Geographia Nubiensis, see preface p. 88, 90, 170) to +Roger, king of Sicily, A. H. 541, A.D. 1153, (D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque +Orientale, p. 786. Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 188. Petit de la +Croix, Hist. de Gengiscan, p. 535, 536. Casiri, Bibliot. Arab. Hispan. +tom. ii. p. 9-13;) and I am afraid of some mistake.] + +[Footnote 58: Malaterra remarks the foundation of the bishoprics, +(l. iv. c. 7,) and produces the original of the bull, (l. iv. c. 29.) +Giannone gives a rational idea of this privilege, and the tribunal of +the monarchy of Sicily, (tom. ii. p. 95-102;) and St. Marc (Abrege, +tom. iii. p. 217-301, 1st column) labors the case with the diligence of +a Sicilian lawyer.] + +To Robert Guiscard, the conquest of Sicily was more glorious than +beneficial: the possession of Apulia and Calabria was inadequate to his +ambition; and he resolved to embrace or create the first occasion of +invading, perhaps of subduing, the Roman empire of the East. [59] From +his first wife, the partner of his humble fortune, he had been divorced +under the pretence of consanguinity; and her son Bohemond was destined +to imitate, rather than to succeed, his illustrious father. The second +wife of Guiscard was the daughter of the princes of Salerno; the +Lombards acquiesced in the lineal succession of their son Roger; their +five daughters were given in honorable nuptials, [60] and one of them +was betrothed, in a tender age, to Constantine, a beautiful youth, +the son and heir of the emperor Michael. [61] But the throne of +Constantinople was shaken by a revolution: the Imperial family of Ducas +was confined to the palace or the cloister; and Robert deplored, and +resented, the disgrace of his daughter and the expulsion of his ally. +A Greek, who styled himself the father of Constantine, soon appeared +at Salerno, and related the adventures of his fall and flight. That +unfortunate friend was acknowledged by the duke, and adorned with the +pomp and titles of Imperial dignity: in his triumphal progress through +Apulia and Calabria, Michael [62] was saluted with the tears and +acclamations of the people; and Pope Gregory the Seventh exhorted the +bishops to preach, and the Catholics to fight, in the pious work of his +restoration. His conversations with Robert were frequent and familiar; +and their mutual promises were justified by the valor of the Normans and +the treasures of the East. Yet this Michael, by the confession of the +Greeks and Latins, was a pageant and an impostor; a monk who had fled +from his convent, or a domestic who had served in the palace. The fraud +had been contrived by the subtle Guiscard; and he trusted, that after +this pretender had given a decent color to his arms, he would sink, at +the nod of the conqueror, into his primitive obscurity. But victory was +the only argument that could determine the belief of the Greeks; and +the ardor of the Latins was much inferior to their credulity: the Norman +veterans wished to enjoy the harvest of their toils, and the unwarlike +Italians trembled at the known and unknown dangers of a transmarine +expedition. In his new levies, Robert exerted the influence of gifts and +promises, the terrors of civil and ecclesiastical authority; and some +acts of violence might justify the reproach, that age and infancy +were pressed without distinction into the service of their unrelenting +prince. After two years' incessant preparations the land and naval +forces were assembled at Otranto, at the heel, or extreme promontory, of +Italy; and Robert was accompanied by his wife, who fought by his +side, his son Bohemond, and the representative of the emperor Michael. +Thirteen hundred knights [63] of Norman race or discipline, formed +the sinews of the army, which might be swelled to thirty thousand [64] +followers of every denomination. The men, the horses, the arms, the +engines, the wooden towers, covered with raw hides, were embarked on +board one hundred and fifty vessels: the transports had been built in +the ports of Italy, and the galleys were supplied by the alliance of the +republic of Ragusa. + +[Footnote 59: In the first expedition of Robert against the Greeks, +I follow Anna Comnena, (the ist, iiid, ivth, and vth books of the +Alexiad,) William Appulus, (l. ivth and vth, p. 270-275,) and Jeffrey +Malaterra, (l. iii. c. 13, 14, 24-29, 39.) Their information is +contemporary and authentic, but none of them were eye-witnesses of the +war.] + +[Footnote 60: One of them was married to Hugh, the son of Azzo, or Axo, +a marquis of Lombardy, rich, powerful, and noble, (Gulielm. Appul. l. +iii. p. 267,) in the xith century, and whose ancestors in the xth and +ixth are explored by the critical industry of Leibnitz and Muratori. +From the two elder sons of the marquis Azzo are derived the illustrious +lines of Brunswick and Este. See Muratori, Antichita Estense.] + +[Footnote 61: Anna Comnena, somewhat too wantonly, praises and bewails +that handsome boy, who, after the rupture of his barbaric nuptials, +(l. i. p. 23,) was betrothed as her husband. (p. 27.) Elsewhere she +describes the red and white of his skin, his hawk's eyes, &c., l. iii. +p. 71.] + +[Footnote 62: Anna Comnena, l. i. p. 28, 29. Gulielm. Appul. l. iv p. +271. Galfrid Malaterra, l. iii. c. 13, p. 579, 580. Malaterra is more +cautious in his style; but the Apulian is bold and positive.--Mentitus +se Michaelem Venerata Danais quidam seductor ad illum. As Gregory VII +had believed, Baronius almost alone, recognizes the emperor Michael. +(A.D. No. 44.)] + +[Footnote 63: Ipse armatae militiae non plusquam MCCC milites secum +habuisse, ab eis qui eidem negotio interfuerunt attestatur, (Malaterra, +l. iii. c. 24, p. 583.) These are the same whom the Apulian (l. iv. p. +273) styles the equestris gens ducis, equites de gente ducis.] + +[Footnote 64: Anna Comnena (Alexias, l. i. p. 37;) and her account +tallies with the number and lading of the ships. Ivit in Dyrrachium cum +xv. millibus hominum, says the Chronicon Breve Normannicum, (Muratori, +Scriptores, tom. v. p. 278.) I have endeavored to reconcile these +reckonings.] + +At the mouth of the Adriatic Gulf, the shores of Italy and Epirus +incline towards each other. The space between Brundusium and Durazzo, +the Roman passage, is no more than one hundred miles; [65] at the last +station of Otranto, it is contracted to fifty; [66] and this narrow +distance had suggested to Pyrrhus and Pompey the sublime or extravagant +idea of a bridge. Before the general embarkation, the Norman duke +despatched Bohemond with fifteen galleys to seize or threaten the Isle +of Corfu, to survey the opposite coast, and to secure a harbor in the +neighborhood of Vallona for the landing of the troops. They passed +and landed without perceiving an enemy; and this successful experiment +displayed the neglect and decay of the naval power of the Greeks. The +islands of Epirus and the maritime towns were subdued by the arms or the +name of Robert, who led his fleet and army from Corfu (I use the modern +appellation) to the siege of Durazzo. That city, the western key of the +empire, was guarded by ancient renown, and recent fortifications, by +George Palaeologus, a patrician, victorious in the Oriental wars, and a +numerous garrison of Albanians and Macedonians, who, in every age, +have maintained the character of soldiers. In the prosecution of his +enterprise, the courage of Guiscard was assailed by every form of danger +and mischance. In the most propitious season of the year, as his fleet +passed along the coast, a storm of wind and snow unexpectedly arose: +the Adriatic was swelled by the raging blast of the south, and a new +shipwreck confirmed the old infamy of the Acroceraunian rocks. [67] The +sails, the masts, and the oars, were shattered or torn away; the sea +and shore were covered with the fragments of vessels, with arms and dead +bodies; and the greatest part of the provisions were either drowned or +damaged. The ducal galley was laboriously rescued from the waves, and +Robert halted seven days on the adjacent cape, to collect the relics of +his loss, and revive the drooping spirits of his soldiers. The Normans +were no longer the bold and experienced mariners who had explored the +ocean from Greenland to Mount Atlas, and who smiled at the petty dangers +of the Mediterranean. They had wept during the tempest; they were +alarmed by the hostile approach of the Venetians, who had been solicited +by the prayers and promises of the Byzantine court. The first day's +action was not disadvantageous to Bohemond, a beardless youth, [68] +who led the naval powers of his father. All night the galleys of the +republic lay on their anchors in the form of a crescent; and the victory +of the second day was decided by the dexterity of their evolutions, the +station of their archers, the weight of their javelins, and the borrowed +aid of the Greek fire. The Apulian and Ragusian vessels fled to the +shore, several were cut from their cables, and dragged away by the +conqueror; and a sally from the town carried slaughter and dismay to the +tents of the Norman duke. A seasonable relief was poured into Durazzo, +and as soon as the besiegers had lost the command of the sea, the +islands and maritime towns withdrew from the camp the supply of tribute +and provision. That camp was soon afflicted with a pestilential disease; +five hundred knights perished by an inglorious death; and the list of +burials (if all could obtain a decent burial) amounted to ten thousand +persons. Under these calamities, the mind of Guiscard alone was firm and +invincible; and while he collected new forces from Apulia and Sicily, he +battered, or scaled, or sapped, the walls of Durazzo. But his industry +and valor were encountered by equal valor and more perfect industry. A +movable turret, of a size and capacity to contain five hundred soldiers, +had been rolled forwards to the foot of the rampart: but the descent of +the door or drawbridge was checked by an enormous beam, and the wooden +structure was constantly consumed by artificial flames. + +[Footnote 65: The Itinerary of Jerusalem (p. 609, edit. Wesseling) gives +a true and reasonable space of a thousand stadia or one hundred miles +which is strangely doubled by Strabo (l. vi. p. 433) and Pliny, (Hist. +Natur. iii. 16.)] + +[Footnote 66: Pliny (Hist. Nat. iii. 6, 16) allows quinquaginta millia +for this brevissimus cursus, and agrees with the real distance from +Otranto to La Vallona, or Aulon, (D'Anville, Analyse de sa Carte des +Cotes de la Grece, &c., p. 3-6.) Hermolaus Barbarus, who substitutes +centum. (Harduin, Not. lxvi. in Plin. l. iii.,) might have been +corrected by every Venetian pilot who had sailed out of the gulf.] + +[Footnote 67: Infames scopulos Acroceraunia, Horat. carm. i. 3. The +praecipitem Africum decertantem Aquilonibus, et rabiem Noti and the +monstra natantia of the Adriatic, are somewhat enlarged; but Horace +trembling for the life of Virgil, is an interesting moment in the +history of poetry and friendship.] + +[Footnote 68: (Alexias, l. iv. p. 106.) Yet the Normans shaved, and the +Venetians wore, their beards: they must have derided the no beard of +Bohemond; a harsh interpretation. (Duncanga ad Alexiad. p. 283.)] + +While the Roman empire was attacked by the Turks in the East, east, and +the Normans in the West, the aged successor of Michael surrendered the +sceptre to the hands of Alexius, an illustrious captain, and the founder +of the Comnenian dynasty. The princess Anne, his daughter and historian, +observes, in her affected style, that even Hercules was unequal to a +double combat; and, on this principle, she approves a hasty peace with +the Turks, which allowed her father to undertake in person the relief of +Durazzo. On his accession, Alexius found the camp without soldiers, and +the treasury without money; yet such were the vigor and activity of his +measures, that in six months he assembled an army of seventy thousand +men, [69] and performed a march of five hundred miles. His troops were +levied in Europe and Asia, from Peloponnesus to the Black Sea; his +majesty was displayed in the silver arms and rich trappings of the +companies of Horse-guards; and the emperor was attended by a train of +nobles and princes, some of whom, in rapid succession, had been clothed +with the purple, and were indulged by the lenity of the times in a +life of affluence and dignity. Their youthful ardor might animate the +multitude; but their love of pleasure and contempt of subordination were +pregnant with disorder and mischief; and their importunate clamors for +speedy and decisive action disconcerted the prudence of Alexius, who +might have surrounded and starved the besieging army. The enumeration of +provinces recalls a sad comparison of the past and present limits of the +Roman world: the raw levies were drawn together in haste and terror; +and the garrisons of Anatolia, or Asia Minor, had been purchased by the +evacuation of the cities which were immediately occupied by the +Turks. The strength of the Greek army consisted in the Varangians, the +Scandinavian guards, whose numbers were recently augmented by a colony +of exiles and volunteers from the British Island of Thule. Under the +yoke of the Norman conqueror, the Danes and English were oppressed +and united; a band of adventurous youths resolved to desert a land +of slavery; the sea was open to their escape; and, in their long +pilgrimage, they visited every coast that afforded any hope of liberty +and revenge. They were entertained in the service of the Greek emperor; +and their first station was in a new city on the Asiatic shore: but +Alexius soon recalled them to the defence of his person and palace; and +bequeathed to his successors the inheritance of their faith and valor. +[70] The name of a Norman invader revived the memory of their wrongs: +they marched with alacrity against the national foe, and panted +to regain in Epirus the glory which they had lost in the battle of +Hastings. The Varangians were supported by some companies of Franks or +Latins; and the rebels, who had fled to Constantinople from the tyranny +of Guiscard, were eager to signalize their zeal and gratify their +revenge. In this emergency, the emperor had not disdained the impure +aid of the Paulicians or Manichaeans of Thrace and Bulgaria; and these +heretics united with the patience of martyrdom the spirit and discipline +of active valor. [71] The treaty with the sultan had procured a supply +of some thousand Turks; and the arrows of the Scythian horse were +opposed to the lances of the Norman cavalry. On the report and distant +prospect of these formidable numbers, Robert assembled a council of his +principal officers. "You behold," said he, "your danger: it is urgent +and inevitable. The hills are covered with arms and standards; and the +emperor of the Greeks is accustomed to wars and triumphs. Obedience and +union are our only safety; and I am ready to yield the command to a more +worthy leader." The vote and acclamation even of his secret enemies, +assured him, in that perilous moment, of their esteem and confidence; +and the duke thus continued: "Let us trust in the rewards of victory, +and deprive cowardice of the means of escape. Let us burn our vessels +and our baggage, and give battle on this spot, as if it were the +place of our nativity and our burial." The resolution was unanimously +approved; and, without confining himself to his lines, Guiscard awaited +in battle-array the nearer approach of the enemy. His rear was covered +by a small river; his right wing extended to the sea; his left to the +hills: nor was he conscious, perhaps, that on the same ground Caesar and +Pompey had formerly disputed the empire of the world. [72] + +[Footnote 69: Muratori (Annali d' Italia, tom. ix. p. 136, 137) +observes, that some authors (Petrus Diacon. Chron. Casinen. l. iii. c. +49) compose the Greek army of 170,000 men, but that the hundred may +be struck off, and that Malaterra reckons only 70,000; a slight +inattention. The passage to which he alludes is in the Chronicle of +Lupus Protospata, (Script. Ital. tom. v. p. 45.) Malaterra (l. iv. +c. 27) speaks in high, but indefinite terms of the emperor, cum +copiisinnumerabilbus: like the Apulian poet, (l. iv. p. 272:) +--More locustarum montes et pianna teguntur.] + +[Footnote 70: See William of Malmsbury, de Gestis Anglorum, l. ii. p. +92. Alexius fidem Anglorum suspiciens praecipuis familiaritatibus suis +eos applicabat, amorem eorum filio transcribens. Odericus Vitalis (Hist. +Eccles. l. iv. p. 508, l. vii. p. 641) relates their emigration from +England, and their service in Greece.] + +[Footnote 71: See the Apulian, (l. i. p. 256.) The character and the +story of these Manichaeans has been the subject of the livth chapter.] + +[Footnote 72: See the simple and masterly narrative of Caesar himself, +(Comment. de Bell. Civil. iii. 41-75.) It is a pity that Quintus +Icilius (M. Guichard) did not live to analyze these operations, as he +has done the campaigns of Africa and Spain.] + +Against the advice of his wisest captains, Alexius resolved to risk +the event of a general action, and exhorted the garrison of Durazzo to +assist their own deliverance by a well-timed sally from the town. He +marched in two columns to surprise the Normans before daybreak on two +different sides: his light cavalry was scattered over the plain; the +archers formed the second line; and the Varangians claimed the honors of +the vanguard. In the first onset, the battle-axes of the strangers made +a deep and bloody impression on the army of Guiscard, which was +now reduced to fifteen thousand men. The Lombards and Calabrians +ignominiously turned their backs; they fled towards the river and the +sea; but the bridge had been broken down to check the sally of the +garrison, and the coast was lined with the Venetian galleys, who played +their engines among the disorderly throng. On the verge of ruin, they +were saved by the spirit and conduct of their chiefs. Gaita, the wife of +Robert, is painted by the Greeks as a warlike Amazon, a second Pallas; +less skilful in arts, but not less terrible in arms, than the Athenian +goddess: [73] though wounded by an arrow, she stood her ground, and +strove, by her exhortation and example, to rally the flying troops. [74] +Her female voice was seconded by the more powerful voice and arm of +the Norman duke, as calm in action as he was magnanimous in council: +"Whither," he cried aloud, "whither do ye fly? Your enemy is implacable; +and death is less grievous than servitude." The moment was decisive: as +the Varangians advanced before the line, they discovered the nakedness +of their flanks: the main battle of the duke, of eight hundred knights, +stood firm and entire; they couched their lances, and the Greeks deplore +the furious and irresistible shock of the French cavalry. [75] Alexius +was not deficient in the duties of a soldier or a general; but he no +sooner beheld the slaughter of the Varangians, and the flight of the +Turks, than he despised his subjects, and despaired of his fortune. The +princess Anne, who drops a tear on this melancholy event, is reduced +to praise the strength and swiftness of her father's horse, and his +vigorous struggle when he was almost overthrown by the stroke of a +lance, which had shivered the Imperial helmet. His desperate valor broke +through a squadron of Franks who opposed his flight; and after wandering +two days and as many nights in the mountains, he found some repose, +of body, though not of mind, in the walls of Lychnidus. The victorious +Robert reproached the tardy and feeble pursuit which had suffered the +escape of so illustrious a prize: but he consoled his disappointment by +the trophies and standards of the field, the wealth and luxury of the +Byzantine camp, and the glory of defeating an army five times more +numerous than his own. A multitude of Italians had been the victims +of their own fears; but only thirty of his knights were slain in +this memorable day. In the Roman host, the loss of Greeks, Turks, and +English, amounted to five or six thousand: [76] the plain of Durazzo was +stained with noble and royal blood; and the end of the impostor Michael +was more honorable than his life. + +[Footnote 73: It is very properly translated by the President Cousin, +(Hist. de Constantinople, tom. iv. p. 131, in 12mo.,) qui combattoit +comme une Pallas, quoiqu'elle ne fut pas aussi savante que celle +d'Athenes. The Grecian goddess was composed of two discordant +characters, of Neith, the workwoman of Sais in Egypt, and of a virgin +Amazon of the Tritonian lake in Libya, (Banier, Mythologie, tom. iv. p. +1-31, in 12mo.)] + +[Footnote 74: Anna Comnena (l. iv. p. 116) admires, with some degree of +terror, her masculine virtues. They were more familiar to the Latins and +though the Apulian (l. iv. p. 273) mentions her presence and her wound, +he represents her as far less intrepid. + + Uxor in hoc bello Roberti forte sagitta + + Quadam laesa fuit: quo vulnere territa nullam. + + Dum sperabat opem, se poene subegerat hosti. + +The last is an unlucky word for a female prisoner.] + +[Footnote 75: (Anna, l. v. p. 133;) and elsewhere, (p. 140.) The +pedantry of the princess in the choice of classic appellations +encouraged Ducange to apply to his countrymen the characters of the +ancient Gauls.] + +[Footnote 76: Lupus Protospata (tom. iii. p. 45) says 6000: William the +Apulian more than 5000, (l. iv. p. 273.) Their modesty is singular and +laudable: they might with so little trouble have slain two or three +myriads of schismatics and infidels!] + +It is more than probable that Guiscard was not afflicted by the loss of +a costly pageant, which had merited only the contempt and derision of +the Greeks. After their defeat, they still persevered in the defence +of Durazzo; and a Venetian commander supplied the place of George +Palaeologus, who had been imprudently called away from his station. +The tents of the besiegers were converted into barracks, to sustain the +inclemency of the winter; and in answer to the defiance of the garrison, +Robert insinuated, that his patience was at least equal to their +obstinacy. [77] Perhaps he already trusted to his secret correspondence +with a Venetian noble, who sold the city for a rich and honorable +marriage. At the dead of night, several rope-ladders were dropped from +the walls; the light Calabrians ascended in silence; and the Greeks were +awakened by the name and trumpets of the conqueror. Yet they defended +the streets three days against an enemy already master of the rampart; +and near seven months elapsed between the first investment and the final +surrender of the place. From Durazzo, the Norman duke advanced into the +heart of Epirus or Albania; traversed the first mountains of Thessaly; +surprised three hundred English in the city of Castoria; approached +Thessalonica; and made Constantinople tremble. A more pressing duty +suspended the prosecution of his ambitious designs. By shipwreck, +pestilence, and the sword, his army was reduced to a third of the +original numbers; and instead of being recruited from Italy, he was +informed, by plaintive epistles, of the mischiefs and dangers which had +been produced by his absence: the revolt of the cities and barons of +Apulia; the distress of the pope; and the approach or invasion of Henry +king of Germany. Highly presuming that his person was sufficient for the +public safety, he repassed the sea in a single brigantine, and left the +remains of the army under the command of his son and the Norman counts, +exhorting Bohemond to respect the freedom of his peers, and the counts +to obey the authority of their leader. The son of Guiscard trod in the +footsteps of his father; and the two destroyers are compared, by the +Greeks, to the caterpillar and the locust, the last of whom devours +whatever has escaped the teeth of the former. [78] After winning two +battles against the emperor, he descended into the plain of Thessaly, +and besieged Larissa, the fabulous realm of Achilles, [79] which +contained the treasure and magazines of the Byzantine camp. Yet a just +praise must not be refused to the fortitude and prudence of Alexius, who +bravely struggled with the calamities of the times. In the poverty +of the state, he presumed to borrow the superfluous ornaments of the +churches: the desertion of the Manichaeans was supplied by some tribes +of Moldavia: a reenforcement of seven thousand Turks replaced and +revenged the loss of their brethren; and the Greek soldiers were +exercised to ride, to draw the bow, and to the daily practice of +ambuscades and evolutions. Alexius had been taught by experience, that +the formidable cavalry of the Franks on foot was unfit for action, and +almost incapable of motion; [80] his archers were directed to aim their +arrows at the horse rather than the man; and a variety of spikes and +snares were scattered over the ground on which he might expect an +attack. In the neighborhood of Larissa the events of war were protracted +and balanced. The courage of Bohemond was always conspicuous, and often +successful; but his camp was pillaged by a stratagem of the Greeks; the +city was impregnable; and the venal or discontented counts deserted +his standard, betrayed their trusts, and enlisted in the service of the +emperor. Alexius returned to Constantinople with the advantage, rather +than the honor, of victory. After evacuating the conquests which he +could no longer defend, the son of Guiscard embarked for Italy, and +was embraced by a father who esteemed his merit, and sympathized in his +misfortune. + +[Footnote 77: The Romans had changed the inauspicious name of Epidamnus +to Dyrrachium, (Plin. iii. 26;) and the vulgar corruption of Duracium +(see Malaterra) bore some affinity to hardness. One of Robert's names +was Durand, a durando: poor wit! (Alberic. Monach. in Chron. apud +Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. ix. p. 137.)] + +[Footnote 78: (Anna, l. i. p. 35.) By these similes, so different from +those of Homer she wishes to inspire contempt as well as horror for +the little noxious animal, a conqueror. Most unfortunately, the common +sense, or common nonsense, of mankind, resists her laudable design.] + +[Footnote 79: Prodiit hac auctor Trojanae cladis Achilles. The +supposition of the Apulian (l. v. p. 275) may be excused by the more +classic poetry of Virgil, (Aeneid. ii. 197,) Larissaeus Achilles, but it +is not justified by the geography of Homer.] + +[Footnote 80: The items which encumbered the knights on foot, have been +ignorantly translated spurs, (Anna Comnena, Alexias, l. v. p. 140.) +Ducange has explained the true sense by a ridiculous and inconvenient +fashion, which lasted from the xith to the xvth century. These peaks, in +the form of a scorpion, were sometimes two feet and fastened to the knee +with a silver chain.] + + + + +Chapter LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part IV. + +Of the Latin princes, the allies of Alexius and enemies of Robert, the +most prompt and powerful was Henry the Third or Fourth, king of Germany +and Italy, and future emperor of the West. The epistle of the Greek +monarch [81] to his brother is filled with the warmest professions of +friendship, and the most lively desire of strengthening their alliance +by every public and private tie. He congratulates Henry on his success +in a just and pious war; and complains that the prosperity of his own +empire is disturbed by the audacious enterprises of the Norman Robert. +The lists of his presents expresses the manners of the age--a radiated +crown of gold, a cross set with pearls to hang on the breast, a case of +relics, with the names and titles of the saints, a vase of crystal, a +vase of sardonyx, some balm, most probably of Mecca, and one hundred +pieces of purple. To these he added a more solid present, of one hundred +and forty-four thousand Byzantines of gold, with a further assurance of +two hundred and sixteen thousand, so soon as Henry should have entered +in arms the Apulian territories, and confirmed by an oath the league +against the common enemy. The German, [82] who was already in Lombardy +at the head of an army and a faction, accepted these liberal offers, +and marched towards the south: his speed was checked by the sound of the +battle of Durazzo; but the influence of his arms, or name, in the hasty +return of Robert, was a full equivalent for the Grecian bribe. Henry was +the severe adversary of the Normans, the allies and vassals of Gregory +the Seventh, his implacable foe. The long quarrel of the throne and +mitre had been recently kindled by the zeal and ambition of that haughty +priest: [83] the king and the pope had degraded each other; and each had +seated a rival on the temporal or spiritual throne of his antagonist. +After the defeat and death of his Swabian rebel, Henry descended into +Italy, to assume the Imperial crown, and to drive from the Vatican the +tyrant of the church. [84] But the Roman people adhered to the cause +of Gregory: their resolution was fortified by supplies of men and money +from Apulia; and the city was thrice ineffectually besieged by the +king of Germany. In the fourth year he corrupted, as it is said, with +Byzantine gold, the nobles of Rome, whose estates and castles had been +ruined by the war. The gates, the bridges, and fifty hostages, were +delivered into his hands: the anti-pope, Clement the Third, was +consecrated in the Lateran: the grateful pontiff crowned his protector +in the Vatican; and the emperor Henry fixed his residence in the +Capitol, as the lawful successor of Augustus and Charlemagne. The ruins +of the Septizonium were still defended by the nephew of Gregory: the +pope himself was invested in the castle of St. Angelo; and his last hope +was in the courage and fidelity of his Norman vassal. Their friendship +had been interrupted by some reciprocal injuries and complaints; but, +on this pressing occasion, Guiscard was urged by the obligation of his +oath, by his interest, more potent than oaths, by the love of fame, and +his enmity to the two emperors. Unfurling the holy banner, he resolved +to fly to the relief of the prince of the apostles: the most numerous of +his armies, six thousand horse, and thirty thousand foot, was instantly +assembled; and his march from Salerno to Rome was animated by the public +applause and the promise of the divine favor. Henry, invincible +in sixty-six battles, trembled at his approach; recollected some +indispensable affairs that required his presence in Lombardy; exhorted +the Romans to persevere in their allegiance; and hastily retreated three +days before the entrance of the Normans. In less than three years, the +son of Tancred of Hauteville enjoyed the glory of delivering the pope, +and of compelling the two emperors, of the East and West, to fly before +his victorious arms. [85] But the triumph of Robert was clouded by the +calamities of Rome. By the aid of the friends of Gregory, the walls had +been perforated or scaled; but the Imperial faction was still powerful +and active; on the third day, the people rose in a furious tumult; and +a hasty word of the conqueror, in his defence or revenge, was the signal +of fire and pillage. [86] The Saracens of Sicily, the subjects of Roger, +and auxiliaries of his brother, embraced this fair occasion of rifling +and profaning the holy city of the Christians: many thousands of the +citizens, in the sight, and by the allies, of their spiritual father +were exposed to violation, captivity, or death; and a spacious quarter +of the city, from the Lateran to the Coliseum, was consumed by the +flames, and devoted to perpetual solitude. [87] From a city, where he +was now hated, and might be no longer feared, Gregory retired to end +his days in the palace of Salerno. The artful pontiff might flatter the +vanity of Guiscard with the hope of a Roman or Imperial crown; but this +dangerous measure, which would have inflamed the ambition of the Norman, +must forever have alienated the most faithful princes of Germany. + +[Footnote 81: The epistle itself (Alexias, l. iii. p. 93, 94, 95) well +deserves to be read. There is one expression which Ducange does not +understand. I have endeavored to grope out a tolerable meaning: The +first word is a golden crown; the second is explained by Simon Portius, +(in Lexico Graeco-Barbar.,) by a flash of lightning.] + +[Footnote 82: For these general events I must refer to the general +historians Sigonius, Baronius, Muratori, Mosheim, St. Marc, &c.] + +[Footnote 83: The lives of Gregory VII. are either legends or +invectives, (St. Marc, Abrege, tom. iii. p. 235, &c.;) and his +miraculous or magical performances are alike incredible to a modern +reader. He will, as usual, find some instruction in Le Clerc, (Vie +de Hildebrand, Bibliot, ancienne et moderne, tom. viii.,) and much +amusement in Bayle, (Dictionnaire Critique, Gregoire VII.) That pope was +undoubtedly a great man, a second Athanasius, in a more fortunate age of +the church. May I presume to add, that the portrait of Athanasius is one +of the passages of my history (vol. ii. p. 332, &c.) with which I am +the least dissatisfied? * Note: There is a fair life of Gregory VII. +by Voigt, (Weimar. 1815,) which has been translated into French. M. +Villemain, it is understood, has devoted much time to the study of this +remarkable character, to whom his eloquence may do justice. There +is much valuable information on the subject in the accurate work of +Stenzel, Geschichte Deutschlands unter den Frankischen Kaisern--the +History of Germany under the Emperors of the Franconian Race.--M.] + +[Footnote 84: Anna, with the rancor of a Greek schismatic, calls him (l. +i. p. 32,) a pope, or priest, worthy to be spit upon and accuses him of +scourging, shaving, and perhaps of castrating the ambassadors of Henry, +(p. 31, 33.) But this outrage is improbable and doubtful, (see the +sensible preface of Cousin.)] + +[Footnote 85: + + Sic uno tempore victi + + Sunt terrae Domini duo: rex Alemannicus iste, + + Imperii rector Romani maximus ille. + + Alter ad arma ruens armis superatur; et alter + + Nominis auditi sola formidine cessit. + +It is singular enough, that the Apulian, a Latin, should distinguish the +Greek as the ruler of the Roman empire, (l. iv. p. 274.)] + +[Footnote 86: The narrative of Malaterra (l. iii. c. 37, p. 587, 588) is +authentic, circumstantial, and fair. Dux ignem exclamans urbe incensa, +&c. The Apulian softens the mischief, (inde quibusdam aedibus exustis,) +which is again exaggerated in some partial chronicles, (Muratori, +Annali, tom. ix. p. 147.)] + +[Footnote 87: After mentioning this devastation, the Jesuit Donatus +(de Roma veteri et nova, l. iv. c. 8, p. 489) prettily adds, Duraret +hodieque in Coelio monte, interque ipsum et capitolium, miserabilis +facies prostrates urbis, nisi in hortorum vinetorumque amoenitatem +Roma resurrexisset, ut perpetua viriditate contegeret vulnera et ruinas +suas.] + +The deliverer and scourge of Rome might have indulged himself in a +season of repose; but in the same year of the flight of the German +emperor, the indefatigable Robert resumed the design of his eastern +conquests. The zeal or gratitude of Gregory had promised to his valor +the kingdoms of Greece and Asia; [88] his troops were assembled in +arms, flushed with success, and eager for action. Their numbers, in the +language of Homer, are compared by Anna to a swarm of bees; [89] yet the +utmost and moderate limits of the powers of Guiscard have been already +defined; they were contained on this second occasion in one hundred +and twenty vessels; and as the season was far advanced, the harbor of +Brundusium [90] was preferred to the open road of Otranto. Alexius, +apprehensive of a second attack, had assiduously labored to restore the +naval forces of the empire; and obtained from the republic of Venice an +important succor of thirty-six transports, fourteen galleys, and +nine galiots or ships of extra-ordinary strength and magnitude. Their +services were liberally paid by the license or monopoly of trade, a +profitable gift of many shops and houses in the port of Constantinople, +and a tribute to St. Mark, the more acceptable, as it was the produce +of a tax on their rivals at Amalphi. By the union of the Greeks and +Venetians, the Adriatic was covered with a hostile fleet; but their +own neglect, or the vigilance of Robert, the change of a wind, or the +shelter of a mist, opened a free passage; and the Norman troops were +safely disembarked on the coast of Epirus. With twenty strong and +well-appointed galleys, their intrepid duke immediately sought the +enemy, and though more accustomed to fight on horseback, he trusted his +own life, and the lives of his brother and two sons, to the event of a +naval combat. The dominion of the sea was disputed in three engagements, +in sight of the Isle of Corfu: in the two former, the skill and numbers +of the allies were superior; but in the third, the Normans obtained a +final and complete victory. [91] The light brigantines of the Greeks +were scattered in ignominious flight: the nine castles of the Venetians +maintained a more obstinate conflict; seven were sunk, two were taken; +two thousand five hundred captives implored in vain the mercy of the +victor; and the daughter of Alexius deplores the loss of thirteen +thousand of his subjects or allies. The want of experience had been +supplied by the genius of Guiscard; and each evening, when he had +sounded a retreat, he calmly explored the causes of his repulse, and +invented new methods how to remedy his own defects, and to baffle the +advantages of the enemy. The winter season suspended his progress: with +the return of spring he again aspired to the conquest of Constantinople; +but, instead of traversing the hills of Epirus, he turned his arms +against Greece and the islands, where the spoils would repay the labor, +and where the land and sea forces might pursue their joint operations +with vigor and effect. But, in the Isle of Cephalonia, his projects +were fatally blasted by an epidemical disease: Robert himself, in the +seventieth year of his age, expired in his tent; and a suspicion of +poison was imputed, by public rumor, to his wife, or to the Greek +emperor. [92] This premature death might allow a boundless scope for the +imagination of his future exploits; and the event sufficiently declares, +that the Norman greatness was founded on his life. [93] Without the +appearance of an enemy, a victorious army dispersed or retreated in +disorder and consternation; and Alexius, who had trembled for his +empire, rejoiced in his deliverance. The galley which transported the +remains of Guiscard was ship-wrecked on the Italian shore; but the +duke's body was recovered from the sea, and deposited in the sepulchre +of Venusia, [94] a place more illustrious for the birth of Horace [95] +than for the burial of the Norman heroes. Roger, his second son and +successor, immediately sunk to the humble station of a duke of Apulia: +the esteem or partiality of his father left the valiant Bohemond to the +inheritance of his sword. + +The national tranquillity was disturbed by his claims, till the first +crusade against the infidels of the East opened a more splendid field of +glory and conquest. [96] + +[Footnote 88: The royalty of Robert, either promised or bestowed by the +pope, (Anna, l. i. p. 32,) is sufficiently confirmed by the Apulian, (l. +iv. p. 270.) --Romani regni sibi promisisse coronam Papa ferebatur. +Nor can I understand why Gretser, and the other papal advocates, should +be displeased with this new instance of apostolic jurisdiction.] + +[Footnote 89: See Homer, Iliad, B. (I hate this pedantic mode of +quotation by letters of the Greek alphabet) 87, &c. His bees are the +image of a disorderly crowd: their discipline and public works seem to +be the ideas of a later age, (Virgil. Aeneid. l. i.)] + +[Footnote 90: Gulielm. Appulus, l. v. p. 276.) The admirable port of +Brundusium was double; the outward harbor was a gulf covered by an +island, and narrowing by degrees, till it communicated by a small gullet +with the inner harbor, which embraced the city on both sides. Caesar and +nature have labored for its ruin; and against such agents what are the +feeble efforts of the Neapolitan government? (Swinburne's Travels in the +Two Sicilies, vol. i. p. 384-390.] + +[Footnote 91: William of Apulia (l. v. p. 276) describes the victory of +the Normans, and forgets the two previous defeats, which are diligently +recorded by Anna Comnena, (l. vi. p. 159, 160, 161.) In her turn, she +invents or magnifies a fourth action, to give the Venetians revenge and +rewards. Their own feelings were far different, since they deposed their +doge, propter excidium stoli, (Dandulus in Chron in Muratori, Script. +Rerum Italicarum, tom. xii. p. 249.)] + +[Footnote 92: The most authentic writers, William of Apulia. (l. +v. 277,) Jeffrey Malaterra, (l. iii. c. 41, p. 589,) and Romuald of +Salerno, (Chron. in Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. tom. vii.,) are +ignorant of this crime, so apparent to our countrymen William of +Malmsbury (l. iii. p. 107) and Roger de Hoveden, (p. 710, in Script. +post Bedam) and the latter can tell, how the just Alexius married, +crowned, and burnt alive, his female accomplice. The English historian +is indeed so blind, that he ranks Robert Guiscard, or Wiscard, among the +knights of Henry I, who ascended the throne fifteen years after the duke +of Apulia's death.] + +[Footnote 93: The joyful Anna Comnena scatters some flowers over the +grave of an enemy, (Alexiad, l. v. p. 162-166;) and his best praise +is the esteem and envy of William the Conqueror, the sovereign of his +family Graecia (says Malaterra) hostibus recedentibus libera laeta +quievit: Apulia tota sive Calabria turbatur.] + +[Footnote 94: Urbs Venusina nitet tantis decorata sepulchris, is one +of the last lines of the Apulian's poems, (l. v. p. 278.) William of +Malmsbury (l. iii. p. 107) inserts an epitaph on Guiscard, which is not +worth transcribing.] + +[Footnote 95: Yet Horace had few obligations to Venusia; he was carried +to Rome in his childhood, (Serm. i. 6;) and his repeated allusions to +the doubtful limit of Apulia and Lucania (Carm. iii. 4, Serm. ii. I) are +unworthy of his age and genius.] + +[Footnote 96: See Giannone (tom. ii. p. 88-93) and the historians of +the fire crusade.] + +Of human life, the most glorious or humble prospects are alike and +soon bounded by the sepulchre. The male line of Robert Guiscard was +extinguished, both in Apulia and at Antioch, in the second generation; +but his younger brother became the father of a line of kings; and the +son of the great count was endowed with the name, the conquests, and the +spirit, of the first Roger. [97] The heir of that Norman adventurer was +born in Sicily; and, at the age of only four years, he succeeded to +the sovereignty of the island, a lot which reason might envy, could she +indulge for a moment the visionary, though virtuous wish of dominion. +Had Roger been content with his fruitful patrimony, a happy and grateful +people might have blessed their benefactor; and if a wise administration +could have restored the prosperous times of the Greek colonies, [98] the +opulence and power of Sicily alone might have equalled the widest +scope that could be acquired and desolated by the sword of war. But the +ambition of the great count was ignorant of these noble pursuits; it +was gratified by the vulgar means of violence and artifice. He sought to +obtain the undivided possession of Palermo, of which one moiety had been +ceded to the elder branch; struggled to enlarge his Calabrian limits +beyond the measure of former treaties; and impatiently watched the +declining health of his cousin William of Apulia, the grandson of +Robert. On the first intelligence of his premature death, Roger sailed +from Palermo with seven galleys, cast anchor in the Bay of Salerno, +received, after ten days' negotiation, an oath of fidelity from the +Norman capital, commanded the submission of the barons, and extorted a +legal investiture from the reluctant popes, who could not long endure +either the friendship or enmity of a powerful vassal. The sacred spot +of Benevento was respectfully spared, as the patrimony of St. Peter; +but the reduction of Capua and Naples completed the design of his uncle +Guiscard; and the sole inheritance of the Norman conquests was possessed +by the victorious Roger. A conscious superiority of power and merit +prompted him to disdain the titles of duke and of count; and the Isle of +Sicily, with a third perhaps of the continent of Italy, might form the +basis of a kingdom [99] which would only yield to the monarchies of +France and England. The chiefs of the nation who attended his coronation +at Palermo might doubtless pronounce under what name he should reign +over them; but the example of a Greek tyrant or a Saracen emir was +insufficient to justify his regal character; and the nine kings of the +Latin world [100] might disclaim their new associate, unless he were +consecrated by the authority of the supreme pontiff. The pride of +Anacletus was pleased to confer a title, which the pride of the Norman +had stooped to solicit; [101] but his own legitimacy was attacked by the +adverse election of Innocent the Second; and while Anacletus sat in +the Vatican, the successful fugitive was acknowledged by the nations of +Europe. The infant monarchy of Roger was shaken, and almost overthrown, +by the unlucky choice of an ecclesiastical patron; and the sword of +Lothaire the Second of Germany, the excommunications of Innocent, the +fleets of Pisa, and the zeal of St. Bernard, were united for the ruin of +the Sicilian robber. After a gallant resistance, the Norman prince was +driven from the continent of Italy: a new duke of Apulia was invested by +the pope and the emperor, each of whom held one end of the gonfanon, +or flagstaff, as a token that they asserted their right, and suspended +their quarrel. But such jealous friendship was of short and precarious +duration: the German armies soon vanished in disease and desertion: +[102] the Apulian duke, with all his adherents, was exterminated by a +conqueror who seldom forgave either the dead or the living; like his +predecessor Leo the Ninth, the feeble though haughty pontiff became +the captive and friend of the Normans; and their reconciliation was +celebrated by the eloquence of Bernard, who now revered the title and +virtues of the king of Sicily. + +[Footnote 97: The reign of Roger, and the Norman kings of Sicily, +fills books of the Istoria Civile of Giannone, (tom. ii. l. xi.-xiv. p. +136-340,) and is spread over the ixth and xth volumes of the Italian +Annals of Muratori. In the Bibliotheque Italique (tom. i. p. 175-122,) +I find a useful abstract of Capacelatro, a modern Neapolitan, who has +composed, in two volumes, the history of his country from Roger Frederic +II. inclusive.] + +[Footnote 98: According to the testimony of Philistus and Diodorus, the +tyrant Dionysius of Syracuse could maintain a standing force of 10,000 +horse, 100,000 foot, and 400 galleys. Compare Hume, (Essays, vol. i. p. +268, 435,) and his adversary Wallace, (Numbers of Mankind, p. 306, 307.) +The ruins of Agrigentum are the theme of every traveller, D'Orville, +Reidesel, Swinburne, &c.] + +[Footnote 99: A contemporary historian of the acts of Roger from the +year 1127 to 1135, founds his title on merit and power, the consent +of the barons, and the ancient royalty of Sicily and Palermo, without +introducing Pope Anacletus, (Alexand. Coenobii Telesini Abbatis de Rebus +gestis Regis Rogerii, lib. iv. in Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. tom. v. +p. 607-645)] + +[Footnote 100: The kings of France, England, Scotland, Castille, +Arragon, Navarre, Sweden, Denmark, and Hungary. The three first were +more ancient than Charlemagne; the three next were created by their +sword; the three last by their baptism; and of these the king of Hungary +alone was honored or debased by a papal crown.] + +[Footnote 101: Fazellus, and a crowd of Sicilians, had imagined a more +early and independent coronation, (A.D. 1130, May 1,) which Giannone +unwillingly rejects, (tom. ii. p. 137-144.) This fiction is disproved +by the silence of contemporaries; nor can it be restored by a spurious +character of Messina, (Muratori, Annali d' Italia, tom. ix. p. 340. +Pagi, Critica, tom. iv. p. 467, 468.)] + +[Footnote 102: Roger corrupted the second person of Lothaire's army, who +sounded, or rather cried, a retreat; for the Germans (says Cinnamus, +l. iii. c. i. p. 51) are ignorant of the use of trumpets. Most ignorant +himself! * Note: Cinnamus says nothing of their ignorance.--M] + +As a penance for his impious war against the successor of St. Peter, +that monarch might have promised to display the banner of the cross, +and he accomplished with ardor a vow so propitious to his interest and +revenge. The recent injuries of Sicily might provoke a just retaliation +on the heads of the Saracens: the Normans, whose blood had been mingled +with so many subject streams, were encouraged to remember and emulate +the naval trophies of their fathers, and in the maturity of their +strength they contended with the decline of an African power. When the +Fatimite caliph departed for the conquest of Egypt, he rewarded the real +merit and apparent fidelity of his servant Joseph with a gift of his +royal mantle, and forty Arabian horses, his palace with its sumptuous +furniture, and the government of the kingdoms of Tunis and Algiers. The +Zeirides, [103] the descendants of Joseph, forgot their allegiance and +gratitude to a distant benefactor, grasped and abused the fruits of +prosperity; and after running the little course of an Oriental dynasty, +were now fainting in their own weakness. On the side of the land, they +were pressed by the Almohades, the fanatic princes of Morocco, while +the sea-coast was open to the enterprises of the Greeks and Franks, who, +before the close of the eleventh century, had extorted a ransom of two +hundred thousand pieces of gold. By the first arms of Roger, the island +or rock of Malta, which has been since ennobled by a military and +religious colony, was inseparably annexed to the crown of Sicily. +Tripoli, [104] a strong and maritime city, was the next object of his +attack; and the slaughter of the males, the captivity of the females, +might be justified by the frequent practice of the Moslems themselves. +The capital of the Zeirides was named Africa from the country, and +Mahadia [105] from the Arabian founder: it is strongly built on a neck +of land, but the imperfection of the harbor is not compensated by the +fertility of the adjacent plain. Mahadia was besieged by George the +Sicilian admiral, with a fleet of one hundred and fifty galleys, amply +provided with men and the instruments of mischief: the sovereign had +fled, the Moorish governor refused to capitulate, declined the last and +irresistible assault, and secretly escaping with the Moslem inhabitants +abandoned the place and its treasures to the rapacious Franks. In +successive expeditions, the king of Sicily or his lieutenants reduced +the cities of Tunis, Safax, Capsia, Bona, and a long tract of the +sea-coast; [106] the fortresses were garrisoned, the country was +tributary, and a boast that it held Africa in subjection might be +inscribed with some flattery on the sword of Roger. [107] After his +death, that sword was broken; and these transmarine possessions +were neglected, evacuated, or lost, under the troubled reign of his +successor. [108] The triumphs of Scipio and Belisarius have proved, that +the African continent is neither inaccessible nor invincible; yet the +great princes and powers of Christendom have repeatedly failed in their +armaments against the Moors, who may still glory in the easy conquest +and long servitude of Spain. + +[Footnote 103: See De Guignes, Hist. Generate des Huns, tom. i. p. +369-373 and Cardonne, Hist. de l'Afrique, &c., sous la Domination +des Arabes tom. ii. p. 70-144. Their common original appears to be +Novairi.] + +[Footnote 104: Tripoli (says the Nubian geographer, or more properly +the Sherif al Edrisi) urbs fortis, saxeo muro vallata, sita prope littus +maris Hanc expugnavit Rogerius, qui mulieribus captivis ductis, viros +pere mit.] + +[Footnote 105: See the geography of Leo Africanus, (in Ramusio tom. i. +fol. 74 verso. fol. 75, recto,) and Shaw's Travels, (p. 110,) the viith +book of Thuanus, and the xith of the Abbe de Vertot. The possession and +defence of the place was offered by Charles V. and wisely declined by +the knights of Malta.] + +[Footnote 106: Pagi has accurately marked the African conquests of Roger +and his criticism was supplied by his friend the Abbe de Longuerue with +some Arabic memorials, (A.D. 1147, No. 26, 27, A.D. 1148, No. 16, A.D. +1153, No. 16.)] + +[Footnote 107: Appulus et Calaber, Siculus mihi servit et Afer. A +proud inscription, which denotes, that the Norman conquerors were still +discriminated from their Christian and Moslem subjects.] + +[Footnote 108: Hugo Falcandus (Hist. Sicula, in Muratori, Script. tom. +vii. p. 270, 271) ascribes these losses to the neglect or treachery of +the admiral Majo.] + +Since the decease of Robert Guiscard, the Normans had relinquished, +above sixty years, their hostile designs against the empire of the East. +The policy of Roger solicited a public and private union with the Greek +princes, whose alliance would dignify his regal character: he demanded +in marriage a daughter of the Comnenian family, and the first steps of +the treaty seemed to promise a favorable event. But the contemptuous +treatment of his ambassadors exasperated the vanity of the new monarch; +and the insolence of the Byzantine court was expiated, according to the +laws of nations, by the sufferings of a guiltless people. [109] With the +fleet of seventy galleys, George, the admiral of Sicily, appeared before +Corfu; and both the island and city were delivered into his hands by the +disaffected inhabitants, who had yet to learn that a siege is still +more calamitous than a tribute. In this invasion, of some moment in the +annals of commerce, the Normans spread themselves by sea, and over +the provinces of Greece; and the venerable age of Athens, Thebes, and +Corinth, was violated by rapine and cruelty. Of the wrongs of Athens, +no memorial remains. The ancient walls, which encompassed, without +guarding, the opulence of Thebes, were scaled by the Latin Christians; +but their sole use of the gospel was to sanctify an oath, that the +lawful owners had not secreted any relic of their inheritance or +industry. On the approach of the Normans, the lower town of Corinth +was evacuated; the Greeks retired to the citadel, which was seated on a +lofty eminence, abundantly watered by the classic fountain of Pirene; +an impregnable fortress, if the want of courage could be balanced by any +advantages of art or nature. As soon as the besiegers had surmounted the +labor (their sole labor) of climbing the hill, their general, from +the commanding eminence, admired his own victory, and testified his +gratitude to Heaven, by tearing from the altar the precious image of +Theodore, the tutelary saint. The silk weavers of both sexes, whom +George transported to Sicily, composed the most valuable part of the +spoil; and in comparing the skilful industry of the mechanic with the +sloth and cowardice of the soldier, he was heard to exclaim that the +distaff and loom were the only weapons which the Greeks were capable of +using. The progress of this naval armament was marked by two conspicuous +events, the rescue of the king of France, and the insult of the +Byzantine capital. In his return by sea from an unfortunate crusade, +Louis the Seventh was intercepted by the Greeks, who basely violated the +laws of honor and religion. The fortunate encounter of the Norman +fleet delivered the royal captive; and after a free and honorable +entertainment in the court of Sicily, Louis continued his journey to +Rome and Paris. [110] In the absence of the emperor, Constantinople and +the Hellespont were left without defence and without the suspicion +of danger. The clergy and people (for the soldiers had followed +the standard of Manuel) were astonished and dismayed at the hostile +appearance of a line of galleys, which boldly cast anchor in the front +of the Imperial city. The forces of the Sicilian admiral were inadequate +to the siege or assault of an immense and populous metropolis; but +George enjoyed the glory of humbling the Greek arrogance, and of marking +the path of conquest to the navies of the West. He landed some soldiers +to rifle the fruits of the royal gardens, and pointed with silver, or +most probably with fire, the arrows which he discharged against the +palace of the Caesars. [111] This playful outrage of the pirates of +Sicily, who had surprised an unguarded moment, Manuel affected to +despise, while his martial spirit, and the forces of the empire, were +awakened to revenge. The Archipelago and Ionian Sea were covered with +his squadrons and those of Venice; but I know not by what favorable +allowance of transports, victuallers, and pinnaces, our reason, or +even our fancy, can be reconciled to the stupendous account of fifteen +hundred vessels, which is proposed by a Byzantine historian. These +operations were directed with prudence and energy: in his homeward +voyage George lost nineteen of his galleys, which were separated and +taken: after an obstinate defence, Corfu implored the clemency of her +lawful sovereign; nor could a ship, a soldier, of the Norman prince, be +found, unless as a captive, within the limits of the Eastern empire. The +prosperity and the health of Roger were already in a declining state: +while he listened in his palace of Palermo to the messengers of victory +or defeat, the invincible Manuel, the foremost in every assault, was +celebrated by the Greeks and Latins as the Alexander or the Hercules of +the age. + +[Footnote 109: The silence of the Sicilian historians, who end too soon, +or begin too late, must be supplied by Otho of Frisingen, a German, (de +Gestis Frederici I. l. i. c. 33, in Muratori, Script. tom. vi. p. 668,) +the Venetian Andrew Dandulus, (Id. tom. xii. p. 282, 283) and the Greek +writers Cinnamus (l. iii. c. 2-5) and Nicetas, (in Manuel. l. iii. c. +1-6.)] + +[Footnote 110: To this imperfect capture and speedy rescue I apply +Cinnamus, l. ii. c. 19, p. 49. Muratori, on tolerable evidence, (Annali +d'Italia, tom. ix. p. 420, 421,) laughs at the delicacy of the French, +who maintain, marisque nullo impediente periculo ad regnum proprium +reversum esse; yet I observe that their advocate, Ducange, is less +positive as the commentator on Cinnamus, than as the editor of +Joinville.] + +[Footnote 111: In palatium regium sagittas igneas injecit, says +Dandulus; but Nicetas (l. ii. c. 8, p. 66) transforms them, and adds, +that Manuel styled this insult. These arrows, by the compiler, Vincent +de Beauvais, are again transmuted into gold.] + + + + +Chapter LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part V. + +A prince of such a temper could not be satisfied with having repelled +the insolence of a Barbarian. It was the right and duty, it might be +the interest and glory, of Manuel to restore the ancient majesty of the +empire, to recover the provinces of Italy and Sicily, and to chastise +this pretended king, the grandson of a Norman vassal. [112] The natives +of Calabria were still attached to the Greek language and worship, which +had been inexorably proscribed by the Latin clergy: after the loss of +her dukes, Apulia was chained as a servile appendage to the crown of +Sicily; the founder of the monarchy had ruled by the sword; and his +death had abated the fear, without healing the discontent, of his +subjects: the feudal government was always pregnant with the seeds of +rebellion; and a nephew of Roger himself invited the enemies of his +family and nation. The majesty of the purple, and a series of Hungarian +and Turkish wars, prevented Manuel from embarking his person in the +Italian expedition. To the brave and noble Palaeologus, his lieutenant, +the Greek monarch intrusted a fleet and army: the siege of Bari was his +first exploit; and, in every operation, gold as well as steel was the +instrument of victory. Salerno, and some places along the western +coast, maintained their fidelity to the Norman king; but he lost in +two campaigns the greater part of his continental possessions; and the +modest emperor, disdaining all flattery and falsehood, was content +with the reduction of three hundred cities or villages of Apulia and +Calabria, whose names and titles were inscribed on all the walls of +the palace. The prejudices of the Latins were gratified by a genuine or +fictitious donation under the seal of the German Caesars; [113] but +the successor of Constantine soon renounced this ignominious pretence, +claimed the indefeasible dominion of Italy, and professed his design of +chasing the Barbarians beyond the Alps. By the artful speeches, liberal +gifts, and unbounded promises, of their Eastern ally, the free cities +were encouraged to persevere in their generous struggle against the +despotism of Frederic Barbarossa: the walls of Milan were rebuilt by the +contributions of Manuel; and he poured, says the historian, a river +of gold into the bosom of Ancona, whose attachment to the Greeks was +fortified by the jealous enmity of the Venetians. [114] The situation +and trade of Ancona rendered it an important garrison in the heart +of Italy: it was twice besieged by the arms of Frederic; the imperial +forces were twice repulsed by the spirit of freedom; that spirit was +animated by the ambassador of Constantinople; and the most intrepid +patriots, the most faithful servants, were rewarded by the wealth and +honors of the Byzantine court. [115] The pride of Manuel disdained and +rejected a Barbarian colleague; his ambition was excited by the hope of +stripping the purple from the German usurpers, and of establishing, +in the West, as in the East, his lawful title of sole emperor of the +Romans. With this view, he solicited the alliance of the people and the +bishop of Rome. Several of the nobles embraced the cause of the Greek +monarch; the splendid nuptials of his niece with Odo Frangipani secured +the support of that powerful family, [116] and his royal standard or +image was entertained with due reverence in the ancient metropolis. +[117] During the quarrel between Frederic and Alexander the Third, the +pope twice received in the Vatican the ambassadors of Constantinople. +They flattered his piety by the long-promised union of the two churches, +tempted the avarice of his venal court, and exhorted the Roman pontiff +to seize the just provocation, the favorable moment, to humble +the savage insolence of the Alemanni and to acknowledge the true +representative of Constantine and Augustus. [118] + +[Footnote 112: For the invasion of Italy, which is almost overlooked by +Nicetas see the more polite history of Cinnamus, (l. iv. c. 1-15, p. +78-101,) who introduces a diffuse narrative by a lofty profession, iii. +5.] + +[Footnote 113: The Latin, Otho, (de Gestis Frederici I. l. ii. c. 30, +p. 734,) attests the forgery; the Greek, Cinnamus, (l. iv. c. 1, p. +78,) claims a promise of restitution from Conrad and Frederic. An act of +fraud is always credible when it is told of the Greeks.] + +[Footnote 114: Quod Ancontiani Graecum imperium nimis diligerent ... +Veneti speciali odio Anconam oderunt. The cause of love, perhaps of +envy, were the beneficia, flumen aureum of the emperor; and the Latin +narrative is confirmed by Cinnamus, (l. iv. c. 14, p. 98.)] + +[Footnote 115: Muratori mentions the two sieges of Ancona; the first, +in 1167, against Frederic I. in person (Annali, tom. x. p. 39, &c.;) the +second, in 1173, against his lieutenant Christian, archbishop of Mentz, +a man unworthy of his name and office, (p. 76, &c.) It is of the second +siege that we possess an original narrative, which he has published in +his great collection, (tom. vi. p. 921-946.)] + +[Footnote 116: We derive this anecdote from an anonymous chronicle of +Fossa Nova, published by Muratori, (Script. Ital. tom. vii. p. 874.)] + +[Footnote 117: Cinnamus (l. iv. c. 14, p. 99) is susceptible of this +double sense. A standard is more Latin, an image more Greek.] + +[Footnote 118: Nihilominus quoque petebat, ut quia occasio justa et +tempos opportunum et acceptabile se obtulerant, Romani corona imperii a +sancto apostolo sibi redderetur; quoniam non ad Frederici Alemanni, +sed ad suum jus asseruit pertinere, (Vit. Alexandri III. a Cardinal. +Arragoniae, in Script. Rerum Ital. tom. iii. par. i. p. 458.) His second +embassy was accompanied cum immensa multitudine pecuniarum.] + +But these Italian conquests, this universal reign, soon escaped from the +hand of the Greek emperor. His first demands were eluded by the +prudence of Alexander the Third, who paused on this deep and momentous +revolution; [119] nor could the pope be seduced by a personal dispute to +renounce the perpetual inheritance of the Latin name. After the reunion +with Frederic, he spoke a more peremptory language, confirmed the +acts of his predecessors, excommunicated the adherents of Manuel, +and pronounced the final separation of the churches, or at least the +empires, of Constantinople and Rome. [120] The free cities of Lombardy +no longer remembered their foreign benefactor, and without preserving +the friendship of Ancona, he soon incurred the enmity of Venice. [121] +By his own avarice, or the complaints of his subjects, the Greek emperor +was provoked to arrest the persons, and confiscate the effects, of the +Venetian merchants. This violation of the public faith exasperated a +free and commercial people: one hundred galleys were launched and armed +in as many days; they swept the coasts of Dalmatia and Greece: but after +some mutual wounds, the war was terminated by an agreement, inglorious +to the empire, insufficient for the republic; and a complete vengeance +of these and of fresh injuries was reserved for the succeeding +generation. The lieutenant of Manuel had informed his sovereign that he +was strong enough to quell any domestic revolt of Apulia and Calabria; +but that his forces were inadequate to resist the impending attack +of the king of Sicily. His prophecy was soon verified: the death of +Palaeologus devolved the command on several chiefs, alike eminent in +rank, alike defective in military talents; the Greeks were oppressed +by land and sea; and a captive remnant that escaped the swords of the +Normans and Saracens, abjured all future hostility against the person or +dominions of their conqueror. [122] Yet the king of Sicily esteemed the +courage and constancy of Manuel, who had landed a second army on the +Italian shore; he respectfully addressed the new Justinian; solicited a +peace or truce of thirty years, accepted as a gift the regal title; and +acknowledged himself the military vassal of the Roman empire. [123] +The Byzantine Caesars acquiesced in this shadow of dominion, without +expecting, perhaps without desiring, the service of a Norman army; and +the truce of thirty years was not disturbed by any hostilities between +Sicily and Constantinople. About the end of that period, the throne of +Manuel was usurped by an inhuman tyrant, who had deserved the abhorrence +of his country and mankind: the sword of William the Second, the +grandson of Roger, was drawn by a fugitive of the Comnenian race; and +the subjects of Andronicus might salute the strangers as friends, +since they detested their sovereign as the worst of enemies. The Latin +historians [124] expatiate on the rapid progress of the four counts +who invaded Romania with a fleet and army, and reduced many castles and +cities to the obedience of the king of Sicily. The Greeks [125] accuse +and magnify the wanton and sacrilegious cruelties that were perpetrated +in the sack of Thessalonica, the second city of the empire. The former +deplore the fate of those invincible but unsuspecting warriors who were +destroyed by the arts of a vanquished foe. The latter applaud, in songs +of triumph, the repeated victories of their countrymen on the Sea of +Marmora or Propontis, on the banks of the Strymon, and under the walls +of Durazzo. A revolution which punished the crimes of Andronicus, +had united against the Franks the zeal and courage of the successful +insurgents: ten thousand were slain in battle, and Isaac Angelus, the +new emperor, might indulge his vanity or vengeance in the treatment of +four thousand captives. Such was the event of the last contest between +the Greeks and Normans: before the expiration of twenty years, the rival +nations were lost or degraded in foreign servitude; and the successors +of Constantine did not long survive to insult the fall of the Sicilian +monarchy. + +[Footnote 119: Nimis alta et perplexa sunt, (Vit. Alexandri III. p. 460, +461,) says the cautious pope.] + +[Footnote 120: (Cinnamus, l. iv. c. 14, p. 99.)] + +[Footnote 121: In his vith book, Cinnamus describes the Venetian war, +which Nicetas has not thought worthy of his attention. The Italian +accounts, which do not satisfy our curiosity, are reported by the +annalist Muratori, under the years 1171, &c.] + +[Footnote 122: This victory is mentioned by Romuald of Salerno, (in +Muratori, Script. Ital. tom. vii. p. 198.) It is whimsical enough, that +in the praise of the king of Sicily, Cinnamus (l. iv. c. 13, p. 97, 98) +is much warmer and copious than Falcandus, (p. 268, 270.) But the Greek +is fond of description, and the Latin historian is not fond of William +the Bad.] + +[Footnote 123: For the epistle of William I. see Cinnamus (l. iv. c. +15, p. 101, 102) and Nicetas, (l. ii. c. 8.) It is difficult to affirm, +whether these Greeks deceived themselves, or the public, in these +flattering portraits of the grandeur of the empire.] + +[Footnote 124: I can only quote, of original evidence, the poor +chronicles of Sicard of Cremona, (p. 603,) and of Fossa Nova, (p. 875,) +as they are published in the viith tome of Muratori's historians. +The king of Sicily sent his troops contra nequitiam Andronici.... ad +acquirendum imperium C. P. They were.... decepti captique, by Isaac.] + +[Footnote 125: By the failure of Cinnamus to Nicetas (in Andronico, +l.. c. 7, 8, 9, l. ii. c. 1, in Isaac Angelo, l. i. c. 1-4,) who now +becomes a respectable contemporary. As he survived the emperor and the +empire, he is above flattery; but the fall of Constantinople exasperated +his prejudices against the Latins. For the honor of learning I shall +observe that Homer's great commentator, Eustathias archbishop of +Thessalonica, refused to desert his flock.] + +The sceptre of Roger successively devolved to his son and grandson: +they might be confounded under the name of William: they are strongly +discriminated by the epithets of the bad and the good; but these +epithets, which appear to describe the perfection of vice and virtue, +cannot strictly be applied to either of the Norman princes. When he was +roused to arms by danger and shame, the first William did not degenerate +from the valor of his race; but his temper was slothful; his manners +were dissolute; his passions headstrong and mischievous; and the monarch +is responsible, not only for his personal vices, but for those of Majo, +the great admiral, who abused the confidence, and conspired against the +life, of his benefactor. From the Arabian conquest, Sicily had imbibed a +deep tincture of Oriental manners; the despotism, the pomp, and even the +harem, of a sultan; and a Christian people was oppressed and insulted +by the ascendant of the eunuchs, who openly professed, or secretly +cherished, the religion of Mahomet. An eloquent historian of the times +[126] has delineated the misfortunes of his country: [127] the ambition +and fall of the ungrateful Majo; the revolt and punishment of his +assassins; the imprisonment and deliverance of the king himself; the +private feuds that arose from the public confusion; and the various +forms of calamity and discord which afflicted Palermo, the island, and +the continent, during the reign of William the First, and the minority +of his son. The youth, innocence, and beauty of William the Second, +[128] endeared him to the nation: the factions were reconciled; the +laws were revived; and from the manhood to the premature death of that +amiable prince, Sicily enjoyed a short season of peace, justice, and +happiness, whose value was enhanced by the remembrance of the past +and the dread of futurity. The legitimate male posterity of Tancred +of Hauteville was extinct in the person of the second William; but his +aunt, the daughter of Roger, had married the most powerful prince of the +age; and Henry the Sixth, the son of Frederic Barbarossa, descended from +the Alps to claim the Imperial crown and the inheritance of his wife. +Against the unanimous wish of a free people, this inheritance could only +be acquired by arms; and I am pleased to transcribe the style and sense +of the historian Falcandus, who writes at the moment, and on the spot, +with the feelings of a patriot, and the prophetic eye of a statesman. +"Constantia, the daughter of Sicily, nursed from her cradle in the +pleasures and plenty, and educated in the arts and manners, of this +fortunate isle, departed long since to enrich the Barbarians with our +treasures, and now returns, with her savage allies, to contaminate the +beauties of her venerable parent. Already I behold the swarms of angry +Barbarians: our opulent cities, the places flourishing in a long peace, +are shaken with fear, desolated by slaughter, consumed by rapine, and +polluted by intemperance and lust. I see the massacre or captivity +of our citizens, the rapes of our virgins and matrons. [129] In this +extremity (he interrogates a friend) how must the Sicilians act? By +the unanimous election of a king of valor and experience, Sicily +and Calabria might yet be preserved; [130] for in the levity of +the Apulians, ever eager for new revolutions, I can repose neither +confidence nor hope. [131] Should Calabria be lost, the lofty towers, +the numerous youth, and the naval strength, of Messina, [132] might +guard the passage against a foreign invader. If the savage Germans +coalesce with the pirates of Messina; if they destroy with fire the +fruitful region, so often wasted by the fires of Mount Aetna, [133] what +resource will be left for the interior parts of the island, these noble +cities which should never be violated by the hostile footsteps of a +Barbarian? [134] Catana has again been overwhelmed by an earthquake: the +ancient virtue of Syracuse expires in poverty and solitude; [135] but +Palermo is still crowned with a diadem, and her triple walls enclose the +active multitudes of Christians and Saracens. If the two nations, +under one king, can unite for their common safety, they may rush on +the Barbarians with invincible arms. But if the Saracens, fatigued by +a repetition of injuries, should now retire and rebel; if they should +occupy the castles of the mountains and sea-coast, the unfortunate +Christians, exposed to a double attack, and placed as it were between +the hammer and the anvil, must resign themselves to hopeless and +inevitable servitude." [136] We must not forget, that a priest here +prefers his country to his religion; and that the Moslems, whose +alliance he seeks, were still numerous and powerful in the state of +Sicily. + +[Footnote 126: The Historia Sicula of Hugo Falcandus, which properly +extends from 1154 to 1169, is inserted in the viiith volume of +Muratori's Collection, (tom. vii. p. 259-344,) and preceded by a +eloquent preface or epistle, (p. 251-258, de Calamitatibus Siciliae.) +Falcandus has been styled the Tacitus of Sicily; and, after a just, but +immense, abatement, from the ist to the xiith century, from a senator to +a monk, I would not strip him of his title: his narrative is rapid and +perspicuous, his style bold and elegant, his observation keen; he had +studied mankind, and feels like a man. I can only regret the narrow and +barren field on which his labors have been cast.] + +[Footnote 127: The laborious Benedictines (l'Art de verifier les Dates, +p. 896) are of opinion, that the true name of Falcandus is Fulcandus, or +Foucault. According to them, Hugues Foucalt, a Frenchman by birth, +and at length abbot of St. Denys, had followed into Sicily his patron +Stephen de la Perche, uncle to the mother of William II., archbishop of +Palermo, and great chancellor of the kingdom. Yet Falcandus has all the +feelings of a Sicilian; and the title of Alumnus (which he bestows on +himself) appears to indicate that he was born, or at least educated, in +the island.] + +[Footnote 128: Falcand. p. 303. Richard de St. Germano begins his +history from the death and praises of William II. After some unmeaning +epithets, he thus continues: Legis et justitiae cultus tempore suo +vigebat in regno; sua erat quilibet sorte contentus; (were they +mortals?) abique pax, ubique securitas, nec latronum metuebat viator +insidias, nec maris nauta offendicula piratarum, (Script. Rerum Ital. +tom. vii p 939.)] + +[Footnote 129: Constantia, primis a cunabulis in deliciarun tuarum +affluentia diutius educata, tuisque institutis, doctrinus et moribus +informata, tandem opibus tuis Barbaros delatura discessit: et nunc +cum imgentibus copiis revertitur, ut pulcherrima nutricis ornamenta +barbarica foeditate contaminet .... Intuari mihi jam videor turbulentas +bar barorum acies.... civitates opulentas et loca diuturna pace +florentia, metu concutere, caede vastare, rapinis atterere, et foedare +luxuria hinc cives aut gladiis intercepti, aut servitute depressi, +virgines constupratae, matronae, &c.] + +[Footnote 130: Certe si regem non dubiae virtutis elegerint, nec a +Saracenis Christiani dissentiant, poterit rex creatus rebus licet quasi +desperatis et perditis subvenire, et incursus hostium, si prudenter +egerit, propulsare.] + +[Footnote 131: In Apulis, qui, semper novitate gaudentes, novarum rerum +studiis aguntur, nihil arbitror spei aut fiduciae reponendum.] + +[Footnote 132: Si civium tuorum virtutem et audaciam attendas, .... +muriorum etiam ambitum densis turribus circumseptum.] + +[Footnote 133: Cum erudelitate piratica Theutonum confligat atrocitas, +et inter aucbustos lapides, et Aethnae flagrant's incendia, &c.] + +[Footnote 134: Eam partem, quam nobilissimarum civitatum fulgor +illustrat, quae et toti regno singulari meruit privilegio praeminere, +nefarium esset.... vel barbarorum ingressu pollui. I wish to transcribe +his florid, but curious, description, of the palace, city, and luxuriant +plain of Palermo.] + +[Footnote 135: Vires non suppetunt, et conatus tuos tam inopia civium, +quam paucitas bellatorum elidunt.] + +[Footnote 136: The Normans and Sicilians appear to be confounded.] + +The hopes, or at least the wishes, of Falcandus were at first gratified +by the free and unanimous election of Tancred, the grandson of the first +king, whose birth was illegitimate, but whose civil and military virtues +shone without a blemish. During four years, the term of his life and +reign, he stood in arms on the farthest verge of the Apulian frontier, +against the powers of Germany; and the restitution of a royal captive, +of Constantia herself, without injury or ransom, may appear to surpass +the most liberal measure of policy or reason. After his decease, the +kingdom of his widow and infant son fell without a struggle; and Henry +pursued his victorious march from Capua to Palermo. The political +balance of Italy was destroyed by his success; and if the pope and the +free cities had consulted their obvious and real interest, they would +have combined the powers of earth and heaven to prevent the dangerous +union of the German empire with the kingdom of Sicily. But the subtle +policy, for which the Vatican has so often been praised or arraigned, +was on this occasion blind and inactive; and if it were true that +Celestine the Third had kicked away the Imperial crown from the head +of the prostrate Henry, [137] such an act of impotent pride could serve +only to cancel an obligation and provoke an enemy. The Genoese, who +enjoyed a beneficial trade and establishment in Sicily, listened to the +promise of his boundless gratitude and speedy departure: [138] their +fleet commanded the straits of Messina, and opened the harbor of +Palermo; and the first act of his government was to abolish the +privileges, and to seize the property, of these imprudent allies. The +last hope of Falcandus was defeated by the discord of the Christians and +Mahometans: they fought in the capital; several thousands of the latter +were slain; but their surviving brethren fortified the mountains, and +disturbed above thirty years the peace of the island. By the policy of +Frederic the Second, sixty thousand Saracens were transplanted to Nocera +in Apulia. In their wars against the Roman church, the emperor and +his son Mainfroy were strengthened and disgraced by the service of the +enemies of Christ; and this national colony maintained their religion +and manners in the heart of Italy, till they were extirpated, at the +end of the thirteenth century, by the zeal and revenge of the house of +Anjou. [139] All the calamities which the prophetic orator had deplored +were surpassed by the cruelty and avarice of the German conqueror. He +violated the royal sepulchres, [1391] and explored the secret treasures +of the palace, Palermo, and the whole kingdom: the pearls and jewels, +however precious, might be easily removed; but one hundred and sixty +horses were laden with the gold and silver of Sicily. [140] The young +king, his mother and sisters, and the nobles of both sexes, were +separately confined in the fortresses of the Alps; and, on the slightest +rumor of rebellion, the captives were deprived of life, of their +eyes, or of the hope of posterity. Constantia herself was touched with +sympathy for the miseries of her country; and the heiress of the Norman +line might struggle to check her despotic husband, and to save the +patrimony of her new-born son, of an emperor so famous in the next age +under the name of Frederic the Second. Ten years after this revolution, +the French monarchs annexed to their crown the duchy of Normandy: the +sceptre of her ancient dukes had been transmitted, by a granddaughter of +William the Conqueror, to the house of Plantagenet; and the adventurous +Normans, who had raised so many trophies in France, England, and +Ireland, in Apulia, Sicily, and the East, were lost, either in victory +or servitude, among the vanquished nations. + +[Footnote 137: The testimony of an Englishman, of Roger de Hoveden, +(p. 689,) will lightly weigh against the silence of German and Italian +history, (Muratori, Annali d' Italia, tom. x. p. 156.) The priests +and pilgrims, who returned from Rome, exalted, by every tale, the +omnipotence of the holy father.] + +[Footnote 138: Ego enim in eo cum Teutonicis manere non debeo, (Caffari, +Annal. Genuenses, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom vi. p. 367, +368.)] + +[Footnote 139: For the Saracens of Sicily and Nocera, see the Annals of +Muratori, (tom. x. p. 149, and A.D. 1223, 1247,) Giannone, (tom ii. p. +385,) and of the originals, in Muratori's Collection, Richard de St. +Germano, (tom. vii. p. 996,) Matteo Spinelli de Giovenazzo, (tom. vii. +p. 1064,) Nicholas de Jamsilla, (tom. x. p. 494,) and Matreo Villani, +(tom. xiv l. vii. p. 103.) The last of these insinuates that, in +reducing the Saracens of Nocera, Charles II. of Anjou employed rather +artifice than violence.] + +[Footnote 1391: It is remarkable that at the same time the tombs of the +Roman emperors, even of Constantine himself, were violated and ransacked +by their degenerate successor Alexius Comnenus, in order to enable him +to pay the "German" tribute exacted by the menaces of the emperor Henry. +See the end of the first book of the Life of Alexius, in Nicetas, p. +632, edit.--M.] + +[Footnote 140: Muratori quotes a passage from Arnold of Lubec, (l. iv. +c. 20:) Reperit thesauros absconditos, et omnem lapidum pretiosorum et +gemmarum gloriam, ita ut oneratis 160 somariis, gloriose ad terram suam +redierit. Roger de Hoveden, who mentions the violation of the royal +tombs and corpses, computes the spoil of Salerno at 200,000 ounces of +gold, (p. 746.) On these occasions, I am almost tempted to exclaim +with the listening maid in La Fontaine, "Je voudrois bien avoir ce qui +manque."] + + + + +Chapter LVII: The Turks.--Part I. + + The Turks Of The House Of Seljuk.--Their Revolt Against + Mahmud Conqueror Of Hindostan.--Togrul Subdues Persia, And + Protects The Caliphs.--Defeat And Captivity Of The Emperor + Romanus Diogenes By Alp Arslan.--Power And Magnificence Of + Malek Shah.--Conquest Of Asia Minor And Syria.--State And + Oppression Of Jerusalem.--Pilgrimages To The Holy Sepulchre. + +From the Isle of Sicily, the reader must transport himself beyond the +Caspian Sea, to the original seat of the Turks or Turkmans, against whom +the first crusade was principally directed. Their Scythian empire of the +sixth century was long since dissolved; but the name was still famous +among the Greeks and Orientals; and the fragments of the nation, each +a powerful and independent people, were scattered over the desert from +China to the Oxus and the Danube: the colony of Hungarians was admitted +into the republic of Europe, and the thrones of Asia were occupied by +slaves and soldiers of Turkish extraction. While Apulia and Sicily +were subdued by the Norman lance, a swarm of these northern shepherds +overspread the kingdoms of Persia; their princes of the race of Seljuk +erected a splendid and solid empire from Samarcand to the confines of +Greece and Egypt; and the Turks have maintained their dominion in Asia +Minor, till the victorious crescent has been planted on the dome of St. +Sophia. + +One of the greatest of the Turkish princes was Mahmood or Mahmud, [1] +the Gaznevide, who reigned in the eastern provinces of Persia, one +thousand years after the birth of Christ. His father Sebectagi was the +slave of the slave of the slave of the commander of the faithful. But in +this descent of servitude, the first degree was merely titular, since it +was filled by the sovereign of Transoxiana and Chorasan, who still paid +a nominal allegiance to the caliph of Bagdad. The second rank was that +of a minister of state, a lieutenant of the Samanides, [2] who broke, +by his revolt, the bonds of political slavery. But the third step was a +state of real and domestic servitude in the family of that rebel; from +which Sebectagi, by his courage and dexterity, ascended to the supreme +command of the city and provinces of Gazna, [3] as the son-in-law and +successor of his grateful master. + +The falling dynasty of the Samanides was at first protected, and at last +overthrown, by their servants; and, in the public disorders, the fortune +of Mahmud continually increased. From him the title of Sultan [4] was +first invented; and his kingdom was enlarged from Transoxiana to the +neighborhood of Ispahan, from the shores of the Caspian to the mouth of +the Indus. But the principal source of his fame and riches was the holy +war which he waged against the Gentoos of Hindostan. In this foreign +narrative I may not consume a page; and a volume would scarcely suffice +to recapitulate the battles and sieges of his twelve expeditions. Never +was the Mussulman hero dismayed by the inclemency of the seasons, the +height of the mountains, the breadth of the rivers, the barrenness of +the desert, the multitudes of the enemy, or the formidable array of +their elephants of war. [5] The sultan of Gazna surpassed the limits +of the conquests of Alexander: after a march of three months, over the +hills of Cashmir and Thibet, he reached the famous city of Kinnoge, [6] +on the Upper Ganges; and, in a naval combat on one of the branches of +the Indus, he fought and vanquished four thousand boats of the natives. +Delhi, Lahor, and Multan, were compelled to open their gates: the +fertile kingdom of Guzarat attracted his ambition and tempted his stay; +and his avarice indulged the fruitless project of discovering the golden +and aromatic isles of the Southern Ocean. On the payment of a tribute, +the rajahs preserved their dominions; the people, their lives and +fortunes; but to the religion of Hindostan the zealous Mussulman was +cruel and inexorable: many hundred temples, or pagodas, were levelled +with the ground; many thousand idols were demolished; and the servants +of the prophet were stimulated and rewarded by the precious materials +of which they were composed. The pagoda of Sumnat was situate on the +promontory of Guzarat, in the neighborhood of Diu, one of the last +remaining possessions of the Portuguese. [7] It was endowed with the +revenue of two thousand villages; two thousand Brahmins were consecrated +to the service of the Deity, whom they washed each morning and evening +in water from the distant Ganges: the subordinate ministers consisted of +three hundred musicians, three hundred barbers, and five hundred dancing +girls, conspicuous for their birth or beauty. Three sides of the temple +were protected by the ocean, the narrow isthmus was fortified by a +natural or artificial precipice; and the city and adjacent country +were peopled by a nation of fanatics. They confessed the sins and the +punishment of Kinnoge and Delhi; but if the impious stranger should +presume to approach their holy precincts, he would surely be overwhelmed +by a blast of the divine vengeance. By this challenge, the faith of +Mahmud was animated to a personal trial of the strength of this Indian +deity. Fifty thousand of his worshippers were pierced by the spear of +the Moslems; the walls were scaled; the sanctuary was profaned; and the +conqueror aimed a blow of his iron mace at the head of the idol. The +trembling Brahmins are said to have offered ten millions [711] sterling +for his ransom; and it was urged by the wisest counsellors, that the +destruction of a stone image would not change the hearts of the Gentoos; +and that such a sum might be dedicated to the relief of the true +believers. "Your reasons," replied the sultan, "are specious and strong; +but never in the eyes of posterity shall Mahmud appear as a merchant +of idols." [712] He repeated his blows, and a treasure of pearls and +rubies, concealed in the belly of the statue, explained in some degree +the devout prodigality of the Brahmins. The fragments of the idol were +distributed to Gazna, Mecca, and Medina. Bagdad listened to the edifying +tale; and Mahmud was saluted by the caliph with the title of guardian of +the fortune and faith of Mahomet. + +[Footnote 1: I am indebted for his character and history to D'Herbelot, +(Bibliotheque Orientale, Mahmud, p. 533-537,) M. De Guignes, (Histoire +des Huns, tom. iii. p. 155-173,) and our countryman Colonel Alexander +Dow, (vol. i. p. 23-83.) In the two first volumes of his History of +Hindostan, he styles himself the translator of the Persian Ferishta; but +in his florid text, it is not easy to distinguish the version and the +original. * Note: The European reader now possesses a more accurate +version of Ferishta, that of Col. Briggs. Of Col. Dow's work, Col. +Briggs observes, "that the author's name will be handed down to +posterity as one of the earliest and most indefatigable of our Oriental +scholars. Instead of confining himself, however, to mere translation, +he has filled his work with his own observations, which have been so +embodied in the text that Gibbon declares it impossible to distinguish +the translator from the original author." Preface p. vii.--M.] + +[Footnote 2: The dynasty of the Samanides continued 125 years, A.D. +847-999, under ten princes. See their succession and ruin, in the +Tables of M. De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 404-406.) They +were followed by the Gaznevides, A.D. 999-1183, (see tom. i. p. 239, +240.) His divisions of nations often disturbs the series of time and +place.] + +[Footnote 3: Gaznah hortos non habet: est emporium et domicilium +mercaturae Indicae. Abulfedae Geograph. Reiske, tab. xxiii. p. 349. +D'Herbelot, p. 364. It has not been visited by any modern traveller.] + +[Footnote 4: By the ambassador of the caliph of Bagdad, who employed an +Arabian or Chaldaic word that signifies lord and master, (D'Herbelot, +p. 825.) It is interpreted by the Byzantine writers of the eleventh +century; and the name (Soldanus) is familiarly employed in the Greek +and Latin languages, after it had passed from the Gaznevides to the +Seljukides, and other emirs of Asia and Egypt. Ducange (Dissertation +xvi. sur Joinville, p. 238-240. Gloss. Graec. et Latin.) labors to find +the title of Sultan in the ancient kingdom of Persia: but his proofs are +mere shadows; a proper name in the Themes of Constantine, (ii. 11,) an +anticipation of Zonaras, &c., and a medal of Kai Khosrou, not (as he +believes) the Sassanide of the vith, but the Seljukide of Iconium of the +xiiith century, (De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 246.)] + +[Footnote 5: Ferishta (apud Dow, Hist. of Hindostan, vol. i. p. 49) +mentions the report of a gun in the Indian army. But as I am slow in +believing this premature (A.D. 1008) use of artillery, I must desire to +scrutinize first the text, and then the authority of Ferishta, who +lived in the Mogul court in the last century. * Note: This passage is +differently written in the various manuscripts I have seen; and in some +the word tope (gun) has been written for nupth, (naphtha, and toofung) +(musket) for khudung, (arrow.) But no Persian or Arabic history speaks +of gunpowder before the time usually assigned for its invention, (A.D. +1317;) long after which, it was first applied to the purposes of war. +Briggs's Ferishta, vol. i. p. 47, note.--M.] + +[Footnote 6: Kinnouge, or Canouge, (the old Palimbothra) is marked in +latitude 27 Degrees 3 Minutes, longitude 80 Degrees 13 Minutes. See +D'Anville, (Antiquite de l'Inde, p. 60-62,) corrected by the local +knowledge of Major Rennel (in his excellent Memoir on his Map of +Hindostan, p. 37-43: ) 300] jewellers, 30,000 shops for the arreca nut, +60,000 bands of musicians, &c. (Abulfed. Geograph. tab. xv. p. 274. Dow, +vol. i. p. 16,) will allow an ample deduction. * Note: Mr. Wilson (Hindu +Drama, vol. iii. p. 12) and Schlegel (Indische Bibliothek, vol. ii. +p. 394) concur in identifying Palimbothra with the Patalipara of the +Indians; the Patna of the moderns.--M.] + +[Footnote 7: The idolaters of Europe, says Ferishta, (Dow, vol. i. p. +66.) Consult Abulfeda, (p. 272,) and Rennel's Map of Hindostan.] + +[Footnote 711: Ferishta says, some "crores of gold." Dow says, in a note +at the bottom of the page, "ten millions," which is the explanation of +the word "crore." Mr. Gibbon says rashly that the sum offered by the +Brahmins was ten millions sterling. Note to Mill's India, vol. ii. p. +222. Col. Briggs's translation is "a quantity of gold." The treasure +found in the temple, "perhaps in the image," according to Major Price's +authorities, was twenty millions of dinars of gold, above nine millions +sterling; but this was a hundred-fold the ransom offered by the +Brahmins. Price, vol. ii. p. 290.--M.] + +[Footnote 712: Rather than the idol broker, he chose to be called Mahmud +the idol breaker. Price, vol. ii. p. 289--M] + +From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations) I cannot +refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of science or virtue. +The name of Mahmud the Gaznevide is still venerable in the East: his +subjects enjoyed the blessings of prosperity and peace; his vices +were concealed by the veil of religion; and two familiar examples will +testify his justice and magnanimity. + +I. As he sat in the Divan, an unhappy subject bowed before the throne to +accuse the insolence of a Turkish soldier who had driven him from his +house and bed. "Suspend your clamors," said Mahmud; "inform me of his +next visit, and ourself in person will judge and punish the offender." +The sultan followed his guide, invested the house with his guards, and +extinguishing the torches, pronounced the death of the criminal, who had +been seized in the act of rapine and adultery. After the execution of +his sentence, the lights were rekindled, Mahmud fell prostrate in +prayer, and rising from the ground, demanded some homely fare, which he +devoured with the voraciousness of hunger. The poor man, whose injury he +had avenged, was unable to suppress his astonishment and curiosity; and +the courteous monarch condescended to explain the motives of this +singular behavior. "I had reason to suspect that none, except one of my +sons, could dare to perpetrate such an outrage; and I extinguished the +lights, that my justice might be blind and inexorable. My prayer was a +thanksgiving on the discovery of the offender; and so painful was my +anxiety, that I had passed three days without food since the first +moment of your complaint." + +II. The sultan of Gazna had declared war against the dynasty of the +Bowides, the sovereigns of the western Persia: he was disarmed by an +epistle of the sultana mother, and delayed his invasion till the manhood +of her son. [8] "During the life of my husband," said the artful regent, +"I was ever apprehensive of your ambition: he was a prince and a soldier +worthy of your arms. He is now no more his sceptre has passed to a woman +and a child, and you dare not attack their infancy and weakness. How +inglorious would be your conquest, how shameful your defeat! and yet the +event of war is in the hand of the Almighty." Avarice was the only +defect that tarnished the illustrious character of Mahmud; and never has +that passion been more richly satiated. [811] The Orientals exceed the +measure of credibility in the account of millions of gold and silver, +such as the avidity of man has never accumulated; in the magnitude of +pearls, diamonds, and rubies, such as have never been produced by the +workmanship of nature. [9] Yet the soil of Hindostan is impregnated with +precious minerals: her trade, in every age, has attracted the gold and +silver of the world; and her virgin spoils were rifled by the first of +the Mahometan conquerors. His behavior, in the last days of his life, +evinces the vanity of these possessions, so laboriously won, so +dangerously held, and so inevitably lost. He surveyed the vast and +various chambers of the treasury of Gazna, burst into tears, and again +closed the doors, without bestowing any portion of the wealth which he +could no longer hope to preserve. The following day he reviewed the +state of his military force; one hundred thousand foot, fifty-five +thousand horse, and thirteen hundred elephants of battle. [10] He again +wept the instability of human greatness; and his grief was imbittered by +the hostile progress of the Turkmans, whom he had introduced into the +heart of his Persian kingdom. + +[Footnote 8: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 527. Yet these +letters apothegms, &c., are rarely the language of the heart, or the +motives of public action.] + +[Footnote 811: Compare Price, vol. ii. p. 295.--M] + +[Footnote 9: For instance, a ruby of four hundred and fifty miskals, +(Dow, vol. i. p. 53,) or six pounds three ounces: the largest in the +treasury of Delhi weighed seventeen miskals, (Voyages de Tavernier, +partie ii. p. 280.) It is true, that in the East all colored stones are +calied rubies, (p. 355,) and that Tavernier saw three larger and more +precious among the jewels de notre grand roi, le plus puissant et plus +magnifique de tous les rois de la terre, (p. 376.)] + +[Footnote 10: Dow, vol. i. p. 65. The sovereign of Kinoge is said to +have possessed 2500 elephants, (Abulfed. Geograph. tab. xv. p. 274.) +From these Indian stories, the reader may correct a note in my first +volume, (p. 245;) or from that note he may correct these stories.] + +In the modern depopulation of Asia, the regular operation of government +and agriculture is confined to the neighborhood of cities; and the +distant country is abandoned to the pastoral tribes of Arabs, Curds, and +Turkmans. [11] Of the last-mentioned people, two considerable branches +extend on either side of the Caspian Sea: the western colony can muster +forty thousand soldiers; the eastern, less obvious to the traveller, +but more strong and populous, has increased to the number of one hundred +thousand families. In the midst of civilized nations, they preserve the +manners of the Scythian desert, remove their encampments with a change +of seasons, and feed their cattle among the ruins of palaces and +temples. Their flocks and herds are their only riches; their tents, +either black or white, according to the color of the banner, are covered +with felt, and of a circular form; their winter apparel is a sheep-skin; +a robe of cloth or cotton their summer garment: the features of the +men are harsh and ferocious; the countenance of their women is soft +and pleasing. Their wandering life maintains the spirit and exercise +of arms; they fight on horseback; and their courage is displayed in +frequent contests with each other and with their neighbors. For the +license of pasture they pay a slight tribute to the sovereign of the +land; but the domestic jurisdiction is in the hands of the chiefs and +elders. The first emigration of the Eastern Turkmans, the most ancient +of the race, may be ascribed to the tenth century of the Christian +aera. [12] In the decline of the caliphs, and the weakness of their +lieutenants, the barrier of the Jaxartes was often violated; in each +invasion, after the victory or retreat of their countrymen, some +wandering tribe, embracing the Mahometan faith, obtained a free +encampment in the spacious plains and pleasant climate of Transoxiana +and Carizme. The Turkish slaves who aspired to the throne encouraged +these emigrations which recruited their armies, awed their subjects +and rivals, and protected the frontier against the wilder natives of +Turkestan; and this policy was abused by Mahmud the Gaznevide beyond the +example of former times. He was admonished of his error by the chief of +the race of Seljuk, who dwelt in the territory of Bochara. The sultan +had inquired what supply of men he could furnish for military service. +"If you send," replied Ismael, "one of these arrows into our camp, +fifty thousand of your servants will mount on horseback."--"And if +that number," continued Mahmud, "should not be sufficient?"--"Send this +second arrow to the horde of Balik, and you will find fifty thousand +more."--"But," said the Gaznevide, dissembling his anxiety, "if I should +stand in need of the whole force of your kindred tribes?"--"Despatch my +bow," was the last reply of Ismael, "and as it is circulated around, the +summons will be obeyed by two hundred thousand horse." The apprehension +of such formidable friendship induced Mahmud to transport the most +obnoxious tribes into the heart of Chorasan, where they would be +separated from their brethren of the River Oxus, and enclosed on all +sides by the walls of obedient cities. But the face of the country was +an object of temptation rather than terror; and the vigor of government +was relaxed by the absence and death of the sultan of Gazna. The +shepherds were converted into robbers; the bands of robbers were +collected into an army of conquerors: as far as Ispahan and the Tigris, +Persia was afflicted by their predatory inroads; and the Turkmans were +not ashamed or afraid to measure their courage and numbers with the +proudest sovereigns of Asia. Massoud, the son and successor of Mahmud, +had too long neglected the advice of his wisest Omrahs. "Your enemies," +they repeatedly urged, "were in their origin a swarm of ants; they are +now little snakes; and, unless they be instantly crushed, they will +acquire the venom and magnitude of serpents." After some alternatives +of truce and hostility, after the repulse or partial success of his +lieutenants, the sultan marched in person against the Turkmans, who +attacked him on all sides with barbarous shouts and irregular onset. +"Massoud," says the Persian historian, [13] "plunged singly to oppose +the torrent of gleaming arms, exhibiting such acts of gigantic force and +valor as never king had before displayed. A few of his friends, roused +by his words and actions, and that innate honor which inspires the +brave, seconded their lord so well, that wheresoever he turned his fatal +sword, the enemies were mowed down, or retreated before him. But now, +when victory seemed to blow on his standard, misfortune was active +behind it; for when he looked round, be beheld almost his whole army, +excepting that body he commanded in person, devouring the paths of +flight." The Gaznevide was abandoned by the cowardice or treachery of +some generals of Turkish race; and this memorable day of Zendecan [14] +founded in Persia the dynasty of the shepherd kings. [15] + +[Footnote 11: See a just and natural picture of these pastoral manners, +in the history of William archbishop of Tyre, (l. i. c. vii. in the +Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 633, 634,) and a valuable note by the editor +of the Histoire Genealogique des Tatars, p. 535-538.] + +[Footnote 12: The first emigration of the Turkmans, and doubtful origin +of the Seljukians, may be traced in the laborious History of the Huns, +by M. De Guignes, (tom. i. Tables Chronologiques, l. v. tom. iii. +l. vii. ix. x.) and the Bibliotheque Orientale, of D'Herbelot, (p. +799-802, 897-901,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 321-333,) and +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 221, 222.)] + +[Footnote 13: Dow, Hist. of Hindostan, vol. i. p. 89, 95-98. I have +copied this passage as a specimen of the Persian manner; but I suspect +that, by some odd fatality, the style of Ferishta has been improved by +that of Ossian. * Note: Gibbon's conjecture was well founded. Compare +the more sober and genuine version of Col. Briggs, vol. i. p. 110.-M.] + +[Footnote 14: The Zendekan of D'Herbelot, (p. 1028,) the Dindaka of Dow +(vol. i. p. 97,) is probably the Dandanekan of Abulfeda, (Geograph. p. +345, Reiske,) a small town of Chorasan, two days' journey from Maru, and +renowned through the East for the production and manufacture of cotton.] + +[Footnote 15: The Byzantine historians (Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 766, 766, +Zonaras tom. ii. p. 255, Nicephorus Bryennius, p. 21) have confounded, +in this revolution, the truth of time and place, of names and persons, +of causes and events. The ignorance and errors of these Greeks (which +I shall not stop to unravel) may inspire some distrust of the story of +Cyaxares and Cyrus, as it is told by their most eloquent predecessor.] + +The victorious Turkmans immediately proceeded to the election of a king; +and, if the probable tale of a Latin historian [16] deserves any credit, +they determined by lot the choice of their new master. A number of +arrows were successively inscribed with the name of a tribe, a family, +and a candidate; they were drawn from the bundle by the hand of a child; +and the important prize was obtained by Togrul Beg, the son of Michael +the son of Seljuk, whose surname was immortalized in the greatness of +his posterity. The sultan Mahmud, who valued himself on his skill in +national genealogy, professed his ignorance of the family of Seljuk; +yet the father of that race appears to have been a chief of power and +renown. [17] For a daring intrusion into the harem of his prince. Seljuk +was banished from Turkestan: with a numerous tribe of his friends +and vassals, he passed the Jaxartes, encamped in the neighborhood of +Samarcand, embraced the religion of Mahomet, and acquired the crown of +martyrdom in a war against the infidels. His age, of a hundred and seven +years, surpassed the life of his son, and Seljuk adopted the care of +his two grandsons, Togrul and Jaafar; the eldest of whom, at the age of +forty-five, was invested with the title of Sultan, in the royal city of +Nishabur. The blind determination of chance was justified by the virtues +of the successful candidate. It would be superfluous to praise the valor +of a Turk; and the ambition of Togrul [18] was equal to his valor. By +his arms, the Gasnevides were expelled from the eastern kingdoms of +Persia, and gradually driven to the banks of the Indus, in search of a +softer and more wealthy conquest. In the West he annihilated the dynasty +of the Bowides; and the sceptre of Irak passed from the Persian to the +Turkish nation. The princes who had felt, or who feared, the Seljukian +arrows, bowed their heads in the dust; by the conquest of Aderbijan, or +Media, he approached the Roman confines; and the shepherd presumed to +despatch an ambassador, or herald, to demand the tribute and obedience +of the emperor of Constantinople. [19] In his own dominions, Togrul +was the father of his soldiers and people; by a firm and equal +administration, Persia was relieved from the evils of anarchy; and +the same hands which had been imbrued in blood became the guardians +of justice and the public peace. The more rustic, perhaps the wisest, +portion of the Turkmans [20] continued to dwell in the tents of their +ancestors; and, from the Oxus to the Euphrates, these military colonies +were protected and propagated by their native princes. But the Turks of +the court and city were refined by business and softened by pleasure: +they imitated the dress, language, and manners of Persia; and the royal +palaces of Nishabur and Rei displayed the order and magnificence of a +great monarchy. The most deserving of the Arabians and Persians were +promoted to the honors of the state; and the whole body of the Turkish +nation embraced, with fervor and sincerity, the religion of Mahomet. The +northern swarms of Barbarians, who overspread both Europe and Asia, have +been irreconcilably separated by the consequences of a similar conduct. +Among the Moslems, as among the Christians, their vague and local +traditions have yielded to the reason and authority of the prevailing +system, to the fame of antiquity, and the consent of nations. But +the triumph of the Koran is more pure and meritorious, as it was not +assisted by any visible splendor of worship which might allure the +Pagans by some resemblance of idolatry. The first of the Seljukian +sultans was conspicuous by his zeal and faith: each day he repeated the +five prayers which are enjoined to the true believers; of each week, the +two first days were consecrated by an extraordinary fast; and in +every city a mosch was completed, before Togrul presumed to lay the +foundations of a palace. [21] + +[Footnote 16: Willerm. Tyr. l. i. c. 7, p. 633. The divination by arrows +is ancient and famous in the East.] + +[Footnote 17: D'Herbelot, p. 801. Yet after the fortune of his +posterity, Seljuk became the thirty-fourth in lineal descent from the +great Afrasiab, emperor of Touran, (p. 800.) The Tartar pedigree of the +house of Zingis gave a different cast to flattery and fable; and the +historian Mirkhond derives the Seljukides from Alankavah, the virgin +mother, (p. 801, col. 2.) If they be the same as the Zalzuts of +Abulghazi Bahadur Kahn, (Hist. Genealogique, p. 148,) we quote in +their favor the most weighty evidence of a Tartar prince himself, the +descendant of Zingis, Alankavah, or Alancu, and Oguz Khan.] + +[Footnote 18: By a slight corruption, Togrul Beg is the Tangroli-pix +of the Greeks. His reign and character are faithfully exhibited by +D'Herbelot (Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 1027, 1028) and De Guignes, +(Hist. des Huns, tom. iii. p. 189-201.)] + +[Footnote 19: Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 774, 775. Zonaras, tom. ii. p. +257. With their usual knowledge of Oriental affairs, they describe the +ambassador as a sherif, who, like the syncellus of the patriarch, was +the vicar and successor of the caliph.] + +[Footnote 20: From William of Tyre I have borrowed this distinction of +Turks and Turkmans, which at least is popular and convenient. The names +are the same, and the addition of man is of the same import in the +Persic and Teutonic idioms. Few critics will adopt the etymology of +James de Vitry, (Hist. Hierosol. l. i. c. 11 p. 1061,) of Turcomani, +quesi Turci et Comani, a mixed people.] + +[Footnote 21: Hist. Generale des Huns, tom. iii. p. 165, 166, 167. M. +DeGognes Abulmahasen, an historian of Egypt.] + +With the belief of the Koran, the son of Seljuk imbibed a lively +reverence for the successor of the prophet. But that sublime character +was still disputed by the caliphs of Bagdad and Egypt, and each of the +rivals was solicitous to prove his title in the judgment of the strong, +though illiterate Barbarians. Mahmud the Gaznevide had declared himself +in favor of the line of Abbas; and had treated with indignity the +robe of honor which was presented by the Fatimite ambassador. Yet +the ungrateful Hashemite had changed with the change of fortune; he +applauded the victory of Zendecan, and named the Seljukian sultan +his temporal vicegerent over the Moslem world. As Togrul executed and +enlarged this important trust, he was called to the deliverance of the +caliph Cayem, and obeyed the holy summons, which gave a new kingdom to +his arms. [22] In the palace of Bagdad, the commander of the faithful +still slumbered, a venerable phantom. His servant or master, the prince +of the Bowides, could no longer protect him from the insolence of meaner +tyrants; and the Euphrates and Tigris were oppressed by the revolt of +the Turkish and Arabian emirs. The presence of a conqueror was implored +as a blessing; and the transient mischiefs of fire and sword were +excused as the sharp but salutary remedies which alone could restore the +health of the republic. At the head of an irresistible force, the sultan +of Persia marched from Hamadan: the proud were crushed, the prostrate +were spared; the prince of the Bowides disappeared; the heads of the +most obstinate rebels were laid at the feet of Togrul; and he inflicted +a lesson of obedience on the people of Mosul and Bagdad. After the +chastisement of the guilty, and the restoration of peace, the royal +shepherd accepted the reward of his labors; and a solemn comedy +represented the triumph of religious prejudice over Barbarian power. +[23] The Turkish sultan embarked on the Tigris, landed at the gate of +Racca, and made his public entry on horseback. At the palace-gate he +respectfully dismounted, and walked on foot, preceded by his emirs +without arms. The caliph was seated behind his black veil: the black +garment of the Abbassides was cast over his shoulders, and he held in +his hand the staff of the apostle of God. The conqueror of the East +kissed the ground, stood some time in a modest posture, and was led +towards the throne by the vizier and interpreter. After Togrul had +seated himself on another throne, his commission was publicly read, +which declared him the temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet. +He was successively invested with seven robes of honor, and presented +with seven slaves, the natives of the seven climates of the Arabian +empire. His mystic veil was perfumed with musk; two crowns [231] were +placed on his head; two cimeters were girded to his side, as the symbols +of a double reign over the East and West. After this inauguration, the +sultan was prevented from prostrating himself a second time; but he +twice kissed the hand of the commander of the faithful, and his titles +were proclaimed by the voice of heralds and the applause of the Moslems. +In a second visit to Bagdad, the Seljukian prince again rescued the +caliph from his enemies and devoutly, on foot, led the bridle of his +mule from the prison to the palace. Their alliance was cemented by the +marriage of Togrul's sister with the successor of the prophet. Without +reluctance he had introduced a Turkish virgin into his harem; but Cayem +proudly refused his daughter to the sultan, disdained to mingle the +blood of the Hashemites with the blood of a Scythian shepherd; and +protracted the negotiation many months, till the gradual diminution of +his revenue admonished him that he was still in the hands of a master. +The royal nuptials were followed by the death of Togrul himself; [24] +as he left no children, his nephew Alp Arslan succeeded to the title +and prerogatives of sultan; and his name, after that of the caliph, was +pronounced in the public prayers of the Moslems. Yet in this revolution, +the Abbassides acquired a larger measure of liberty and power. On the +throne of Asia, the Turkish monarchs were less jealous of the domestic +administration of Bagdad; and the commanders of the faithful were +relieved from the ignominious vexations to which they had been exposed +by the presence and poverty of the Persian dynasty. + +[Footnote 22: Consult the Bibliotheque Orientale, in the articles of +the Abbassides, Caher, and Caiem, and the Annals of Elmacin and +Abulpharagius.] + +[Footnote 23: For this curious ceremony, I am indebted to M. De Guignes +(tom. iii. p. 197, 198,) and that learned author is obliged to Bondari, +who composed in Arabic the history of the Seljukides, tom. v. p. 365) I +am ignorant of his age, country, and character.] + +[Footnote 231: According to Von Hammer, "crowns" are incorrect. They +are unknown as a symbol of royalty in the East. V. Hammer, Osmanische +Geschischte, vol. i. p. 567.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: Eodem anno (A. H. 455) obiit princeps Togrulbecus .... rex +fuit clemens, prudens, et peritus regnandi, cujus terror corda mortalium +invaserat, ita ut obedirent ei reges atque ad ipsum scriberent. Elma +cin, Hist. Saracen. p. 342, vers. Erpenii. * Note: He died, being 75 +years old. V. Hammer.--M.] + + + + +Chapter LVII: The Turks.--Part II. + +Since the fall of the caliphs, the discord and degeneracy of the +Saracens respected the Asiatic provinces of Rome; which, by the +victories of Nicephorus, Zimisces, and Basil, had been extended as far +as Antioch and the eastern boundaries of Armenia. + +Twenty-five years after the death of Basil, his successors were suddenly +assaulted by an unknown race of Barbarians, who united the Scythian +valor with the fanaticism of new proselytes, and the art and riches of +a powerful monarchy. [25] The myriads of Turkish horse overspread a +frontier of six hundred miles from Tauris to Arzeroum, and the blood of +one hundred and thirty thousand Christians was a grateful sacrifice to +the Arabian prophet. Yet the arms of Togrul did not make any deep or +lasting impression on the Greek empire. The torrent rolled away from the +open country; the sultan retired without glory or success from the siege +of an Armenian city; the obscure hostilities were continued or suspended +with a vicissitude of events; and the bravery of the Macedonian legions +renewed the fame of the conqueror of Asia. [26] The name of Alp Arslan, +the valiant lion, is expressive of the popular idea of the perfection of +man; and the successor of Togrul displayed the fierceness and generosity +of the royal animal. He passed the Euphrates at the head of the Turkish +cavalry, and entered Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, to which +he had been attracted by the fame and wealth of the temple of St. Basil. +The solid structure resisted the destroyer: but he carried away the +doors of the shrine incrusted with gold and pearls, and profaned the +relics of the tutelar saint, whose mortal frailties were now covered +by the venerable rust of antiquity. The final conquest of Armenia and +Georgia was achieved by Alp Arslan. In Armenia, the title of a +kingdom, and the spirit of a nation, were annihilated: the artificial +fortifications were yielded by the mercenaries of Constantinople; by +strangers without faith, veterans without pay or arms, and recruits +without experience or discipline. The loss of this important frontier +was the news of a day; and the Catholics were neither surprised nor +displeased, that a people so deeply infected with the Nestorian and +Eutychian errors had been delivered by Christ and his mother into the +hands of the infidels. [27] The woods and valleys of Mount Caucasus were +more strenuously defended by the native Georgians [28] or Iberians; but +the Turkish sultan and his son Malek were indefatigable in this holy +war: their captives were compelled to promise a spiritual, as well as +temporal, obedience; and, instead of their collars and bracelets, an +iron horseshoe, a badge of ignominy, was imposed on the infidels who +still adhered to the worship of their fathers. The change, however, was +not sincere or universal; and, through ages of servitude, the Georgians +have maintained the succession of their princes and bishops. But a race +of men, whom nature has cast in her most perfect mould, is degraded by +poverty, ignorance, and vice; their profession, and still more their +practice, of Christianity is an empty name; and if they have emerged +from heresy, it is only because they are too illiterate to remember a +metaphysical creed. [29] + +[Footnote 25: For these wars of the Turks and Romans, see in general the +Byzantine histories of Zonaras and Cedrenus, Scylitzes the continuator +of Cedrenus, and Nicephorus Bryennius Caesar. The two first of these +were monks, the two latter statesmen; yet such were the Greeks, that +the difference of style and character is scarcely discernible. For the +Orientals, I draw as usuul on the wealth of D'Herbelot (see titles of +the first Seljukides) and the accuracy of De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, +tom. iii. l. x.)] + +[Footnote 26: Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 791. The credulity of the vulgar is +always probable; and the Turks had learned from the Arabs the history or +legend of Escander Dulcarnein, (D'Herbelot, p. 213 &c.)] + +[Footnote 27: (Scylitzes, ad calcem Cedreni, tom. ii. p. 834, whose +ambiguous construction shall not tempt me to suspect that he confounded +the Nestorian and Monophysite heresies,) He familiarly talks of the +qualities, as I should apprehend, very foreign to the perfect Being; +but his bigotry is forced to confess that they were soon afterwards +discharged on the orthodox Romans.] + +[Footnote 28: Had the name of Georgians been known to the Greeks, +(Stritter, Memoriae Byzant. tom. iv. Iberica,) I should derive it from +their agriculture, (l. iv. c. 18, p. 289, edit. Wesseling.) But it +appears only since the crusades, among the Latins (Jac. a Vitriaco, +Hist. Hierosol. c. 79, p. 1095) and Orientals, (D'Herbelot, p. 407,) and +was devoutly borrowed from St. George of Cappadocia.] + +[Footnote 29: Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 632. See, in Chardin's +Travels, (tom. i. p. 171-174,) the manners and religion of this +handsome but worthless nation. See the pedigree of their princes from +Adam to the present century, in the tables of M. De Guignes, (tom. i. p. +433-438.)] + +The false or genuine magnanimity of Mahmud the Gaznevide was not +imitated by Alp Arslan; and he attacked without scruple the Greek +empress Eudocia and her children. His alarming progress compelled her +to give herself and her sceptre to the hand of a soldier; and Romanus +Diogenes was invested with the Imperial purple. His patriotism, and +perhaps his pride, urged him from Constantinople within two months after +his accession; and the next campaign he most scandalously took the field +during the holy festival of Easter. In the palace, Diogenes was no more +than the husband of Eudocia: in the camp, he was the emperor of the +Romans, and he sustained that character with feeble resources and +invincible courage. By his spirit and success the soldiers were taught +to act, the subjects to hope, and the enemies to fear. The Turks +had penetrated into the heart of Phrygia; but the sultan himself had +resigned to his emirs the prosecution of the war; and their numerous +detachments were scattered over Asia in the security of conquest. Laden +with spoil, and careless of discipline, they were separately surprised +and defeated by the Greeks: the activity of the emperor seemed to +multiply his presence: and while they heard of his expedition to +Antioch, the enemy felt his sword on the hills of Trebizond. In three +laborious campaigns, the Turks were driven beyond the Euphrates; in +the fourth and last, Romanus undertook the deliverance of Armenia. The +desolation of the land obliged him to transport a supply of two months' +provisions; and he marched forwards to the siege of Malazkerd, [30] an +important fortress in the midway between the modern cities of Arzeroum +and Van. His army amounted, at the least, to one hundred thousand +men. The troops of Constantinople were reenforced by the disorderly +multitudes of Phrygia and Cappadocia; but the real strength was composed +of the subjects and allies of Europe, the legions of Macedonia, and the +squadrons of Bulgaria; the Uzi, a Moldavian horde, who were themselves +of the Turkish race; [31] and, above all, the mercenary and adventurous +bands of French and Normans. Their lances were commanded by the valiant +Ursel of Baliol, the kinsman or father of the Scottish kings, [32] and +were allowed to excel in the exercise of arms, or, according to the +Greek style, in the practice of the Pyrrhic dance. + +[Footnote 30: This city is mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, (de +Administrat. Imperii, l. ii. c. 44, p. 119,) and the Byzantines of the +xith century, under the name of Mantzikierte, and by some is confounded +with Theodosiopolis; but Delisle, in his notes and maps, has very +properly fixed the situation. Abulfeda (Geograph. tab. xviii. p. 310) +describes Malasgerd as a small town, built with black stone, supplied +with water, without trees, &c.] + +[Footnote 31: The Uzi of the Greeks (Stritter, Memor. Byzant. tom. iii. +p. 923-948) are the Gozz of the Orientals, (Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. +522, tom. iii. p. 133, &c.) They appear on the Danube and the Volga, and +Armenia, Syria, and Chorasan, and the name seems to have been extended +to the whole Turkman race.] + +[Footnote 32: Urselius (the Russelius of Zonaras) is distinguished by +Jeffrey Malaterra (l. i. c. 33) among the Norman conquerors of Sicily, +and with the surname of Baliol: and our own historians will tell how +the Baliols came from Normandy to Durham, built Bernard's castle on the +Tees, married an heiress of Scotland, &c. Ducange (Not. ad Nicephor. +Bryennium, l. ii. No. 4) has labored the subject in honor of the +president de Bailleul, whose father had exchanged the sword for the +gown.] + +On the report of this bold invasion, which threatened his hereditary +dominions, Alp Arslan flew to the scene of action at the head of forty +thousand horse. [33] His rapid and skilful evolutions distressed and +dismayed the superior numbers of the Greeks; and in the defeat of +Basilacius, one of their principal generals, he displayed the first +example of his valor and clemency. The imprudence of the emperor had +separated his forces after the reduction of Malazkerd. It was in vain +that he attempted to recall the mercenary Franks: they refused to obey +his summons; he disdained to await their return: the desertion of the +Uzi filled his mind with anxiety and suspicion; and against the most +salutary advice he rushed forwards to speedy and decisive action. Had he +listened to the fair proposals of the sultan, Romanus might have secured +a retreat, perhaps a peace; but in these overtures he supposed the fear +or weakness of the enemy, and his answer was conceived in the tone +of insult and defiance. "If the Barbarian wishes for peace, let him +evacuate the ground which he occupies for the encampment of the Romans, +and surrender his city and palace of Rei as a pledge of his sincerity." +Alp Arslan smiled at the vanity of the demand, but he wept the death of +so many faithful Moslems; and, after a devout prayer, proclaimed a free +permission to all who were desirous of retiring from the field. With his +own hands he tied up his horse's tail, exchanged his bow and arrows for +a mace and cimeter, clothed himself in a white garment, perfumed his +body with musk, and declared that if he were vanquished, that spot +should be the place of his burial. [34] The sultan himself had affected +to cast away his missile weapons: but his hopes of victory were placed +in the arrows of the Turkish cavalry, whose squadrons were loosely +distributed in the form of a crescent. Instead of the successive lines +and reserves of the Grecian tactics, Romulus led his army in a single +and solid phalanx, and pressed with vigor and impatience the artful and +yielding resistance of the Barbarians. In this desultory and fruitless +combat he spent the greater part of a summer's day, till prudence and +fatigue compelled him to return to his camp. But a retreat is always +perilous in the face of an active foe; and no sooner had the standard +been turned to the rear than the phalanx was broken by the base +cowardice, or the baser jealousy, of Andronicus, a rival prince, who +disgraced his birth and the purple of the Caesars. [35] The Turkish +squadrons poured a cloud of arrows on this moment of confusion and +lassitude; and the horns of their formidable crescent were closed in the +rear of the Greeks. In the destruction of the army and pillage of +the camp, it would be needless to mention the number of the slain or +captives. The Byzantine writers deplore the loss of an inestimable +pearl: they forgot to mention, that in this fatal day the Asiatic +provinces of Rome were irretrievably sacrificed. + +[Footnote 33: Elmacin (p. 343, 344) assigns this probable number, which +is reduced by Abulpharagius to 15,000, (p. 227,) and by D'Herbelot (p. +102) to 12,000 horse. But the same Elmacin gives 300,000 met to the +emperor, of whom Abulpharagius says, Cum centum hominum millibus, +multisque equis et magna pompa instructus. The Greeks abstain from any +definition of numbers.] + +[Footnote 34: The Byzantine writers do not speak so distinctly of the +presence of the sultan: he committed his forces to a eunuch, had retired +to a distance, &c. Is it ignorance, or jealousy, or truth?] + +[Footnote 35: He was the son of Caesar John Ducas, brother of the +emperor Constantine, (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 165.) Nicephorus +Bryennius applauds his virtues and extenuates his faults, (l. i. p. 30, +38. l. ii. p. 53.) Yet he owns his enmity to Romanus. Scylitzes speaks +more explicitly of his treason.] + +As long as a hope survived, Romanus attempted to rally and save the +relics of his army. When the centre, the Imperial station, was left +naked on all sides, and encompassed by the victorious Turks, he still, +with desperate courage, maintained the fight till the close of day, at +the head of the brave and faithful subjects who adhered to his standard. +They fell around him; his horse was slain; the emperor was wounded; +yet he stood alone and intrepid, till he was oppressed and bound by the +strength of multitudes. The glory of this illustrious prize was disputed +by a slave and a soldier; a slave who had seen him on the throne of +Constantinople, and a soldier whose extreme deformity had been excused +on the promise of some signal service. + +Despoiled of his arms, his jewels, and his purple, Romanus spent a +dreary and perilous night on the field of battle, amidst a disorderly +crowd of the meaner Barbarians. In the morning the royal captive was +presented to Alp Arslan, who doubted of his fortune, till the identity +of the person was ascertained by the report of his ambassadors, and by +the more pathetic evidence of Basilacius, who embraced with tears +the feet of his unhappy sovereign. The successor of Constantine, in a +plebeian habit, was led into the Turkish divan, and commanded to kiss +the ground before the lord of Asia. He reluctantly obeyed; and Alp +Arslan, starting from his throne, is said to have planted his foot on +the neck of the Roman emperor. [36] But the fact is doubtful; and if, in +this moment of insolence, the sultan complied with the national custom, +the rest of his conduct has extorted the praise of his bigoted foes, and +may afford a lesson to the most civilized ages. He instantly raised the +royal captive from the ground; and thrice clasping his hand with tender +sympathy, assured him, that his life and dignity should be inviolate +in the hands of a prince who had learned to respect the majesty of his +equals and the vicissitudes of fortune. From the divan, Romanus was +conducted to an adjacent tent, where he was served with pomp and +reverence by the officers of the sultan, who, twice each day, seated +him in the place of honor at his own table. In a free and familiar +conversation of eight days, not a word, not a look, of insult escaped +from the conqueror; but he severely censured the unworthy subjects who +had deserted their valiant prince in the hour of danger, and gently +admonished his antagonist of some errors which he had committed in the +management of the war. In the preliminaries of negotiation, Alp +Arslan asked him what treatment he expected to receive, and the calm +indifference of the emperor displays the freedom of his mind. "If you +are cruel," said he, "you will take my life; if you listen to pride, you +will drag me at your chariot-wheels; if you consult your interest, +you will accept a ransom, and restore me to my country." "And what," +continued the sultan, "would have been your own behavior, had fortune +smiled on your arms?" The reply of the Greek betrays a sentiment, which +prudence, and even gratitude, should have taught him to suppress. "Had I +vanquished," he fiercely said, "I would have inflicted on thy body many +a stripe." The Turkish conqueror smiled at the insolence of his captive +observed that the Christian law inculcated the love of enemies and +forgiveness of injuries; and nobly declared, that he would not imitate +an example which he condemned. After mature deliberation, Alp Arslan +dictated the terms of liberty and peace, a ransom of a million, [361] an +annual tribute of three hundred and sixty thousand pieces of gold, +[37] the marriage of the royal children, and the deliverance of all +the Moslems, who were in the power of the Greeks. Romanus, with a sigh, +subscribed this treaty, so disgraceful to the majesty of the empire; he +was immediately invested with a Turkish robe of honor; his nobles and +patricians were restored to their sovereign; and the sultan, after +a courteous embrace, dismissed him with rich presents and a military +guard. No sooner did he reach the confines of the empire, than he was +informed that the palace and provinces had disclaimed their allegiance +to a captive: a sum of two hundred thousand pieces was painfully +collected; and the fallen monarch transmitted this part of his ransom, +with a sad confession of his impotence and disgrace. The generosity, or +perhaps the ambition, of the sultan, prepared to espouse the cause of +his ally; but his designs were prevented by the defeat, imprisonment, +and death, of Romanus Diogenes. [38] + +[Footnote 36: This circumstance, which we read and doubt in Scylitzes +and Constantine Manasses, is more prudently omitted by Nicephorus and +Zonaras.] + +[Footnote 361: Elmacin gives 1,500,000. Wilken, Geschichte der +Kreuz-zuge, vol. l. p. 10.--M.] + +[Footnote 37: The ransom and tribute are attested by reason and +the Orientals. The other Greeks are modestly silent; but Nicephorus +Bryennius dares to affirm, that the terms were bad and that the emperor +would have preferred death to a shameful treaty.] + +[Footnote 38: The defeat and captivity of Romanus Diogenes may be found +in John Scylitzes ad calcem Cedreni, tom. ii. p. 835-843. Zonaras, +tom. ii. p. 281-284. Nicephorus Bryennius, l. i. p. 25-32. Glycas, p. +325-327. Constantine Manasses, p. 134. Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 343 +344. Abulpharag. Dynast. p. 227. D'Herbelot, p. 102, 103. D Guignes, +tom. iii. p. 207-211. Besides my old acquaintance Elmacin and +Abulpharagius, the historian of the Huns has consulted Abulfeda, and his +epitomizer Benschounah, a Chronicle of the Caliphs, by Abulmahasen of +Egypt, and Novairi of Africa.] + +In the treaty of peace, it does not appear that Alp Arslan extorted any +province or city from the captive emperor; and his revenge was satisfied +with the trophies of his victory, and the spoils of Anatolia, from +Antioch to the Black Sea. The fairest part of Asia was subject to his +laws: twelve hundred princes, or the sons of princes, stood before his +throne; and two hundred thousand soldiers marched under his banners. +The sultan disdained to pursue the fugitive Greeks; but he meditated the +more glorious conquest of Turkestan, the original seat of the house +of Seljuk. He moved from Bagdad to the banks of the Oxus; a bridge was +thrown over the river; and twenty days were consumed in the passage +of his troops. But the progress of the great king was retarded by the +governor of Berzem; and Joseph the Carizmian presumed to defend his +fortress against the powers of the East. When he was produced a captive +in the royal tent, the sultan, instead of praising his valor, severely +reproached his obstinate folly: and the insolent replies of the rebel +provoked a sentence, that he should be fastened to four stakes, and +left to expire in that painful situation. At this command, the desperate +Carizmian, drawing a dagger, rushed headlong towards the throne: the +guards raised their battle-axes; their zeal was checked by Alp Arslan, +the most skilful archer of the age: he drew his bow, but his foot +slipped, the arrow glanced aside, and he received in his breast the +dagger of Joseph, who was instantly cut in pieces. + +The wound was mortal; and the Turkish prince bequeathed a dying +admonition to the pride of kings. "In my youth," said Alp Arslan, "I +was advised by a sage to humble myself before God; to distrust my +own strength; and never to despise the most contemptible foe. I have +neglected these lessons; and my neglect has been deservedly punished. +Yesterday, as from an eminence I beheld the numbers, the discipline, and +the spirit, of my armies, the earth seemed to tremble under my feet; and +I said in my heart, Surely thou art the king of the world, the greatest +and most invincible of warriors. These armies are no longer mine; and, +in the confidence of my personal strength, I now fall by the hand of +an assassin." [39] Alp Arslan possessed the virtues of a Turk and a +Mussulman; his voice and stature commanded the reverence of mankind; his +face was shaded with long whiskers; and his ample turban was fashioned +in the shape of a crown. The remains of the sultan were deposited in the +tomb of the Seljukian dynasty; and the passenger might read and meditate +this useful inscription: [40] "O ye who have seen the glory of Alp +Arslan exalted to the heavens, repair to Maru, and you will behold it +buried in the dust." The annihilation of the inscription, and the tomb +itself, more forcibly proclaims the instability of human greatness. + +[Footnote 39: This interesting death is told by D'Herbelot, (p. 103, +104,) and M. De Guignes, (tom. iii. p. 212, 213.) from their Oriental +writers; but neither of them have transfused the spirit of Elmacin, +(Hist. Saracen p. 344, 345.)] + +[Footnote 40: A critic of high renown, (the late Dr. Johnson,) who has +severely scrutinized the epitaphs of Pope, might cavil in this sublime +inscription at the words "repair to Maru," since the reader must already +be at Maru before he could peruse the inscription.] + +During the life of Alp Arslan, his eldest son had been acknowledged as +the future sultan of the Turks. On his father's death the inheritance +was disputed by an uncle, a cousin, and a brother: they drew their +cimeters, and assembled their followers; and the triple victory of Malek +Shah [41] established his own reputation and the right of primogeniture. +In every age, and more especially in Asia, the thirst of power has +inspired the same passions, and occasioned the same disorders; but, +from the long series of civil war, it would not be easy to extract a +sentiment more pure and magnanimous than is contained in the saying of +the Turkish prince. On the eve of the battle, he performed his devotions +at Thous, before the tomb of the Imam Riza. As the sultan rose from the +ground, he asked his vizier Nizam, who had knelt beside him, what had +been the object of his secret petition: "That your arms may be crowned +with victory," was the prudent, and most probably the sincere, answer of +the minister. "For my part," replied the generous Malek, "I implored +the Lord of Hosts that he would take from me my life and crown, if +my brother be more worthy than myself to reign over the Moslems." The +favorable judgment of heaven was ratified by the caliph; and for +the first time, the sacred title of Commander of the Faithful was +communicated to a Barbarian. But this Barbarian, by his personal merit, +and the extent of his empire, was the greatest prince of his age. +After the settlement of Persia and Syria, he marched at the head of +innumerable armies to achieve the conquest of Turkestan, which had been +undertaken by his father. In his passage of the Oxus, the boatmen, who +had been employed in transporting some troops, complained, that their +payment was assigned on the revenues of Antioch. The sultan frowned at +this preposterous choice; but he miled at the artful flattery of his +vizier. "It was not to postpone their reward, that I selected those +remote places, but to leave a memorial to posterity, that, under your +reign, Antioch and the Oxus were subject to the same sovereign." But +this description of his limits was unjust and parsimonious: beyond the +Oxus, he reduced to his obedience the cities of Bochara, Carizme, and +Samarcand, and crushed each rebellious slave, or independent savage, who +dared to resist. Malek passed the Sihon or Jaxartes, the last boundary +of Persian civilization: the hordes of Turkestan yielded to his +supremacy: his name was inserted on the coins, and in the prayers of +Cashgar, a Tartar kingdom on the extreme borders of China. From the +Chinese frontier, he stretched his immediate jurisdiction or feudatory +sway to the west and south, as far as the mountains of Georgia, the +neighborhood of Constantinople, the holy city of Jerusalem, and the +spicy groves of Arabia Felix. Instead of resigning himself to the luxury +of his harem, the shepherd king, both in peace and war, was in action +and in the field. By the perpetual motion of the royal camp, each +province was successively blessed with his presence; and he is said to +have perambulated twelve times the wide extent of his dominions, +which surpassed the Asiatic reign of Cyrus and the caliphs. Of these +expeditions, the most pious and splendid was the pilgrimage of Mecca: +the freedom and safety of the caravans were protected by his arms; the +citizens and pilgrims were enriched by the profusion of his alms; and +the desert was cheered by the places of relief and refreshment, which +he instituted for the use of his brethren. Hunting was the pleasure, and +even the passion, of the sultan, and his train consisted of forty-seven +thousand horses; but after the massacre of a Turkish chase, for each +piece of game, he bestowed a piece of gold on the poor, a slight +atonement, at the expense of the people, for the cost and mischief of +the amusement of kings. In the peaceful prosperity of his reign, the +cities of Asia were adorned with palaces and hospitals with moschs and +colleges; few departed from his Divan without reward, and none without +justice. The language and literature of Persia revived under the house +of Seljuk; [42] and if Malek emulated the liberality of a Turk less +potent than himself, [43] his palace might resound with the songs of a +hundred poets. The sultan bestowed a more serious and learned care +on the reformation of the calendar, which was effected by a general +assembly of the astronomers of the East. By a law of the prophet, the +Moslems are confined to the irregular course of the lunar months; in +Persia, since the age of Zoroaster, the revolution of the sun has been +known and celebrated as an annual festival; [44] but after the fall of +the Magian empire, the intercalation had been neglected; the fractions +of minutes and hours were multiplied into days; and the date of the +springs was removed from the sign of Aries to that of Pisces. The reign +of Malek was illustrated by the Gelalaean aera; and all errors, either +past or future, were corrected by a computation of time, which surpasses +the Julian, and approaches the accuracy of the Gregorian, style. [45] + +[Footnote 41: The Bibliotheque Orientale has given the text of the reign +of Malek, (p. 542, 543, 544, 654, 655;) and the Histoire Generale des +Huns (tom. iii. p. 214-224) has added the usual measure of repetition +emendation, and supplement. Without those two learned Frenchmen I should +be blind indeed in the Eastern world.] + +[Footnote 42: See an excellent discourse at the end of Sir William +Jones's History of Nadir Shah, and the articles of the poets, Amak, +Anvari, Raschidi, &c., in the Bibliotheque Orientale. ] + +[Footnote 43: His name was Kheder Khan. Four bags were placed round +his sopha, and as he listened to the song, he cast handfuls of gold and +silver to the poets, (D'Herbelot, p. 107.) All this may be true; but I +do not understand how he could reign in Transoxiana in the time of Malek +Shah, and much less how Kheder could surpass him in power and pomp. I +suspect that the beginning, not the end, of the xith century is the true +aera of his reign.] + +[Footnote 44: See Chardin, Voyages en Perse, tom. ii. p. 235.] + +[Footnote 45: The Gelalaean aera (Gelaleddin, Glory of the Faith, was +one of the names or titles of Malek Shah) is fixed to the xvth of March, +A. H. 471, A.D. 1079. Dr. Hyde has produced the original testimonies +of the Persians and Arabians, (de Religione veterum Persarum, c. 16 p. +200-211.)] + +In a period when Europe was plunged in the deepest barbarism, the light +and splendor of Asia may be ascribed to the docility rather than the +knowledge of the Turkish conquerors. An ample share of their wisdom and +virtue is due to a Persian vizier, who ruled the empire under the reigns +of Alp Arslan and his son. Nizam, one of the most illustrious ministers +of the East, was honored by the caliph as an oracle of religion and +science; he was trusted by the sultan as the faithful vicegerent of his +power and justice. After an administration of thirty years, the fame +of the vizier, his wealth, and even his services, were transformed into +crimes. He was overthrown by the insidious arts of a woman and a rival; +and his fall was hastened by a rash declaration, that his cap and +ink-horn, the badges of his office, were connected by the divine decree +with the throne and diadem of the sultan. At the age of ninety-three +years, the venerable statesman was dismissed by his master, accused by +his enemies, and murdered by a fanatic: [451] the last words of Nizam +attested his innocence, and the remainder of Malek's life was short and +inglorious. From Ispahan, the scene of this disgraceful transaction, the +sultan moved to Bagdad, with the design of transplanting the caliph, +and of fixing his own residence in the capital of the Moslem world. The +feeble successor of Mahomet obtained a respite of ten days; and before +the expiration of the term, the Barbarian was summoned by the angel of +death. His ambassadors at Constantinople had asked in marriage a Roman +princess; but the proposal was decently eluded; and the daughter +of Alexius, who might herself have been the victim, expresses her +abhorrence of his unnatural conjunction. [46] The daughter of the sultan +was bestowed on the caliph Moctadi, with the imperious condition, that, +renouncing the society of his wives and concubines, he should forever +confine himself to this honorable alliance. + +[Footnote 451: He was the first great victim of his enemy, Hassan Sabek, +founder of the Assassins. Von Hammer, Geschichte der Assassinen, p. +95.--M.] + +[Footnote 46: She speaks of this Persian royalty. Anna Comnena was only +nine years old at the end of the reign of Malek Shah, (A.D. 1092,) and +when she speaks of his assassination, she confounds the sultan with the +vizier, (Alexias, l. vi. p. 177, 178.)] + + + + +Chapter LVII: The Turks.--Part III. + +The greatness and unity of the Turkish empire expired in the person of +Malek Shah. His vacant throne was disputed by his brother and his +four sons; [461] and, after a series of civil wars, the treaty which +reconciled the surviving candidates confirmed a lasting separation in +the Persian dynasty, the eldest and principal branch of the house of +Seljuk. The three younger dynasties were those of Kerman, of Syria, and +of Roum: the first of these commanded an extensive, though obscure, [47] +dominion on the shores of the Indian Ocean: [48] the second expelled +the Arabian princes of Aleppo and Damascus; and the third, our peculiar +care, invaded the Roman provinces of Asia Minor. The generous policy +of Malek contributed to their elevation: he allowed the princes of +his blood, even those whom he had vanquished in the field, to seek +new kingdoms worthy of their ambition; nor was he displeased that they +should draw away the more ardent spirits, who might have disturbed the +tranquillity of his reign. As the supreme head of his family and nation, +the great sultan of Persia commanded the obedience and tribute of his +royal brethren: the thrones of Kerman and Nice, of Aleppo and Damascus; +the Atabeks, and emirs of Syria and Mesopotamia, erected their standards +under the shadow of his sceptre: [49] and the hordes of Turkmans +overspread the plains of the Western Asia. + +After the death of Malek, the bands of union and subordination were +relaxed and finally dissolved: the indulgence of the house of Seljuk +invested their slaves with the inheritance of kingdoms; and, in the +Oriental style, a crowd of princes arose from the dust of their feet. +[50] + +[Footnote 461: See Von Hammer, Osmanische Geschichte, vol. i. p. 16. The +Seljukian dominions were for a time reunited in the person of Sandjar, +one of the sons of Malek Shah, who ruled "from Kashgar to Antioch, from +the Caspian to the Straits of Babelmandel."--M.] + +[Footnote 47: So obscure, that the industry of M. De Guignes could only +copy (tom. i. p. 244, tom. iii. part i. p. 269, &c.) the history, or +rather list, of the Seljukides of Kerman, in Bibliotheque Orientale. +They were extinguished before the end of the xiith century.] + +[Footnote 48: Tavernier, perhaps the only traveller who has visited +Kerman, describes the capital as a great ruinous village, twenty-five +days' journey from Ispahan, and twenty-seven from Ormus, in the midst of +a fertile country, (Voyages en Turquie et en Perse, p. 107, 110.)] + +[Footnote 49: It appears from Anna Comnena, that the Turks of Asia Minor +obeyed the signet and chiauss of the great sultan, (Alexias, l. vi. p. +170;) and that the two sons of Soliman were detained in his court, (p. +180.)] + +[Footnote 50: This expression is quoted by Petit de la Croix (Vie de +Gestis p. 160) from some poet, most probably a Persian.] + +A prince of the royal line, Cutulmish, [501] the son of Izrail, the +son of Seljuk, had fallen in a battle against Alp Arslan and the humane +victor had dropped a tear over his grave. His five sons, strong in arms, +ambitious of power, and eager for revenge, unsheathed their cimeters +against the son of Alp Arslan. The two armies expected the signal when +the caliph, forgetful of the majesty which secluded him from vulgar +eyes, interposed his venerable mediation. "Instead of shedding the blood +of your brethren, your brethren both in descent and faith, unite your +forces in a holy war against the Greeks, the enemies of God and his +apostle." They listened to his voice; the sultan embraced his rebellious +kinsmen; and the eldest, the valiant Soliman, accepted the royal +standard, which gave him the free conquest and hereditary command of the +provinces of the Roman empire, from Arzeroum to Constantinople, and the +unknown regions of the West. [51] Accompanied by his four brothers, +he passed the Euphrates; the Turkish camp was soon seated in the +neighborhood of Kutaieh in Phrygia; and his flying cavalry laid waste +the country as far as the Hellespont and the Black Sea. Since the +decline of the empire, the peninsula of Asia Minor had been exposed to +the transient, though destructive, inroads of the Persians and Saracens; +but the fruits of a lasting conquest were reserved for the Turkish +sultan; and his arms were introduced by the Greeks, who aspired to reign +on the ruins of their country. Since the captivity of Romanus, six years +the feeble son of Eudocia had trembled under the weight of the Imperial +crown, till the provinces of the East and West were lost in the same +month by a double rebellion: of either chief Nicephorus was the common +name; but the surnames of Bryennius and Botoniates distinguish the +European and Asiatic candidates. Their reasons, or rather their +promises, were weighed in the Divan; and, after some hesitation, Soliman +declared himself in favor of Botoniates, opened a free passage to his +troops in their march from Antioch to Nice, and joined the banner of the +Crescent to that of the Cross. After his ally had ascended the throne of +Constantinople, the sultan was hospitably entertained in the suburb of +Chrysopolis or Scutari; and a body of two thousand Turks was transported +into Europe, to whose dexterity and courage the new emperor was indebted +for the defeat and captivity of his rival, Bryennius. But the conquest +of Europe was dearly purchased by the sacrifice of Asia: Constantinople +was deprived of the obedience and revenue of the provinces beyond the +Bosphorus and Hellespont; and the regular progress of the Turks, who +fortified the passes of the rivers and mountains, left not a hope of +their retreat or expulsion. Another candidate implored the aid of the +sultan: Melissenus, in his purple robes and red buskins, attended the +motions of the Turkish camp; and the desponding cities were tempted by +the summons of a Roman prince, who immediately surrendered them into the +hands of the Barbarians. These acquisitions were confirmed by a treaty +of peace with the emperor Alexius: his fear of Robert compelled him to +seek the friendship of Soliman; and it was not till after the sultan's +death that he extended as far as Nicomedia, about sixty miles from +Constantinople, the eastern boundary of the Roman world. Trebizond +alone, defended on either side by the sea and mountains, preserved at +the extremity of the Euxine the ancient character of a Greek colony, and +the future destiny of a Christian empire. + +[Footnote 501: Wilken considers Cutulmish not a Turkish name. Geschicht +Kreuz-zuge, vol. i. p. 9.--M.] + +[Footnote 51: On the conquest of Asia Minor, M. De Guignes has derived +no assistance from the Turkish or Arabian writers, who produce a naked +list of the Seljukides of Roum. The Greeks are unwilling to expose their +shame, and we must extort some hints from Scylitzes, (p. 860, 863,) +Nicephorus Bryennius, (p. 88, 91, 92, &c., 103, 104,) and Anna Comnena +(Alexias, p. 91, 92, &c., 163, &c.)] + +Since the first conquests of the caliphs, the establishment of the Turks +in Anatolia or Asia Minor was the most deplorable loss which the church +and empire had sustained. By the propagation of the Moslem faith, +Soliman deserved the name of Gazi, a holy champion; and his new +kingdoms, of the Romans, or of Roum, was added to the tables of +Oriental geography. It is described as extending from the Euphrates to +Constantinople, from the Black Sea to the confines of Syria; pregnant +with mines of silver and iron, of alum and copper, fruitful in corn and +wine, and productive of cattle and excellent horses. [52] The wealth of +Lydia, the arts of the Greeks, the splendor of the Augustan age, existed +only in books and ruins, which were equally obscure in the eyes of the +Scythian conquerors. Yet, in the present decay, Anatolia still contains +some wealthy and populous cities; and, under the Byzantine empire, they +were far more flourishing in numbers, size, and opulence. By the choice +of the sultan, Nice, the metropolis of Bithynia, was preferred for +his palace and fortress: the seat of the Seljukian dynasty of Roum +was planted one hundred miles from Constantinople; and the divinity of +Christ was denied and derided in the same temple in which it had been +pronounced by the first general synod of the Catholics. The unity +of God, and the mission of Mahomet, were preached in the moschs; the +Arabian learning was taught in the schools; the Cadhis judged according +to the law of the Koran; the Turkish manners and language prevailed +in the cities; and Turkman camps were scattered over the plains and +mountains of Anatolia. On the hard conditions of tribute and servitude, +the Greek Christians might enjoy the exercise of their religion; but +their most holy churches were profaned; their priests and bishops were +insulted; [53] they were compelled to suffer the triumph of the Pagans, +and the apostasy of their brethren; many thousand children were marked +by the knife of circumcision; and many thousand captives were devoted +to the service or the pleasures of their masters. [54] After the loss +of Asia, Antioch still maintained her primitive allegiance to Christ and +Caesar; but the solitary province was separated from all Roman aid, +and surrounded on all sides by the Mahometan powers. The despair of +Philaretus the governor prepared the sacrifice of his religion and +loyalty, had not his guilt been prevented by his son, who hastened to +the Nicene palace, and offered to deliver this valuable prize into the +hands of Soliman. The ambitious sultan mounted on horseback, and in +twelve nights (for he reposed in the day) performed a march of six +hundred miles. Antioch was oppressed by the speed and secrecy of +his enterprise; and the dependent cities, as far as Laodicea and the +confines of Aleppo, [55] obeyed the example of the metropolis. From +Laodicea to the Thracian Bosphorus, or arm of St. George, the conquests +and reign of Soliman extended thirty days' journey in length, and in +breadth about ten or fifteen, between the rocks of Lycia and the Black +Sea. [56] The Turkish ignorance of navigation protected, for a while, +the inglorious safety of the emperor; but no sooner had a fleet of two +hundred ships been constructed by the hands of the captive Greeks, than +Alexius trembled behind the walls of his capital. His plaintive epistles +were dispersed over Europe, to excite the compassion of the Latins, +and to paint the danger, the weakness, and the riches of the city of +Constantine. [57] + +[Footnote 52: Such is the description of Roum by Haiton the Armenian, +whose Tartar history may be found in the collections of Ramusio and +Bergeron, (see Abulfeda, Geograph. climat. xvii. p. 301-305.)] + +[Footnote 53: Dicit eos quendam abusione Sodomitica intervertisse +episcopum, (Guibert. Abbat. Hist. Hierosol. l. i. p. 468.) It is odd +enough, that we should find a parallel passage of the same people in the +present age. "Il n'est point d'horreur que ces Turcs n'ayent commis, +et semblables aux soldats effrenes, qui dans le sac d'une ville, non +contens de disposer de tout a leur gre pretendent encore aux succes +les moins desirables. Quelque Sipahis ont porte leurs attentats sur la +personne du vieux rabbi de la synagogue, et celle de l'Archeveque Grec." +(Memoires du Baron de Tott, tom. ii. p. 193.)] + +[Footnote 54: The emperor, or abbot describe the scenes of a Turkish +camp as if they had been present. Matres correptae in conspectu filiarum +multipliciter repetitis diversorum coitibus vexabantur; (is that the +true reading?) cum filiae assistentes carmina praecinere saltando +cogerentur. Mox eadem passio ad filias, &c.] + +[Footnote 55: See Antioch, and the death of Soliman, in Anna Comnena, +(Alexius, l. vi. p. 168, 169,) with the notes of Ducange.] + +[Footnote 56: William of Tyre (l. i. c. 9, 10, p. 635) gives the most +authentic and deplorable account of these Turkish conquests.] + +[Footnote 57: In his epistle to the count of Flanders, Alexius seems to +fall too low beneath his character and dignity; yet it is approved by +Ducange, (Not. ad Alexiad. p. 335, &c.,) and paraphrased by the Abbot +Guibert, a contemporary historian. The Greek text no longer exists; +and each translator and scribe might say with Guibert, (p. 475,) verbis +vestita meis, a privilege of most indefinite latitude.] + +But the most interesting conquest of the Seljukian Turks was that of +Jerusalem, [58] which soon became the theatre of nations. In their +capitulation with Omar, the inhabitants had stipulated the assurance +of their religion and property; but the articles were interpreted by a +master against whom it was dangerous to dispute; and in the four hundred +years of the reign of the caliphs, the political climate of Jerusalem +was exposed to the vicissitudes of storm and sunshine. [59] By the +increase of proselytes and population, the Mahometans might excuse the +usurpation of three fourths of the city: but a peculiar quarter was +resolved for the patriarch with his clergy and people; a tribute of two +pieces of gold was the price of protection; and the sepulchre of Christ, +with the church of the Resurrection, was still left in the hands of his +votaries. Of these votaries, the most numerous and respectable portion +were strangers to Jerusalem: the pilgrimages to the Holy Land had been +stimulated, rather than suppressed, by the conquest of the Arabs; and +the enthusiasm which had always prompted these perilous journeys, was +nourished by the congenial passions of grief and indignation. A crowd of +pilgrims from the East and West continued to visit the holy sepulchre, +and the adjacent sanctuaries, more especially at the festival of Easter; +and the Greeks and Latins, the Nestorians and Jacobites, the Copts and +Abyssinians, the Armenians and Georgians, maintained the chapels, the +clergy, and the poor of their respective communions. The harmony of +prayer in so many various tongues, the worship of so many nations in +the common temple of their religion, might have afforded a spectacle +of edification and peace; but the zeal of the Christian sects was +imbittered by hatred and revenge; and in the kingdom of a suffering +Messiah, who had pardoned his enemies, they aspired to command and +persecute their spiritual brethren. The preeminence was asserted by the +spirit and numbers of the Franks; and the greatness of Charlemagne [60] +protected both the Latin pilgrims and the Catholics of the East. The +poverty of Carthage, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, was relieved by the alms +of that pious emperor; and many monasteries of Palestine were founded +or restored by his liberal devotion. Harun Alrashid, the greatest of +the Abbassides, esteemed in his Christian brother a similar supremacy +of genius and power: their friendship was cemented by a frequent +intercourse of gifts and embassies; and the caliph, without resigning +the substantial dominion, presented the emperor with the keys of the +holy sepulchre, and perhaps of the city of Jerusalem. In the decline of +the Carlovingian monarchy, the republic of Amalphi promoted the interest +of trade and religion in the East. Her vessels transported the Latin +pilgrims to the coasts of Egypt and Palestine, and deserved, by their +useful imports, the favor and alliance of the Fatimite caliphs: [61] an +annual fair was instituted on Mount Calvary: and the Italian merchants +founded the convent and hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, the cradle of +the monastic and military order, which has since reigned in the isles of +Rhodes and of Malta. Had the Christian pilgrims been content to revere +the tomb of a prophet, the disciples of Mahomet, instead of blaming, +would have imitated, their piety: but these rigid Unitarians were +scandalized by a worship which represents the birth, death, and +resurrection, of a God; the Catholic images were branded with the name +of idols; and the Moslems smiled with indignation [62] at the miraculous +flame which was kindled on the eve of Easter in the holy sepulchre. [63] +This pious fraud, first devised in the ninth century, [64] was devoutly +cherished by the Latin crusaders, and is annually repeated by the +clergy of the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic sects, [65] who impose on +the credulous spectators [66] for their own benefit, and that of their +tyrants. In every age, a principle of toleration has been fortified by +a sense of interest: and the revenue of the prince and his emir was +increased each year, by the expense and tribute of so many thousand +strangers. + +[Footnote 58: Our best fund for the history of Jerusalem from Heraclius +to the crusades is contained in two large and original passages of +William archbishop of Tyre, (l. i. c. 1-10, l. xviii. c. 5, 6,) +the principal author of the Gesta Dei per Francos. M. De Guignes has +composed a very learned Memoire sur le Commerce des Francois dans le de +Levant avant les Croisades, &c. (Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, +tom. xxxvii. p. 467-500.)] + +[Footnote 59: Secundum Dominorum dispositionem plerumque lucida plerum +que nubila recepit intervalla, et aegrotantium more temporum praesentium +gravabatur aut respirabat qualitate, (l. i. c. 3, p. 630.) The latinity +of William of Tyre is by no means contemptible: but in his account of +490 years, from the loss to the recovery of Jerusalem, precedes the true +account by 30 years.] + +[Footnote 60: For the transactions of Charlemagne with the Holy Land, +see Eginhard, (de Vita Caroli Magni, c. 16, p. 79-82,) Constantine +Porphyrogenitus, (de Administratione Imperii, l. ii. c. 26, p. 80,) and +Pagi, (Critica, tom. iii. A.D. 800, No. 13, 14, 15.)] + +[Footnote 61: The caliph granted his privileges, Amalphitanis viris +amicis et utilium introductoribus, (Gesta Dei, p. 934.) The trade of +Venice to Egypt and Palestine cannot produce so old a title, unless +we adopt the laughable translation of a Frenchman, who mistook the +two factions of the circus (Veneti et Prasini) for the Venetians and +Parisians.] + +[Footnote 62: An Arabic chronicle of Jerusalem (apud Asseman. Bibliot. +Orient. tom. i. p. 268, tom. iv. p. 368) attests the unbelief of the +caliph and the historian; yet Cantacuzene presumes to appeal to the +Mahometans themselves for the truth of this perpetual miracle.] + +[Footnote 63: In his Dissertations on Ecclesiastical History, the +learned Mosheim has separately discussed this pretended miracle, (tom. +ii. p. 214-306,) de lumine sancti sepulchri.] + +[Footnote 64: William of Malmsbury (l. iv. c. 2, p. 209) quotes the +Itinerary of the monk Bernard, an eye-witness, who visited Jerusalem +A.D. 870. The miracle is confirmed by another pilgrim some years older; +and Mosheim ascribes the invention to the Franks, soon after the decease +of Charlemagne.] + +[Footnote 65: Our travellers, Sandys, (p. 134,) Thevenot, (p. 621-627,) +Maundrell, (p. 94, 95,) &c., describes this extravagant farce. The +Catholics are puzzled to decide when the miracle ended and the trick +began.] + +[Footnote 66: The Orientals themselves confess the fraud, and plead +necessity and edification, (Memoires du Chevalier D'Arvieux, tom. ii. p. +140. Joseph Abudacni, Hist. Copt. c. 20;) but I will not attempt, with +Mosheim, to explain the mode. Our travellers have failed with the blood +of St. Januarius at Naples.] + +The revolution which transferred the sceptre from the Abbassides to +the Fatimites was a benefit, rather than an injury, to the Holy Land. +A sovereign resident in Egypt was more sensible of the importance of +Christian trade; and the emirs of Palestine were less remote from the +justice and power of the throne. But the third of these Fatimite caliphs +was the famous Hakem, [67] a frantic youth, who was delivered by his +impiety and despotism from the fear either of God or man; and whose +reign was a wild mixture of vice and folly. Regardless of the +most ancient customs of Egypt, he imposed on the women an absolute +confinement; the restraint excited the clamors of both sexes; their +clamors provoked his fury; a part of Old Cairo was delivered to the +flames and the guards and citizens were engaged many days in a bloody +conflict. At first the caliph declared himself a zealous Mussulman, the +founder or benefactor of moschs and colleges: twelve hundred and ninety +copies of the Koran were transcribed at his expense in letters of gold; +and his edict extirpated the vineyards of the Upper Egypt. But his +vanity was soon flattered by the hope of introducing a new religion; +he aspired above the fame of a prophet, and styled himself the visible +image of the Most High God, who, after nine apparitions on earth, was at +length manifest in his royal person. At the name of Hakem, the lord of +the living and the dead, every knee was bent in religious adoration: +his mysteries were performed on a mountain near Cairo: sixteen thousand +converts had signed his profession of faith; and at the present hour, a +free and warlike people, the Druses of Mount Libanus, are persuaded +of the life and divinity of a madman and tyrant. [68] In his divine +character, Hakem hated the Jews and Christians, as the servants of his +rivals; while some remains of prejudice or prudence still pleaded in +favor of the law of Mahomet. Both in Egypt and Palestine, his cruel +and wanton persecution made some martyrs and many apostles: the common +rights and special privileges of the sectaries were equally disregarded; +and a general interdict was laid on the devotion of strangers +and natives. The temple of the Christian world, the church of the +Resurrection, was demolished to its foundations; the luminous prodigy of +Easter was interrupted, and much profane labor was exhausted to destroy +the cave in the rock which properly constitutes the holy sepulchre. At +the report of this sacrilege, the nations of Europe were astonished and +afflicted: but instead of arming in the defence of the Holy Land, they +contented themselves with burning, or banishing, the Jews, as the secret +advisers of the impious Barbarian. [69] Yet the calamities of Jerusalem +were in some measure alleviated by the inconstancy or repentance of +Hakem himself; and the royal mandate was sealed for the restitution of +the churches, when the tyrant was assassinated by the emissaries of +his sister. The succeeding caliphs resumed the maxims of religion and +policy: a free toleration was again granted; with the pious aid of the +emperor of Constantinople, the holy sepulchre arose from its ruins; +and, after a short abstinence, the pilgrims returned with an increase +of appetite to the spiritual feast. [70] In the sea-voyage of Palestine, +the dangers were frequent, and the opportunities rare: but the +conversion of Hungary opened a safe communication between Germany and +Greece. The charity of St. Stephen, the apostle of his kingdom, relieved +and conducted his itinerant brethren; [71] and from Belgrade to Antioch, +they traversed fifteen hundred miles of a Christian empire. Among the +Franks, the zeal of pilgrimage prevailed beyond the example of former +times: and the roads were covered with multitudes of either sex, and of +every rank, who professed their contempt of life, so soon as they should +have kissed the tomb of their Redeemer. Princes and prelates abandoned +the care of their dominions; and the numbers of these pious caravans +were a prelude to the armies which marched in the ensuing age under the +banner of the cross. About thirty years before the first crusade, +the arch bishop of Mentz, with the bishops of Utrecht, Bamberg, and +Ratisbon, undertook this laborious journey from the Rhine to the Jordan; +and the multitude of their followers amounted to seven thousand persons. +At Constantinople, they were hospitably entertained by the emperor; but +the ostentation of their wealth provoked the assault of the wild Arabs: +they drew their swords with scrupulous reluctance, and sustained +siege in the village of Capernaum, till they were rescued by the venal +protection of the Fatimite emir. After visiting the holy places, they +embarked for Italy, but only a remnant of two thousand arrived in safety +in their native land. + +Ingulphus, a secretary of William the Conqueror, was a companion of this +pilgrimage: he observes that they sailed from Normandy, thirty stout +and well-appointed horsemen; but that they repassed the Alps, twenty +miserable palmers, with the staff in their hand, and the wallet at their +back. [72] + +[Footnote 67: See D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 411,) Renaudot, +(Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 390, 397, 400, 401,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. +p. 321-323,) and Marei, (p. 384-386,) an historian of Egypt, translated +by Reiske from Arabic into German, and verbally interpreted to me by a +friend.] + +[Footnote 68: The religion of the Druses is concealed by their ignorance +and hypocrisy. Their secret doctrines are confined to the elect +who profess a contemplative life; and the vulgar Druses, the most +indifferent of men, occasionally conform to the worship of the +Mahometans and Christians of their neighborhood. The little that is, or +deserves to be, known, may be seen in the industrious Niebuhr, +(Voyages, tom. ii. p. 354-357,) and the second volume of the recent and +instructive Travels of M. de Volney. * Note: The religion of the Druses +has, within the present year, been fully developed from their own +writings, which have long lain neglected in the libraries of Paris and +Oxford, in the "Expose de la Religion des Druses, by M. Silvestre de +Sacy." Deux tomes, Paris, 1838. The learned author has prefixed a life +of Hakem Biamr-Allah, which enables us to correct several errors in the +account of Gibbon. These errors chiefly arose from his want of knowledge +or of attention to the chronology of Hakem's life. Hakem succeeded to +the throne of Egypt in the year of the Hegira 386. He did not assume +his divinity till 408. His life was indeed "a wild mixture of vice and +folly," to which may be added, of the most sanguinary cruelty. During +his reign, 18,000 persons were victims of his ferocity. Yet such is the +god, observes M. de Sacy, whom the Druses have worshipped for 800 years! +(See p. ccccxxix.) All his wildest and most extravagant actions were +interpreted by his followers as having a mystic and allegoric meaning, +alluding to the destruction of other religions and the propagation +of his own. It does not seem to have been the "vanity" of Hakem which +induced him to introduce a new religion. The curious point in the new +faith is that Hamza, the son of Ali, the real founder of the Unitarian +religion, (such is its boastful title,) was content to take a secondary +part. While Hakem was God, the one Supreme, the Imam Hamza was his +Intelligence. It was not in his "divine character" that Hakem "hated +the Jews and Christians," but in that of a Mahometan bigot, which he +displayed in the earlier years of his reign. His barbarous persecution, +and the burning of the church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem, belong +entirely to that period; and his assumption of divinity was followed +by an edict of toleration to Jews and Christians. The Mahometans, whose +religion he then treated with hostility and contempt, being far the most +numerous, were his most dangerous enemies, and therefore the objects of +his most inveterate hatred. It is another singular fact, that the +religion of Hakem was by no means confined to Egypt and Syria. M. de +Sacy quotes a letter addressed to the chief of the sect in India; and +there is likewise a letter to the Byzantine emperor Constantine, son of +Armanous, (Romanus,) and the clergy of the empire. (Constantine VIII., +M. de Sacy supposes, but this is irreconcilable with chronology; it must +mean Constantine XI., Monomachus.) The assassination of Hakem is, of +course, disbelieved by his sectaries. M. de Sacy seems to consider the +fact obscure and doubtful. According to his followers he disappeared, +but is hereafter to return. At his return the resurrection is to take +place; the triumph of Unitarianism, and the final discomfiture of all +other religions. The temple of Mecca is especially devoted to +destruction. It is remarkable that one of the signs of this final +consummation, and of the reappearance of Hakem, is that Christianity +shall be gaining a manifest predominance over Mahometanism. As for the +religion of the Druses, I cannot agree with Gibbon that it does not +"deserve" to be better known; and am grateful to M. de Sacy, +notwithstanding the prolixity and occasional repetition in his two large +volumes, for the full examination of the most extraordinary religious +aberration which ever extensively affected the mind of man. The worship +of a mad tyrant is the basis of a subtle metaphysical creed, and of a +severe, and even ascetic, morality.--M.] + +[Footnote 69: See Glaber, l. iii. c. 7, and the Annals of Baronius and +Pagi, A.D. 1009.] + +[Footnote 70: Per idem tempus ex universo orbe tam innumerabilis +multitudo coepit confluere ad sepulchrum Salvatoris Hierosolymis, +quantum nullus hominum prius sperare poterat. Ordo inferioris plebis.... +mediocres.... reges et comites..... praesules ..... mulieres multae +nobilis cum pauperioribus.... Pluribus enim erat mentis desiderium +mori priusquam ad propria reverterentur, (Glaber, l. iv. c. 6, Bouquet. +Historians of France, tom. x. p. 50.) * Note: Compare the first chap. of +Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuz-zuge.--M.] + +[Footnote 71: Glaber, l. iii. c. 1. Katona (Hist. Critic. Regum +Hungariae, tom. i. p. 304-311) examines whether St. Stephen founded a +monastery at Jerusalem.] + +[Footnote 72: Baronius (A.D. 1064, No. 43-56) has transcribed the +greater part of the original narratives of Ingulphus, Marianus, and +Lambertus.] + +After the defeat of the Romans, the tranquillity of the Fatimite caliphs +was invaded by the Turks. [73] One of the lieutenants of Malek Shah, +Atsiz the Carizmian, marched into Syria at the head of a powerful army, +and reduced Damascus by famine and the sword. Hems, and the other cities +of the province, acknowledged the caliph of Bagdad and the sultan of +Persia; and the victorious emir advanced without resistance to the banks +of the Nile: the Fatimite was preparing to fly into the heart of +Africa; but the negroes of his guard and the inhabitants of Cairo made +a desperate sally, and repulsed the Turk from the confines of Egypt. In +his retreat he indulged the license of slaughter and rapine: the judge +and notaries of Jerusalem were invited to his camp; and their execution +was followed by the massacre of three thousand citizens. The cruelty or +the defeat of Atsiz was soon punished by the sultan Toucush, the brother +of Malek Shah, who, with a higher title and more formidable powers, +asserted the dominion of Syria and Palestine. The house of Seljuk +reigned about twenty years in Jerusalem; [74] but the hereditary command +of the holy city and territory was intrusted or abandoned to the emir +Ortok, the chief of a tribe of Turkmans, whose children, after their +expulsion from Palestine, formed two dynasties on the borders of +Armenia and Assyria. [75] The Oriental Christians and the Latin pilgrims +deplored a revolution, which, instead of the regular government and old +alliance of the caliphs, imposed on their necks the iron yoke of the +strangers of the North. [76] In his court and camp the great sultan had +adopted in some degree the arts and manners of Persia; but the body +of the Turkish nation, and more especially the pastoral tribes, still +breathed the fierceness of the desert. From Nice to Jerusalem, +the western countries of Asia were a scene of foreign and domestic +hostility; and the shepherds of Palestine, who held a precarious sway on +a doubtful frontier, had neither leisure nor capacity to await the slow +profits of commercial and religious freedom. The pilgrims, who, through +innumerable perils, had reached the gates of Jerusalem, were the +victims of private rapine or public oppression, and often sunk under the +pressure of famine and disease, before they were permitted to salute the +holy sepulchre. A spirit of native barbarism, or recent zeal, prompted +the Turkmans to insult the clergy of every sect: the patriarch was +dragged by the hair along the pavement, and cast into a dungeon, to +extort a ransom from the sympathy of his flock; and the divine worship +in the church of the Resurrection was often disturbed by the savage +rudeness of its masters. The pathetic tale excited the millions of the +West to march under the standard of the cross to the relief of the Holy +Land; and yet how trifling is the sum of these accumulated evils, if +compared with the single act of the sacrilege of Hakem, which had been +so patiently endured by the Latin Christians! A slighter provocation +inflamed the more irascible temper of their descendants: a new spirit +had arisen of religious chivalry and papal dominion; a nerve was touched +of exquisite feeling; and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe. + +[Footnote 73: See Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 349, 350) and +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 237, vers. Pocock.) M. De Guignes (Hist. des +Huns, tom iii. part i. p. 215, 216) adds the testimonies, or rather the +names, of Abulfeda and Novairi.] + +[Footnote 74: From the expedition of Isar Atsiz, (A. H. 469, A.D. 1076,) +to the expulsion of the Ortokides, (A.D. 1096.) Yet William of Tyre (l. +i. c. 6, p. 633) asserts, that Jerusalem was thirty-eight years in the +hands of the Turks; and an Arabic chronicle, quoted by Pagi, (tom. iv. +p. 202) supposes that the city was reduced by a Carizmian general to +the obedience of the caliph of Bagdad, A. H. 463, A.D. 1070. These early +dates are not very compatible with the general history of Asia; and I am +sure, that as late as A.D. 1064, the regnum Babylonicum (of Cairo) still +prevailed in Palestine, (Baronius, A.D. 1064, No. 56.)] + +[Footnote 75: De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 249-252. ] + +[Footnote 76: Willierm. Tyr. l. i. c. 8, p. 634, who strives hard to +magnify the Christian grievances. The Turks exacted an aureus from each +pilgrim! The caphar of the Franks now is fourteen dollars: and Europe +does not complain of this voluntary tax.] + + + + +Chapter LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part I. + +Origin And Numbers Of The First Crusade.--Characters Of The Latin +Princes.--Their March To Constantinople.--Policy Of The Greek +Emperor Alexius.--Conquest Of Nice, Antioch, And Jerusalem, By The +Franks.--Deliverance Of The Holy Sepulchre.-- Godfrey Of Bouillon, First +King Of Jerusalem.--Institutions Of The French Or Latin Kingdom. + +About twenty years after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Turks, the +holy sepulchre was visited by a hermit of the name of Peter, a native +of Amiens, in the province of Picardy [1] in France. His resentment +and sympathy were excited by his own injuries and the oppression of the +Christian name; he mingled his tears with those of the patriarch, and +earnestly inquired, if no hopes of relief could be entertained from the +Greek emperors of the East. The patriarch exposed the vices and weakness +of the successors of Constantine. "I will rouse," exclaimed the hermit, +"the martial nations of Europe in your cause;" and Europe was obedient +to the call of the hermit. The astonished patriarch dismissed him with +epistles of credit and complaint; and no sooner did he land at Bari, +than Peter hastened to kiss the feet of the Roman pontiff. His stature +was small, his appearance contemptible; but his eye was keen and lively; +and he possessed that vehemence of speech, which seldom fails to impart +the persuasion of the soul. [2] He was born of a gentleman's family, +(for we must now adopt a modern idiom,) and his military service was +under the neighboring counts of Boulogne, the heroes of the first +crusade. But he soon relinquished the sword and the world; and if it +be true, that his wife, however noble, was aged and ugly, he might +withdraw, with the less reluctance, from her bed to a convent, and at +length to a hermitage. [211] In this austere solitude, his body was +emaciated, his fancy was inflamed; whatever he wished, he believed; +whatever he believed, he saw in dreams and revelations. From Jerusalem +the pilgrim returned an accomplished fanatic; but as he excelled in the +popular madness of the times, Pope Urban the Second received him as +a prophet, applauded his glorious design, promised to support it in a +general council, and encouraged him to proclaim the deliverance of the +Holy Land. Invigorated by the approbation of the pontiff, his zealous +missionary traversed. with speed and success, the provinces of Italy and +France. His diet was abstemious, his prayers long and fervent, and the +alms which he received with one hand, he distributed with the other: his +head was bare, his feet naked, his meagre body was wrapped in a coarse +garment; he bore and displayed a weighty crucifix; and the ass on which +he rode was sanctified, in the public eye, by the service of the man of +God. He preached to innumerable crowds in the churches, the streets, and +the highways: the hermit entered with equal confidence the palace and +the cottage; and the people (for all was people) was impetuously moved +by his call to repentance and arms. When he painted the sufferings +of the natives and pilgrims of Palestine, every heart was melted to +compassion; every breast glowed with indignation, when he challenged the +warriors of the age to defend their brethren, and rescue their Savior: +his ignorance of art and language was compensated by sighs, and tears, +and ejaculations; and Peter supplied the deficiency of reason by loud +and frequent appeals to Christ and his mother, to the saints and angels +of paradise, with whom he had personally conversed. [212] The most +perfect orator of Athens might have envied the success of his eloquence; +the rustic enthusiast inspired the passions which he felt, and +Christendom expected with impatience the counsels and decrees of the +supreme pontiff. + +[Footnote 1: Whimsical enough is the origin of the name of Picards, and +from thence of Picardie, which does not date later than A.D. 1200. It +was an academical joke, an epithet first applied to the quarrelsome +humor of those students, in the University of Paris, who came from the +frontier of France and Flanders, (Valesii Notitia Galliarum, p. 447, +Longuerue. Description de la France, p. 54.)] + +[Footnote 2: William of Tyre (l. i. c. 11, p. 637, 638) thus describes +the hermit: Pusillus, persona contemptibilis, vivacis ingenii, et oculum +habeas perspicacem gratumque, et sponte fluens ei non deerat eloquium. +See Albert Aquensis, p. 185. Guibert, p. 482. Anna Comnena in Alex isd, +l. x. p. 284, &c., with Ducarge's Notes, p. 349.] + +[Footnote 211: Wilken considers this as doubtful, (vol. i. p. 47.)--M.] + +[Footnote 212: He had seen the Savior in a vision: a letter had fallen +from heaven Wilken, (vol. i. p. 49.)--M.] + +The magnanimous spirit of Gregory the Seventh had already embraced the +design of arming Europe against Asia; the ardor of his zeal and ambition +still breathes in his epistles: from either side of the Alps, fifty +thousand Catholics had enlisted under the banner of St. Peter; [3] and +his successor reveals his intention of marching at their head against +the impious sectaries of Mahomet. But the glory or reproach of +executing, though not in person, this holy enterprise, was reserved for +Urban the Second, [4] the most faithful of his disciples. He undertook +the conquest of the East, whilst the larger portion of Rome was +possessed and fortified by his rival Guibert of Ravenna, who contended +with Urban for the name and honors of the pontificate. He attempted to +unite the powers of the West, at a time when the princes were +separated from the church, and the people from their princes, by the +excommunication which himself and his predecessors had thundered +against the emperor and the king of France. Philip the First, of France, +supported with patience the censures which he had provoked by his +scandalous life and adulterous marriage. Henry the Fourth, of Germany, +asserted the right of investitures, the prerogative of confirming his +bishops by the delivery of the ring and crosier. But the emperor's +party was crushed in Italy by the arms of the Normans and the Countess +Mathilda; and the long quarrel had been recently envenomed by the revolt +of his son Conrad and the shame of his wife, [5] who, in the synods of +Constance and Placentia, confessed the manifold prostitutions to which +she had been exposed by a husband regardless of her honor and his own. +[6] So popular was the cause of Urban, so weighty was his influence, +that the council which he summoned at Placentia [7] was composed of two +hundred bishops of Italy, France, Burgandy, Swabia, and Bavaria. Four +thousand of the clergy, and thirty thousand of the laity, attended this +important meeting; and, as the most spacious cathedral would have been +inadequate to the multitude, the session of seven days was held in +a plain adjacent to the city. The ambassadors of the Greek emperor, +Alexius Comnenus, were introduced to plead the distress of their +sovereign, and the danger of Constantinople, which was divided only by +a narrow sea from the victorious Turks, the common enemies of the +Christian name. In their suppliant address they flattered the pride of +the Latin princes; and, appealing at once to their policy and religion, +exhorted them to repel the Barbarians on the confines of Asia, rather +than to expect them in the heart of Europe. At the sad tale of the +misery and perils of their Eastern brethren, the assembly burst into +tears; the most eager champions declared their readiness to march; and +the Greek ambassadors were dismissed with the assurance of a speedy and +powerful succor. The relief of Constantinople was included in the +larger and most distant project of the deliverance of Jerusalem; but the +prudent Urban adjourned the final decision to a second synod, which he +proposed to celebrate in some city of France in the autumn of the same +year. The short delay would propagate the flame of enthusiasm; and +his firmest hope was in a nation of soldiers [8] still proud of +the preeminence of their name, and ambitious to emulate their hero +Charlemagne, [9] who, in the popular romance of Turpin, [10] had +achieved the conquest of the Holy Land. A latent motive of affection or +vanity might influence the choice of Urban: he was himself a native of +France, a monk of Clugny, and the first of his countrymen who ascended +the throne of St. Peter. The pope had illustrated his family and +province; nor is there perhaps a more exquisite gratification than to +revisit, in a conspicuous dignity, the humble and laborious scenes of +our youth. + +[Footnote 3: Ultra quinquaginta millia, si me possunt in expeditione pro +duce et pontifice habere, armata manu volunt in inimicos Dei insurgere +et ad sepulchrum Domini ipso ducente pervenire, (Gregor. vii. epist. ii. +31, in tom. xii. 322, concil.)] + +[Footnote 4: See the original lives of Urban II. by Pandulphus Pisanus +and Bernardus Guido, in Muratori, Rer. Ital. Script. tom. iii. pars i. +p. 352, 353.] + +[Footnote 5: She is known by the different names of Praxes, Eupraecia, +Eufrasia, and Adelais; and was the daughter of a Russian prince, and the +widow of a margrave of Brandenburgh. (Struv. Corpus Hist. Germanicae, p. +340.)] + +[Footnote 6: Henricus odio eam coepit habere: ideo incarceravit eam, +et concessit ut plerique vim ei inferrent; immo filium hortans ut eam +subagitaret, (Dodechin, Continuat. Marian. Scot. apud Baron. A.D. 1093, +No. 4.) In the synod of Constance, she is described by Bertholdus, rerum +inspector: quae se tantas et tam inauditas fornicationum spur citias, et +a tantis passam fuisse conquesta est, &c.; and again at Placentia: satis +misericorditer suscepit, eo quod ipsam tantas spurcitias pertulisse pro +certo cognoverit papa cum sancta synodo. Apud Baron. A.D. 1093, No. 4, +1094, No. 3. A rare subject for the infallible decision of a pope and +council. These abominations are repugnant to every principle of human +nature, which is not altered by a dispute about rings and crosiers. Yet +it should seem, that the wretched woman was tempted by the priests to +relate or subscribe some infamous stories of herself and her husband.] + +[Footnote 7: See the narrative and acts of the synod of Placentia, +Concil. tom. xii. p. 821, &c.] + +[Footnote 8: Guibert, himself a Frenchman, praises the piety and valor +of the French nation, the author and example of the crusades: Gens +nobilis, prudens, bellicosa, dapsilis et nitida .... Quos enim Britones, +Anglos, Ligures, si bonis eos moribus videamus, non illico Francos +homines appellemus? (p. 478.) He owns, however, that the vivacity of the +French degenerates into petulance among foreigners, (p. 488.) and vain +loquaciousness, (p. 502.)] + +[Footnote 9: Per viam quam jamdudum Carolus Magnus mirificus rex +Francorum aptari fecit usque C. P., (Gesta Francorum, p. 1. Robert. +Monach. Hist. Hieros. l. i. p. 33, &c.)] + +[Footnote 10: John Tilpinus, or Turpinus, was archbishop of Rheims, A.D. +773. After the year 1000, this romance was composed in his name, by +a monk of the borders of France and Spain; and such was the idea of +ecclesiastical merit, that he describes himself as a fighting and +drinking priest! Yet the book of lies was pronounced authentic by Pope +Calixtus II., (A.D. 1122,) and is respectfully quoted by the abbot +Suger, in the great Chronicles of St. Denys, (Fabric Bibliot. Latin +Medii Aevi, edit. Mansi, tom. iv. p. 161.)] + +It may occasion some surprise that the Roman pontiff should erect, in +the heart of France, the tribunal from whence he hurled his anathemas +against the king; but our surprise will vanish so soon as we form a just +estimate of a king of France of the eleventh century. [11] Philip the +First was the great-grandson of Hugh Capet, the founder of the present +race, who, in the decline of Charlemagne's posterity, added the regal +title to his patrimonial estates of Paris and Orleans. In this narrow +compass, he was possessed of wealth and jurisdiction; but in the rest +of France, Hugh and his first descendants were no more than the feudal +lords of about sixty dukes and counts, of independent and hereditary +power, [12] who disdained the control of laws and legal assemblies, and +whose disregard of their sovereign was revenged by the disobedience of +their inferior vassals. At Clermont, in the territories of the count +of Auvergne, [13] the pope might brave with impunity the resentment +of Philip; and the council which he convened in that city was not less +numerous or respectable than the synod of Placentia. [14] Besides his +court and council of Roman cardinals, he was supported by thirteen +archbishops and two hundred and twenty-five bishops: the number of +mitred prelates was computed at four hundred; and the fathers of the +church were blessed by the saints and enlightened by the doctors of the +age. From the adjacent kingdoms, a martial train of lords and knights of +power and renown attended the council, [15] in high expectation of its +resolves; and such was the ardor of zeal and curiosity, that the city +was filled, and many thousands, in the month of November, erected their +tents or huts in the open field. A session of eight days produced some +useful or edifying canons for the reformation of manners; a severe +censure was pronounced against the license of private war; the Truce of +God [16] was confirmed, a suspension of hostilities during four days +of the week; women and priests were placed under the safeguard of the +church; and a protection of three years was extended to husbandmen +and merchants, the defenceless victims of military rapine. But a law, +however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper +of the times; and the benevolent efforts of Urban deserve the less +praise, since he labored to appease some domestic quarrels that he might +spread the flames of war from the Atlantic to the Euphrates. From the +synod of Placentia, the rumor of his great design had gone forth among +the nations: the clergy on their return had preached in every diocese +the merit and glory of the deliverance of the Holy Land; and when the +pope ascended a lofty scaffold in the market-place of Clermont, his +eloquence was addressed to a well-prepared and impatient audience. +His topics were obvious, his exhortation was vehement, his success +inevitable. The orator was interrupted by the shout of thousands, who +with one voice, and in their rustic idiom, exclaimed aloud, "God wills +it, God wills it." [17] "It is indeed the will of God," replied the +pope; "and let this memorable word, the inspiration surely of the +Holy Spirit, be forever adopted as your cry of battle, to animate the +devotion and courage of the champions of Christ. His cross is the symbol +of your salvation; wear it, a red, a bloody cross, as an external mark, +on your breasts or shoulders, as a pledge of your sacred and irrevocable +engagement." The proposal was joyfully accepted; great numbers, both of +the clergy and laity, impressed on their garments the sign of the cross, +[18] and solicited the pope to march at their head. This dangerous honor +was declined by the more prudent successor of Gregory, who alleged +the schism of the church, and the duties of his pastoral office, +recommending to the faithful, who were disqualified by sex or +profession, by age or infirmity, to aid, with their prayers and alms, +the personal service of their robust brethren. The name and powers +of his legate he devolved on Adhemar bishop of Puy, the first who had +received the cross at his hands. The foremost of the temporal chiefs was +Raymond count of Thoulouse, whose ambassadors in the council excused the +absence, and pledged the honor, of their master. After the confession +and absolution of their sins, the champions of the cross were dismissed +with a superfluous admonition to invite their countrymen and friends; +and their departure for the Holy Land was fixed to the festival of the +Assumption, the fifteenth of August, of the ensuing year. [19] + +[Footnote 11: See Etat de la France, by the Count de Boulainvilliers, +tom. i. p. 180-182, and the second volume of the Observations sur +l'Histoire de France, by the Abbe de Mably.] + +[Footnote 12: In the provinces to the south of the Loire, the first +Capetians were scarcely allowed a feudal supremacy. On all sides, +Normandy, Bretagne, Aquitain, Burgundy, Lorraine, and Flanders, +contracted the same and limits of the proper France. See Hadrian Vales. +Notitia Galliarum] + +[Footnote 13: These counts, a younger branch of the dukes of Aquitain, +were at length despoiled of the greatest part of their country by Philip +Augustus. The bishops of Clermont gradually became princes of the city. +Melanges, tires d'une grand Bibliotheque, tom. xxxvi. p. 288, &c.] + +[Footnote 14: See the Acts of the council of Clermont, Concil. tom. xii. +p. 829, &c.] + +[Footnote 15: Confluxerunt ad concilium e multis regionibus, viri +potentes et honorati, innumeri quamvis cingulo laicalis militiae +superbi, (Baldric, an eye-witness, p. 86-88. Robert. Monach. p. 31, 32. +Will. Tyr. i. 14, 15, p. 639-641. Guibert, p. 478-480. Fulcher. Carnot. +p. 382.)] + +[Footnote 16: The Truce of God (Treva, or Treuga Dei) was first invented +in Aquitain, A.D. 1032; blamed by some bishops as an occasion of +perjury, and rejected by the Normans as contrary to their privileges +(Ducange, Gloss Latin. tom. vi. p. 682-685.)] + +[Footnote 17: Deus vult, Deus vult! was the pure acclamation of +the clergy who understood Latin, (Robert. Mon. l. i. p. 32.) By the +illiterate laity, who spoke the Provincial or Limousin idiom, it was +corrupted to Deus lo volt, or Diex el volt. See Chron. Casinense, l. iv. +c. 11, p. 497, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. tom. iv., and Ducange, +(Dissertat xi. p. 207, sur Joinville, and Gloss. Latin. tom. ii. p. +690,) who, in his preface, produces a very difficult specimen of the +dialect of Rovergue, A.D. 1100, very near, both in time and place, to +the council of Clermont, (p. 15, 16.)] + +[Footnote 18: Most commonly on their shoulders, in gold, or silk, or +cloth sewed on their garments. In the first crusade, all were red, in +the third, the French alone preserved that color, while green crosses +were adopted by the Flemings, and white by the English, (Ducange, tom. +ii. p. 651.) Yet in England, the red ever appears the favorite, and as +if were, the national, color of our military ensigns and uniforms.] + +[Footnote 19: Bongarsius, who has published the original writers of the +crusades, adopts, with much complacency, the fanatic title of Guibertus, +Gesta Dei per Francos; though some critics propose to read Gesta Diaboli +per Francos, (Hanoviae, 1611, two vols. in folio.) I shall briefly +enumerate, as they stand in this collection, the authors whom I have +used for the first crusade. + + I. Gesta Francorum. + + II. Robertus Monachus. + + III. Baldricus. + + IV. Raimundus de Agiles. + + V. Albertus Aquensis VI. Fulcherius Carnotensis. + + VII. Guibertus. + + VIII. Willielmus Tyriensis. Muratori has given us, + + IX. Radulphus Cadomensis de Gestis Tancredi, + + (Script. Rer. Ital. tom. v. p. 285-333,) + + X. Bernardus Thesaurarius de Acquisitione Terrae Sanctae, + + (tom. vii. p. 664-848.) + +The last of these was unknown to a late French historian, who has given +a large and critical list of the writers of the crusades, (Esprit des +Croisades, tom. i. p. 13-141,) and most of whose judgments my own +experience will allow me to ratify. It was late before I could obtain a +sight of the French historians collected by Duchesne. I. Petri Tudebodi +Sacerdotis Sivracensis Historia de Hierosolymitano Itinere, (tom. iv. +p. 773-815,) has been transfused into the first anonymous writer of +Bongarsius. II. The Metrical History of the first Crusade, in vii. +books, (p. 890-912,) is of small value or account. * Note: Several +new documents, particularly from the East, have been collected by +the industry of the modern historians of the crusades, M. Michaud and +Wilken.--M.] + +So familiar, and as it were so natural to man, is the practice of +violence, that our indulgence allows the slightest provocation, the most +disputable right, as a sufficient ground of national hostility. But the +name and nature of a holy war demands a more rigorous scrutiny; nor +can we hastily believe, that the servants of the Prince of Peace would +unsheathe the sword of destruction, unless the motive were pure, the +quarrel legitimate, and the necessity inevitable. The policy of an +action may be determined from the tardy lessons of experience; but, +before we act, our conscience should be satisfied of the justice and +propriety of our enterprise. In the age of the crusades, the Christians, +both of the East and West, were persuaded of their lawfulness and merit; +their arguments are clouded by the perpetual abuse of Scripture and +rhetoric; but they seem to insist on the right of natural and religious +defence, their peculiar title to the Holy Land, and the impiety of their +Pagan and Mahometan foes. [20] + +I. The right of a just defence may fairly include our civil and +spiritual allies: it depends on the existence of danger; and that danger +must be estimated by the twofold consideration of the malice, and +the power, of our enemies. A pernicious tenet has been imputed to the +Mahometans, the duty of extirpating all other religions by the sword. +This charge of ignorance and bigotry is refuted by the Koran, by the +history of the Mussulman conquerors, and by their public and legal +toleration of the Christian worship. But it cannot be denied, that the +Oriental churches are depressed under their iron yoke; that, in peace +and war, they assert a divine and indefeasible claim of universal +empire; and that, in their orthodox creed, the unbelieving nations are +continually threatened with the loss of religion or liberty. In the +eleventh century, the victorious arms of the Turks presented a real +and urgent apprehension of these losses. They had subdued, in less +than thirty years, the kingdoms of Asia, as far as Jerusalem and the +Hellespont; and the Greek empire tottered on the verge of destruction. +Besides an honest sympathy for their brethren, the Latins had a right +and interest in the support of Constantinople, the most important +barrier of the West; and the privilege of defence must reach to prevent, +as well as to repel, an impending assault. But this salutary purpose +might have been accomplished by a moderate succor; and our calmer +reason must disclaim the innumerable hosts, and remote operations, which +overwhelmed Asia and depopulated Europe. [2011] + +[Footnote 20: If the reader will turn to the first scene of the First +Part of Henry the Fourth, he will see in the text of Shakespeare the +natural feelings of enthusiasm; and in the notes of Dr. Johnson the +workings of a bigoted, though vigorous mind, greedy of every pretence to +hate and persecute those who dissent from his creed.] + +[Footnote 2011: The manner in which the war was conducted surely has +little relation to the abstract question of the justice or injustice of +the war. The most just and necessary war may be conducted with the +most prodigal waste of human life, and the wildest fanaticism; the +most unjust with the coolest moderation and consummate generalship. The +question is, whether the liberties and religion of Europe were in danger +from the aggressions of Mahometanism? If so, it is difficult to +limit the right, though it may be proper to question the wisdom, of +overwhelming the enemy with the armed population of a whole continent, +and repelling, if possible, the invading conqueror into his native +deserts. The crusades are monuments of human folly! but to which of +the more regular wars civilized. Europe, waged for personal ambition or +national jealousy, will our calmer reason appeal as monuments either of +human justice or human wisdom?--M.] + +II. Palestine could add nothing to the strength or safety of the Latins; +and fanaticism alone could pretend to justify the conquest of that +distant and narrow province. The Christians affirmed that their +inalienable title to the promised land had been sealed by the blood +of their divine Savior; it was their right and duty to rescue their +inheritance from the unjust possessors, who profaned his sepulchre, and +oppressed the pilgrimage of his disciples. Vainly would it be alleged +that the preeminence of Jerusalem, and the sanctity of Palestine, have +been abolished with the Mosaic law; that the God of the Christians is +not a local deity, and that the recovery of Bethlem or Calvary, his +cradle or his tomb, will not atone for the violation of the moral +precepts of the gospel. Such arguments glance aside from the leaden +shield of superstition; and the religious mind will not easily +relinquish its hold on the sacred ground of mystery and miracle. + +III. But the holy wars which have been waged in every climate of the +globe, from Egypt to Livonia, and from Peru to Hindostan, require the +support of some more general and flexible tenet. It has been often +supposed, and sometimes affirmed, that a difference of religion is a +worthy cause of hostility; that obstinate unbelievers may be slain +or subdued by the champions of the cross; and that grace is the sole +fountain of dominion as well as of mercy. [2012] Above four hundred +years before the first crusade, the eastern and western provinces of +the Roman empire had been acquired about the same time, and in the same +manner, by the Barbarians of Germany and Arabia. Time and treaties had +legitimated the conquest of the Christian Franks; but in the eyes of +their subjects and neighbors, the Mahometan princes were still tyrants +and usurpers, who, by the arms of war or rebellion, might be lawfully +driven from their unlawful possession. [21] + +[Footnote 2012: "God," says the abbot Guibert, "invented the crusades as +a new way for the laity to atone for their sins and to merit salvation." +This extraordinary and characteristic passage must be given entire. +"Deus nostro tempore praelia sancta instituit, ut ordo equestris et +vulgus oberrans qui vetustae Paganitatis exemplo in mutuas versabatur +caedes, novum reperirent salutis promerendae genus, ut nec funditus +electa, ut fieri assolet, monastica conversatione, seu religiosa +qualibet professione saeculum relinquere congerentur; sed sub consueta +licentia et habitu ex suo ipsorum officio Dei aliquantenus gratiam +consequerentur." Guib. Abbas, p. 371. See Wilken, vol. i. p. 63.--M.] + +[Footnote 21: The vith Discourse of Fleury on Ecclesiastical History +(p. 223-261) contains an accurate and rational view of the causes and +effects of the crusades.] + +As the manners of the Christians were relaxed, their discipline of +penance [22] was enforced; and with the multiplication of sins, the +remedies were multiplied. In the primitive church, a voluntary and +open confession prepared the work of atonement. In the middle ages, the +bishops and priests interrogated the criminal; compelled him to account +for his thoughts, words, and actions; and prescribed the terms of +his reconciliation with God. But as this discretionary power might +alternately be abused by indulgence and tyranny, a rule of discipline +was framed, to inform and regulate the spiritual judges. This mode of +legislation was invented by the Greeks; their penitentials [23] were +translated, or imitated, in the Latin church; and, in the time of +Charlemagne, the clergy of every diocese were provided with a code, +which they prudently concealed from the knowledge of the vulgar. In this +dangerous estimate of crimes and punishments, each case was supposed, +each difference was remarked, by the experience or penetration of +the monks; some sins are enumerated which innocence could not have +suspected, and others which reason cannot believe; and the more ordinary +offences of fornication and adultery, of perjury and sacrilege, of +rapine and murder, were expiated by a penance, which, according to the +various circumstances, was prolonged from forty days to seven years. +During this term of mortification, the patient was healed, the criminal +was absolved, by a salutary regimen of fasts and prayers: the disorder +of his dress was expressive of grief and remorse; and he humbly +abstained from all the business and pleasure of social life. But the +rigid execution of these laws would have depopulated the palace, the +camp, and the city; the Barbarians of the West believed and trembled; +but nature often rebelled against principle; and the magistrate labored +without effect to enforce the jurisdiction of the priest. A literal +accomplishment of penance was indeed impracticable: the guilt of +adultery was multiplied by daily repetition; that of homicide might +involve the massacre of a whole people; each act was separately +numbered; and, in those times of anarchy and vice, a modest sinner might +easily incur a debt of three hundred years. His insolvency was relieved +by a commutation, or indulgence: a year of penance was appreciated at +twenty-six solidi [24] of silver, about four pounds sterling, for the +rich; at three solidi, or nine shillings, for the indigent: and these +alms were soon appropriated to the use of the church, which derived, +from the redemption of sins, an inexhaustible source of opulence and +dominion. A debt of three hundred years, or twelve hundred pounds, +was enough to impoverish a plentiful fortune; the scarcity of gold +and silver was supplied by the alienation of land; and the princely +donations of Pepin and Charlemagne are expressly given for the remedy +of their soul. It is a maxim of the civil law, that whosoever cannot pay +with his purse, must pay with his body; and the practice of flagellation +was adopted by the monks, a cheap, though painful equivalent. By a +fantastic arithmetic, a year of penance was taxed at three thousand +lashes; [25] and such was the skill and patience of a famous hermit, St. +Dominic of the iron Cuirass, [26] that in six days he could discharge +an entire century, by a whipping of three hundred thousand stripes. +His example was followed by many penitents of both sexes; and, as a +vicarious sacrifice was accepted, a sturdy disciplinarian might expiate +on his own back the sins of his benefactors. [27] These compensations +of the purse and the person introduced, in the eleventh century, a more +honorable mode of satisfaction. The merit of military service against +the Saracens of Africa and Spain had been allowed by the predecessors +of Urban the Second. In the council of Clermont, that pope proclaimed +a plenary indulgence to those who should enlist under the banner of the +cross; the absolution of all their sins, and a full receipt for all that +might be due of canonical penance. [28] The cold philosophy of modern +times is incapable of feeling the impression that was made on a sinful +and fanatic world. At the voice of their pastor, the robber, the +incendiary, the homicide, arose by thousands to redeem their souls, +by repeating on the infidels the same deeds which they had exercised +against their Christian brethren; and the terms of atonement were +eagerly embraced by offenders of every rank and denomination. None were +pure; none were exempt from the guilt and penalty of sin; and those who +were the least amenable to the justice of God and the church were the +best entitled to the temporal and eternal recompense of their pious +courage. If they fell, the spirit of the Latin clergy did not hesitate +to adorn their tomb with the crown of martyrdom; [29] and should they +survive, they could expect without impatience the delay and increase of +their heavenly reward. They offered their blood to the Son of God, who +had laid down his life for their salvation: they took up the cross, and +entered with confidence into the way of the Lord. His providence would +watch over their safety; perhaps his visible and miraculous power would +smooth the difficulties of their holy enterprise. The cloud and pillar +of Jehovah had marched before the Israelites into the promised land. +Might not the Christians more reasonably hope that the rivers would open +for their passage; that the walls of their strongest cities would fall +at the sound of their trumpets; and that the sun would be arrested in +his mid career, to allow them time for the destruction of the infidels? + +[Footnote 22: The penance, indulgences, &c., of the middle ages are +amply discussed by Muratori, (Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. v. +dissert. lxviii. p. 709-768,) and by M. Chais, (Lettres sur les Jubiles +et les Indulgences, tom. ii. lettres 21 & 22, p. 478-556,) with this +difference, that the abuses of superstition are mildly, perhaps faintly, +exposed by the learned Italian, and peevishly magnified by the Dutch +minister.] + +[Footnote 23: Schmidt (Histoire des Allemands, tom. ii. p. 211-220, +452-462) gives an abstract of the Penitential of Rhegino in the ninth, +and of Burchard in the tenth, century. In one year, five-and-thirty +murders were perpetrated at Worms.] + +[Footnote 24: Till the xiith century, we may support the clear account +of xii. denarii, or pence, to the solidus, or shilling; and xx. solidi +to the pound weight of silver, about the pound sterling. Our money is +diminished to a third, and the French to a fiftieth, of this primitive +standard.] + +[Footnote 25: Each century of lashes was sanctified with a recital of a +psalm, and the whole Psalter, with the accompaniment of 15,000 stripes, +was equivalent to five years.] + +[Footnote 26: The Life and Achievements of St. Dominic Loricatus was +composed by his friend and admirer, Peter Damianus. See Fleury, Hist. +Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 96-104. Baronius, A.D. 1056, No. 7, who observes, +from Damianus, how fashionable, even among ladies of quality, (sublimis +generis,) this expiation (purgatorii genus) was grown.] + +[Footnote 27: At a quarter, or even half a rial a lash, Sancho Panza +was a cheaper, and possibly not a more dishonest, workman. I remember in +Pere Labat (Voyages en Italie, tom. vii. p. 16-29) a very lively picture +of the dexterity of one of these artists.] + +[Footnote 28: Quicunque pro sola devotione, non pro honoris vel pecuniae +adoptione, ad liberandam ecclesiam Dei Jerusalem profectus fuerit, iter +illud pro omni poenitentia reputetur. Canon. Concil. Claromont. ii. +p. 829. Guibert styles it novum salutis genus, (p. 471,) and is almost +philosophical on the subject. * Note: See note, page 546.--M.] + +[Footnote 29: Such at least was the belief of the crusaders, and such is +the uniform style of the historians, (Esprit des Croisades, tom. iii. +p. 477;) but the prayer for the repose of their souls is inconsistent in +orthodox theology with the merits of martyrdom.] + + + + +Chapter LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part II. + +Of the chiefs and soldiers who marched to the holy sepulchre, I will +dare to affirm, that all were prompted by the spirit of enthusiasm; the +belief of merit, the hope of reward, and the assurance of divine aid. +But I am equally persuaded, that in many it was not the sole, that in +some it was not the leading, principle of action. The use and abuse of +religion are feeble to stem, they are strong and irresistible to +impel, the stream of national manners. Against the private wars of the +Barbarians, their bloody tournaments, licentious love, and judicial +duels, the popes and synods might ineffectually thunder. It is a more +easy task to provoke the metaphysical disputes of the Greeks, to drive +into the cloister the victims of anarchy or despotism, to sanctify the +patience of slaves and cowards, or to assume the merit of the humanity +and benevolence of modern Christians. War and exercise were the reigning +passions of the Franks or Latins; they were enjoined, as a penance, to +gratify those passions, to visit distant lands, and to draw their swords +against the nation of the East. Their victory, or even their attempt, +would immortalize the names of the intrepid heroes of the cross; and the +purest piety could not be insensible to the most splendid prospect of +military glory. In the petty quarrels of Europe, they shed the blood of +their friends and countrymen, for the acquisition perhaps of a castle +or a village. They could march with alacrity against the distant and +hostile nations who were devoted to their arms; their fancy already +grasped the golden sceptres of Asia; and the conquest of Apulia and +Sicily by the Normans might exalt to royalty the hopes of the most +private adventurer. Christendom, in her rudest state, must have yielded +to the climate and cultivation of the Mahometan countries; and their +natural and artificial wealth had been magnified by the tales of +pilgrims, and the gifts of an imperfect commerce. The vulgar, both the +great and small, were taught to believe every wonder, of lands flowing +with milk and honey, of mines and treasures, of gold and diamonds, of +palaces of marble and jasper, and of odoriferous groves of cinnamon and +frankincense. In this earthly paradise, each warrior depended on +his sword to carve a plenteous and honorable establishment, which +he measured only by the extent of his wishes. [30] Their vassals and +soldiers trusted their fortunes to God and their master: the spoils of +a Turkish emir might enrich the meanest follower of the camp; and +the flavor of the wines, the beauty of the Grecian women, [31] were +temptations more adapted to the nature, than to the profession, of the +champions of the cross. The love of freedom was a powerful incitement to +the multitudes who were oppressed by feudal or ecclesiastical tyranny. +Under this holy sign, the peasants and burghers, who were attached +to the servitude of the glebe, might escape from a haughty lord, and +transplant themselves and their families to a land of liberty. The monk +might release himself from the discipline of his convent: the debtor +might suspend the accumulation of usury, and the pursuit of his +creditors; and outlaws and malefactors of every cast might continue to +brave the laws and elude the punishment of their crimes. [32] + +[Footnote 30: The same hopes were displayed in the letters of the +adventurers ad animandos qui in Francia residerant. Hugh de Reiteste +could boast, that his share amounted to one abbey and ten castles, of +the yearly value of 1500 marks, and that he should acquire a hundred +castles by the conquest of Aleppo, (Guibert, p. 554, 555.)] + +[Footnote 31: In his genuine or fictitious letter to the count of +Flanders, Alexius mingles with the danger of the church, and the relics +of saints, the auri et argenti amor, and pulcherrimarum foeminarum +voluptas, (p. 476;) as if, says the indignant Guibert, the Greek women +were handsomer than those of France.] + +[Footnote 32: See the privileges of the Crucesignati, freedom from debt, +usury injury, secular justice, &c. The pope was their perpetual guardian +(Ducange, tom. ii. p. 651, 652.)] + +These motives were potent and numerous: when we have singly computed +their weight on the mind of each individual, we must add the infinite +series, the multiplying powers, of example and fashion. The first +proselytes became the warmest and most effectual missionaries of the +cross: among their friends and countrymen they preached the duty, the +merit, and the recompense, of their holy vow; and the most reluctant +hearers were insensibly drawn within the whirlpool of persuasion and +authority. The martial youths were fired by the reproach or suspicion +of cowardice; the opportunity of visiting with an army the sepulchre of +Christ was embraced by the old and infirm, by women and children, who +consulted rather their zeal than their strength; and those who in the +evening had derided the folly of their companions, were the most eager, +the ensuing day, to tread in their footsteps. The ignorance, which +magnified the hopes, diminished the perils, of the enterprise. Since the +Turkish conquest, the paths of pilgrimage were obliterated; the chiefs +themselves had an imperfect notion of the length of the way and the +state of their enemies; and such was the stupidity of the people, that, +at the sight of the first city or castle beyond the limits of their +knowledge, they were ready to ask whether that was not the Jerusalem, +the term and object of their labors. Yet the more prudent of the +crusaders, who were not sure that they should be fed from heaven with +a shower of quails or manna, provided themselves with those precious +metals, which, in every country, are the representatives of every +commodity. To defray, according to their rank, the expenses of the +road, princes alienated their provinces, nobles their lands and castles, +peasants their cattle and the instruments of husbandry. The value of +property was depreciated by the eager competition of multitudes; while +the price of arms and horses was raised to an exorbitant height by the +wants and impatience of the buyers. [33] Those who remained at home, +with sense and money, were enriched by the epidemical disease: the +sovereigns acquired at a cheap rate the domains of their vassals; and +the ecclesiastical purchasers completed the payment by the assurance of +their prayers. The cross, which was commonly sewed on the garment, in +cloth or silk, was inscribed by some zealots on their skin: a hot iron, +or indelible liquor, was applied to perpetuate the mark; and a crafty +monk, who showed the miraculous impression on his breast was repaid with +the popular veneration and the richest benefices of Palestine. [34] + +[Footnote 33: Guibert (p. 481) paints in lively colors this general +emotion. He was one of the few contemporaries who had genius enough to +feel the astonishing scenes that were passing before their eyes. Erat +itaque videre miraculum, caro omnes emere, atque vili vendere, &c.] + +[Footnote 34: Some instances of these stigmata are given in the Esprit +des Croisades, (tom. iii. p. 169 &c.,) from authors whom I have not +seen] + +The fifteenth of August had been fixed in the council of Clermont +for the departure of the pilgrims; but the day was anticipated by the +thoughtless and needy crowd of plebeians, and I shall briefly despatch +the calamities which they inflicted and suffered, before I enter on +the more serious and successful enterprise of the chiefs. Early in the +spring, from the confines of France and Lorraine, above sixty thousand +of the populace of both sexes flocked round the first missionary of the +crusade, and pressed him with clamorous importunity to lead them to the +holy sepulchre. The hermit, assuming the character, without the talents +or authority, of a general, impelled or obeyed the forward impulse of +his votaries along the banks of the Rhine and Danube. Their wants and +numbers soon compelled them to separate, and his lieutenant, Walter +the Penniless, a valiant though needy soldier, conducted a van guard of +pilgrims, whose condition may be determined from the proportion of eight +horsemen to fifteen thousand foot. The example and footsteps of Peter +were closely pursued by another fanatic, the monk Godescal, whose +sermons had swept away fifteen or twenty thousand peasants from the +villages of Germany. Their rear was again pressed by a herd of two +hundred thousand, the most stupid and savage refuse of the people, who +mingled with their devotion a brutal license of rapine, prostitution, +and drunkenness. Some counts and gentlemen, at the head of three +thousand horse, attended the motions of the multitude to partake in +the spoil; but their genuine leaders (may we credit such folly?) were +a goose and a goat, who were carried in the front, and to whom these +worthy Christians ascribed an infusion of the divine spirit. [35] +Of these, and of other bands of enthusiasts, the first and most easy +warfare was against the Jews, the murderers of the Son of God. In +the trading cities of the Moselle and the Rhine, their colonies were +numerous and rich; and they enjoyed, under the protection of the emperor +and the bishops, the free exercise of their religion. [36] At Verdun, +Treves, Mentz, Spires, Worms, many thousands of that unhappy people +were pillaged and massacred: [37] nor had they felt a more bloody stroke +since the persecution of Hadrian. A remnant was saved by the firmness of +their bishops, who accepted a feigned and transient conversion; but the +more obstinate Jews opposed their fanaticism to the fanaticism of the +Christians, barricadoed their houses, and precipitating themselves, +their families, and their wealth, into the rivers or the flames, +disappointed the malice, or at least the avarice, of their implacable +foes. + +[Footnote 35: Fuit et aliud scelus detestabile in hac congregatione +pedestris populi stulti et vesanae levitatis, anserem quendam divino +spiritu asserebant afflatum, et capellam non minus eodem repletam, et +has sibi duces secundae viae fecerant, &c., (Albert. Aquensis, l. i. +c. 31, p. 196.) Had these peasants founded an empire, they might have +introduced, as in Egypt, the worship of animals, which their philosophic +descend ants would have glossed over with some specious and subtile +allegory. * Note: A singular "allegoric" explanation of this strange +fact has recently been broached: it is connected with the charge of +idolatry and Eastern heretical opinions subsequently made against +the Templars. "We have no doubt that they were Manichee or Gnostic +standards." (The author says the animals themselves were carried before +the army.--M.) "The goose, in Egyptian symbols, as every Egyptian +scholar knows, meant 'divine Son,' or 'Son of God.' The goat meant +Typhon, or Devil. Thus we have the Manichee opposing principles of good +and evil, as standards, at the head of the ignorant mob of crusading +invaders. Can any one doubt that a large portion of this host must have +been infected with the Manichee or Gnostic idolatry?" Account of the +Temple Church by R. W. Billings, p. 5 London. 1838. This is, at all +events, a curious coincidence, especially considered in connection with +the extensive dissemination of the Paulician opinions among the common +people of Europe. At any rate, in so inexplicable a matter, we are +inclined to catch at any explanation, however wild or subtile.--M.] + +[Footnote 36: Benjamin of Tudela describes the state of his Jewish +brethren from Cologne along the Rhine: they were rich, generous, +learned, hospitable, and lived in the eager hope of the Messiah, +(Voyage, tom. i. p. 243-245, par Baratier.) In seventy years (he wrote +about A.D. 1170) they had recovered from these massacres.] + +[Footnote 37: These massacres and depredations on the Jews, which +were renewed at each crusade, are coolly related. It is true, that St. +Bernard (epist. 363, tom. i. p. 329) admonishes the Oriental Franks, non +sunt persequendi Judaei, non sunt trucidandi. The contrary doctrine had +been preached by a rival monk. * Note: This is an unjust sarcasm against +St. Bernard. He stood above all rivalry of this kind See note 31, c. l +x.--M] + +Between the frontiers of Austria and the seat of the Byzan tine +monarchy, the crusaders were compelled to traverse as interval of six +hundred miles; the wild and desolate countries of Hungary [38] and +Bulgaria. The soil is fruitful, and intersected with rivers; but it +was then covered with morasses and forests, which spread to a boundless +extent, whenever man has ceased to exercise his dominion over the earth. +Both nations had imbibed the rudiments of Christianity; the Hungarians +were ruled by their native princes; the Bulgarians by a lieutenant of +the Greek emperor; but, on the slightest provocation, their ferocious +nature was rekindled, and ample provocation was afforded by the +disorders of the first pilgrims Agriculture must have been unskilful +and languid among a people, whose cities were built of reeds and timber, +which were deserted in the summer season for the tents of hunters and +shepherds. A scanty supply of provisions was rudely demanded, forcibly +seized, and greedily consumed; and on the first quarrel, the crusaders +gave a loose to indignation and revenge. But their ignorance of the +country, of war, and of discipline, exposed them to every snare. The +Greek praefect of Bulgaria commanded a regular force; [381] at the +trumpet of the Hungarian king, the eighth or the tenth of his martial +subjects bent their bows and mounted on horseback; their policy was +insidious, and their retaliation on these pious robbers was unrelenting +and bloody. [39] About a third of the naked fugitives (and the hermit +Peter was of the number) escaped to the Thracian mountains; and +the emperor, who respected the pilgrimage and succor of the Latins, +conducted them by secure and easy journeys to Constantinople, and +advised them to await the arrival of their brethren. For a while they +remembered their faults and losses; but no sooner were they revived by +the hospitable entertainment, than their venom was again inflamed; they +stung their benefactor, and neither gardens, nor palaces, nor churches, +were safe from their depredations. For his own safety, Alexius allured +them to pass over to the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus; but their blind +impetuosity soon urged them to desert the station which he had assigned, +and to rush headlong against the Turks, who occupied the road to +Jerusalem. The hermit, conscious of his shame, had withdrawn from the +camp to Constantinople; and his lieutenant, Walter the Penniless, who +was worthy of a better command, attempted without success to introduce +some order and prudence among the herd of savages. They separated in +quest of prey, and themselves fell an easy prey to the arts of the +sultan. By a rumor that their foremost companions were rioting in the +spoils of his capital, Soliman [391] tempted the main body to descend +into the plain of Nice: they were overwhelmed by the Turkish arrows; and +a pyramid of bones [40] informed their companions of the place of their +defeat. Of the first crusaders, three hundred thousand had already +perished, before a single city was rescued from the infidels, before +their graver and more noble brethren had completed the preparations of +their enterprise. [41] + +[Footnote 38: See the contemporary description of Hungary in Otho of +Frisin gen, l. ii. c. 31, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. +vi. p. 665 666.] + +[Footnote 381: The narrative of the first march is very incorrect. The +first party moved under Walter de Pexego and Walter the Penniless: they +passed safe through Hungary, the kingdom of Kalmeny, and were attacked +in Bulgaria. Peter followed with 40,000 men; passed through Hungary; +but seeing the clothes of sixteen crusaders, who had been empaled on the +walls of Semlin. he attacked and stormed the city. He then marched to +Nissa, where, at first, he was hospitably received: but an accidental +quar rel taking place, he suffered a great defeat. Wilken, vol. i. p. +84-86--M.] + +[Footnote 39: The old Hungarians, without excepting Turotzius, are ill +informed of the first crusade, which they involve in a single passage. +Katona, like ourselves, can only quote the writers of France; but he +compares with local science the ancient and modern geography. Ante +portam Cyperon, is Sopron or Poson; Mallevilla, Zemlin; Fluvius +Maroe, Savus; Lintax, Leith; Mesebroch, or Merseburg, Ouar, or Moson; +Tollenburg, Pragg, (de Regibus Hungariae, tom. iii. p. 19-53.)] + +[Footnote 391: Soliman had been killed in 1085, in a battle against +Toutoneh, brother of Malek Schah, between Appelo and Antioch. It was +not Soliman, therefore, but his son David, surnamed Kilidje Arslan, +the "Sword of the Lion," who reigned in Nice. Almost all the occidental +authors have fallen into this mistake, which was detected by M. +Michaud, Hist. des Crois. 4th edit. and Extraits des Aut. Arab. rel. aux +Croisades, par M. Reinaud Paris, 1829, p. 3. His kingdom extended from +the Orontes to the Euphra tes, and as far as the Bosphorus. Kilidje +Arslan must uniformly be substituted for Soliman. Brosset note on Le +Beau, tom. xv. p. 311.--M.] + +[Footnote 40: Anna Comnena (Alexias, l. x. p. 287) describes this as a +mountain. In the siege of Nice, such were used by the Franks themselves +as the materials of a wall.] + +[Footnote 41: See table on following page.] + +"To save time and space, I shall represent, in a short table, the +particular references to the great events of the first crusade." + + + [See Table 1.: Events Of The First Crusade] + +None of the great sovereigns of Europe embarked their persons in the +first crusade. The emperor Henry the Fourth was not disposed to obey +the summons of the pope: Philip the First of France was occupied by his +pleasures; William Rufus of England by a recent conquest; the kin`gs of +Spain were engaged in a domestic war against the Moors; and the northern +monarchs of Scotland, Denmark, [42] Sweden, and Poland, were yet +strangers to the passions and interests of the South. The religious +ardor was more strongly felt by the princes of the second order, who +held an important place in the feudal system. Their situation will +naturally cast under four distinct heads the review of their names and +characters; but I may escape some needless repetition, by observing at +once, that courage and the exercise of arms are the common attribute of +these Christian adventurers. I. The first rank both in war and council +is justly due to Godfrey of Bouillon; and happy would it have been for +the crusaders, if they had trusted themselves to the sole conduct of +that accomplished hero, a worthy representative of Charlemagne, from +whom he was descended in the female line. His father was of the noble +race of the counts of Boulogne: Brabant, the lower province of Lorraine, +[43] was the inheritance of his mother; and by the emperor's bounty he +was himself invested with that ducal title, which has been improperly +transferred to his lordship of Bouillon in the Ardennes. [44] In the +service of Henry the Fourth, he bore the great standard of the empire, +and pierced with his lance the breast of Rodolph, the rebel king: +Godfrey was the first who ascended the walls of Rome; and his sickness, +his vow, perhaps his remorse for bearing arms against the pope, +confirmed an early resolution of visiting the holy sepulchre, not as +a pilgrim, but a deliverer. His valor was matured by prudence and +moderation; his piety, though blind, was sincere; and, in the tumult +of a camp, he practised the real and fictitious virtues of a convent. +Superior to the private factions of the chiefs, he reserved his enmity +for the enemies of Christ; and though he gained a kingdom by the +attempt, his pure and disinterested zeal was acknowledged by his rivals. +Godfrey of Bouillon [45] was accompanied by his two brothers, by Eustace +the elder, who had succeeded to the county of Boulogne, and by the +younger, Baldwin, a character of more ambiguous virtue. The duke of +Lorraine, was alike celebrated on either side of the Rhine: from his +birth and education, he was equally conversant with the French and +Teutonic languages: the barons of France, Germany, and Lorraine, +assembled their vassals; and the confederate force that marched under +his banner was composed of fourscore thousand foot and about ten +thousand horse. II. In the parliament that was held at Paris, in the +king's presence, about two months after the council of Clermont, Hugh, +count of Vermandois, was the most conspicuous of the princes who assumed +the cross. But the appellation of the Great was applied, not so much to +his merit or possessions, (though neither were contemptible,) as to the +royal birth of the brother of the king of France. [46] Robert, duke +of Normandy, was the eldest son of William the Conqueror; but on his +father's death he was deprived of the kingdom of England, by his own +indolence and the activity of his brother Rufus. The worth of Robert was +degraded by an excessive levity and easiness of temper: his cheerfulness +seduced him to the indulgence of pleasure; his profuse liberality +impoverished the prince and people; his indiscriminate clemency +multiplied the number of offenders; and the amiable qualities of +a private man became the essential defects of a sovereign. For the +trifling sum of ten thousand marks, he mortgaged Normandy during his +absence to the English usurper; [47] but his engagement and behavior in +the holy war announced in Robert a reformation of manners, and restored +him in some degree to the public esteem. Another Robert was count of +Flanders, a royal province, which, in this century, gave three queens to +the thrones of France, England, and Denmark: he was surnamed the +Sword and Lance of the Christians; but in the exploits of a soldier he +sometimes forgot the duties of a general. Stephen, count of Chartres, of +Blois, and of Troyes, was one of the richest princes of the age; and +the number of his castles has been compared to the three hundred and +sixty-five days of the year. His mind was improved by literature; and, +in the council of the chiefs, the eloquent Stephen [48] was chosen to +discharge the office of their president. These four were the principal +leaders of the French, the Normans, and the pilgrims of the British +isles: but the list of the barons who were possessed of three or four +towns would exceed, says a contemporary, the catalogue of the Trojan +war. [49] III. In the south of France, the command was assumed by +Adhemar bishop of Puy, the pope egate, and by Raymond count of St. +Giles and Thoulouse who added the prouder titles of duke of Narbonne +and marquis of Provence. The former was a respectable prelate, alike +qualified for this world and the next. The latter was a veteran warrior, +who had fought against the Saracens of Spain, and who consecrated +his declining age, not only to the deliverance, but to the perpetual +service, of the holy sepulchre. His experience and riches gave him a +strong ascendant in the Christian camp, whose distress he was often +able, and sometimes willing, to relieve. But it was easier for him to +extort the praise of the Infidels, than to preserve the love of his +subjects and associates. His eminent qualities were clouded by a temper +haughty, envious, and obstinate; and, though he resigned an ample +patrimony for the cause of God, his piety, in the public opinion, was +not exempt from avarice and ambition. [50] A mercantile, rather than +a martial, spirit prevailed among his provincials, [51] a common name, +which included the natives of Auvergne and Languedoc, [52] the vassals +of the kingdom of Burgundy or Arles. From the adjacent frontier of Spain +he drew a band of hardy adventurers; as he marched through Lombardy, +a crowd of Italians flocked to his standard, and his united force +consisted of one hundred thousand horse and foot. If Raymond was the +first to enlist and the last to depart, the delay may be excused by the +greatness of his preparation and the promise of an everlasting farewell. +IV. The name of Bohemond, the son of Robert Guiscard, was already famous +by his double victory over the Greek emperor; but his father's will had +reduced him to the principality of Tarentum, and the remembrance of his +Eastern trophies, till he was awakened by the rumor and passage of the +French pilgrims. It is in the person of this Norman chief that we +may seek for the coolest policy and ambition, with a small allay of +religious fanaticism. His conduct may justify a belief that he had +secretly directed the design of the pope, which he affected to second +with astonishment and zeal: at the siege of Amalphi, his example and +discourse inflamed the passions of a confederate army; he instantly tore +his garment to supply crosses for the numerous candidates, and prepared +to visit Constantinople and Asia at the head of ten thousand horse and +twenty thousand foot. Several princes of the Norman race accompanied +this veteran general; and his cousin Tancred [53] was the partner, +rather than the servant, of the war. + +In the accomplished character of Tancred we discover all the virtues of +a perfect knight, [54] the true spirit of chivalry, which inspired the +generous sentiments and social offices of man far better than the base +philosophy, or the baser religion, of the times. + +[Footnote 42: The author of the Esprit des Croisades has doubted, and +might have disbelieved, the crusade and tragic death of Prince Sueno, +with 1500 or 15,000 Danes, who was cut off by Sultan Soliman in +Cappadocia, but who still lives in the poem of Tasso, (tom. iv. p. +111-115.)] + +[Footnote 43: The fragments of the kingdoms of Lotharingia, or Lorraine, +were broken into the two duchies of the Moselle and of the Meuse: the +first has preserved its name, which in the latter has been changed into +that of Brabant, (Vales. Notit. Gall. p. 283-288.)] + +[Footnote 44: See, in the Description of France, by the Abbe de +Longuerue, the articles of Boulogne, part i. p. 54; Brabant, part ii. +p. 47, 48; Bouillon, p. 134. On his departure, Godfrey sold or pawned +Bouillon to the church for 1300 marks.] + +[Footnote 45: See the family character of Godfrey, in William of Tyre, +l. ix. c. 5-8; his previous design in Guibert, (p. 485;) his sickness +and vow in Bernard. Thesaur., (c 78.)] + +[Footnote 46: Anna Comnena supposes, that Hugh was proud of his nobility +riches, and power, (l. x. p. 288: ) the two last articles appear more +equivocal; but an item, which seven hundred years ago was famous in the +palace of Constantinople, attests the ancient dignity of the Capetian +family of France.] + +[Footnote 47: Will. Gemeticensis, l. vii. c. 7, p. 672, 673, in Camden. +Normani cis. He pawned the duchy for one hundredth part of the present +yearly revenue. Ten thousand marks may be equal to five hundred thousand +livres, and Normandy annually yields fifty-seven millions to the king, +(Necker, Administration des Finances, tom. i. p. 287.)] + +[Footnote 48: His original letter to his wife is inserted in the +Spicilegium of Dom. Luc. d'Acheri, tom. iv. and quoted in the Esprit des +Croisades tom. i. p. 63.] + +[Footnote 49: Unius enim duum, trium seu quatuor oppidorum dominos quis +numeret? quorum tanta fuit copia, ut non vix totidem Trojana obsidio +coegisse putetur. (Ever the lively and interesting Guibert, p. 486.)] + +[Footnote 50: It is singular enough, that Raymond of St. Giles, a second +character in the genuine history of the crusades, should shine as the +first of heroes in the writings of the Greeks (Anna Comnen. Alexiad, l. +x xi.) and the Arabians, (Longueruana, p. 129.)] + +[Footnote 51: Omnes de Burgundia, et Alvernia, et Vasconia, et Gothi, +(of Languedoc,) provinciales appellabantur, caeteri vero Francigenae +et hoc in exercitu; inter hostes autem Franci dicebantur. Raymond des +Agiles, p. 144.] + +[Footnote 52: The town of his birth, or first appanage, was consecrated +to St Aegidius, whose name, as early as the first crusade, was corrupted +by the French into St. Gilles, or St. Giles. It is situate in the Iowen +Languedoc, between Nismes and the Rhone, and still boasts a collegiate +church of the foundation of Raymond, (Melanges tires d'une Grande +Bibliotheque, tom. xxxvii. p 51.)] + +[Footnote 53: The mother of Tancred was Emma, sister of the great Robert +Guiscard; his father, the Marquis Odo the Good. It is singular enough, +that the family and country of so illustrious a person should be +unknown; but Muratori reasonably conjectures that he was an Italian, and +perhaps of the race of the marquises of Montferrat in Piedmont, (Script. +tom. v. p. 281, 282.)] + +[Footnote 54: To gratify the childish vanity of the house of Este. Tasso +has inserted in his poem, and in the first crusade, a fabulous hero, +the brave and amorous Rinaldo, (x. 75, xvii. 66-94.) He might borrow his +name from a Rinaldo, with the Aquila bianca Estense, who vanquished, +as the standard-bearer of the Roman church, the emperor Frederic I., +(Storia Imperiale di Ricobaldo, in Muratori Script. Ital. tom. ix. p. +360. Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, iii. 30.) But, 1. The distance of sixty +years between the youth of the two Rinaldos destroys their identity. 2. +The Storia Imperiale is a forgery of the Conte Boyardo, at the end of +the xvth century, (Muratori, p. 281-289.) 3. This Rinaldo, and his +exploits, are not less chimerical than the hero of Tasso, (Muratori, +Antichita Estense, tom. i. p. 350.)] + + + + +Chapter LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part III. + +Between the age of Charlemagne and that of the crusades, a revolution +had taken place among the Spaniards, the Normans, and the French, +which was gradually extended to the rest of Europe. The service of the +infantry was degraded to the plebeians; the cavalry formed the strength +of the armies, and the honorable name of miles, or soldier, was confined +to the gentlemen [55] who served on horseback, and were invested with +the character of knighthood. The dukes and counts, who had usurped +the rights of sovereignty, divided the provinces among their faithful +barons: the barons distributed among their vassals the fiefs or +benefices of their jurisdiction; and these military tenants, the peers +of each other and of their lord, composed the noble or equestrian +order, which disdained to conceive the peasant or burgher as of the same +species with themselves. The dignity of their birth was preserved by +pure and equal alliances; their sons alone, who could produce four +quarters or lines of ancestry without spot or reproach, might legally +pretend to the honor of knighthood; but a valiant plebeian was sometimes +enriched and ennobled by the sword, and became the father of a new race. +A single knight could impart, according to his judgment, the character +which he received; and the warlike sovereigns of Europe derived more +glory from this personal distinction than from the lustre of their +diadem. This ceremony, of which some traces may be found in Tacitus and +the woods of Germany, [56] was in its origin simple and profane; the +candidate, after some previous trial, was invested with the sword and +spurs; and his cheek or shoulder was touched with a slight blow, as an +emblem of the last affront which it was lawful for him to endure. But +superstition mingled in every public and private action of life: in +the holy wars, it sanctified the profession of arms; and the order of +chivalry was assimilated in its rights and privileges to the sacred +orders of priesthood. The bath and white garment of the novice were +an indecent copy of the regeneration of baptism: his sword, which he +offered on the altar, was blessed by the ministers of religion: his +solemn reception was preceded by fasts and vigils; and he was created +a knight in the name of God, of St. George, and of St. Michael the +archangel. He swore to accomplish the duties of his profession; +and education, example, and the public opinion, were the inviolable +guardians of his oath. As the champion of God and the ladies, (I blush +to unite such discordant names,) he devoted himself to speak the truth; +to maintain the right; to protect the distressed; to practise courtesy, +a virtue less familiar to the ancients; to pursue the infidels; to +despise the allurements of ease and safety; and to vindicate in every +perilous adventure the honor of his character. The abuse of the same +spirit provoked the illiterate knight to disdain the arts of industry +and peace; to esteem himself the sole judge and avenger of his own +injuries; and proudly to neglect the laws of civil society and military +discipline. Yet the benefits of this institution, to refine the temper +of Barbarians, and to infuse some principles of faith, justice, and +humanity, were strongly felt, and have been often observed. The asperity +of national prejudice was softened; and the community of religion and +arms spread a similar color and generous emulation over the face of +Christendom. Abroad in enterprise and pilgrimage, at home in martial +exercise, the warriors of every country were perpetually associated; and +impartial taste must prefer a Gothic tournament to the Olympic games of +classic antiquity. [57] Instead of the naked spectacles which corrupted +the manners of the Greeks, and banished from the stadium the virgins +and matrons, the pompous decoration of the lists was crowned with the +presence of chaste and high-born beauty, from whose hands the conqueror +received the prize of his dexterity and courage. The skill and strength +that were exerted in wrestling and boxing bear a distant and doubtful +relation to the merit of a soldier; but the tournaments, as they were +invented in France, and eagerly adopted both in the East and West, +presented a lively image of the business of the field. The single +combats, the general skirmish, the defence of a pass, or castle, were +rehearsed as in actual service; and the contest, both in real and mimic +war, was decided by the superior management of the horse and lance. The +lance was the proper and peculiar weapon of the knight: his horse was +of a large and heavy breed; but this charger, till he was roused by the +approaching danger, was usually led by an attendant, and he quietly rode +a pad or palfrey of a more easy pace. His helmet and sword, his greaves +and buckler, it would be superfluous to describe; but I may remark, +that, at the period of the crusades, the armor was less ponderous than +in later times; and that, instead of a massy cuirass, his breast was +defended by a hauberk or coat of mail. When their long lances were fixed +in the rest, the warriors furiously spurred their horses against the +foe; and the light cavalry of the Turks and Arabs could seldom stand +against the direct and impetuous weight of their charge. Each knight was +attended to the field by his faithful squire, a youth of equal birth and +similar hopes; he was followed by his archers and men at arms, and four, +or five, or six soldiers were computed as the furniture of a complete +lance. In the expeditions to the neighboring kingdoms or the Holy Land, +the duties of the feudal tenure no longer subsisted; the voluntary +service of the knights and their followers were either prompted by zeal +or attachment, or purchased with rewards and promises; and the numbers +of each squadron were measured by the power, the wealth, and the fame, +of each independent chieftain. They were distinguished by his banner, +his armorial coat, and his cry of war; and the most ancient families +of Europe must seek in these achievements the origin and proof of +their nobility. In this rapid portrait of chivalry I have been urged to +anticipate on the story of the crusades, at once an effect and a cause, +of this memorable institution. [58] + +[Footnote 55: Of the words gentilis, gentilhomme, gentleman, two +etymologies are produced: 1. From the Barbarians of the fifth century, +the soldiers, and at length the conquerors of the Roman empire, who were +vain of their foreign nobility; and 2. From the sense of the civilians, +who consider gentilis as synonymous with ingenuus. Selden inclines to +the first but the latter is more pure, as well as probable.] + +[Footnote 56: Framea scutoque juvenem ornant. Tacitus, Germania. c. 13.] + +[Footnote 57: The athletic exercises, particularly the caestus and +pancratium, were condemned by Lycurgus, Philopoemen, and Galen, a +lawgiver, a general, and a physician. Against their authority and +reasons, the reader may weigh the apology of Lucian, in the character of +Solon. See West on the Olympic Games, in his Pindar, vol. ii. p. 86-96 +243-248] + +[Footnote 58: On the curious subjects of knighthood, knights-service, +nobility, arms, cry of war, banners, and tournaments, an ample fund of +information may be sought in Selden, (Opera, tom. iii. part i. Titles +of Honor, part ii. c. 1, 3, 5, 8,) Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. iv. p. +398-412, &c.,) Dissertations sur Joinville, (i. vi.--xii. p. 127-142, +p. 161-222,) and M. de St. Palaye, (Memoires sur la Chevalerie.)] + +Such were the troops, and such the leaders, who assumed the cross for +the deliverance of the holy sepulchre. As soon as they were relieved by +the absence of the plebeian multitude, they encouraged each other, +by interviews and messages, to accomplish their vow, and hasten their +departure. Their wives and sisters were desirous of partaking the danger +and merit of the pilgrimage: their portable treasures were conveyed in +bars of silver and gold; and the princes and barons were attended by +their equipage of hounds and hawks to amuse their leisure and to supply +their table. The difficulty of procuring subsistence for so many myriads +of men and horses engaged them to separate their forces: their choice +or situation determined the road; and it was agreed to meet in +the neighborhood of Constantinople, and from thence to begin their +operations against the Turks. From the banks of the Meuse and the +Moselle, Godfrey of Bouillon followed the direct way of Germany, +Hungary, and Bulgaria; and, as long as he exercised the sole command +every step afforded some proof of his prudence and virtue. On the +confines of Hungary he was stopped three weeks by a Christian people, +to whom the name, or at least the abuse, of the cross was justly odious. +The Hungarians still smarted with the wounds which they had received +from the first pilgrims: in their turn they had abused the right of +defence and retaliation; and they had reason to apprehend a severe +revenge from a hero of the same nation, and who was engaged in the same +cause. But, after weighing the motives and the events, the virtuous +duke was content to pity the crimes and misfortunes of his worthless +brethren; and his twelve deputies, the messengers of peace, requested in +his name a free passage and an equal market. To remove their suspicions, +Godfrey trusted himself, and afterwards his brother, to the faith of +Carloman, [581] king of Hungary, who treated them with a simple but +hospitable entertainment: the treaty was sanctified by their common +gospel; and a proclamation, under pain of death, restrained the +animosity and license of the Latin soldiers. From Austria to Belgrade, +they traversed the plains of Hungary, without enduring or offering an +injury; and the proximity of Carloman, who hovered on their flanks with +his numerous cavalry, was a precaution not less useful for their safety +than for his own. They reached the banks of the Save; and no sooner had +they passed the river, than the king of Hungary restored the hostages, +and saluted their departure with the fairest wishes for the success of +their enterprise. With the same conduct and discipline, Godfrey +pervaded the woods of Bulgaria and the frontiers of Thrace; and might +congratulate himself that he had almost reached the first term of his +pilgrimage, without drawing his sword against a Christian adversary. +After an easy and pleasant journey through Lombardy, from Turin to +Aquileia, Raymond and his provincials marched forty days through +the savage country of Dalmatia [59] and Sclavonia. The weather was a +perpetual fog; the land was mountainous and desolate; the natives were +either fugitive or hostile: loose in their religion and government, they +refused to furnish provisions or guides; murdered the stragglers; and +exercised by night and day the vigilance of the count, who derived +more security from the punishment of some captive robbers than from his +interview and treaty with the prince of Scodra. [60] His march between +Durazzo and Constantinople was harassed, without being stopped, by +the peasants and soldiers of the Greek emperor; and the same faint and +ambiguous hostility was prepared for the remaining chiefs, who passed +the Adriatic from the coast of Italy. Bohemond had arms and vessels, +and foresight and discipline; and his name was not forgotten in the +provinces of Epirus and Thessaly. Whatever obstacles he encountered were +surmounted by his military conduct and the valor of Tancred; and if the +Norman prince affected to spare the Greeks, he gorged his soldiers +with the full plunder of an heretical castle. [61] The nobles of France +pressed forwards with the vain and thoughtless ardor of which their +nation has been sometimes accused. From the Alps to Apulia the march of +Hugh the Great, of the two Roberts, and of Stephen of Chartres, through +a wealthy country, and amidst the applauding Catholics, was a devout or +triumphant progress: they kissed the feet of the Roman pontiff; and the +golden standard of St. Peter was delivered to the brother of the French +monarch. [62] But in this visit of piety and pleasure, they neglected +to secure the season, and the means of their embarkation: the winter was +insensibly lost: their troops were scattered and corrupted in the towns +of Italy. They separately accomplished their passage, regardless +of safety or dignity; and within nine months from the feast of the +Assumption, the day appointed by Urban, all the Latin princes had +reached Constantinople. But the count of Vermandois was produced as +a captive; his foremost vessels were scattered by a tempest; and his +person, against the law of nations, was detained by the lieutenants of +Alexius. Yet the arrival of Hugh had been announced by four-and-twenty +knights in golden armor, who commanded the emperor to revere the general +of the Latin Christians, the brother of the king of kings. [63] [631] + +[Footnote 581: Carloman (or Calmany) demanded the brother of Godfrey as +hostage but Count Baldwin refused the humiliating submission. Godfrey +shamed him into this sacrifice for the common good by offering to +surrender himself Wilken, vol. i. p. 104.--M.] + +[Footnote 59: The Familiae Dalmaticae of Ducange are meagre and +imperfect; the national historians are recent and fabulous, the Greeks +remote and careless. In the year 1104 Coloman reduced the maritine +country as far as Trau and Saloma, (Katona, Hist. Crit. tom. iii. p. +195-207.)] + +[Footnote 60: Scodras appears in Livy as the capital and fortress of +Gentius, king of the Illyrians, arx munitissima, afterwards a Roman +colony, (Cellarius, tom. i. p. 393, 394.) It is now called Iscodar, or +Scutari, (D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 164.) The sanjiak +(now a pacha) of Scutari, or Schendeire, was the viiith under the +Beglerbeg of Romania, and furnished 600 soldiers on a revenue of 78,787 +rix dollars, (Marsigli, Stato Militare del Imperio Ottomano, p. 128.)] + +[Footnote 61: In Pelagonia castrum haereticum..... spoliatum cum suis +habi tatoribus igne combussere. Nec id eis injuria contigit: quia +illorum detestabilis sermo et cancer serpebat, jamque circumjacentes +regiones suo pravo dogmate foedaverat, (Robert. Mon. p. 36, 37.) After +cooly relating the fact, the Archbishop Baldric adds, as a praise, Omnes +siquidem illi viatores, Judeos, haereticos, Saracenos aequaliter habent +exosos; quos omnes appellant inimicos Dei, (p. 92.)] + +[Footnote 62: (Alexiad. l. x. p. 288.)] + +[Footnote 63: This Oriental pomp is extravagant in a count of +Vermandois; but the patriot Ducange repeats with much complacency (Not. +ad Alexiad. p. 352, 353. Dissert. xxvii. sur Joinville, p. 315) the +passages of Matthew Paris (A.D. 1254) and Froissard, (vol. iv. p. 201,) +which style the king of France rex regum, and chef de tous les rois +Chretiens.] + +[Footnote 631: Hugh was taken at Durazzo, and sent by land to +Constantinople Wilken--M.] + +In some oriental tale I have read the fable of a shepherd, who was +ruined by the accomplishment of his own wishes: he had prayed for water; +the Ganges was turned into his grounds, and his flock and cottage were +swept away by the inundation. Such was the fortune, or at least the +apprehension of the Greek emperor Alexius Comnenus, whose name has +already appeared in this history, and whose conduct is so differently +represented by his daughter Anne, [64] and by the Latin writers. [65] +In the council of Placentia, his ambassadors had solicited a moderate +succor, perhaps of ten thousand soldiers, but he was astonished by +the approach of so many potent chiefs and fanatic nations. The emperor +fluctuated between hope and fear, between timidity and courage; but +in the crooked policy which he mistook for wisdom, I cannot believe, I +cannot discern, that he maliciously conspired against the life or honor +of the French heroes. The promiscuous multitudes of Peter the Hermit +were savage beasts, alike destitute of humanity and reason: nor was it +possible for Alexius to prevent or deplore their destruction. The +troops of Godfrey and his peers were less contemptible, but not less +suspicious, to the Greek emperor. Their motives might be pure and pious: +but he was equally alarmed by his knowledge of the ambitious Bohemond, +[651] and his ignorance of the Transalpine chiefs: the courage of the +French was blind and headstrong; they might be tempted by the luxury and +wealth of Greece, and elated by the view and opinion of their +invincible strength: and Jerusalem might be forgotten in the prospect of +Constantinople. After a long march and painful abstinence, the troops of +Godfrey encamped in the plains of Thrace; they heard with indignation, +that their brother, the count of Vermandois, was imprisoned by the +Greeks; and their reluctant duke was compelled to indulge them in some +freedom of retaliation and rapine. They were appeased by the submission +of Alexius: he promised to supply their camp; and as they refused, in +the midst of winter, to pass the Bosphorus, their quarters were assigned +among the gardens and palaces on the shores of that narrow sea. But an +incurable jealousy still rankled in the minds of the two nations, who +despised each other as slaves and Barbarians. Ignorance is the ground of +suspicion, and suspicion was inflamed into daily provocations: prejudice +is blind, hunger is deaf; and Alexius is accused of a design to starve +or assault the Latins in a dangerous post, on all sides encompassed with +the waters. [66] Godfrey sounded his trumpets, burst the net, overspread +the plain, and insulted the suburbs; but the gates of Constantinople +were strongly fortified; the ramparts were lined with archers; and, +after a doubtful conflict, both parties listened to the voice of peace +and religion. The gifts and promises of the emperor insensibly soothed +the fierce spirit of the western strangers; as a Christian warrior, he +rekindled their zeal for the prosecution of their holy enterprise, which +he engaged to second with his troops and treasures. On the return of +spring, Godfrey was persuaded to occupy a pleasant and plentiful camp in +Asia; and no sooner had he passed the Bosphorus, than the Greek vessels +were suddenly recalled to the opposite shore. The same policy was +repeated with the succeeding chiefs, who were swayed by the example, and +weakened by the departure, of their foremost companions. By his skill +and diligence, Alexius prevented the union of any two of the confederate +armies at the same moment under the walls of Constantinople; and before +the feast of the Pentecost not a Latin pilgrim was left on the coast of +Europe. + +[Footnote 64: Anna Comnena was born the 1st of December, A.D. 1083, +indiction vii., (Alexiad. l. vi. p. 166, 167.) At thirteen, the time of +the first crusade, she was nubile, and perhaps married to the younger +Nicephorus Bryennius, whom she fondly styles, (l. x. p. 295, 296.) Some +moderns have imagined, that her enmity to Bohemond was the fruit of +disappointed love. In the transactions of Constantinople and Nice, her +partial accounts (Alex. l. x. xi. p. 283-317) may be opposed to the +partiality of the Latins, but in their subsequent exploits she is brief +and ignorant.] + +[Footnote 65: In their views of the character and conduct of Alexius, +Maimbourg has favored the Catholic Franks, and Voltaire has been +partial to the schismatic Greeks. The prejudice of a philosopher is less +excusable than that of a Jesuit.] + +[Footnote 651: Wilken quotes a remarkable passage of William of +Malmsbury as to the secret motives of Urban and of Bohemond in urging +the crusade. Illud repositius propositum non ita vulgabatur, quod +Boemundi consilio, pene totam Europam in Asiaticam expeditionem moveret, +ut in tanto tumultu omnium provinciarum facile obaeratis auxiliaribus, +et Urbanus Romam et Boemundus Illyricum et Macedoniam pervaderent. Nam +eas terras et quidquid praeterea a Dyrrachio usque ad Thessalonicam +protenditur, Guiscardus pater, super Alexium acquisierat; ideirco illas +Boemundus suo juri competere clamitabat: inops haereditatis Apuliae, +quam genitor Rogerio, minori filio delegaverat. Wilken, vol. ii. p. +313.--M] + +[Footnote 66: Between the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, and the River +Barbyses, which is deep in summer, and runs fifteen miles through a flat +meadow. Its communication with Europe and Constantinople is by the +stone bridge of the Blachernoe, which in successive ages was restored by +Justinian and Basil, (Gyllius de Bosphoro Thracio, l. ii. c. 3. Ducange +O. P. Christiana, l. v. c. 2, p, 179.)] + +The same arms which threatened Europe might deliver Asia, and repel the +Turks from the neighboring shores of the Bosphorus and Hellespont. The +fair provinces from Nice to Antioch were the recent patrimony of the +Roman emperor; and his ancient and perpetual claim still embraced the +kingdoms of Syria and Egypt. In his enthusiasm, Alexius indulged, or +affected, the ambitious hope of leading his new allies to subvert +the thrones of the East; but the calmer dictates of reason and temper +dissuaded him from exposing his royal person to the faith of unknown +and lawless Barbarians. His prudence, or his pride, was content with +extorting from the French princes an oath of homage and fidelity, and a +solemn promise, that they + +would either restore, or hold, their Asiatic conquests as the humble and +loyal vassals of the Roman empire. Their independent spirit was fired at +the mention of this foreign and voluntary servitude: they successively +yielded to the dexterous application of gifts and flattery; and the +first proselytes became the most eloquent and effectual missionaries to +multiply the companions of their shame. The pride of Hugh of Vermandois +was soothed by the honors of his captivity; and in the brother of the +French king, the example of submission was prevalent and weighty. In the +mind of Godfrey of Bouillon every human consideration was subordinate to +the glory of God and the success of the crusade. He had firmly resisted +the temptations of Bohemond and Raymond, who urged the attack and +conquest of Constantinople. Alexius esteemed his virtues, deservedly +named him the champion of the empire, and dignified his homage with the +filial name and the rights of adoption. [67] The hateful Bohemond was +received as a true and ancient ally; and if the emperor reminded him +of former hostilities, it was only to praise the valor that he had +displayed, and the glory that he had acquired, in the fields of Durazzo +and Larissa. The son of Guiscard was lodged and entertained, and served +with Imperial pomp: one day, as he passed through the gallery of the +palace, a door was carelessly left open to expose a pile of gold and +silver, of silk and gems, of curious and costly furniture, that was +heaped, in seeming disorder, from the floor to the roof of the chamber. +"What conquests," exclaimed the ambitious miser, "might not be achieved +by the possession of such a treasure!"--"It is your own," replied a +Greek attendant, who watched the motions of his soul; and Bohemond, +after some hesitation, condescended to accept this magnificent +present. The Norman was flattered by the assurance of an independent +principality; and Alexius eluded, rather than denied, his daring +demand of the office of great domestic, or general of the East. The two +Roberts, the son of the conqueror of England, and the kinsmen of three +queens, [68] bowed in their turn before the Byzantine throne. A private +letter of Stephen of Chartres attests his admiration of the emperor, the +most excellent and liberal of men, who taught him to believe that he was +a favorite, and promised to educate and establish his youngest son. +In his southern province, the count of St. Giles and Thoulouse faintly +recognized the supremacy of the king of France, a prince of a foreign +nation and language. At the head of a hundred thousand men, he declared +that he was the soldier and servant of Christ alone, and that the Greek +might be satisfied with an equal treaty of alliance and friendship. His +obstinate resistance enhanced the value and the price of his submission; +and he shone, says the princess Anne, among the Barbarians, as the sun +amidst the stars of heaven. His disgust of the noise and insolence +of the French, his suspicions of the designs of Bohemond, the emperor +imparted to his faithful Raymond; and that aged statesman might clearly +discern, that however false in friendship, he was sincere in his enmity. +[69] The spirit of chivalry was last subdued in the person of Tancred; +and none could deem themselves dishonored by the imitation of that +gallant knight. He disdained the gold and flattery of the Greek monarch; +assaulted in his presence an insolent patrician; escaped to Asia in the +habit of a private soldier; and yielded with a sigh to the authority +of Bohemond, and the interest of the Christian cause. The best and +most ostensible reason was the impossibility of passing the sea and +accomplishing their vow, without the license and the vessels of +Alexius; but they cherished a secret hope, that as soon as they trod +the continent of Asia, their swords would obliterate their shame, and +dissolve the engagement, which on his side might not be very faithfully +performed. The ceremony of their homage was grateful to a people who +had long since considered pride as the substitute of power. High on his +throne, the emperor sat mute and immovable: his majesty was adored by +the Latin princes; and they submitted to kiss either his feet or his +knees, an indignity which their own writers are ashamed to confess and +unable to deny. [70] + +[Footnote 67: There are two sorts of adoption, the one by arms, the +other by introducing the son between the shirt and skin of his father. +Ducange isur Joinville, (Diss. xxii. p. 270) supposes Godfrey's adoption +to have been of the latter sort.] + +[Footnote 68: After his return, Robert of Flanders became the man of the +king of England, for a pension of four hundred marks. See the first act +in Rymer's Foedera.] + +[Footnote 69: Sensit vetus regnandi, falsos in amore, odia non fingere. +Tacit. vi. 44.] + +[Footnote 70: The proud historians of the crusades slide and stumble +over this humiliating step. Yet, since the heroes knelt to salute the +emperor, as he sat motionless on his throne, it is clear that they must +have kissed either his feet or knees. It is only singular, that Anna +should not have amply supplied the silence or ambiguity of the Latins. +The abasement of their princes would have added a fine chapter to the +Ceremoniale Aulae Byzantinae.] + +Private or public interest suppressed the murmurs of the dukes and +counts; but a French baron (he is supposed to be Robert of Paris [71] +presumed to ascend the throne, and to place himself by the side of +Alexius. The sage reproof of Baldwin provoked him to exclaim, in his +barbarous idiom, "Who is this rustic, that keeps his seat, while so many +valiant captains are standing round him?" The emperor maintained his +silence, dissembled his indignation, and questioned his interpreter +concerning the meaning of the words, which he partly suspected from the +universal language of gesture and countenance. Before the departure +of the pilgrims, he endeavored to learn the name and condition of the +audacious baron. "I am a Frenchman," replied Robert, "of the purest and +most ancient nobility of my country. All that I know is, that there is a +church in my neighborhood, [72] the resort of those who are desirous +of approving their valor in single combat. Till an enemy appears, +they address their prayers to God and his saints. That church I have +frequently visited. But never have I found an antagonist who dared to +accept my defiance." Alexius dismissed the challenger with some prudent +advice for his conduct in the Turkish warfare; and history repeats with +pleasure this lively example of the manners of his age and country. + +[Footnote 71: He called himself (see Alexias, l. x. p. 301.) What a +title of noblesse of the eleventh century, if any one could now prove +his inheritance! Anna relates, with visible pleasure, that the swelling +Barbarian, was killed, or wounded, after fighting in the front in the +battle of Dorylaeum, (l. xi. p. 317.) This circumstance may justify the +suspicion of Ducange, (Not. p. 362,) that he was no other than Robert +of Paris, of the district most peculiarly styled the Duchy or Island of +France, (L'Isle de France.)] + +[Footnote 72: With the same penetration, Ducange discovers his church to +be that of St. Drausus, or Drosin, of Soissons, quem duello dimicaturi +solent invocare: pugiles qui ad memoriam ejus (his tomb) pernoctant +invictos reddit, ut et de Burgundia et Italia tali necessitate +confugiatur ad eum. Joan. Sariberiensis, epist. 139.] + +The conquest of Asia was undertaken and achieved by Alexander, with +thirty-five thousand Macedonians and Greeks; [73] and his best hope was +in the strength and discipline of his phalanx of infantry. The principal +force of the crusaders consisted in their cavalry; and when that force +was mustered in the plains of Bithynia, the knights and their martial +attendants on horseback amounted to one hundred thousand fighting men, +completely armed with the helmet and coat of mail. The value of these +soldiers deserved a strict and authentic account; and the flower of +European chivalry might furnish, in a first effort, this formidable body +of heavy horse. A part of the infantry might be enrolled for the service +of scouts, pioneers, and archers; but the promiscuous crowd were lost in +their own disorder; and we depend not on the eyes and knowledge, but +on the belief and fancy, of a chaplain of Count Baldwin, [74] in the +estimate of six hundred thousand pilgrims able to bear arms, besides the +priests and monks, the women and children of the Latin camp. The reader +starts; and before he is recovered from his surprise, I shall add, on +the same testimony, that if all who took the cross had accomplished +their vow, above six millions would have migrated from Europe to +Asia. Under this oppression of faith, I derive some relief from a more +sagacious and thinking writer, [75] who, after the same review of the +cavalry, accuses the credulity of the priest of Chartres, and even +doubts whether the Cisalpine regions (in the geography of a Frenchman) +were sufficient to produce and pour forth such incredible multitudes. +The coolest scepticism will remember, that of these religious volunteers +great numbers never beheld Constantinople and Nice. Of enthusiasm the +influence is irregular and transient: many were detained at home by +reason or cowardice, by poverty or weakness; and many were repulsed by +the obstacles of the way, the more insuperable as they were unforeseen, +to these ignorant fanatics. The savage countries of Hungary and Bulgaria +were whitened with their bones: their vanguard was cut in pieces by the +Turkish sultan; and the loss of the first adventure, by the sword, or +climate, or fatigue, has already been stated at three hundred thousand +men. Yet the myriads that survived, that marched, that pressed forwards +on the holy pilgrimage, were a subject of astonishment to themselves +and to the Greeks. The copious energy of her language sinks under the +efforts of the princess Anne: [76] the images of locusts, of leaves and +flowers, of the sands of the sea, or the stars of heaven, imperfectly +represent what she had seen and heard; and the daughter of Alexius +exclaims, that Europe was loosened from its foundations, and hurled +against Asia. The ancient hosts of Darius and Xerxes labor under the +same doubt of a vague and indefinite magnitude; but I am inclined to +believe, that a larger number has never been contained within the lines +of a single camp, than at the siege of Nice, the first operation of the +Latin princes. Their motives, their characters, and their arms, have +been already displayed. Of their troops the most numerous portion +were natives of France: the Low Countries, the banks of the Rhine, and +Apulia, sent a powerful reenforcement: some bands of adventurers were +drawn from Spain, Lombardy, and England; [77] and from the distant bogs +and mountains of Ireland or Scotland [78] issued some naked and savage +fanatics, ferocious at home but unwarlike abroad. Had not superstition +condemned the sacrilegious prudence of depriving the poorest or weakest +Christian of the merit of the pilgrimage, the useless crowd, with mouths +but without hands, might have been stationed in the Greek empire, till +their companions had opened and secured the way of the Lord. A small +remnant of the pilgrims, who passed the Bosphorus, was permitted to +visit the holy sepulchre. Their northern constitution was scorched by +the rays, and infected by the vapors, of a Syrian sun. They consumed, +with heedless prodigality, their stores of water and provision: their +numbers exhausted the inland country: the sea was remote, the Greeks +were unfriendly, and the Christians of every sect fled before the +voracious and cruel rapine of their brethren. In the dire necessity of +famine, they sometimes roasted and devoured the flesh of their infant +or adult captives. Among the Turks and Saracens, the idolaters of Europe +were rendered more odious by the name and reputation of Cannibals; the +spies, who introduced themselves into the kitchen of Bohemond, were +shown several human bodies turning on the spit: and the artful Norman +encouraged a report, which increased at the same time the abhorrence and +the terror of the infidels. [79] + +[Footnote 73: There is some diversity on the numbers of his army; but +no authority can be compared with that of Ptolemy, who states it at five +thousand horse and thirty thousand foot, (see Usher's Annales, p 152.)] + +[Footnote 74: Fulcher. Carnotensis, p. 387. He enumerates nineteen +nations of different names and languages, (p. 389;) but I do not clearly +apprehend his difference between the Franci and Galli, Itali and Apuli. +Elsewhere (p. 385) he contemptuously brands the deserters.] + +[Footnote 75: Guibert, p. 556. Yet even his gentle opposition implies an +immense multitude. By Urban II., in the fervor of his zeal, it is only +rated at 300,000 pilgrims, (epist. xvi. Concil. tom. xii. p. 731.)] + +[Footnote 76: Alexias, l. x. p. 283, 305. Her fastidious delicacy +complains of their strange and inarticulate names; and indeed there +is scarcely one that she has not contrived to disfigure with the proud +ignorance so dear and familiar to a polished people. I shall select only +one example, Sangeles, for the count of St. Giles.] + +[Footnote 77: William of Malmsbury (who wrote about the year 1130) has +inserted in his history (l. iv. p. 130-154) a narrative of the first +crusade: but I wish that, instead of listening to the tenue murmur which +had passed the British ocean, (p. 143,) he had confined himself to the +numbers, families, and adventures of his countrymen. I find in Dugdale, +that an English Norman, Stephen earl of Albemarle and Holdernesse, led +the rear-guard with Duke Robert, at the battle of Antioch, (Baronage, +part i. p. 61.)] + +[Footnote 78: Videres Scotorum apud se ferocium alias imbellium cuneos, +(Guibert, p. 471;) the crus intectum and hispida chlamys, may suit the +Highlanders; but the finibus uliginosis may rather apply to the Irish +bogs. William of Malmsbury expressly mentions the Welsh and Scots, +&c., (l. iv. p. 133,) who quitted, the former venatiorem, the latter +familiaritatem pulicum.] + +[Footnote 79: This cannibal hunger, sometimes real, more frequently +an artifice or a lie, may be found in Anna Comnena, (Alexias, l. x. +p. 288,) Guibert, (p. 546,) Radulph. Cadom., (c. 97.) The stratagem is +related by the author of the Gesta Francorum, the monk Robert Baldric, +and Raymond des Agiles, in the siege and famine of Antioch.] + + + + +Chapter LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part IV. + +I have expiated with pleasure on the first steps of the crusaders, as +they paint the manners and character of Europe: but I shall abridge the +tedious and uniform narrative of their blind achievements, which were +performed by strength and are described by ignorance. From their first +station in the neighborhood of Nicomedia, they advanced in successive +divisions; passed the contracted limit of the Greek empire; opened a +road through the hills, and commenced, by the siege of his capital, +their pious warfare against the Turkish sultan. His kingdom of Roum +extended from the Hellespont to the confines of Syria, and barred the +pilgrimage of Jerusalem, his name was Kilidge-Arslan, or Soliman, +[80] of the race of Seljuk, and son of the first conqueror; and in the +defence of a land which the Turks considered as their own, he deserved +the praise of his enemies, by whom alone he is known to posterity. +Yielding to the first impulse of the torrent, he deposited his family +and treasure in Nice; retired to the mountains with fifty thousand +horse; and twice descended to assault the camps or quarters of the +Christian besiegers, which formed an imperfect circle of above six +miles. The lofty and solid walls of Nice were covered by a deep ditch, +and flanked by three hundred and seventy towers; and on the verge of +Christendom, the Moslems were trained in arms, and inflamed by religion. +Before this city, the French princes occupied their stations, and +prosecuted their attacks without correspondence or subordination: +emulation prompted their valor; but their valor was sullied by cruelty, +and their emulation degenerated into envy and civil discord. In the +siege of Nice, the arts and engines of antiquity were employed by the +Latins; the mine and the battering-ram, the tortoise, and the belfrey or +movable turret, artificial fire, and the catapult and balist, the sling, +and the crossbow for the casting of stones and darts. [81] In the space +of seven weeks much labor and blood were expended, and some progress, +especially by Count Raymond, was made on the side of the besiegers. But +the Turks could protract their resistance and secure their escape, as +long as they were masters of the Lake [82] Ascanius, which stretches +several miles to the westward of the city. The means of conquest were +supplied by the prudence and industry of Alexius; a great number of +boats was transported on sledges from the sea to the lake; they were +filled with the most dexterous of his archers; the flight of the sultana +was intercepted; Nice was invested by land and water; and a Greek +emissary persuaded the inhabitants to accept his master's protection, +and to save themselves, by a timely surrender, from the rage of the +savages of Europe. In the moment of victory, or at least of hope, the +crusaders, thirsting for blood and plunder, were awed by the Imperial +banner that streamed from the citadel; [821] and Alexius guarded with +jealous vigilance this important conquest. The murmurs of the chiefs +were stifled by honor or interest; and after a halt of nine days, they +directed their march towards Phrygia under the guidance of a Greek +general, whom they suspected of a secret connivance with the sultan. +The consort and the principal servants of Soliman had been honorably +restored without ransom; and the emperor's generosity to the miscreants +[83] was interpreted as treason to the Christian cause. + +[Footnote 80: His Mussulman appellation of Soliman is used by the +Latins, and his character is highly embellished by Tasso. His Turkish +name of Kilidge-Arslan (A. H. 485-500, A.D. 1192-1206. See De Guignes's +Tables, tom. i. p. 245) is employed by the Orientals, and with some +corruption by the Greeks; but little more than his name can be found in +the Mahometan writers, who are dry and sulky on the subject of the first +crusade, (De Guignes, tom. iii. p. ii. p. 10-30.) * Note: See note, +page 556. Soliman and Kilidge-Arslan were father and son--M.] + +[Footnote 81: On the fortifications, engines, and sieges of the middle +ages, see Muratori, (Antiquitat. Italiae, tom. ii. dissert. xxvi. p. +452-524.) The belfredus, from whence our belfrey, was the movable tower +of the ancients, (Ducange, tom. i. p. 608.)] + +[Footnote 82: I cannot forbear remarking the resemblance between the +siege and lake of Nice, with the operations of Hernan Cortez before +Mexico. See Dr. Robertson, History of America, l. v.] + +[Footnote 821: See Anna Comnena.--M.] + +[Footnote 83: Mecreant, a word invented by the French crusaders, and +confined in that language to its primitive sense. It should seem, that +the zeal of our ancestors boiled higher, and that they branded every +unbeliever as a rascal. A similar prejudice still lurks in the minds of +many who think themselves Christians.] + +Soliman was rather provoked than dismayed by the loss of his capital: +he admonished his subjects and allies of this strange invasion of the +Western Barbarians; the Turkish emirs obeyed the call of loyalty or +religion; the Turkman hordes encamped round his standard; and his whole +force is loosely stated by the Christians at two hundred, or even three +hundred and sixty thousand horse. Yet he patiently waited till they had +left behind them the sea and the Greek frontier; and hovering on the +flanks, observed their careless and confident progress in two columns +beyond the view of each other. Some miles before they could reach +Dorylaeum in Phrygia, the left, and least numerous, division was +surprised, and attacked, and almost oppressed, by the Turkish cavalry. +[84] The heat of the weather, the clouds of arrows, and the barbarous +onset, overwhelmed the crusaders; they lost their order and confidence, +and the fainting fight was sustained by the personal valor, rather than +by the military conduct, of Bohemond, Tancred, and Robert of Normandy. +They were revived by the welcome banners of Duke Godfrey, who flew to +their succor, with the count of Vermandois, and sixty thousand horse; +and was followed by Raymond of Tholouse, the bishop of Puy, and the +remainder of the sacred army. Without a moment's pause, they formed +in new order, and advanced to a second battle. They were received with +equal resolution; and, in their common disdain for the unwarlike people +of Greece and Asia, it was confessed on both sides, that the Turks +and the Franks were the only nations entitled to the appellation of +soldiers. [85] Their encounter was varied, and balanced by the contrast +of arms and discipline; of the direct charge, and wheeling evolutions; +of the couched lance, and the brandished javelin; of a weighty +broadsword, and a crooked sabre; of cumbrous armor, and thin flowing +robes; and of the long Tartar bow, and the arbalist or crossbow, a +deadly weapon, yet unknown to the Orientals. [86] As long as the horses +were fresh, and the quivers full, Soliman maintained the advantage +of the day; and four thousand Christians were pierced by the Turkish +arrows. In the evening, swiftness yielded to strength: on either side, +the numbers were equal or at least as great as any ground could hold, or +any generals could manage; but in turning the hills, the last division +of Raymond and his provincials was led, perhaps without design on the +rear of an exhausted enemy; and the long contest was determined. Besides +a nameless and unaccounted multitude, three thousand Pagan knights were +slain in the battle and pursuit; the camp of Soliman was pillaged; and +in the variety of precious spoil, the curiosity of the Latins was amused +with foreign arms and apparel, and the new aspect of dromedaries and +camels. The importance of the victory was proved by the hasty retreat +of the sultan: reserving ten thousand guards of the relics of his army, +Soliman evacuated the kingdom of Roum, and hastened to implore the aid, +and kindle the resentment, of his Eastern brethren. In a march of five +hundred miles, the crusaders traversed the Lesser Asia, through a wasted +land and deserted towns, without finding either a friend or an enemy. +The geographer [87] may trace the position of Dorylaeum, Antioch of +Pisidia, Iconium, Archelais, and Germanicia, and may compare those +classic appellations with the modern names of Eskishehr the old city, +Akshehr the white city, Cogni, Erekli, and Marash. As the pilgrims +passed over a desert, where a draught of water is exchanged for silver, +they were tormented by intolerable thirst; and on the banks of the first +rivulet, their haste and intemperance were still more pernicious to +the disorderly throng. They climbed with toil and danger the steep and +slippery sides of Mount Taurus; many of the soldiers cast away their +arms to secure their footsteps; and had not terror preceded their van, +the long and trembling file might have been driven down the precipice by +a handful of resolute enemies. Two of their most respectable chiefs, +the duke of Lorraine and the count of Tholouse, were carried in litters: +Raymond was raised, as it is said by miracle, from a hopeless malady; +and Godfrey had been torn by a bear, as he pursued that rough and +perilous chase in the mountains of Pisidia. + +[Footnote 84: Baronius has produced a very doubtful letter to his +brother Roger, (A.D. 1098, No. 15.) The enemies consisted of Medes, +Persians, Chaldeans: be it so. The first attack was cum nostro +incommodo; true and tender. But why Godfrey of Bouillon and Hugh +brothers! Tancred is styled filius; of whom? Certainly not of Roger, nor +of Bohemond.] + +[Footnote 85: Verumtamen dicunt se esse de Francorum generatione; et +quia nullus homo naturaliter debet esse miles nisi Franci et Turci, +(Gesta Francorum, p. 7.) The same community of blood and valor is +attested by Archbishop Baldric, (p. 99.)] + +[Footnote 86: Balista, Balestra, Arbalestre. See Muratori, Antiq. tom. +ii. p. 517-524. Ducange, Gloss. Latin. tom. i. p. 531, 532. In the +time of Anna Comnena, this weapon, which she describes under the name +of izangra, was unknown in the East, (l. x. p. 291.) By a humane +inconsistency, the pope strove to prohibit it in Christian wars.] + +[Footnote 87: The curious reader may compare the classic learning of +Cellarius and the geographical science of D'Anville. William of Tyre is +the only historian of the crusades who has any knowledge of antiquity; +and M. Otter trod almost in the footsteps of the Franks from +Constantinople to Antioch, (Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, tom. i. p. +35-88.) * Note: The journey of Col. Macdonald Kinneir in Asia Minor +throws considerable light on the geography of this march of the +crusaders.--M.] + +To improve the general consternation, the cousin of Bohemond and +the brother of Godfrey were detached from the main army with their +respective squadrons of five, and of seven, hundred knights. They +overran in a rapid career the hills and sea-coast of Cilicia, from Cogni +to the Syrian gates: the Norman standard was first planted on the walls +of Tarsus and Malmistra; but the proud injustice of Baldwin at length +provoked the patient and generous Italian; and they turned their +consecrated swords against each other in a private and profane quarrel. +Honor was the motive, and fame the reward, of Tancred; but fortune +smiled on the more selfish enterprise of his rival. [88] He was called +to the assistance of a Greek or Armenian tyrant, who had been suffered +under the Turkish yoke to reign over the Christians of Edessa. Baldwin +accepted the character of his son and champion: but no sooner was he +introduced into the city, than he inflamed the people to the massacre +of his father, occupied the throne and treasure, extended his conquests +over the hills of Armenia and the plain of Mesopotamia, and founded the +first principality of the Franks or Latins, which subsisted fifty-four +years beyond the Euphrates. [89] + +[Footnote 88: This detached conquest of Edessa is best represented +by Fulcherius Carnotensis, or of Chartres, (in the collections of +Bongarsius Duchesne, and Martenne,) the valiant chaplain of Count +Baldwin (Esprit des Croisades, tom. i. p. 13, 14.) In the disputes +of that prince with Tancred, his partiality is encountered by the +partiality of Radulphus Cadomensis, the soldier and historian of the +gallant marquis.] + +[Footnote 89: See de Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 456.] + +Before the Franks could enter Syria, the summer, and even the autumn, +were completely wasted: the siege of Antioch, or the separation and +repose of the army during the winter season, was strongly debated in +their council: the love of arms and the holy sepulchre urged them to +advance; and reason perhaps was on the side of resolution, since every +hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies +the resources of defensive war. The capital of Syria was protected by +the River Orontes; and the iron bridge, [891] of nine arches, derives +its name from the massy gates of the two towers which are constructed at +either end. They were opened by the sword of the duke of Normandy: his +victory gave entrance to three hundred thousand crusaders, an account +which may allow some scope for losses and desertion, but which clearly +detects much exaggeration in the review of Nice. In the description of +Antioch, [90] it is not easy to define a middle term between her ancient +magnificence, under the successors of Alexander and Augustus, and the +modern aspect of Turkish desolation. The Tetrapolis, or four cities, if +they retained their name and position, must have left a large vacuity in +a circumference of twelve miles; and that measure, as well as the number +of four hundred towers, are not perfectly consistent with the five +gates, so often mentioned in the history of the siege. Yet Antioch must +have still flourished as a great and populous capital. At the head of +the Turkish emirs, Baghisian, a veteran chief, commanded in the place: +his garrison was composed of six or seven thousand horse, and fifteen +or twenty thousand foot: one hundred thousand Moslems are said to have +fallen by the sword; and their numbers were probably inferior to the +Greeks, Armenians, and Syrians, who had been no more than fourteen +years the slaves of the house of Seljuk. From the remains of a solid and +stately wall, it appears to have arisen to the height of threescore feet +in the valleys; and wherever less art and labor had been applied, the +ground was supposed to be defended by the river, the morass, and the +mountains. Notwithstanding these fortifications, the city had been +repeatedly taken by the Persians, the Arabs, the Greeks, and the Turks; +so large a circuit must have yielded many pervious points of attack; and +in a siege that was formed about the middle of October, the vigor of +the execution could alone justify the boldness of the attempt. Whatever +strength and valor could perform in the field was abundantly discharged +by the champions of the cross: in the frequent occasions of sallies, +of forage, of the attack and defence of convoys, they were often +victorious; and we can only complain, that their exploits are sometimes +enlarged beyond the scale of probability and truth. The sword of Godfrey +[91] divided a Turk from the shoulder to the haunch; and one half of the +infidel fell to the ground, while the other was transported by his horse +to the city gate. As Robert of Normandy rode against his antagonist, "I +devote thy head," he piously exclaimed, "to the daemons of hell;" and +that head was instantly cloven to the breast by the resistless stroke of +his descending falchion. But the reality or the report of such gigantic +prowess [92] must have taught the Moslems to keep within their walls: +and against those walls of earth or stone, the sword and the lance were +unavailing weapons. In the slow and successive labors of a siege, the +crusaders were supine and ignorant, without skill to contrive, or money +to purchase, or industry to use, the artificial engines and implements +of assault. In the conquest of Nice, they had been powerfully assisted +by the wealth and knowledge of the Greek emperor: his absence was poorly +supplied by some Genoese and Pisan vessels, that were attracted by +religion or trade to the coast of Syria: the stores were scanty, the +return precarious, and the communication difficult and dangerous. +Indolence or weakness had prevented the Franks from investing the entire +circuit; and the perpetual freedom of two gates relieved the wants and +recruited the garrison of the city. At the end of seven months, after +the ruin of their cavalry, and an enormous loss by famine, desertion +and fatigue, the progress of the crusaders was imperceptible, and their +success remote, if the Latin Ulysses, the artful and ambitious Bohemond, +had not employed the arms of cunning and deceit. The Christians of +Antioch were numerous and discontented: Phirouz, a Syrian renegado, had +acquired the favor of the emir and the command of three towers; and the +merit of his repentance disguised to the Latins, and perhaps to himself, +the foul design of perfidy and treason. A secret correspondence, for +their mutual interest, was soon established between Phirouz and the +prince of Tarento; and Bohemond declared in the council of the chiefs, +that he could deliver the city into their hands. [921] But he claimed +the sovereignty of Antioch as the reward of his service; and the +proposal which had been rejected by the envy, was at length extorted +from the distress, of his equals. The nocturnal surprise was executed +by the French and Norman princes, who ascended in person the +scaling-ladders that were thrown from the walls: their new proselyte, +after the murder of his too scrupulous brother, embraced and introduced +the servants of Christ; the army rushed through the gates; and the +Moslems soon found, that although mercy was hopeless, resistance was +impotent. + +But the citadel still refused to surrender; and the victims themselves +were speedily encompassed and besieged by the innumerable forces of +Kerboga, prince of Mosul, who, with twenty-eight Turkish emirs, advanced +to the deliverance of Antioch. Five-and-twenty days the Christians spent +on the verge of destruction; and the proud lieutenant of the caliph and +the sultan left them only the choice of servitude or death. [93] In this +extremity they collected the relics of their strength, sallied from the +town, and in a single memorable day, annihilated or dispersed the host +of Turks and Arabians, which they might safely report to have consisted +of six hundred thousand men. [94] Their supernatural allies I shall +proceed to consider: the human causes of the victory of Antioch were the +fearless despair of the Franks; and the surprise, the discord, perhaps +the errors, of their unskilful and presumptuous adversaries. The battle +is described with as much disorder as it was fought; but we may observe +the tent of Kerboga, a movable and spacious palace, enriched with the +luxury of Asia, and capable of holding above two thousand persons; we +may distinguish his three thousand guards, who were cased, the horse as +well as the men, in complete steel. + +[Footnote 891: This bridge was over the Ifrin, not the Orontes, at a +distance of three leagues from Antioch. See Wilken, vol. i. p. 172.--M.] + +[Footnote 90: For Antioch, see Pocock, (Description of the East, vol. +ii. p. i. p. 188-193,) Otter, (Voyage en Turquie, &c., tom. i. p. 81, +&c.,) the Turkish geographer, (in Otter's notes,) the Index Geographicus +of Schultens, (ad calcem Bohadin. Vit. Saladin.,) and Abulfeda, (Tabula +Syriae, p. 115, 116, vers. Reiske.)] + +[Footnote 91: Ensem elevat, eumque a sinistra parte scapularum, tanta +virtute intorsit, ut quod pectus medium disjunxit spinam et vitalia +interrupit; et sic lubricus ensis super crus dextrum integer exivit: +sicque caput integrum cum dextra parte corporis immersit gurgite, +partemque quae equo praesidebat remisit civitati, (Robert. Mon. p. 50.) +Cujus ense trajectus, Turcus duo factus est Turci: ut inferior alter in +urbem equitaret, alter arcitenens in flumine nataret, (Radulph. Cadom. +c. 53, p. 304.) Yet he justifies the deed by the stupendis viribus +of Godfrey; and William of Tyre covers it by obstupuit populus facti +novitate .... mirabilis, (l. v. c. 6, p. 701.) Yet it must not have +appeared incredible to the knights of that age.] + +[Footnote 92: See the exploits of Robert, Raymond, and the modest +Tancred who imposed silence on his squire, (Randulph. Cadom. c. 53.)] + +[Footnote 921: See the interesting extract from Kemaleddin's History of +Aleppo in Wilken, preface to vol. ii. p. 36. Phirouz, or Azzerrad, the +breastplate maker, had been pillaged and put to the torture by Bagi +Sejan, the prince of Antioch.--M.] + +[Footnote 93: After mentioning the distress and humble petition of the +Franks, Abulpharagius adds the haughty reply of Codbuka, or Kerboga, +"Non evasuri estis nisi per gladium," (Dynast. p. 242.)] + +[Footnote 94: In describing the host of Kerboga, most of the Latin +historians, the author of the Gesta, (p. 17,) Robert Monachus, (p. 56,) +Baldric, (p. 111,) Fulcherius Carnotensis, (p. 392,) Guibert, (p. 512,) +William of Tyre, (l. vi. c. 3, p. 714,) Bernard Thesaurarius, (c. 39, +p. 695,) are content with the vague expressions of infinita multitudo, +immensum agmen, innumerae copiae or gentes, which correspond with Anna +Comnena, (Alexias, l. xi. p. 318-320.) The numbers of the Turks are +fixed by Albert Aquensis at 200,000, (l. iv. c. 10, p. 242,) and by +Radulphus Cadomensis at 400,000 horse, (c. 72, p. 309.)] + +In the eventful period of the siege and defence of Antioch, the +crusaders were alternately exalted by victory or sunk in despair; either +swelled with plenty or emaciated with hunger. A speculative reasoner +might suppose, that their faith had a strong and serious influence on +their practice; and that the soldiers of the cross, the deliverers of +the holy sepulchre, prepared themselves by a sober and virtuous life +for the daily contemplation of martyrdom. Experience blows away this +charitable illusion; and seldom does the history of profane war display +such scenes of intemperance and prostitution as were exhibited under +the walls of Antioch. The grove of Daphne no longer flourished; but the +Syrian air was still impregnated with the same vices; the Christians +were seduced by every temptation [95] that nature either prompts or +reprobates; the authority of the chiefs was despised; and sermons and +edicts were alike fruitless against those scandalous disorders, not less +pernicious to military discipline, than repugnant to evangelic purity. +In the first days of the siege and the possession of Antioch, the Franks +consumed with wanton and thoughtless prodigality the frugal subsistence +of weeks and months: the desolate country no longer yielded a supply; +and from that country they were at length excluded by the arms of the +besieging Turks. Disease, the faithful companion of want, was envenomed +by the rains of the winter, the summer heats, unwholesome food, and the +close imprisonment of multitudes. The pictures of famine and pestilence +are always the same, and always disgustful; and our imagination may +suggest the nature of their sufferings and their resources. The remains +of treasure or spoil were eagerly lavished in the purchase of the vilest +nourishment; and dreadful must have been the calamities of the poor, +since, after paying three marks of silver for a goat and fifteen for a +lean camel, [96] the count of Flanders was reduced to beg a dinner, and +Duke Godfrey to borrow a horse. Sixty thousand horse had been reviewed +in the camp: before the end of the siege they were diminished to two +thousand, and scarcely two hundred fit for service could be mustered on +the day of battle. Weakness of body and terror of mind extinguished +the ardent enthusiasm of the pilgrims; and every motive of honor and +religion was subdued by the desire of life. [97] Among the chiefs, three +heroes may be found without fear or reproach: Godfrey of Bouillon was +supported by his magnanimous piety; Bohemond by ambition and interest; +and Tancred declared, in the true spirit of chivalry, that as long as +he was at the head of forty knights, he would never relinquish the +enterprise of Palestine. But the count of Tholouse and Provence was +suspected of a voluntary indisposition; the duke of Normandy was +recalled from the sea-shore by the censures of the church: Hugh the +Great, though he led the vanguard of the battle, embraced an ambiguous +opportunity of returning to France and Stephen, count of Chartres, +basely deserted the standard which he bore, and the council in which +he presided. The soldiers were discouraged by the flight of William, +viscount of Melun, surnamed the Carpenter, from the weighty strokes of +his axe; and the saints were scandalized by the fall [971] of Peter the +Hermit, who, after arming Europe against Asia, attempted to escape from +the penance of a necessary fast. Of the multitude of recreant warriors, +the names (says an historian) are blotted from the book of life; and the +opprobrious epithet of the rope-dancers was applied to the deserters +who dropped in the night from the walls of Antioch. The emperor Alexius, +[98] who seemed to advance to the succor of the Latins, was dismayed by +the assurance of their hopeless condition. They expected their fate in +silent despair; oaths and punishments were tried without effect; and to +rouse the soldiers to the defence of the walls, it was found necessary +to set fire to their quarters. + +[Footnote 95: See the tragic and scandalous fate of an archdeacon of +royal birth, who was slain by the Turks as he reposed in an orchard, +playing at dice with a Syrian concubine.] + +[Footnote 96: The value of an ox rose from five solidi, (fifteen +shillings,) at Christmas to two marks, (four pounds,) and afterwards +much higher; a kid or lamb, from one shilling to eighteen of our present +money: in the second famine, a loaf of bread, or the head of an animal, +sold for a piece of gold. More examples might be produced; but it is the +ordinary, not the extraordinary, prices, that deserve the notice of the +philosopher.] + +[Footnote 97: Alli multi, quorum nomina non tenemus; quia, deleta de +libro vitae, praesenti operi non sunt inserenda, (Will. Tyr. l. vi. c. +5, p. 715.) Guibert (p. 518, 523) attempts to excuse Hugh the Great, and +even Stephen of Chartres.] + +[Footnote 971: Peter fell during the siege: he went afterwards on an +embassy to Kerboga Wilken. vol. i. p. 217.--M.] + +[Footnote 98: See the progress of the crusade, the retreat of Alexius, +the victory of Antioch, and the conquest of Jerusalem, in the Alexiad, +l. xi. p. 317-327. Anna was so prone to exaggeration, that she +magnifies the exploits of the Latins.] + +For their salvation and victory, they were indebted to the same +fanaticism which had led them to the brink of ruin. In such a cause, and +in such an army, visions, prophecies, and miracles, were frequent and +familiar. In the distress of Antioch, they were repeated with unusual +energy and success: St. Ambrose had assured a pious ecclesiastic, that +two years of trial must precede the season of deliverance and grace; the +deserters were stopped by the presence and reproaches of Christ himself; +the dead had promised to arise and combat with their brethren; the +Virgin had obtained the pardon of their sins; and their confidence was +revived by a visible sign, the seasonable and splendid discovery of +the Holy Lance. The policy of their chiefs has on this occasion been +admired, and might surely be excused; but a pious baud is seldom +produced by the cool conspiracy of many persons; and a voluntary +impostor might depend on the support of the wise and the credulity of +the people. Of the diocese of Marseilles, there was a priest of low +cunning and loose manners, and his name was Peter Bartholemy. He +presented himself at the door of the council-chamber, to disclose an +apparition of St. Andrew, which had been thrice reiterated in his sleep +with a dreadful menace, if he presumed to suppress the commands of +Heaven. "At Antioch," said the apostle, "in the church of my brother +St. Peter, near the high altar, is concealed the steel head of the lance +that pierced the side of our Redeemer. In three days that instrument +of eternal, and now of temporal, salvation, will be manifested to his +disciples. Search, and ye shall find: bear it aloft in battle; and that +mystic weapon shall penetrate the souls of the miscreants." The +pope's legate, the bishop of Puy, affected to listen with coldness and +distrust; but the revelation was eagerly accepted by Count Raymond, whom +his faithful subject, in the name of the apostle, had chosen for the +guardian of the holy lance. The experiment was resolved; and on the +third day after a due preparation of prayer and fasting, the priest +of Marseilles introduced twelve trusty spectators, among whom were the +count and his chaplain; and the church doors were barred against the +impetuous multitude. The ground was opened in the appointed place; but +the workmen, who relieved each other, dug to the depth of twelve feet +without discovering the object of their search. In the evening, when +Count Raymond had withdrawn to his post, and the weary assistants began +to murmur, Bartholemy, in his shirt, and without his shoes, boldly +descended into the pit; the darkness of the hour and of the place +enabled him to secrete and deposit the head of a Saracen lance; and the +first sound, the first gleam, of the steel was saluted with a devout +rapture. The holy lance was drawn from its recess, wrapped in a veil +of silk and gold, and exposed to the veneration of the crusaders; their +anxious suspense burst forth in a general shout of joy and hope, and +the desponding troops were again inflamed with the enthusiasm of valor. +Whatever had been the arts, and whatever might be the sentiments of the +chiefs, they skilfully improved this fortunate revolution by every aid +that discipline and devotion could afford. The soldiers were dismissed +to their quarters with an injunction to fortify their minds and bodies +for the approaching conflict, freely to bestow their last pittance on +themselves and their horses, and to expect with the dawn of day the +signal of victory. On the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, the gates +of Antioch were thrown open: a martial psalm, "Let the Lord arise, and +let his enemies be scattered!" was chanted by a procession of priests +and monks; the battle array was marshalled in twelve divisions, in honor +of the twelve apostles; and the holy lance, in the absence of Raymond, +was intrusted to the hands of his chaplain. The influence of his relic +or trophy, was felt by the servants, and perhaps by the enemies, of +Christ; [99] and its potent energy was heightened by an accident, a +stratagem, or a rumor, of a miraculous complexion. Three knights, in +white garments and resplendent arms, either issued, or seemed to issue, +from the hills: the voice of Adhemar, the pope's legate, proclaimed them +as the martyrs St. George, St. Theodore, and St. Maurice: the tumult of +battle allowed no time for doubt or scrutiny; and the welcome apparition +dazzled the eyes or the imagination of a fanatic army. [991] In the +season of danger and triumph, the revelation of Bartholemy of Marseilles +was unanimously asserted; but as soon as the temporary service was +accomplished, the personal dignity and liberal arms which the count of +Tholouse derived from the custody of the holy lance, provoked the envy, +and awakened the reason, of his rivals. A Norman clerk presumed to sift, +with a philosophic spirit, the truth of the legend, the circumstances of +the discovery, and the character of the prophet; and the pious Bohemond +ascribed their deliverance to the merits and intercession of Christ +alone. For a while, the Provincials defended their national palladium +with clamors and arms and new visions condemned to death and hell the +profane sceptics who presumed to scrutinize the truth and merit of the +discovery. The prevalence of incredulity compelled the author to submit +his life and veracity to the judgment of God. A pile of dry fagots, four +feet high and fourteen long, was erected in the midst of the camp; the +flames burnt fiercely to the elevation of thirty cubits; and a narrow +path of twelve inches was left for the perilous trial. The unfortunate +priest of Marseilles traversed the fire with dexterity and speed; but +the thighs and belly were scorched by the intense heat; he expired the +next day; [992] and the logic of believing minds will pay some regard to +his dying protestations of innocence and truth. Some efforts were made +by the Provincials to substitute a cross, a ring, or a tabernacle, +in the place of the holy lance, which soon vanished in contempt and +oblivion. [100] Yet the revelation of Antioch is gravely asserted by +succeeding historians: and such is the progress of credulity, that +miracles most doubtful on the spot, and at the moment, will be received +with implicit faith at a convenient distance of time and space. + +[Footnote 99: The Mahometan Aboulmahasen (apud De Guignes, tom. ii. p. +ii. p. 95) is more correct in his account of the holy lance than the +Christians, Anna Comnena and Abulpharagius: the Greek princess confounds +it with the nail of the cross, (l. xi. p. 326;) the Jacobite primate, +with St. Peter's staff, (p. 242.)] + +[Footnote 991: The real cause of this victory appears to have been the +feud in Kerboga's army Wilken, vol. ii. p. 40.--M.] + +[Footnote 992: The twelfth day after. He was much injured, and his +flesh torn off, from the ardor of pious congratulation with which he +was assailed by those who witnessed his escape, unhurt, as it was first +supposed. Wilken vol. i p. 263--M.] + +[Footnote 100: The two antagonists who express the most intimate +knowledge and the strongest conviction of the miracle, and of the fraud, +are Raymond des Agiles, and Radulphus Cadomensis, the one attached +to the count of Tholouse, the other to the Norman prince. Fulcherius +Carnotensis presumes to say, Audite fraudem et non fraudem! and +afterwards, Invenit lanceam, fallaciter occultatam forsitan. The rest of +the herd are loud and strenuous.] + +The prudence or fortune of the Franks had delayed their invasion till +the decline of the Turkish empire. [101] Under the manly government of +the three first sultans, the kingdoms of Asia were united in peace and +justice; and the innumerable armies which they led in person were equal +in courage, and superior in discipline, to the Barbarians of the West. +But at the time of the crusade, the inheritance of Malek Shaw was +disputed by his four sons; their private ambition was insensible of +the public danger; and, in the vicissitudes of their fortune, the +royal vassals were ignorant, or regardless, of the true object of their +allegiance. The twenty-eight emirs who marched with the standard or +Kerboga were his rivals or enemies: their hasty levies were drawn from +the towns and tents of Mesopotamia and Syria; and the Turkish veterans +were employed or consumed in the civil wars beyond the Tigris. The +caliph of Egypt embraced this opportunity of weakness and discord +to recover his ancient possessions; and his sultan Aphdal besieged +Jerusalem and Tyre, expelled the children of Ortok, and restored in +Palestine the civil and ecclesiastical authority of the Fatimites. [102] +They heard with astonishment of the vast armies of Christians that had +passed from Europe to Asia, and rejoiced in the sieges and battles +which broke the power of the Turks, the adversaries of their sect and +monarchy. But the same Christians were the enemies of the prophet; and +from the overthrow of Nice and Antioch, the motive of their enterprise, +which was gradually understood, would urge them forwards to the banks of +the Jordan, or perhaps of the Nile. + +An intercourse of epistles and embassies, which rose and fell with the +events of war, was maintained between the throne of Cairo and the camp +of the Latins; and their adverse pride was the result of ignorance and +enthusiasm. The ministers of Egypt declared in a haughty, or insinuated +in a milder, tone, that their sovereign, the true and lawful commander +of the faithful, had rescued Jerusalem from the Turkish yoke; and that +the pilgrims, if they would divide their numbers, and lay aside their +arms, should find a safe and hospitable reception at the sepulchre +of Jesus. In the belief of their lost condition, the caliph Mostali +despised their arms and imprisoned their deputies: the conquest and +victory of Antioch prompted him to solicit those formidable champions +with gifts of horses and silk robes, of vases, and purses of gold and +silver; and in his estimate of their merit or power, the first place was +assigned to Bohemond, and the second to Godfrey. In either fortune, the +answer of the crusaders was firm and uniform: they disdained to inquire +into the private claims or possessions of the followers of Mahomet; +whatsoever was his name or nation, the usurper of Jerusalem was +their enemy; and instead of prescribing the mode and terms of their +pilgrimage, it was only by a timely surrender of the city and province, +their sacred right, that he could deserve their alliance, or deprecate +their impending and irresistible attack. [103] + +[Footnote 101: See M. De Guignes, tom. ii. p. ii. p. 223, &c.; and the +articles of Barkidrok, Mohammed, Sangiar, in D'Herbelot.] + +[Footnote 102: The emir, or sultan, Aphdal, recovered Jerusalem and +Tyre, A. H. 489, (Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin. p. 478. De +Guignes, tom. i. p. 249, from Abulfeda and Ben Schounah.) Jerusalem +ante adventum vestrum recuperavimus, Turcos ejecimus, say the Fatimite +ambassadors] + +[Footnote 103: See the transactions between the caliph of Egypt and the +crusaders in William of Tyre (l. iv. c. 24, l. vi. c. 19) and Albert +Aquensis, (l. iii. c. 59,) who are more sensible of their importance +than the contemporary writers.] + +Yet this attack, when they were within the view and reach of their +glorious prize, was suspended above ten months after the defeat of +Kerboga. The zeal and courage of the crusaders were chilled in the +moment of victory; and instead of marching to improve the consternation, +they hastily dispersed to enjoy the luxury, of Syria. The causes of this +strange delay may be found in the want of strength and subordination. In +the painful and various service of Antioch, the cavalry was annihilated; +many thousands of every rank had been lost by famine, sickness, and +desertion: the same abuse of plenty had been productive of a third +famine; and the alternative of intemperance and distress had generated +a pestilence, which swept away above fifty thousand of the pilgrims. Few +were able to command, and none were willing to obey; the domestic feuds, +which had been stifled by common fear, were again renewed in acts, or at +least in sentiments, of hostility; the fortune of Baldwin and Bohemond +excited the envy of their companions; the bravest knights were enlisted +for the defence of their new principalities; and Count Raymond exhausted +his troops and treasures in an idle expedition into the heart of Syria. +[1031] The winter was consumed in discord and disorder; a sense of honor +and religion was rekindled in the spring; and the private soldiers, less +susceptible of ambition and jealousy, awakened with angry clamors the +indolence of their chiefs. In the month of May, the relics of this +mighty host proceeded from Antioch to Laodicea: about forty thousand +Latins, of whom no more than fifteen hundred horse, and twenty thousand +foot, were capable of immediate service. Their easy march was continued +between Mount Libanus and the sea-shore: their wants were liberally +supplied by the coasting traders of Genoa and Pisa; and they drew +large contributions from the emirs of Tripoli, Tyre, Sidon, Acre, and +Caesarea, who granted a free passage, and promised to follow the example +of Jerusalem. From Caesarea they advanced into the midland country; +their clerks recognized the sacred geography of Lydda, Ramla, Emmaus, +and Bethlem, [1032] and as soon as they descried the holy city, the +crusaders forgot their toils and claimed their reward. [104] + +[Footnote 1031: This is not quite correct: he took Marra on his road. +His excursions were partly to obtain provisions for the army and fodder +for the horses Wilken, vol. i. p. 226.--M.] + +[Footnote 1032: Scarcely of Bethlehem, to the south of Jerusalem.-- M.] + +[Footnote 104: The greatest part of the march of the Franks is traced, +and most accurately traced, in Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to +Jerusalem, (p. 11-67;) un des meilleurs morceaux, sans contredit qu'on +ait dans ce genre, (D'Anville, Memoire sur Jerusalem, p. 27.)] + + + + +Chapter LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part V. + +Jerusalem has derived some reputation from the number and importance of +her memorable sieges. It was not till after a long and obstinate contest +that Babylon and Rome could prevail against the obstinacy of the people, +the craggy ground that might supersede the necessity of fortifications, +and the walls and towers that would have fortified the most accessible +plain. [105] These obstacles were diminished in the age of the crusades. +The bulwarks had been completely destroyed and imperfectly restored: the +Jews, their nation, and worship, were forever banished; but nature is +less changeable than man, and the site of Jerusalem, though somewhat +softened and somewhat removed, was still strong against the assaults +of an enemy. By the experience of a recent siege, and a three years' +possession, the Saracens of Egypt had been taught to discern, and in +some degree to remedy, the defects of a place, which religion as well +as honor forbade them to resign. Aladin, or Iftikhar, the caliph's +lieutenant, was intrusted with the defence: his policy strove to +restrain the native Christians by the dread of their own ruin and +that of the holy sepulchre; to animate the Moslems by the assurance of +temporal and eternal rewards. His garrison is said to have consisted +of forty thousand Turks and Arabians; and if he could muster twenty +thousand of the inhabitants, it must be confessed that the besieged were +more numerous than the besieging army. [106] Had the diminished strength +and numbers of the Latins allowed them to grasp the whole circumference +of four thousand yards, (about two English miles and a half, [107] to +what useful purpose should they have descended into the valley of Ben +Hinnom and torrent of Cedron, [108] or approach the precipices of the +south and east, from whence they had nothing either to hope or fear? +Their siege was more reasonably directed against the northern and +western sides of the city. Godfrey of Bouillon erected his standard on +the first swell of Mount Calvary: to the left, as far as St. Stephen's +gate, the line of attack was continued by Tancred and the two Roberts; +and Count Raymond established his quarters from the citadel to the foot +of Mount Sion, which was no longer included within the precincts of the +city. On the fifth day, the crusaders made a general assault, in the +fanatic hope of battering down the walls without engines, and of scaling +them without ladders. By the dint of brutal force, they burst the first +barrier; but they were driven back with shame and slaughter to the camp: +the influence of vision and prophecy was deadened by the too frequent +abuse of those pious stratagems; and time and labor were found to be +the only means of victory. The time of the siege was indeed fulfilled +in forty days, but they were forty days of calamity and anguish. A +repetition of the old complaint of famine may be imputed in some degree +to the voracious or disorderly appetite of the Franks; but the stony +soil of Jerusalem is almost destitute of water; the scanty springs and +hasty torrents were dry in the summer season; nor was the thirst of the +besiegers relieved, as in the city, by the artificial supply of cisterns +and aqueducts. The circumjacent country is equally destitute of trees +for the uses of shade or building, but some large beams were discovered +in a cave by the crusaders: a wood near Sichem, the enchanted grove of +Tasso, [109] was cut down: the necessary timber was transported to the +camp by the vigor and dexterity of Tancred; and the engines were framed +by some Genoese artists, who had fortunately landed in the harbor of +Jaffa. Two movable turrets were constructed at the expense, and in the +stations, of the duke of Lorraine and the count of Tholouse, and rolled +forwards with devout labor, not to the most accessible, but to the most +neglected, parts of the fortification. Raymond's Tower was reduced to +ashes by the fire of the besieged, but his colleague was more vigilant +and successful; [1091] the enemies were driven by his archers from the +rampart; the draw-bridge was let down; and on a Friday, at three in the +afternoon, the day and hour of the passion, Godfrey of Bouillon stood +victorious on the walls of Jerusalem. His example was followed on every +side by the emulation of valor; and about four hundred and sixty years +after the conquest of Omar, the holy city was rescued from the Mahometan +yoke. In the pillage of public and private wealth, the adventurers had +agreed to respect the exclusive property of the first occupant; and the +spoils of the great mosque, seventy lamps and massy vases of gold +and silver, rewarded the diligence, and displayed the generosity, of +Tancred. A bloody sacrifice was offered by his mistaken votaries to the +God of the Christians: resistance might provoke but neither age nor sex +could mollify, their implacable rage: they indulged themselves three +days in a promiscuous massacre; [110] and the infection of the dead +bodies produced an epidemical disease. After seventy thousand Moslems +had been put to the sword, and the harmless Jews had been burnt in +their synagogue, they could still reserve a multitude of captives, whom +interest or lassitude persuaded them to spare. Of these savage heroes of +the cross, Tancred alone betrayed some sentiments of compassion; yet +we may praise the more selfish lenity of Raymond, who granted a +capitulation and safe-conduct to the garrison of the citadel. [111] +The holy sepulchre was now free; and the bloody victors prepared to +accomplish their vow. Bareheaded and barefoot, with contrite hearts, and +in an humble posture, they ascended the hill of Calvary, amidst the loud +anthems of the clergy; kissed the stone which had covered the Savior of +the world; and bedewed with tears of joy and penitence the monument of +their redemption. This union of the fiercest and most tender passions +has been variously considered by two philosophers; by the one, [112] as +easy and natural; by the other, [113] as absurd and incredible. Perhaps +it is too rigorously applied to the same persons and the same hour; the +example of the virtuous Godfrey awakened the piety of his companions; +while they cleansed their bodies, they purified their minds; nor shall +I believe that the most ardent in slaughter and rapine were the foremost +in the procession to the holy sepulchre. + +[Footnote 105: See the masterly description of Tacitus, (Hist. v. 11, +12, 13,) who supposes that the Jewish lawgivers had provided for a +perpetual state of hostility against the rest of mankind. * Note: This +is an exaggerated inference from the words of Tacitus, who speaks of +the founders of the city, not the lawgivers. Praeviderant conditores, +ex diversitate morum, crebra bella; inde cuncta quamvis adversus loagum +obsidium.--M.] + +[Footnote 106: The lively scepticism of Voltaire is balanced with sense +and erudition by the French author of the Esprit des Croisades, (tom. +iv. p. 386-388,) who observes, that, according to the Arabians, the +inhabitants of Jerusalem must have exceeded 200,000; that in the siege +of Titus, Josephus collects 1,300,000 Jews; that they are stated by +Tacitus himself at 600,000; and that the largest defalcation, that his +accepimus can justify, will still leave them more numerous than the +Roman army.] + +[Footnote 107: Maundrell, who diligently perambulated the walls, found +a circuit of 4630 paces, or 4167 English yards, (p. 109, 110: ) from an +authentic plan, D'Anville concludes a measure nearly similar, of 1960 +French toises, (p. 23-29,) in his scarce and valuable tract. For the +topography of Jerusalem, see Reland, (Palestina, tom. ii. p. 832-860.)] + +[Footnote 108: Jerusalem was possessed only of the torrent of Kedron, +dry in summer, and of the little spring or brook of Siloe, (Reland, +tom. i. p. 294, 300.) Both strangers and natives complain of the want +of water, which, in time of war, was studiously aggravated. Within the +city, Tacitus mentions a perennial fountain, an aqueduct and cisterns +for rain water. The aqueduct was conveyed from the rivulet Tekos or +Etham, which is likewise mentioned by Bohadin, (in Vit. Saludio p. +238.)] + +[Footnote 109: Gierusalomme Liberata, canto xiii. It is pleasant enough +to observe how Tasso has copied and embellished the minutest details of +the siege.] + +[Footnote 1091: This does not appear by Wilken's account, (p. 294.) They +fought in vair the whole of the Thursday.--M.] + +[Footnote 110: Besides the Latins, who are not ashamed of the massacre, +see Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 363,) Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 243,) +and M. De Guignes, tom. ii. p. ii. p. 99, from Aboulmahasen.] + +[Footnote 111: The old tower Psephina, in the middle ages Neblosa, was +named Castellum Pisanum, from the patriarch Daimbert. It is still the +citadel, the residence of the Turkish aga, and commands a prospect of +the Dead Sea, Judea, and Arabia, (D'Anville, p. 19-23.) It was likewise +called the Tower of David.] + +[Footnote 112: Hume, in his History of England, vol. i. p. 311, 312, +octavo edition.] + +[Footnote 113: Voltaire, in his Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, tom ii. +c. 54, p 345, 346] + +Eight days after this memorable event, which Pope Urban did not live to +hear, the Latin chiefs proceeded to the election of a king, to guard +and govern their conquests in Palestine. Hugh the Great, and Stephen of +Chartres, had retired with some loss of reputation, which they strove +to regain by a second crusade and an honorable death. Baldwin was +established at Edessa, and Bohemond at Antioch; and two Roberts, the +duke of Normandy [114] and the count of Flanders, preferred their fair +inheritance in the West to a doubtful competition or a barren sceptre. +The jealousy and ambition of Raymond were condemned by his own +followers, and the free, the just, the unanimous voice of the army +proclaimed Godfrey of Bouillon the first and most worthy of the +champions of Christendom. His magnanimity accepted a trust as full of +danger as of glory; but in a city where his Savior had been crowned with +thorns, the devout pilgrim rejected the name and ensigns of royalty; +and the founder of the kingdom of Jerusalem contented himself with the +modest title of Defender and Baron of the Holy Sepulchre. His government +of a single year, [115] too short for the public happiness, was +interrupted in the first fortnight by a summons to the field, by the +approach of the vizier or sultan of Egypt, who had been too slow to +prevent, but who was impatient to avenge, the loss of Jerusalem. His +total overthrow in the battle of Ascalon sealed the establishment of the +Latins in Syria, and signalized the valor of the French princes who in +this action bade a long farewell to the holy wars. + +Some glory might be derived from the prodigious inequality of numbers, +though I shall not count the myriads of horse and foot [1151] on the +side of the Fatimites; but, except three thousand Ethiopians or Blacks, +who were armed with flails or scourges of iron, the Barbarians of +the South fled on the first onset, and afforded a pleasing comparison +between the active valor of the Turks and the sloth and effeminacy of +the natives of Egypt. After suspending before the holy sepulchre the +sword and standard of the sultan, the new king (he deserves the title) +embraced his departing companions, and could retain only with the +gallant Tancred three hundred knights, and two thousand foot-soldiers +for the defence of Palestine. His sovereignty was soon attacked by a new +enemy, the only one against whom Godfrey was a coward. Adhemar, bishop +of Puy, who excelled both in council and action, had been swept away in +the last plague at Antioch: the remaining ecclesiastics preserved only +the pride and avarice of their character; and their seditious clamors +had required that the choice of a bishop should precede that of a king. +The revenue and jurisdiction of the lawful patriarch were usurped by the +Latin clergy: the exclusion of the Greeks and Syrians was justified +by the reproach of heresy or schism; [116] and, under the iron yoke +of their deliverers, the Oriental Christians regretted the tolerating +government of the Arabian caliphs. Daimbert, archbishop of Pisa, had +long been trained in the secret policy of Rome: he brought a fleet +at his countrymen to the succor of the Holy Land, and was installed, +without a competitor, the spiritual and temporal head of the church. +[1161] The new patriarch [117] immediately grasped the sceptre which had +been acquired by the toil and blood of the victorious pilgrims; and both +Godfrey and Bohemond submitted to receive at his hands the investiture +of their feudal possessions. Nor was this sufficient; Daimbert claimed +the immediate property of Jerusalem and Jaffa; instead of a firm and +generous refusal, the hero negotiated with the priest; a quarter of +either city was ceded to the church; and the modest bishop was satisfied +with an eventual reversion of the rest, on the death of Godfrey without +children, or on the future acquisition of a new seat at Cairo or +Damascus. + +[Footnote 114: The English ascribe to Robert of Normandy, and the +Provincials to Raymond of Tholouse, the glory of refusing the crown; but +the honest voice of tradition has preserved the memory of the ambition +and revenge (Villehardouin, No. 136) of the count of St. Giles. He died +at the siege of Tripoli, which was possessed by his descendants.] + +[Footnote 115: See the election, the battle of Ascalon, &c., in William +of Tyre l. ix. c. 1-12, and in the conclusion of the Latin historians +of the first crusade.] + +[Footnote 1151: 20,000 Franks, 300,000 Mussulmen, according to Wilken, +(vol. ii. p. 9)--M.] + +[Footnote 116: Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 479.] + +[Footnote 1161: Arnulf was first chosen, but illegitimately, and +degraded. He was ever after the secret enemy of Daimbert or Dagobert. +Wilken, vol. i. p. 306, vol. ii. p. 52.--M] + +[Footnote 117: See the claims of the patriarch Daimbert, in William of +Tyre (l. ix. c. 15-18, x. 4, 7, 9,) who asserts with marvellous candor +the independence of the conquerors and kings of Jerusalem.] + +Without this indulgence, the conqueror would have almost been stripped +of his infant kingdom, which consisted only of Jerusalem and Jaffa, with +about twenty villages and towns of the adjacent country. [118] Within +this narrow verge, the Mahometans were still lodged in some impregnable +castles: and the husbandman, the trader, and the pilgrim, were exposed +to daily and domestic hostility. By the arms of Godfrey himself, and of +the two Baldwins, his brother and cousin, who succeeded to the throne, +the Latins breathed with more ease and safety; and at length they +equalled, in the extent of their dominions, though not in the millions +of their subjects, the ancient princes of Judah and Israel. [119] After +the reduction of the maritime cities of Laodicea, Tripoli, Tyre, and +Ascalon, [120] which were powerfully assisted by the fleets of Venice, +Genoa, and Pisa, and even of Flanders and Norway, [121] the range of +sea-coast from Scanderoon to the borders of Egypt was possessed by the +Christian pilgrims. If the prince of Antioch disclaimed his supremacy, +the counts of Edessa and Tripoli owned themselves the vassals of the +king of Jerusalem: the Latins reigned beyond the Euphrates; and the four +cities of Hems, Hamah, Damascus, and Aleppo, were the only relics of the +Mahometan conquests in Syria. [122] The laws and language, the manners +and titles, of the French nation and Latin church, were introduced into +these transmarine colonies. According to the feudal jurisprudence, the +principal states and subordinate baronies descended in the line of male +and female succession: [123] but the children of the first conquerors, +[124] a motley and degenerate race, were dissolved by the luxury of the +climate; the arrival of new crusaders from Europe was a doubtful +hope and a casual event. The service of the feudal tenures [125] was +performed by six hundred and sixty-six knights, who might expect the aid +of two hundred more under the banner of the count of Tripoli; and +each knight was attended to the field by four squires or archers on +horseback. [126] Five thousand and seventy sergeants, most probably +foot-soldiers, were supplied by the churches and cities; and the whole +legal militia of the kingdom could not exceed eleven thousand men, a +slender defence against the surrounding myriads of Saracens and Turks. +[127] But the firmest bulwark of Jerusalem was founded on the knights of +the Hospital of St. John, [128] and of the temple of Solomon; [129] +on the strange association of a monastic and military life, which +fanaticism might suggest, but which policy must approve. The flower of +the nobility of Europe aspired to wear the cross, and to profess the +vows, of these respectable orders; their spirit and discipline were +immortal; and the speedy donation of twenty-eight thousand farms, or +manors, [130] enabled them to support a regular force of cavalry and +infantry for the defence of Palestine. The austerity of the convent soon +evaporated in the exercise of arms; the world was scandalized by the +pride, avarice, and corruption of these Christian soldiers; their claims +of immunity and jurisdiction disturbed the harmony of the church and +state; and the public peace was endangered by their jealous emulation. +But in their most dissolute period, the knights of their hospital and +temple maintained their fearless and fanatic character: they neglected +to live, but they were prepared to die, in the service of Christ; and +the spirit of chivalry, the parent and offspring of the crusades, has +been transplanted by this institution from the holy sepulchre to the +Isle of Malta. [131] + +[Footnote 118: Willerm. Tyr. l. x. 19. The Historia Hierosolimitana of +Jacobus a Vitriaco (l. i. c. 21-50) and the Secreta Fidelium Crucis of +Marinus Sanutus (l. iii. p. 1) describe the state and conquests of the +Latin kingdom of Jerusalem.] + +[Footnote 119: An actual muster, not including the tribes of Levi and +Benjamin, gave David an army of 1,300,000 or 1,574,000 fighting men; +which, with the addition of women, children, and slaves, may imply a +population of thirteen millions, in a country sixty leagues in length, +and thirty broad. The honest and rational Le Clerc (Comment on 2d Samuel +xxiv. and 1st Chronicles, xxi.) aestuat angusto in limite, and mutters +his suspicion of a false transcript; a dangerous suspicion! * Note: +David determined to take a census of his vast dominions, which extended +from Lebanon to the frontiers of Egypt, from the Euphrates to the +Mediterranean. The numbers (in 2 Sam. xxiv. 9, and 1 Chron. xxi. 5) +differ; but the lowest gives 800,000 men fit to bear arms in Israel, +500,000 in Judah. Hist. of Jews, vol. i. p. 248. Gibbon has taken the +highest census in his estimate of the population, and confined the +dominions of David to Jordandic Palestine.--M.] + +[Footnote 120: These sieges are related, each in its proper place, in +the great history of William of Tyre, from the ixth to the xviiith book, +and more briefly told by Bernardus Thesaurarius, (de Acquisitione Terrae +Sanctae, c. 89-98, p. 732-740.) Some domestic facts are celebrated in +the Chronicles of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, in the vith, ixth, and xiith +tomes of Muratori.] + +[Footnote 121: Quidam populus de insulis occidentis egressus, et maxime +de ea parte quae Norvegia dicitur. William of Tyre (l. xi. c. 14, p. +804) marks their course per Britannicum Mare et Calpen to the siege of +Sidon.] + +[Footnote 122: Benelathir, apud De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. +part ii. p. 150, 151, A.D. 1127. He must speak of the inland country.] + +[Footnote 123: Sanut very sensibly descants on the mischiefs of female +succession, in a land hostibus circumdata, ubi cuncta virilia et +virtuosa esse deberent. Yet, at the summons, and with the approbation, +of her feudal lord, a noble damsel was obliged to choose a husband and +champion, (Assises de Jerusalem, c. 242, &c.) See in M. De Guignes (tom. +i. p. 441-471) the accurate and useful tables of these dynasties, which +are chiefly drawn from the Lignages d'Outremer.] + +[Footnote 124: They were called by derision Poullains, Pallani, and +their name is never pronounced without contempt, (Ducange, Gloss. Latin. +tom. v. p. 535; and Observations sur Joinville, p. 84, 85; Jacob. a +Vitriaco Hist. Hierosol. i. c. 67, 72; and Sanut, l. iii. p. viii. c. 2, +p. 182.) Illustrium virorum, qui ad Terrae Sanctae.... liberationem +in ipsa manserunt, degeneres filii.... in deliciis enutriti, molles et +effoe minati, &c.] + +[Footnote 125: This authentic detail is extracted from the Assises de +Jerusalem (c. 324, 326-331.) Sanut (l. iii. p. viii. c. 1, p. 174) +reckons only 518 knights, and 5775 followers.] + +[Footnote 126: The sum total, and the division, ascertain the service +of the three great baronies at 100 knights each; and the text of the +Assises, which extends the number to 500, can only be justified by this +supposition.] + +[Footnote 127: Yet on great emergencies (says Sanut) the barons brought +a voluntary aid; decentem comitivam militum juxta statum suum.] + +[Footnote 128: William of Tyre (l. xviii. c. 3, 4, 5) relates the +ignoble origin and early insolence of the Hospitallers, who soon +deserted their humble patron, St. John the Eleemosynary, for the more +august character of St. John the Baptist, (see the ineffectual struggles +of Pagi, Critica, A. D 1099, No. 14-18.) They assumed the profession of +arms about the year 1120; the Hospital was mater; the Temple filia; the +Teutonic order was founded A.D. 1190, at the siege of Acre, (Mosheim +Institut p. 389, 390.)] + +[Footnote 129: See St. Bernard de Laude Novae Militiae Templi, composed +A.D. 1132-1136, in Opp. tom. i. p. ii. p. 547-563, edit. Mabillon, +Venet. 1750. Such an encomium, which is thrown away on the dead +Templars, would be highly valued by the historians of Malta.] + +[Footnote 130: Matthew Paris, Hist. Major, p. 544. He assigns to the +Hospitallers 19,000, to the Templars 9,000 maneria, word of much higher +import (as Ducange has rightly observed) in the English than in the +French idiom. Manor is a lordship, manoir a dwelling.] + +[Footnote 131: In the three first books of the Histoire de Chevaliers de +Malthe par l'Abbe de Vertot, the reader may amuse himself with a fair, +and sometimes flattering, picture of the order, while it was employed +for the defence of Palestine. The subsequent books pursue their +emigration to Rhodes and Malta.] + +The spirit of freedom, which pervades the feudal institutions, was felt +in its strongest energy by the volunteers of the cross, who elected for +their chief the most deserving of his peers. Amidst the slaves of Asia, +unconscious of the lesson or example, a model of political liberty was +introduced; and the laws of the French kingdom are derived from the +purest source of equality and justice. Of such laws, the first and +indispensable condition is the assent of those whose obedience they +require, and for whose benefit they are designed. No sooner had Godfrey +of Bouillon accepted the office of supreme magistrate, than he solicited +the public and private advice of the Latin pilgrims, who were the best +skilled in the statutes and customs of Europe. From these materials, +with the counsel and approbation of the patriarch and barons, of the +clergy and laity, Godfrey composed the Assise of Jerusalem, [132] a +precious monument of feudal jurisprudence. The new code, attested by +the seals of the king, the patriarch, and the viscount of Jerusalem, +was deposited in the holy sepulchre, enriched with the improvements of +succeeding times, and respectfully consulted as often as any doubtful +question arose in the tribunals of Palestine. With the kingdom and city +all was lost: [133] the fragments of the written law were preserved by +jealous tradition [134] and variable practice till the middle of the +thirteenth century: the code was restored by the pen of John d'Ibelin, +count of Jaffa, one of the principal feudatories; [135] and the final +revision was accomplished in the year thirteen hundred and sixty-nine, +for the use of the Latin kingdom of Cyprus. [136] + +[Footnote 132: The Assises de Jerusalem, in old law French, were printed +with Beaumanoir's Coutumes de Beauvoisis, (Bourges and Paris, 1690, in +folio,) and illustrated by Gaspard Thaumas de la Thaumassiere, with a +comment and glossary. An Italian version had been published in 1534, at +Venice, for the use of the kingdom of Cyprus. * Note: See Wilken, vol. +i. p. 17, &c.,--M.] + +[Footnote 133: A la terre perdue, tout fut perdu, is the vigorous +expression of the Assise, (c. 281.) Yet Jerusalem capitulated with +Saladin; the queen and the principal Christians departed in peace; and +a code so precious and so portable could not provoke the avarice of the +conquerors. I have sometimes suspected the existence of this original +copy of the Holy Sepulchre, which might be invented to sanctify and +authenticate the traditionary customs of the French in Palestine.] + +[Footnote 134: A noble lawyer, Raoul de Tabarie, denied the prayer of +King Amauri, (A.D. 1195-1205,) that he would commit his knowledged to +writing, and frankly declared, que de ce qu'il savoit ne feroit-il ja +nul borjois son pareill, ne null sage homme lettre, (c. 281.)] + +[Footnote 135: The compiler of this work, Jean d'Ibelin, was count of +Jaffa and Ascalon, lord of Baruth (Berytus) and Rames, and died A.D. +1266, (Sanut, l. iii. p. ii. c. 5, 8.) The family of Ibelin, which +descended from a younger brother of a count of Chartres in France, long +flourished in Palestine and Cyprus, (see the Lignages de deca Mer, or +d'Outremer, c. 6, at the end of the Assises de Jerusalem, an original +book, which records the pedigrees of the French adventurers.)] + +[Footnote 136: By sixteen commissioners chosen in the states of the +island: the work was finished the 3d of November, 1369, sealed with four +seals and deposited in the cathedral of Nicosia, (see the preface to the +Assises.)] + +The justice and freedom of the constitution were maintained by two +tribunals of unequal dignity, which were instituted by Godfrey of +Bouillon after the conquest of Jerusalem. The king, in person, presided +in the upper court, the court of the barons. Of these the four most +conspicuous were the prince of Galilee, the lord of Sidon and Caesarea, +and the counts of Jaffa and Tripoli, who, perhaps with the constable and +marshal, [137] were in a special manner the compeers and judges of +each other. But all the nobles, who held their lands immediately of +the crown, were entitled and bound to attend the king's court; and each +baron exercised a similar jurisdiction on the subordinate assemblies of +his own feudatories. The connection of lord and vassal was honorable +and voluntary: reverence was due to the benefactor, protection to the +dependant; but they mutually pledged their faith to each other; and the +obligation on either side might be suspended by neglect or dissolved +by injury. The cognizance of marriages and testaments was blended with +religion, and usurped by the clergy: but the civil and criminal causes +of the nobles, the inheritance and tenure of their fiefs, formed the +proper occupation of the supreme court. Each member was the judge and +guardian both of public and private rights. It was his duty to assert +with his tongue and sword the lawful claims of the lord; but if an +unjust superior presumed to violate the freedom or property of a vassal, +the confederate peers stood forth to maintain his quarrel by word and +deed. They boldly affirmed his innocence and his wrongs; demanded the +restitution of his liberty or his lands; suspended, after a fruitless +demand, their own service; rescued their brother from prison; and +employed every weapon in his defence, without offering direct violence +to the person of their lord, which was ever sacred in their eyes. [138] +In their pleadings, replies, and rejoinders, the advocates of the court +were subtle and copious; but the use of argument and evidence was often +superseded by judicial combat; and the Assise of Jerusalem admits in +many cases this barbarous institution, which has been slowly abolished +by the laws and manners of Europe. + +[Footnote 137: The cautious John D'Ibelin argues, rather than affirms, +that Tripoli is the fourth barony, and expresses some doubt concerning +the right or pretension of the constable and marshal, (c. 323.)] + +[Footnote 138: Entre seignor et homme ne n'a que la foi;.... mais tant +que l'homme doit a son seignor reverence en toutes choses, (c. 206.) +Tous les hommes dudit royaume sont par ladite Assise tenus les uns as +autres.... et en celle maniere que le seignor mette main ou face mettre +au cors ou au fie d'aucun d'yaus sans esgard et sans connoissans de +court, que tous les autres doivent venir devant le seignor, &c., (212.) +The form of their remonstrances is conceived with the noble simplicity +of freedom.] + +The trial by battle was established in all criminal cases which +affected the life, or limb, or honor, of any person; and in all civil +transactions, of or above the value of one mark of silver. It appears +that in criminal cases the combat was the privilege of the accuser, who, +except in a charge of treason, avenged his personal injury, or the death +of those persons whom he had a right to represent; but wherever, from +the nature of the charge, testimony could be obtained, it was necessary +for him to produce witnesses of the fact. In civil cases, the combat was +not allowed as the means of establishing the claim of the demandant; +but he was obliged to produce witnesses who had, or assumed to have, +knowledge of the fact. The combat was then the privilege of the +defendant; because he charged the witness with an attempt by perjury to +take away his right. He came therefore to be in the same situation as +the appellant in criminal cases. It was not then as a mode of proof that +the combat was received, nor as making negative evidence, (according +to the supposition of Montesquieu; [139] but in every case the right to +offer battle was founded on the right to pursue by arms the redress of +an injury; and the judicial combat was fought on the same principle, and +with the same spirit, as a private duel. Champions were only allowed to +women, and to men maimed or past the age of sixty. The consequence of a +defeat was death to the person accused, or to the champion or witness, +as well as to the accuser himself: but in civil cases, the demandant +was punished with infamy and the loss of his suit, while his witness and +champion suffered ignominious death. In many cases it was in the option +of the judge to award or to refuse the combat: but two are specified, +in which it was the inevitable result of the challenge; if a faithful +vassal gave the lie to his compeer, who unjustly claimed any portion of +their lord's demesnes; or if an unsuccessful suitor presumed to impeach +the judgment and veracity of the court. He might impeach them, but the +terms were severe and perilous: in the same day he successively fought +all the members of the tribunal, even those who had been absent; a +single defeat was followed by death and infamy; and where none could +hope for victory, it is highly probable that none would adventure the +trial. In the Assise of Jerusalem, the legal subtlety of the count +of Jaffa is more laudably employed to elude, than to facilitate, the +judicial combat, which he derives from a principle of honor rather than +of superstition. [140] + +[Footnote 139: See l'Esprit des Loix, l. xxviii. In the forty years +since its publication, no work has been more read and criticized; and +the spirit of inquiry which it has excited is not the least of our +obligations to the author.] + +[Footnote 140: For the intelligence of this obscure and obsolete +jurisprudence (c. 80-111) I am deeply indebted to the friendship of a +learned lord, who, with an accurate and discerning eye, has surveyed the +philosophic history of law. By his studies, posterity might be +enriched: the merit of the orator and the judge can be felt only by his +contemporaries.] + +Among the causes which enfranchised the plebeians from the yoke of +feudal tyranny, the institution of cities and corporations is one of +the most powerful; and if those of Palestine are coeval with the first +crusade, they may be ranked with the most ancient of the Latin world. +Many of the pilgrims had escaped from their lords under the banner of +the cross; and it was the policy of the French princes to tempt their +stay by the assurance of the rights and privileges of freemen. It is +expressly declared in the Assise of Jerusalem, that after instituting, +for his knights and barons, the court of peers, in which he presided +himself, Godfrey of Bouillon established a second tribunal, in which +his person was represented by his viscount. The jurisdiction of this +inferior court extended over the burgesses of the kingdom; and it was +composed of a select number of the most discreet and worthy citizens, +who were sworn to judge, according to the laws of the actions and +fortunes of their equals. [141] In the conquest and settlement of new +cities, the example of Jerusalem was imitated by the kings and their +great vassals; and above thirty similar corporations were founded before +the loss of the Holy Land. Another class of subjects, the Syrians, [142] +or Oriental Christians, were oppressed by the zeal of the clergy, and +protected by the toleration of the state. Godfrey listened to their +reasonable prayer, that they might be judged by their own national laws. +A third court was instituted for their use, of limited and domestic +jurisdiction: the sworn members were Syrians, in blood, language, and +religion; but the office of the president (in Arabic, of the rais) was +sometimes exercised by the viscount of the city. At an immeasurable +distance below the nobles, the burgesses, and the strangers, the +Assise of Jerusalem condescends to mention the villains and slaves, the +peasants of the land and the captives of war, who were almost equally +considered as the objects of property. The relief or protection of these +unhappy men was not esteemed worthy of the care of the legislator; +but he diligently provides for the recovery, though not indeed for the +punishment, of the fugitives. Like hounds, or hawks, who had strayed +from the lawful owner, they might be lost and claimed: the slave and +falcon were of the same value; but three slaves, or twelve oxen, were +accumulated to equal the price of the war-horse; and a sum of three +hundred pieces of gold was fixed, in the age of chivalry, as the +equivalent of the more noble animal. [143] + +[Footnote 141: Louis le Gros, who is considered as the father of this +institution in France, did not begin his reign till nine years (A.D. +1108) after Godfrey of Bouillon, (Assises, c. 2, 324.) For its origin +and effects, see the judicious remarks of Dr. Robertson, (History of +Charles V. vol. i. p. 30-36, 251-265, quarto edition.)] + +[Footnote 142: Every reader conversant with the historians of the +crusades will understand by the peuple des Suriens, the Oriental +Christians, Melchites, Jacobites, or Nestorians, who had all adopted the +use of the Arabic language, (vol. iv. p. 593.)] + +[Footnote 143: See the Assises de Jerusalem, (310, 311, 312.) These laws +were enacted as late as the year 1350, in the kingdom of Cyprus. In +the same century, in the reign of Edward I., I understand, from a late +publication, (of his Book of Account,) that the price of a war-horse was +not less exorbitant in England.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of The Decline and Fall of +the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE *** + +***** This file should be named 735.txt or 735.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/3/735/ + +Produced by David Reed + +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. 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